Jonric: For accounts with multiple characters, can players allocate the points among them? And how are you dealing with subscribers?

Craig Morrison: The points that can be transferred to an account get sent to all the characters so each can then spend them independently; i.e. each character gets all the points to use. So, if players want to try different items for different characters they are free to do so. We thought this was an important part of the offering so people didn't feel like they had lost out compared to expansion-style content that is available to all characters on an account; we wanted the paid points to have the same feeling.

The number points allocated to subscribers scales with the duration of the subscription as we felt it was important to reward the loyal, longer-term ones. The points are also awarded at the point of subscription, so if a player takes up an annual subscription they get the added bonus of a nice stack of points to spend!

Jonric: What goals did you have for the initial selection of items? What did you decide to offer initially, and why?

Craig Morrison: For the first batch of items, we really wanted to nail what it was we were trying to offer players in terms of some really cool items that would be appealing without impacting the gameplay. I am really proud of how the team approached this question, and also of the solution we came up with.

The first items on offer are new vehicles for players... jet bikes and hoverboards. We couldn't think of anything cooler and more in keeping with our sci-fi theme. Visually, the bikes are the most complex and stunning items we have ever tried to implement in the game. We took the technology we developed for the previous expansion that allowed the player models to be visible in Lost Eden's PvP mechanized walkers, and then applied it to these new sleek, cool vehicles. There are three different models of bike, and two boards, each with six different skins, offering a wide variety of choices.

When riding in one, the players sees all the character's equipment and items as usual. It's not just a morph putting them in a different shape; it's truly a mounted vehicle. The new ones also look so much cooler then any of the vehicles we have been able to put into the game before. Our art director and his team really pushed the envelope on them, and we are very happy with how well they turned out. It even amazes me sometimes what they are able to do with our engine, considering its age.