Hellgate: London Interviews

Both Shacknews and Hellgate Guru have published new Hellgate: London interviews to try and make sense of today’s buzz that the game might feature subscription fees. The interview at Shacknews is in article format and chats with Flagship’s Bill Roper:

Drawing from games such as Guild Wars and of course Diablo II, Roper admits Hellgate: London’s online component doesn’t necessarily neatly slide into the MMO genre. So is it an MMO? “I think that just as Diablo and Diablo II started this religious argument over whether they’re RPGs or not,” he mused, “Hellgate will spark that same debate over whether it’s an MMO or not.” But what does Bill Roper think? “It’s really an MMO,” he said confidently.

In many ways, the Diablo series and particularly Diablo II serve as a touchstone for Hellgate. Many of those looking forward to the game were massive fans of Blizzard’s action RPG series, and Roper himself frequently refers to the franchise when talking about his game. The multiplayer concept, which revolves around individuals or groups trawling through legions of enemies in a heavily instanced world, is evocative of Diablo II’s. “There’s even Hardcore mode [available online], like in D2 where you get one life and that’s it,” he added. “Hardcore mode was very popular to a very vocal group of people who took a huge amount of pride in having a high level guy who’s never died. You tend to play the game very differently.”

While the interview at Hellgate Guru is a quick Q&A with Flagship’s Ivan Sulic:

Q: Are continuing expansion packs still on the table in lieu of monthly fees?

A: Could be the bonus dvd does it or subscription or real money transactions or auctions or micro purchases or lots of smaller expansions. Could seriously be anything. Which is why they still debate some. So… Until the reach a decision, whatever that is, and then print it across the web in a release, it’s all going to be speculation and misunderstandings and odd quotes.