Perpetual’s Stieg Hedlund reveals more details about the MMO, Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising
By Michael Lafferty

“We brought in a lot of themes that we think will pay off on people’s expectations for a game based in Rome and Roman myth”

“Go,” said he, “tell the Romans that it is the will of heaven that my Rome should be the head of all the world. Let them henceforth cultivate the arts of war, and let them know assuredly, and hand down the knowledge to posterity, that no human might can withstand the arms of Rome.”
            History of Rome by Livy, Book I, Chapter 16: Disappearance of Romulus

Fantasy is very much a part of the massively multiplayer online gaming genre, but fantasy has been ensconced, to a large degree, in the history of the world and mankind. Take the ancient Greek and Roman cultures, for example. Harpies, furies, minotaurs and an assortment of monsters dotted the lore of those cultures, and for every creature out to foster evil and wreck the machinations of man, there was a hero to stand in the way.

Perpetual Entertainment is taking that notion and advancing the idea into the MMO space with Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, an MMO to be published by SOE.

According to the official description of the game: “In Gods and Heroes, players become classic heroes of the ancient world, born of immortal blood. As a scion of the gods, each player will have the opportunity to pursue his destiny through a series of Epic Quests that will span all levels of gameplay, over time commanding amazing God Powers and acquiring famous weapons and treasure of myth.

“The game will be set in Rome around 300 BC, a time when the Republic is powerful, but Roman enemies including the Carthaginians, Gauls, and Samnites threaten the fledgling imperial holdings. Worse, the land is beset by terrible creatures, such as Gorgons, Cyclopes, and Furies. As heroes of Rome, players will take on missions to expand and protect the Republic, her interests, and her citizens, and will serve one of the 12 great Roman gods.

“Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising will implement the most interactive, dynamic, strategic and engaging combat system of any MMG - challenging players before battle as well as during battle. Players will strategically select and train their NPC Soldiers in a variety of skills and abilities to form individual squads that meet specific challenges, and devise strategies and create formations for these squads to execute on command - maximizing the unique skills and abilities of each individual squad.”

One of GameZone’s writers saw the title at E3 in 2005 and was rather excited about the mechanics and world:
Preview: Gods and Heroes has every sign of being an exceptional member of a very competitive category of games. 

Intrigued, GZ wanted to get more as the game edges toward beta, and for that we turned to Stieg Hedlund, Design Director, Perpetual Entertainment.

Question: With SOE now publishing this title, have any changes been made to the game itself, or is this pretty much the same title that was at E3 in 2005?

Stieg: I hope it’s not pretty much the same title that was at E3 in 2005, which would have less to do with SOE’s involvement, and more to do with the fact that we’ve been working on it hard, refining the vision and raising the level of quality. I’d say it’s essentially the same game, but a lot better.

Q: As this is based on the Roman era, how authentic to the time frame is the game? Will family have much to do with status within the society?

Stieg: Well our game is a blend of history and mythology, so discussing it terms of authenticity is a bit odd. However, we do enjoy the flavor and detail provided by this backdrop a great deal, and the characters, environments and stories of the game are deeply infused with this material. We’ve really done a great deal of research in both history and myth, but our focus has always been on presenting what we’ve learned in a way that entertains. Certainly people could learn a thing or two about Roman culture from our game, but they’re guaranteed to have fun doing so.

As far as family, the character you play has unclear parentage and is a bit set apart from Roman society. Being a heroic scion of the gods tends to do that.

We do have Tribes (our version of Guilds), which actually was what the Romans called their noble families, such as the famous Julii.

Q: How do players begin and how will they attain followers (the NPCs they can lead into battle)?

Stieg: When you begin you have been imprisoned by the followers of the Telchines, a mysterious group of sorcerers who had been banished by the Gods eons since. They’re back and have rounded up the heroes of Rome. You have to escape form captivity and take your place as a defender of the Republic.

Some rare minions can be gained as rewards for quests, and others will be more commonly available in cities. As you explore the game world there will be a wide variety of them that you can try to hire.

Q: Speaking of NPC followers - if you are in a battle, and your NPCs die, can they be restored, or do you have to replace them and train the rookies? Do NPCs level?

Stieg: Minions can die, but there are ways to bring them back. We think people will become pretty attached to their minions, and it’d be overly punishing to have permanent death for them; you’d probably also have to always be hunting for minions to take the place of the dead ones, which doesn’t seem fun either.

Therefore, the only way to really “lose” a minion is if you fire him. Minions do level up with the player and gain new abilities as you use them.

Q: Can you recruit different quality followers without having to defeat mythic beasts to earn their loyalty?

Stieg: Minions do have different degrees of power, from the light minions available at lower levels through the heavy minions you can find later. Myth creatures will follow you eventually, but they are rare and you generally will get them only after the completion of fairly strenuous tasks.

Q: Is the mythos in this game strictly Roman or is it a hybrid of Roman and Greek mythology?

Stieg: Roman myth is already a hybrid of Roman and Greek myth — the Romans adopted a great deal of the mythos of Greece, but they really made it their own as well as having a number of native beliefs of their own. Pretty much anything you can think of from Greek myth exists in Roman myth as well (although the name is likely to have changed, as well as various other details about it), and there are other distinctly Roman creatures such as numen (place-spirits).

Q: Do politics and the intrigue of that play a role in the game?

Stieg: When you think Rome, you naturally think political intrigue, so we really embraced that in a lot of our story lines. We brought in a lot of themes that we think will pay off on people’s expectations for a game based in Rome and Roman myth.

Q: With a large world, will players only be able to play Romans, or will they be able to take on the roles of other nations that battled against the Roman empire?

Stieg: At launch you will get to play one of several types of heroes of Rome, but in future expansions we plan to allow play as heroes of different nations in opposition to Rome, such as the Carthaginians.

Q: Tell us about the economic model. Will there be crafting in this world, or will armor and weapons be earned, either through combat or by earning the coin to buy from NPC merchants. Will players have to outfit their followers?

Stieg: Players will be able to purchase equipment from merchants in cities and towns, but at higher levels more powerful items will only be available as loot. You can purchase equipment for your minions as well to improve their performance in battle.

Q: When will beta for this game launch and what is the expected release date?

Stieg: We will be finishing primary development over the next few months and moving into ever larger beta testing phases leading to a launch in the fall.

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