January 14, 2002 - Le Signe des T�n�bres (The Sign of Darkness) marked the debut of Les Chroniques de la Lune Noire (Black Moon Chronicles). The fantasy-based French "bande-dessin�e" (graphic novel) written by Fran�ois Marcela Froideval introduced readers to a complex, fascinating world filled with conspiracies and chicanery, where the balance of power lies within an intricate and constantly shifting web of alliances. It proved to be popular, spawning a sequel, Le Vent Des Dragons (Wind of the Dragons) the following year. Since then, an additional seven segments have been published, bearing suitably ominous titles such as La Marque des D�mons (Mark of the Demons), La Couronnes des Ombres (Crowns of Shadows), Quand Sifflent les Serpents (When Snakes Whistle) and La Danse Ecarlate (The Scarlet Dance).

At its studio located in Montreal, developer Vircom is currently hard at work on Black Moon Chronicles - Winds of War, a colorful online world that will bring this intriguing franchise to the PC medium. From the literary property, the game derives its distinctive visual style, which is similar to comic book art, as well as its main theme, the conflict between the evil Order of the Black Moon and the Empire, the Order of Light and the Knights of Justice. With Vircom's The 4th Coming laying claim to more than 500,000 registered players around the world, we certainly wanted to know more about its new game. For this Black Moon Chronicles Q&A; #4, we are joined by Producer Beno�t Thomas who fills us in on the game's four factions, its 12 character classes and a number of related topics.

Jonric: Please summarize each of the four factions including their values, strengths and weaknesses, relationships with each other, and anything else that is significant. Does choosing a faction result in any bonuses or restrictions?)

Beno�t Thomas: Here are the values and descriptions of the four factions, basically as stated on the Black Moon Chronicles website:

The Empire values power, militarism and order
The Empire has ruled over the land of Lhynn for over three decades. His colors, red and black, represent war and death respectively. His armies are among the most powerful in the world and it is said that none can resist them. Its respected leader, the Emperor, anxiously awaits the arrival of the Chosen One who will announce the end of an era, as foreseen by the Oracle.

The Order of Light values elitism, fanaticism and stringency
The Order of Light is an elite order of religious warriors who serve the Emperor. Dressed in white and red, they act as shock troops for the empire. Despite some whispered rumors about the integrity of their leader Fratus Sinister, members of the Order are loyal to the Emperor, whose cause they defend.

The Knights of Justice value honor, devotion and dedication
The Knights of Justice, lead by Parsifal, also act as elite troops for the empire, but have not (yet) been officially recognized by the Emperor, who waits for the Knights to prove their worth. Their white and blue uniforms display the sincere purity of their intentions.

The Priesthood of the Black Moon values chaos, conquest and corruption
The Priesthood of the Black Moon welcomes nefarious individuals and sinister adventurers from all over the world. As the leader of his chaotic Faction, the all-powerful Haazel Thorn works in darkness, waiting for just the right time to usurp the throne from the Emperor.

In the graphic novel, the relations between the different factions evolve. At one point, Haazel Thorn even swore allegiance to the Emperor... We have decided to present the factions as they are in the fitth novel, at the verge of a great war. All allied factions face the Black Moon in a struggle to rule over Lhynn.

Since the Alliance faces the Black Moon, Black Moon members can only group among them; whereas characters of the Alliance can group together, up to as many as they want.

Choosing a faction has a great influence on roleplay. Each faction has its own description of the universe and promotes a certain set of values. I think roleplaying will get very interesting as the characters' stories evolve, because the blur between good and evil accentuates as the storyline unfolds...

Jonric: Are there any significant differences between the factions in the graphic novels and the way they are implemented in the game, and if so why? What were the most interesting decisions you had to make in terms of implementing factions?

Beno�t Thomas: Yes and no... the culture and philosophy of each faction and their military conflict is respected in the game. The major difference is the classes we had to associate within each faction. One of the most difficult challenges was the fact that the graphic novel puts its emphasis on a single hero, Whismerill, and not on the four factions. Since we want to introduce offline players into the online world, we chose to take a simple class system and we developed a list of classes from our understanding of each faction.

