AMANDA DYAR: The release of the City of Steam closed beta is nearly at an end. What had the team most excited heading into the beta's launch, and what is the one thing the team can not wait for players to try out in City of Steam?
GABRIEL V. LAFORGE: We were very excited to release Dwarves as a playable race, as those had been highly anticipated by players for a long time now. Having their own sets of skills and their unique storyline, we were anxious to see what our player community would think.
Challenge Dungeons were another big new addition, and players reacted overall positively. However, what we really wanted to show players were the shiny new STEAMBIKES they can use to get around faster!
AMANDA: As of today, there are four classes planned for City of Steam: Arcanist, Channeler, Gunner and Warder. During early beta testing, which of these characters seems to be the favorite among players, and will any other character classes be added to the completed version of the game?
GABRIEL: By far the Gunner is the favored class, even since Alpha! Arcanist and Warder are often neck-in-neck at second, and Channelers, well… they don’t get as much love.
We do plan on having more classes in the future, some of which have already been hinted at in-game with certain weapons and mods that can’t be used by the current classes yet… We’ll have more on this later!
AMANDA: As with any great MMO, creating beautiful, sprawling landscapes for players to explore in City of Steam was very important. Can you tell us about the creation of The World Machine and the Major Plate in both concept and its development?
GABRIEL: The origin of the World Machine, which was presumably built for some purpose (how could that thing be ‘natural’, anyway?), is highly debated but ultimately unknown. It predates any records available in the game’s lore.
As far as development goes, it made sense to have an industrial setting based on a world that was itself a machine. Steam- and clockwork technologies are not a part of a new industrial revolution, but a long part of the World Machine’s history. Plus, it looks awesome!
We are actually working on releasing a series of lore videos further exploring the workings of the World Machine in the near future, hosted by the creator himself, David Lindsay. So keep an eye out for those!
AMANDA: The world of City of Steam is full of all types of people including humans, orcs, goblins and more. How do the various races affect the storyline and missions players receive in City of Steam, and in what unique ways does a character's race affect the way a player will want to play the game?
GABRIEL: Your chosen race has an important effect on the personal story and quests you will get, as the family quest lines are tied to what you choose. For those who love story flavor to their games, playing each of the different races will give them a new experience and perspective on what’s going on in Nexus, and may uncover mysteries that would otherwise remain undiscovered if you only stick with a single character.
Different races also have their own set of racial statistics and abilities, so you may find yourself leaning towards playing a goblin to use their jump skill, or an Ostenian to take advantage of their pull-in ability.
AMANDA: During the closed beta phase, players are likely to have many questions concerning City of Steam. Do you have any tips on how new players should approach the game, and where can players go to learn more about the new release?
GABRIEL: Our own website contains a plethora of game-related lore and development journals, but that may be a bit much to take in for a casual passer-by. For a more concise approach, we’d recommend heading over to our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCityofSteam) and checking out the latest videos we’ve added. If you want a more in-depth playthrough of the game, TotalBiscuit’s “WFT Is City of Steam” Alpha preview (albeit a bit dated now) gives a good impression of what the game offers, and what we plan to do with it.
To learn more visit the official City of Steam website.