Wizardry Online Preview

After the Japanese announcement we had admittedly lost track of it, but, after attending an E3 presentation, Massively came back with a lengthy and meaty preview of Wizardry Online, which promises to be a far from banal title. Want an example? Permadeath:

Headlock Games CEO Nobuyuki Okada stepped up to the podium to expound on the game’s systems and philosophy, starting with the team’s embrace of one of the most controversial topics in MMOs. Permadeath — the permanent loss of your character upon death — is so fringe, so polarizing, that it’s simply been avoided by a vast majority of MMOs to date. Will this be too foreign of a concept for players to embrace in Wizardry Online, or will it be a major selling point?

Okada sees the consequence-free death-and-resurrection loop in MMOs as a detriment to the industry, and as such, embraced the idea of permadeath early on in the development cycle: “[Permadeath] will create a more realistic sense of urgency in the game.”

Running away from a hard fight is a valid tactic, Okada said. But sooner or later, chances are you’re going to die. To blunt the pain of a permanent character loss, players can stash gear, weapons, and valuables in a “cloak room” that is accessible to their next toons.