The land of fantasy is fading. Stories long forgotten by the children they were created for. And as they turn away from their former imaginative words, fantasy has faded into distant memory...But The King of Fantasy has plans to revive his dying kingdom. A gathering! A celebration! A party! An adventurous quest through the favorite tales of your childhood! Last time, Gneumatic and Sl0th, GMs of Tales Runner, were interviewed by us and gave us some details about this game. Now, Sl0th talk with us again. Let him tell us how things are going with Tales Runner recently.

MMOsite: I am glad that we have this opportunity to make an interview with you again. How are things going with Tales Runner recently? Have you attained the results expected after the launch? What is some of the feedback you receive from players?

GM Sl0th: It's good to talk with you again as well. Thanks for having me back. Things have been pretty exciting with Tales Runner lately; lots of updates, lots of player growth, new content, and an extraordinary amount of planning for the future.

One of our main goals with Tales Runner was to build a strong community base and boy did we ever succeed. It's been extremely rewarding to see how well our players get along and just how welcoming they are to new players. Seeing their interactions, it's nice to be able to say that the strength of our community is our greatest achievement. Tales Runner is already a fun game but what good is a fun game if there aren't cool people to enjoy it with right?

The players love the game, which is a relief. There's always a level of apprehension when launching a new game. Lots of self-doubt. Lots of, "Oh I hope they like it".

With our initial release and subsequent patches, we've not only strived to release engaging, solid content but to make it clear to our players that we won't be wasting the game's potential. As a result our players have shown infinite support. I think that might be something all gamers can appreciate, seeing a game they love live up to its full potential.

MMOsite: What new content has been added since it started to be in commercial operation?

GM Sl0th: To start, we've gone through two blocks of holiday content. Each block contains about 40+ new items, a couple new maps, and some changes to the environment in our Park. Aside from those, we've added an additional 50+ items, around 25 maps, and 3 new pets.

Looking at that list I have to chuckle little bit, we've released nearly a game's worth of content in a little less than 3 months and we're just getting started. There's still so much more to come.

MMOsite: Although there have been a few interviews floating around the web concerning Tales Runner, many people are still unfamiliar with this run MMOG. Could you give us a brief synopsis of Tales Runner? Why should players be interested in this particular game?

GM Sl0th: Tales Runner, for now, is definitely seeing a lot of underground success. We've done a little marketing but this game belongs to our players and right now we can hear what they are saying easier.

For anyone that is looking for a game that is just starting out or a game that hasn't gone mainstream, Tales Runner is the place to go. It's a quality game and the players are awesome but it's relatively unknown. And it's getting increasingly difficult to find places that are unknown on the internet.

 
MMOsite: What type of gamers are you targeting? Would you say Tales Runner is more oriented toward casual players?

GM Sl0th: We're not specifically targeting anyone. We're in a position that allows us to simply invite people to visit the game and give it a try. The beauty of Tales Runner is that it's the kind of game that anyone can lose themselves in.

I've asked people why they like Tales Runner so much and it's funny watching them try to explain it. There's a lot of little things that make the game cool but it's almost impossible for anyone to nail down the one thing that makes it awesome for them. It's like the game has some kind of hidden joke that you can only get while you're playing.

Tales Runner is perfect for casual gamers. Pop in, race a bit, and go about your day. The quick match-making system makes that process simple. Hardcore playing has its benefits as well. The more you play, the higher your level, the higher your level, the more access you have to better teams and eventually you'll gain access to locked areas of the game. Any type of gamer can enjoy it.

MMOsite: Can we say Tales Runner is a racing leisure online game? If so, how does your game set itself apart from the other racing leisure online game?

GM Sl0th: I wouldn't call it a leisure racing game. I don't think anyone who's ever played the game would call it that actually, there's just too much happening during a race to call it leisurely! Officially, we call it an Adventure Racing Game.

There isn't a genre that Tales Runner is going to fit into easily. You can race but it's not necessarily a racing game, you can level and customize your character but it's not a RPG. I guess we'll have to label it as a Racing MMORPG because that is the only way we'll get it to fit into a genre.

Actually, forget about genres. Tales Runner is Tales Runner, we don't particularly feel a need to make it fit into something it's not.

MMOsite: You said On Dec. 17th, the Tales Runner Team will be releasing the largest update yet. Can you give us some details about this update? What new features we can expect?

GM Sl0th: It's true. We added a new system, the Couple System, which will allow users to "Couple" with another player and gain bonuses whenever they race together. This system sounds pretty straight forward but its depth is surprising.

Each Couple will have a pair of rings. Wearing the rings is what gives the bonuses whenever a Couple races together. After a few days players can upgrade the rings for increased bonuses. If a couple stays together for a long time the rings turn into extremely rare and powerful items that can only be gotten this way.

We've released the Flying Pig pet and the Flying Pig Bundle. This'll be the first time we've released a bundle that'll allow players to get no only the pet but some pet food as well. Players have been waiting for this pet for quite some time and we even have a GM that's named himself after it so it's going to be an exciting addition.

We also worked some magic on the Park, changing it to a completely winter themed area with an awesome tree in the middle. That's one of the joys of working with Tales Runner's development team, asking for something as seemingly simple as a Christmas tree has breathtaking results. It's nice being surprised by the game you work on.

Of course, in addition to all this we added new items, gear, a few more events in place, and a new character!

MMOsite: Let's talk something about the new characters. There's been a rumor that Maki and Rough are coming out around Christmas. However, everyone is definitely waiting on pins and needles for them. What can you reveal about the new characters just for us?

GM Sl0th: I guess we can let the cat out of the bag at this point. Maki and Rough will not be coming out this year. Those characters are special in their own ways and will be released after the others. They're special enough to deserve that. Around New Year's we will be releasing our 5th character, Lina. We know that people want Rough and Maki but we're going to have to get through the less popular characters before we can give them those.

MMOsite: How often can players expect a massive update?

GM Sl0th: I mentioned in our previous interview that we release huge blocks of content in "Chapters". New Chapters come out every 2-3 months, with lots of little updates in between each one. Chapter 2 is slated for release in early February, The Alchemist. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. It's going to be adding a lot of things that our players have been asking for.

MMOsite: Could you give a bit of details?

GM Sl0th: I can give a little. At least, I think I can. If I'm not supposed to I'm sure I'll find out eventually.

By the end of Chapter 2, we'll have released about 10 maps, 2 characters (including either Rough or Maki), and 2 new pets.

We'll also be releasing our Alchemy (Item Crafting) and Family (Guilds) systems at long last. Which means I can finally get my flaming devil wings. Awesome.

MMOsite: Well, thank you for spending time with us again. We hope to talk to you in the future.

GM Sl0th: Thank you for having me again. Be sure to get in touch with me again when we launch our next Chapter, I'll have more details for your readers!