Jonric: What are the 12 character classes? How did you decide to have 12, and what were the major considerations in selecting them? What other classes if any were seriously considered? Why did you decide to have only two classes each for the Empire coalition factions and six for the Order of the Black Moon?

Beno�t Thomas: As mentioned in the previous answer, the Alliance is composed of three different factions with specialized characters. Since characters of the Black Moon can't team up with Alliance players, the faction had to have every possible class to balance with the power of the Alliance. This is the reason why the Black Moon has six player characters and so do the combined forces of the Alliance.

Here are the short descriptions of character classes from the official site:

Characters of the Empire
Sorcerer: The sorcerer uses powerful spells deal damage to his opponents and to shield himself from their attacks to a certain degree. While physically weaker than most other characters, the sorcerer reigns supreme when protected from melee attacks by the other members of his group.

Warrior: The warrior is a specialist of armed melee combat. He can use more weapons and armor than anyone else and has at his disposal a greater number of special combat abilities. He dominates the battlefield without questions.

Characters of the Order of Light
Phalanx: A phalanx is an elite warrior whose special abilities make him more resilient, more tenacious. Able to perform great feats in combat, he is also specially trained to withstand tremendous magical punishment. This makes him the ideal mage-killer in a party.

Archer: The only class able to use ranged weapons, the archer can attack his opponents from a distance. While he can only wear light armor, his defensive strategy doesn't rely on armor but rather on the distance he can keep between him and his targets. His many special abilities strengthen his ranged combat skills to make him a worthy opponent.

Characters of the Knights of Justice
Paladin: The paladin is a holy warrior blessed by his god and his church. Armored in faith, he prevails over evil, whatever it may be. Able to use most arms and armors, he can also cast clerical spells to better triumph over his enemies.

Priest: Armed with nothing more than his faith and his prayers, the priest is a worthy adversary. He can use most blunt weapons and wear several kinds of armor to defend himself, and has at his disposal many clerical spells that ensure his survival on the battlefield. No party is complete without this indispensable class.

Characters of the Black Moon
Blackguard: The Blackguard is the sworn enemy of the paladin of Justice. He combines fighting abilities with low-level necromantic magic to create a devastating killing machine. Through the corruption of his victim's life force, he strengthens himself and establishes his unchallenged superiority in battle.

Dark Priest: Black priests may be men of faith, but they aren't necessarily as sociable as those from the Knights of Justice. When your lord is Haazheel Thorn, you crush your enemies under the power of your faith and make sure they don't get up. When your own men fall down, you heal them then drag them back onto the battlefield, all for the glory of the Black Moon.

Ghoul: Ghouls are undead servants of the Black Moon. Brutally brought back to life by necromants, they care not for mortal weapons, preferring instead to dig their indestructible claws into their foe's chest. Their mortal enemy, not surprisingly, is the priest, whose healing abilities represent a definite threat to their unlife.

Menthat: Gifted with amazing mental powers, menthats can destroy the psyche of their opponents with a single, devastating thought. Physically as weak as a sorcerer or a necromant, they nonetheless remain terrifying opponents when protected from melee combat by skilled adventurers.

Necromant: These characters use the power of the dead to fight monsters and players alike. They act as the Black Moon's counterpart to the empire's sorcerers and are known for their draining abilities and deadly poisons. They work best when protected from melee attacks by teammates.

Orc Barbarian: The orc barbarian is a savage and ruthless warrior. Fighting with relentless ferocity and determination, he brings fury and guts to the battlefield-his fury, his enemy's guts. More specialized in combat than even the warrior, he shuns heavy armor in favor of furs. This preference balances out his otherwise impressive ability to deliver astounding damage.

There are two additional characters we chose to remove, for the moment. One was a bare-hand fighter and the other was a dwarf berzerker. The first one was removed because we thought its item set was uninteresting. The second one has been removed because of the license. In the original novels, dwarves play a particular role in weaponsmithing and armory. They do not wander freely in the outer world of Lhynn; they prefer the darkness and the remoteness of the caves where they dig their precious resources and build weapons, armors and war machines. It would have not been true to the license to allow a dwarf to team up with other races in the universe of Black Moon Chronicles.

