Lost Ark Interview
After the successful launch of Lost Ark in the West, we spoke to Soomin Park, Franchise Leader at Amazon Games, about the game and its challenges.
Bringing an already established MMO to a new audience is no easy task. What kind of challenges were encountered with introducing Lost Ark to a Western audience?
Given that Lost Ark has existed in regions like Korea for some time, together with Smilegate RPG we were able to build upon an existing game, one with a thriving player community. To bring Lost Ark to new global regions is a huge accomplishment, and we’re thrilled to open the game world up to a much larger player base. A great deal of the work done was localising the huge amount of content in the game, from Korean into English and then from English into French, German, and Spanish. That’s more than 3 million words, more than 16,000 lines of dialogue and over 1,500 NPCs that all needed to be translated into four new languages. New voiceovers and music needed to be recorded too, which was a great endeavour as well. Our team at Amazon also made adjustments to the game’s monetisation system, to align more with player feedback and expectations.
While still on this theme of different audiences, we can see that Lost Ark has more of an action RPG style of character control. Do you think there will be some resistance from the playerbase that are more used to moving their characters with keyboard controls?
That’s not something we’ve really seen too much of in terms of feedback on the game. We do get a lot of commentary on how good the combat feels, how it sucks players in and holds them, and how it’s easy to get used to even for players who normally don’t play games with that type of control schematics. However, we have added in some new control options based on player feedback, including controller support and slightly different mouse controls.
As the game already has an incredibly solid control method for people wishing to use a joypad over keyboard and mouse, are there plans to potentially bring Lost Ark to Xbox and/or PlayStation too, should existing platform exclusivity deals end?
Our focus is always listening to player feedback and giving the community what it wants. If there’s enough desire for console versions of the game, it’s certainly something we’d be willing to explore.
Monetisation is always a hot topic for Western gamers and naturally, any free-to-play title needs monetisation to survive. What kind of safeguards were taken when considering the in-game store for EU and NA territories? Additionally are there any future plans for store modifications in countries with strict gambling regulations, i.e. Netherlands and Belgium, where the game is currently unavailable?
Lost Ark is a free-to-play game with optional in-game purchases. We have worked with Smilegate RPG to update the business model to more closely align with what players in the West expect. This included giving players a path to acquire all items without making real-money purchases, making pet purchases permanent, extending the time that items in Mari’s Secret Store are available, and changing Crystalline Aura benefits.
At this time, we are unable to publish Lost Ark in the Netherlands and Belgium due to regulations regarding paid items containing RNG rewards.
We’ve seen some incredible visuals when performing moves in the combat system with Lost Ark. What have been some catalysts or inspirations in their creation? For instance, what inspired the visual of a flaming tiger head to appear in one of the striker’s moves?
The development team wanted combat in Lost Ark to be a thrilling and engaging experience from battle to battle, and that meant visuals were going to be a part of that. From the way battles pause for a split second when your weapon makes contact with an enemy, to the speed of the moves to the animations of the characters, it all comes together to make combat a satisfying, visceral experience. Similarly to when you finish an opponent with a flashy finishing move in a fighting game, Lost Ark gives the same feeling of satisfaction and awe through its use of visuals in combat.
Keeping on the combat topic, how did the team manage to keep the combat mechanics feel fresh and compelling? Were there any benchmarks that were used as a comparison to say “yes, this is the right track for our combat systems”, and what do you feel it is that sets Lost Ark apart from other MMO games?
The combat is a hallmark of Lost Ark and is one of the main factors that sets it apart from other MMOs. It’s fast, intense, flashy, exhilarating, deep, and overall it’s fun. When the team designs a class, they want it to feel unique but at the same time it should feel like it “fits” in with the other classes in the game; maybe it supports or complements other classes but we don’t want it to feel overpowered or like it doesn’t belong. What players in the West are now beginning to experience with Lost Ark’s combat is the result of years of polish and refinement from the game being out for a few years in Korea. The team is always looking to player feedback to make additional improvements to systems like combat, so both Smilegate and Amazon want as much of their input as we can get.
An MMO that’s been around for a few years will already have an established story and heaps of lore surrounding it. What went into creating such a vibrant world? What kind of story experience can new players expect when making their first steps into Arkesia?
Lost Ark has been around for a few years in other regions, so the game has a vast and established lore behind it already as players in the West are experiencing it for the first time. The team wanted to create a fantastic world with a sense of wonder where players could feel like they are exploring something that no one else has seen previously. Players in the West will get that feeling as they sail around discovering new lands, fighting exotic monsters and demons, and experiencing a unique story that continues to grow.
When we’ve been creating our own characters, we’ve seen a few main class slots that are blank. Would it be possible to get some insight into what is in store for future class additions? Also, what are the plans to bring the current subclasses that are available to Eastern players to the West?
We will be adding additional classes to the game in future updates, including classes that are already out in other regions as well as new classes as they are released over time.
Diversity and inclusion are also hot topics for Western players. As Lost Ark has set class thematics and appearances, are there any talks in regards to expanding character customisations to allow a wider range of choices for Western players? For example, the warrior is a fixed male body type, would there be plans to allow female versions or something that would appear to be a non-binary choice?
This is rooted in the game’s original design, and Smilegate RPG is the best source for information on those early design decisions. From the earliest days of Lost Ark’s announcement in the West, we’ve heard players' feedback about gender locked classes. We’ve communicated to Smilegate how passionate players are about playing a character of their choosing and having a breadth of representation options and are working with them on this front.
Finally, what are your favourite classes to play and what regions in the game are your favourite in terms of aesthetics? Any personal tips that you’ve picked up that may help a new player?
I really like the Gunner class, with the Gunslinger and Sharpshooter sub-classes specifically. The Peacekeeper and Golden Eye are two of my favorite attacks in the game. As far as areas in the game, I really like the Ghost Ship’s aesthetic, from the hunt in finding it to exploring it. What I’d suggest for new players is to stop and take time to try out all the content you can as it opens up. Powering through the story is definitely one way to play games, but there’s some really cool stuff off the beaten path if you take time to look. Especially in the game’s many island areas once you open the ability to sail.
Lost Ark is available to play on PC, and is free-to-play.
COMMENTS
Tekkon6 xbox 306 - 07:15pm, 10th May 2022
I learned a lot