Avadon: The Black Fortress Interview

In addition to pointing out a new signup page for those of you interested in beta testing the Windows version of Avadon: The Black Fortress, Spiderweb Software’s official website is linking to a new Q&A with Jeff Vogel on Sub Gamers that provides some more insight into the indie developer’s latest RPG franchise.

Since the game is class based rather than skill based – how did you ensure that the class’ power would be evenly distributed, and thus equally attractive for players to choose from? The skills of the classes Blademaster, Shadowwalker, Shaman, and Sorceress are so different from each other it would be hard to keep them balanced.

J.V: It is hard. It takes a lot of time. That is what testing is for. Lots and lots of testing and feedback. Fortunately, Avadon doesn’t have PvP, like World of Warcraft. The characters don’t fight each other, so they don’t have to have equal power. All I need is to make sure each character class is strong enough to survive the game. The power levels only need to be roughly equal, not exactly equal.

Now that the game is pretty much ready to hit the market – What are your favorite things about it?

J.V: I’m really proud of it. I’ve spent a lot of time playing it during testing, and I really enjoy it. I love the story. I love the big, detailed, dangerous feel of the world. I love how the interface and system worked out. I only hope that the customers feel the same way.