Mortal Online

Mortal Online
Developer(s)	Star Vault
Publisher(s)	Star Vault
Composer(s)	Patrik Jarlestam
Engine	Unreal Engine 3 Terrain - Grome
Version	1.50.00.00[1]
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)	June 9, 2010
Genre(s)	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Media/distribution	DVD and Digital Download
System requirements 1 GB RAM 3 GHz Intel Pentium 4 or equivalent processor ATI Radeon 9800/nVidia GeForce 6600 5-25 GB hard disk space[2]

Mortal Online is a First Person, Open World, PvP/PvE Sandbox MMORPG developed and published by the Swedish independent video game company Star Vault. Mortal Online was released on June 9, 2010. The game is inspired by the desire to return to Ultima Online's player-controlled, sandbox-style game design; it uses Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 and features a skill-based, real-time combat system.^[3][4]

Mortal Online does not have a traditional level/class system, but rather a skill and attribute system similar to the Elder Scrolls series.^[5][6][7][8] There are ten different races for the player to choose from, including an orc-human hybrid, five human races, two elf-like races, and two dwarf-like races.^[9] In order to experience multiple possible playstyles, players can have three characters per account.^[10]

Development

In October 2010, approximately four months after its official release, Mortal Online's game engine was rebuilt, making it possible for its developers to implement better graphics, increase performance and introduce advanced features which were previously not possible on the older engine.^[11]

In June 2011, the game's first expansion titled "Dawn" was released. It introduced graphical and performance improvements; new features like the need to eat, drink and sleep; health, stamina and mana "reserves", a gene system for mounts, changes to the riding and related mechanics, a task system which allows players to create quests for others to do, a new housing system, character skills, world interactive objects, new pick-able resources including a wide selection of plants, a in-town mail system with cash-on-delivery to ease player trading and an updated game launcher.^[12]

The deployment of Dawn suffered many technical issues, leading to extended server downtime and certain game features being disabled directly after the release.^[13]. Additions such as the gene system and cooking were initially poorly received by some players, especially cooking as raw food is better than low-skill cooked food for in-game purposes. This, combined with early balancing issues, lead to extensive weight loss amongst player avatars which in turn cause attribute penalties.^[14]

In September 2011, Star Vault formed a "Focus Group" - essentially a test and early feedback group for upcoming releases and patches. ^[15] Members of the group are active players that have signed a non-disclosure agreement with Star Vault. The purpose of the Focus Group is to augment Star Vault's limited internal resource and act as an additional quality assurance level before new releases and patches reach the general playing audience. ^[16]

Gameplay

Overview of skills and attributes in Mortal Online

Mortal Online has both PvP and PvE content, with the design focus on PvP. The lack of working AI limits PvE, something SV has promised to address in future patches.

Learning Curve

The game offers a tutorial for newer players, though not overly in-depth, and a help channel in which they can ask questions in their first 8 hours of play. In general, although playing the game solo with limited or no interaction with other players is possible and is done by a percentage of players, it is discouraged by the game mechanics. Star Vault does not provide detailed information on certain important game mechanics (such as refining and crafting) - instead players are expected to research and experiment to gain knowledge about what works and what does not. This knowledge is then either used as an advantage against other players or shared on public forums. Players may not initially be willing to share whereabouts of certain rare items but eventually this information becomes publicly available.

PvE, Crafting, and Exploration

Other than robbing, dueling, and killing other players, players can craft weapons, shields, armor; build houses, keeps, and palisades; hunt and butcher animals for use in crafting and cooking; tame animals; mine and ultimately refine rocks into precious metals; train their skills; or explore. Player-built structures can be attacked and destroyed by players, and certain wild animals that have been tamed can also be mounted, including horses and rhino-like creatures.

Flagging System

Concerning the PvP content, Mortal Online has an FFA (Free-For-All) PvP system, with consequences for killing other players in the form of “flags” which range from, among others, blue (innocent) to grey (criminal) to red (murderer). Being a criminal in Mortal Online (also known as being locally or globally "allowed") means that other players can either attack you without being flagged themselves, or can call the NPC guards on you in certain towns. Doing certain offensive or aggressive actions in the game will also flag the offending player "allowed", for example getting caught pick pocketing or simply pushing another player too many times within a short period of time.^[17] When a player dies, all of the items in their inventory drop to the floor in a loot bag, which is loot-able by all other players and disappears over a long period of time. Starting with the Dawn expansion, the loot bag also includes the corpse and the head of the player.

