Auto Assault E3 Editorials

MMORPG.com and Ten Ton Hammer have both published editorials about the future of Auto Assault, based on conversations they had with NetDevil president Scott Brown at this year’s E3. A snip from MMORPG.com’s article:

I asked Brown about Auto Assault tournaments, and whether he thought it would become a professional PvP game. The idea of professional RPG players is still in its infancy, with only Guild Wars, another NCSoft title, paving the way. Brown said that he still wasn’t sure, but that it’s a possibility. To help promote the popularity of tournaments, an announcement system now notifies players when a tourney is coming up and, afterwards, who won.

And a snip from Ten Ton Hammer’s article:

The subject of convoys (Auto Assault’s take on grouped play) came up. Scott Brown is nothing if not honest: “This could be my biggest mistake in making the game. I mostly like to play alone, but I like to be in a world of other people, which is one thing people don’t understand. They ask me, ‘Why are you making an MMO?’ They don’t understand; I want to be in a world with other people. But I like to be able to play alone. So we built the game with that mindset. But the problem is I think that some of the community stuff has suffered. One of the big things we’re working on now are ways to help you feel like it’s more of a world. Ways to make grouping easier, ways to make grouping more advantageous. So if you want to group, great! Here’s your rewards for grouping. Simple stuff, like if you’re a mutant, there’s this thing called the Trials of Ascension. You go through, and you level up your character and you gain these ranks.