Meta:Multiplayer Interview FAQ

This Q&A was posted to the website IGN by propheet on November 8, 2010.

Questions and Answers

Considering the activation servers went up today and already a lot of people are playing the game, it seemed only appropriate to deliver multiplayer fans some more infos so that they know what they can expect to be able to do in MP. This interview will be especially interesting to those of the fans that were taken in with the online mode of Two Worlds 1 but found lag, performance issues or imbalances discouraging. Considering the breadth of topics covered, you can also read it through as a mini-FAQ. If you're unsure about some of the intricacies of PvP/PvE/VM, read on.

TW Vault: Hi! Could you introduce yourself to our readers? Some of them might've forgotten who you are... or what is your connection to Two Worlds II...

vst: Hey! My name is vst and I'm official site boards' moderator and betatester with INSIDETwoWorlds community.

TW Vault: First off, could you share some basic experiences you had with MP mode in Two Worlds 2 during the beta?

vst: I tried a few duels and adventure maps with German player and Slovenian player and I didn't really notice lag too much at all in both cases. I have a level 50 mage in MP that can multi-one-hit-kill (multiple, multiple-hit missile projectiles) everything, including groups. I have 150 hours logged, but nearly half of that is probably AFK/waiting for quests in Village Mode. The multiplayer of TW2 is an overall - but not major - improvement. It does feel rather cliffhanging, in that Adventure Mode is linear, seems to end too soon, and has limited replayability, but as a positive it was very challenging to finish as a beginner (especially solo), so it's memorable. Last but not least, minimal lag and connection issues with other players means it's leaps and bounds ahead of TW1, and is just so fun to play a TW game with others, and without major lag, intercontinentally or otherwise. TW2 MP doesn't try to be a stand alone quality MP game, it just feels like a few extra ideas and it really could be. As it stands, it's really a fine compliment to the main SP Mode.

TW Vault: What's your general opinion on TW2 Village mode?

vst: Village Mode feels underachieving and often unfinished, it could be something very interesting if expanded. Both Adventure Mode and Village Mode should probably be expanded if they're to be of interest to higher-level players as well.

TW Vault: Ok, so those are the general feel infos, now let's get to somewhat more specific questions. Let's start with most typical scenarios in TW1 - where magic was so overpowering some people banned it from their duels and you could kill ANYTHING alone in PVE mode just by using it. That was mostly due to the way animations, casting and sneaking worked, as well as some other mechanics.

SPELLCASTERS vs. MELEE -- changes from Two Worlds 1

Now, in Two Worlds 2, do you stop and cringe each time you're hit with the spell? Do repeated "ticks" (vide: Necropower in TW1) make you basically incapable of counterattacks or movement?

vst: No. There are also no long distance AOE effects such as Poison Cloud, the AOEs in TW2 do not trap the opponent.

TW Vault: Since there's no rooting by simple spells, is right-clicked sprint a factor in magic vs. melee duels?

vst: Warriors can strike whilst sprinting, mages with staves equipped cannot... Fast movement is definitely a factor, I personally don't use the sprint, until I absolutely need it, there's a burst jumping trick in the game used with tapping sprint key/button and jumping with the right timing. I have not even upgraded the stamina (via General Skills), and I don't plan on it.

TW Vault: Ok, so hits do not interrupt sprinting for melee-oriented combat. Does drinking potions interrupt offensive actions, as in SP?

vst: Yes!

TW Vault: With mechanics more supportive of a fairer combat, are there still sneaky underhanded magics you could unleash... Are there any debuffing spells (vide Disease, Rust Armor/Weapon in TW1)?

vst: Shadow spell is working in PvP, Decrease protection/damage curses, but nothing drastic. Also some spells are disabled in PvP, reflective damage is one, some others that are less memorable off-hand. Altar Carriers are not available in MP, and Traps Carriers are not useful.