Nudity, gore and brutality

Players that do not wear armor or clothes are completely naked. Naked players are a relatively common sight, either because they choose so or because they were killed and have not had a chance to restock. When killed, the player loot bag includes a corpse and a named head. Corpses can be consumed, butchered or cooked. The heads can be collected as trophies or eaten. Occasionally, heads of well-known players are offered for sale on the game's official forums. Butchering a corpse yields materials including skin which can be used to craft clothes.

Player-made Content

Guilds can maintain their own keeps and palisades, and can contest control of certain cities. In addition to activity caused by player interaction, in-game events are triggered by developers and gamemasters, with examples such as a sudden, unexpected infestation of a town or area by giant spiders, zombies and undead creatures or wildlife such as springboks.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Controversies

The Loot Bag and Game Discs

When the first customers received the limited edition Loot Bag Collectors Edition, they realised that it was impossible to install the game from the disc provided. After receiving many complaints, Star Vault issued a statement saying that all customers would get updated discs when the game launched. The discs have, as yet, not been sent out, and Star Vault has indicated it will no longer honor it's statement.^{[22] [23]}

Subscription problems

In June 2011, many StarVault customers had their subscription plans changed without their consent and multiple payments taken within one month. The SV CEO blamed the problem on "recently moved parts of our shop system" ^[24], and the Community Manager stated that players should "file a support ticket" ^[25]. This response drew criticism as it required the players to correct SV's mistake rather than SV initiating charge-backs, as other MMO companies (such as Mythic) have done in similar situations. ^{[26] [27]}

Notes

1. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/62628-changelog-dawn-expansion-version-1-50-00-00-a.html
2. ^ Subject to change. http://www.mortalonline.com/news/july-13-07-09
3. ^ "Features". http://www.mortalonline.com/features. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
4. ^ Phil Penman (2009-06-09). "Mortal Online: Combat Overview". http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/361/feature/3123/Combat-Overview.html. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
5. ^ "Attributes and Skills Overview". http://www.mortalonline.com/attributesskills. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
6. ^ Mike (2009-03-20). "Mortal Online Preview". http://www.mmocrunch.com/2009/03/20/mortal-online-preview/. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
7. ^ tovin (2008-05-28). "Mortal Online Skills and Attributes". Zam. http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=13610. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
8. ^ "Mortal Online Overview". TenTonHammer. http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1004. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
9. ^ "Races". http://www.mortalonline.com/races. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
10. ^ "FAQ: Can I have more than one character on my account?". Mortal Online. http://www.mortalonline.com/faq#q3. Retrieved 2010-02-24. 
11. ^ "Patch Notes v 1.3.0.0 - New Build Release". 2010-10-08. http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/54092-patch-notes-v-1-3-0-0-new-build-release.html. Retrieved 2010-12-22. 
12. ^ "Changelog - (Dawn Expansion) Version 1.50.00.00". 2011-06-09. http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/62628-changelog-dawn-expansion-version-1-50-00-00-a.html. Retrieved 2011-06-16. 
13. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/64110-server-maintenance-complete-08-07-a.html
14. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/67014-big-problem-food.html
15. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/67269-focus-group-live.html
16. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/66846-testers-needed.html
17. ^ "Server patch 2011-03-30". http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/60550-server-patch-2011-03-30-a.html. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 
18. ^ "Attacks in Vadda and Moh-ki". http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/63748-attacks-vadda-moh-ki.html. Retrieved 11 August 2011. 
19. ^ "Races". http://www.mortalonline.com/races. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
20. ^ "Locations". http://www.mortalonline.com/locations. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
21. ^ "Stories". http://www.mortalonline.com/stories. Retrieved 2011-07-08. 
22. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/60820-new-community-manager-will-you-ever-honor-new-disc-promise.html#post1129716
23. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/60820-new-community-manager-will-you-ever-honor-new-disc-promise.html#post1131320
24. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/62388-subscription-screw-ups.html#post1154258
25. ^ http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/62388-subscription-screw-ups.html#post1155950
26. ^ http://mmofallout.com/2011/06/10/mortal-online-close-to-being-delisted-from-mmo-fallout/
27. ^ http://herald.warhammeronline.com/warherald/NewsArticle.war?id=1071

External links

• Official Website
• Official Forums