Jonric: Why did you decide to use a character system with pre-defined classes? What do you consider the major advantages of this approach, and conversely what are the disadvantages it imposes?

Beno�t Thomas: Black Moon Chronicles features a simple game system and a rich story. We did not want to offer an all-open system where players have to figure out how to build a relevant character, because this is most often done by trial and error. We see BMC as an RPG based on a deep and extensive story, where the many different characters are just the starting point. The most frustrating thing is to invest your playtime creating a character and playing it through the lower levels just to find out that you made a fatal mistake and that you have to start over again. This won't happen in Black Moon Chronicles ;o)

Obviously, the downside of this is that the system does not provide an infinite number of possibilities to create a character. But then again, the balance is easier to control and you don't end up with a weaker character and get disappointed...

Since the release of the latest new patch, the beta testers will help us to further improve the pre-rolling of the characters. We are even thinking of offering entirely pre-rolled characters, including the 25 additional stat points. If our testers like it... :o)

Jonric: Please describe the character creation or selection process and the main reasons you designed it this way. To what extent can players customize their characters? Why did you decide to use a system that seems to have relatively little flexibility?

Beno�t Thomas: Black Moon Chronicles' launch process is entirely web-based. This allows us to modify and improve the launch sequence without any modification or other consequences on the client. So that means no unnecessary patching ;o)

Player customization has been greatly improved on the brand new patch we released this first week of January. We've been working very hard on this one and it will probably be the most noticeable patch for testers since the beginning of the closed beta. With the new patch, players can now choose between several skin and hair colours, as well as different hairstyles.

Black Moon Chronicles' simplified game system is the main reason why there seems to be little flexibility during character creation. Most of the character stats are pre-rolled to avoid character creation mistakes that would impair the players' gaming experience later on. However, players get to distribute 25 additional stat points to further differentiate their character. Later in the game, item gathering and skills development allow players to manage their character according to their personal interest.

Jonric: How does character advancement work in Winds of War? Over the long term, what degree of character customization is possible and how much differentiation is likely?

Beno�t Thomas: Character advancement, like in most RPGs, is based on experience. However, as the XP rises, players get to learn and develop combat and non-combat skills. Items also take an important role in character development. Magic weapons, rare items and "boosters" will further differentiate player characters.

In our first design, we took the wild guess that character customization in the skill/spell system was not as important as the customization in the equipment system... we were wrong! Currently, our collective genius is currently revamping the skill/spell system and the equipment system to give the player more flexibility and a far better gameplay. More details on these new systems will be given in the upcoming weeks.

But anyway, with 12 different characters to play, we are confident that players will find enough customization to suit their needs :o)

Jonric: In the beta testing up to now, have players shown a preference for either side? Which factions and character classes have been most popular, and why do you think this has been so? Are you concerned that some classes are not selected as often, and are you taking any steps to address this?

Beno�t Thomas: So far, most playing characters have showed potential attraction to players. Of course, as game balance improves and specific items are added, characters like ghouls, black guards, paladins and priests are among BMC players' favorite characters.

As for factions, a slightly larger part of the players have chosen the Alliance so far. But the difference is not important enough to put the game balance at risk.

Jonric: What are the most difficult challenges you've faced relating to factions and character classes, and what are the most important things you're still working on in these areas?

Beno�t Thomas: The faction and class systems are pretty straightforward. There have not been any particular challenges because the game has been centered on these systems. The most important thing we are and we will be working on is definitely the balance. Beta testers have provided us with very valuable feedback and we want to make the most out of these comments. I think our latest patch reveals some of the extensive work that has been done on balance and on the XP chart...

From what we have seen during the recent course of beta testing, the Black Moon Chronicles - Winds of War player community seems to be gaining in enthusiasm as changes and improvements are implemented. It also seems that interest is divided among all of the factions and most if not all of the character classes, with vocal champions for each. We look forward to watching further developments, but for the moment, we than Vircom Producer Beno�t Thomas for his sharing his thoughts with us in this latest segment of our continuing coverage.

-- Richard Aihoshi - 'Jonric'