TARGETING, BLOCKING, TRAPPING AND SNEAKING IN MP

TW Vault: That being said, it seems that mages need to work more for their victory. Targeting has been mentioned as quite demanding for melee warriors though, now what about mages? Are there any autotargeted spells? Not the homing modifier, just the spells that will lock on target automatically like in TW1?

vst: All homing missiles are disabled in PVP. Autotargeting (i.e. tabbing to some target when it's within range) is definitely there. You can't manual-target magic at all, except for non-homing missiles. You can still use default Q and E keys to tab through enemies with Enchant Carriers and non-homing projectiles when in range.

TW Vault: Does active block reduce incoming magical damage in any way?

vst: Active block either completely negates damage from the projectile, or does nothing at all, presumably at a percentage. Type of missile damage may also be a factor.

TW Vault: Ok, that's about that for regular melee. How do archers fare against warriors? How against mages? Can you shoot arrows at a longer distance with free-range as opposed to autoaim - presumably, autoaim being the same distance as any aiming magics?

vst: Archers do very well against mages...without summons, clever/wise/experienced mages are probably still the strongest class in the MP. I have not tried archer, but another tester has stated the AOE of multi-arrow ability is quite lethal. I can't tell you about archery range/targeting compared to magic, magic missiles do have an long range (possibly as far as 100 metres)... But in duel-mode it will hardly be a factor since the maps are small. Warriors will probably want to use some kind of magic/ranged/melee combined to compete with archers and/or mages.

TW Vault: How do traps factor into that and melee combat - is it still the same "who clicks first" fiesta?

vst: Traps are not nearly as relevant, you have to be unequipped for one, and 2) You have to sneak to apply a trap, but they will still certainly have a factor among skilled PvPers. Players can move around slowly (but not attack) when they're trapped, a probable bug, but not serious.

TW Vault: Does sneaking and death strike work in MP on other players?

vst: You can't hide completely - while sneaking you remain visible, death strike doesn't work on other players and is too slow and weak and the cloaking/invisibility spell is easily discernable by other players.

GAME STABILITY, PERFORMANCE, ALT-TABBING, VOICE COMMUNICATION in MP

TW Vault: Ok, let's talk a bit more about general online items outside of combat. How do you find the loading screens in MP?

vst: Significant improvement here -- there's very little loading.

TW Vault: Any crashes while you were testing PC MP mode?

vst: Strangely, only when I'm alt-tabbed in VM (Village Mode) -- so don't alt-tab when in VM, guys!

TW Vault: Will do! I mean, do not! Hehe... But alt-tabbing works correctly otherwise?

vst: Yes

TW Vault: Has voice-comm been included this time around?

vst: No, sorry...

TW Vault: Will players find some more advanced "meta" strategies in the game, sort of "win through experience"?

vst: There's plenty of room for smart/experienced/highly intuitive players to benefit. e.g. The burst jump I found, is not manoeuvrable in air, but for me it kind of makes stamina like the swimming skill of TW2.

SOCIAL ASPECTS - CHAT, GUILDS, ANTI-CHEATING, CHARS, COMMON INVENTORY etc..

TW Vault: Great! What about general usability of the online mode though... Is chat easy to use? are there easy to use /tells? Or do you have to type the name manually like before...?

vst: Chat is is set up exactly the same as TW1, but no /msg commands right now, it's a little disappointing. Unfortunately, there's also no friends list as of now.

TW Vault: Let's hope they add this. Speaking of "underdeveloped" items, are guilds more than tags over players' heads in TW2?

vst: Yes, there's a slight increase in amount of player ladder stats, so belonging to a guild may finally mean at least something.

TW Vault: Can you just create and disband guilds at will as in TW1?

vst: No, you can only create a guild once. That's the whole point of "meaning something".

TW Vault: But you can create as many characters as you want, right?

vst: No, you can only have up to FIVE characters. Old TW1 players will be glad to know that you DON'T have to pay anything to delete or create new characters.

