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Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of talking with Tim Harris, CEO of Seven Lights and creator of the Continuum. I met Tim last year at GenCon, when he was kind enough to give me a demonstration of the pre-beta Continuum game play.
Now, nearly a year later, The Continuum has finally opened its doors to the public. If you want to read my initial article about my GenCon meeting and my review of the early game, check it out here.
This time I'm talking to Tim, one week before the game goes completely public, and it's obvious he's excited about it. One of the reasons I like talking to Tim, and about The Continuum, is that it doesn't take long to figure out that he's just a gamer at heart like the rest of us. He wants to build a cool game that people are going to have fun playing. In today's big media world of games, it's nice to know that these guys are out there making games.
He tells me that the Beta went great, better than expected in many ways. And that it's the 'best thing' they've done. He describes many of the beta testers as being like second designers for the game, and that it's incredible how many of them feel like friends and partners.
When I ask him what we can expect with the Launch, which happened last Wednesday, June 25th, he explains that many things will have improved from the experience players may have had in the Beta. I took part in the Beta myself, and know that while the game runs smoothly and is already has an extremely in-depth world with established characters, there's a lot that a new player has to learn on the fly. Tim explains that with the Launch, the new player experience will be far more helpful, with tutorials for just about everything, and pop-ups with helpful text as you first begin to maneuver through the game. Already, there's been an out-pouring of player created guides about how to get started, equip and upgrade your characters as you play.
He also tells me that soon after Launch we can start to expect some interesting changes that will better engage a more casual player. There will be Simulations of a one on one match without going up against another player. The changes will also include a way for players to take part in the storyline, with linear style Dungeon Crawls for loot or badges. Some of these individual Dungeon Crawls will be available one-time only, which gives the player a bigger sense of accomplishment than the repeatable quests with no game/story impact prevalent in so many MMOs.
The Continuum will also soon be releasing a 4th comic to finish fleshing out "pre-destruction" storyline, this time following the Vampire reality. Hopefully starting with the 5th comic (which will begin the "post-destruction" game time storyline) players will be able to find the comics in stores near them.
I also learn that Tim and the guys at Seven Lights are working on a new game that will feel more like The Continuum in space. Tim describes it as "Star Frontiers meets D&D".
I wish Tim and everyone at Seven Lights the very best with The Continuum, and I urge all of you to check out The Continuum if you haven't already. Also, if you're going to be in Indianapolis this year for GenCon, find The Continuum table and pick up a comic, or say hello to Tim and the gang in person.
