Multiplayer
From Hellgate Times Index
Contents |
Characters
Starting anew
Players will not be able to transfer their single player character to the multiplayer component of the game. Players wishing to play online will have to create a new character dedicated to online play. This is for security purposes (prevent cheating).
Joining a Game
For multiple players to join the same instance, you must form a group. Not all party members must join the instance at the same time, a character not yet in the area can enter the instance at any point in time so long as they are a member of the group (can even jump from instance to instance). Being part of a group does not force your character to join an instance, you are free to go where you like, even join your own 'lone' instance.
Useful location information:
- Stations: Persistant locations, ie.'Towns'
- Instances: Combat orientated areas, a copy of the area is specifically formed for your group when entered.
Difficulty
The difficulty of an instance increases with the number of players present and their level. This allows for an enormous amount of replayability, as even at very high character levels the game will still be challenging. The quality of the loot also increases with the difficulty of the demons faced.
Features
Auction Houses
The developers have mentioned that there will be an auction house present in the multiplayer component of Hellgate. It is unclear if this feature will be available at release. If not, expect it to be available sometime thereafter with a premium content update. The auction houses will probably be functionally similar to those in World of Warcraft. Auction Houses of this nature enables player supply and demand to control the economy, something the developers seem keen on having.
PVP
While player-versus-player gameplay will available one way or another, there will not be a heavy emphasis on it. This is probably more of a balancing decision than anything, it would be nearly impossible to balance the massive amount of guns (spell delivery systems) for fair PVP play. I'm sure everyone remembers the Diablo 2 days, when one class build was better than the rest and it would change after each patch. Well the same problem would exist, only more so. Regardless, there will be PVP play, but the details are slim. What is known is that unwanted pvp battles will never occur. You will never enter a battle against another player unless you both agree to it. This will likely be done in Arena based pvp, however the details of this format have yet to be announced. Note: It appears that PVP is limited to Elite subscribers. But this has yet to be confirmed.
Free and Premium
Hellgate features two online versions of the game, one free and the other charges a monthly fee. The free version is very large and provides hours upon hours of gameplay, however it lacks some of the more refined features and does not allow access to content updates (ie. new classes, items etc) among other things. We have an in-depth breakdown of what each version is all about right here.
Ladder
There will be ladder available, although the details are unclear. We might see Hardcore, Normal and possibly PVP ladders. But again, this pure speculation.