TW Vault: Is there a possibility to rename your multiplayer character?

vst: Yes, you can change your avatars username (as of 1.0) but not your account's name.

TW Vault: But you still can change looks, right?

vst: Yes! You can change the physical appearance of your character. I myself like changing hair styles, but they're limited.

TW Vault: Let's talk a bit about the plague of TW1 - cheating! Many bugs and exploits in TW1 stemmed from poor organizational design for item storage and player's data storage. Devs said character's stats are kept on servers at all times, but what about the items, then?

vst: There's no trade between characters on your account. In addition, auras are separate and not shared between all your characters. The only thing shared by all your "toons" is your village. This is why there's no obvious ways to cheat or exploit in general.

TW Vault: Ok, what about common inventory for multiple characters on one account - is there any "coffer" of sorts in the village, perhaps?

vst: Yes, there is a common inventory in your village. Nothing is stored offline like it used to be in TW1.

TW Vault: Speaking of bugs and exploits, is HTML still allowed as part of typed message in chat?

vst: Not likely. For instance, coloured text does not seem to work.

WINNING AND LOSING IN PvP, LEVELS, SKILLS AND GRIND IN PvE...

TW Vault: Let's talk more PvP now. In PvP, what happens if you win or lose to someone?

vst: In teams' match, if you win you get +5 points for individual, +10 points for the whole team. You don't lose points for losing arenas, however! There's also no permanent "no team wins" bugs like in TW1 -- since there's no 1 million rapidly recovering mana shields!

TW Vault: How does experience and levelling work in mp?

vst: In MP (and SP, too!), experience always increases as you level from completing a quest, but it decreases after killing the same enemies over and over again, but only to a certain point.

TW Vault: What would you say is good level in MP - considering there's no level cap, could you let people know what to strive for...?

vst: The MP (as of 1.0) is really set-up for players' lvl 25-35. You can see that in what the merchants offer. In Village Mode you will find/create equipment up to lvl 50-55. I think that it is really a good balance between catering to casual players who aren't willing to zombify themselves to build a character. It takes around 50-100 hours to reach lvl 40, but it's also fair enough for players willing to spend over 200 hours. But don't get me wrong: this isn't an MMO. Hardcore MMO grinders will not have much to do there.

TW Vault: How do you train skills in MP - in SP you find a trainer (Prologue) or buy/find skillbooks, what about the MP?

vst: It's pretty much the same in MP, aside from learning from NPCs (none such). You have basic skills unlocked depending on your class, and further ones can be unlocked by purchasing skill books from various merchants located in the lobby. Books typically cost around 10.000 Auras, so you have to plan ahead. I'm not sure if they work exactly like in SP, where by consuming a book you are not only granted an unlocked skill but also a single point already invested into it -- but it might work like that.

TW Vault: Is there a possibility to untrain the skills/parameters?

vst: Yes. There're NPCs called Soulpatchers (like in SP) scattered across the Adventure Mode maps. Not sure about the cost, but it might increase from session to session.

BALANCING - Typical Stats Example

TW Vault: Sweet, no forced grinding then! Any unbalances there for those who do choose to grind away?

vst: Multiple-ricocheting projectiles are probably the most overpowered attack in the game, at close ranges they can do more than 60.000 damage on my lvl 50 character, but the HP of most players will not be near 60.000... For example, I'm level 50 with 150+ hours under my belt. My toon has 65.000 mana (with hat that I don't wear, 50.000 without it), 10.000 hp, 2,320,000 experience and 1,050,000 auras (money is quite easy to earn right now).

TW Vault: Whoa those are some nice numbers! Speaking of numbers - how much does it actually cost to start a village - cause we've heard some contradicting infos on that?

vst: Just as stated in some of the previews, VM costs 10.000 auras to obtain - you have to earn this on your own in Adventure Mode.

TW Vault: Thanks for your answers - see you on the battlefield, vst!

vst: Cya!