Q&A - Diplomat from Beyond Protocol

We recently had a chance to catch up with Diplomat of Beyond Protocol a Dark Sky Entertainment game to find out what's currently going on and future plans for their MMORTS title.

MMOABC: Can you tell us a little bit about Beyond Protocol?

Diplomat: Beyond Protocol is a sci-fi MMORTS which means it is Massively Multiplayer Online and Real Time Strategy. This means that the game is persistent, happens in real time, and is heavily strategy focused. Being a sci-fi game, it takes place in the depths of space and the surfaces of multiple and varied planets, with technologies like laser beams and shield generators. As for background, the game has been in development since 1991, obviously independent of the MMO genre as a whole, so this is a game with literally decades of thought behind it.

MMOABC: How does Beyond Protocol differentiate itself from other MMO games?

Diplomat: Well in most of these games, a lot of what the player can use is predetermined by the developers. Things like weapons, armor, vehicles, buildings, etc… In Beyond Protocol all of these things are customizable. The game boasts a very complex research system. This stems from the game’s also complex resource system. There are 105 basic minerals and an alloying system which makes the possible number of alloys and thereby resources nearly infinite. The player then matches resource properties to specific elements of the design and specifies the overall attributes of the component in design. Components include armor, engines, radar, shields, and weapons. These components are then allotted space on a hull design and fitted to the ship, tank, building, battle cruiser, or whatever the player is attempting to design. This level of player based strategy is not only available in research, but also in the espionage, trade, and tactical aspects of the game as well.

In addition, there are many cooperative play features and political opportunities. The most exciting of which, for me at least, is the Galactic Senate. This is a governing body inside the game which will have the power to change game mechanics, add desired features, and impose/lift specific restrictions. The way this will work is as follows. Players with the highest rank, emperor, can propose legislation, which can range from a limitation on the number of pulse beams on a ship, to the inclusion of a new ship class, to the overturning of a previous piece of legislation. This bill is then sent to the game’s developers who review it for plausibility and give it a time until completion, should it pass. This is then returned to the community for a 14 day voting process. Those with a planet under their control get to vote. With thousands of planets in the game, this WILL be a very democratic process. However, in a not so democratic manner, votes are public and can be changed, whether through brute force, gentle “persuasion”, or good old friend making. In a way this also creates objectives and goals for the players. Control planets to sway the Senate, get the Senate to sanction or cripple your opponent, posture yourself to avoid being targeted by the Senate, and on and on I could go…



MMOABC: Online hacking and spamming are widely evident in the MMO realm, how does Beyond Protocol handle these disruptions?

Diplomat: The spamming issue has yet to be seriously dealt with. However, there are standard ignore commands in the chat menu. In addition to that, our live game will be comprised only of paying customers, so it should not be as big a problem as it is for games with more, um… “public” member admission. Finally, should an issue arise it will either be handled by the developers or, if it goes unnoticed, could be resolved via the Galactic Senate. As for hacking, the development team has time after time requested hackers to try hacking this game. Just about all critical calculations and data entry happens on the server side. The server can not be directly accessed by the client. Instead, the client to server interaction is more requests and acknowledgments. I am not a programmer, so I can not comment professionally on exactly what happens or just how strong our defense is, but I do think I can say that our system has yet to be successfully hacked.

If any hackers are out there reading this, yes this is a challenge. If you think you can, and have credentials of some sort, we will give you access to the closed beta if you agree to tell us how you did it after hacking the game. Succeeding at this will get you a place in the game credits! Contact Support@DarkSkyEntertainment.com if you think you can do it…

MMOABC: Many MMO operators/publishers are currently hosting many games in different geographic regions. Some are "free to play" while others are "pay to play." What is your take on this?

Diplomat: We believe in offering the best services possible, which means being “pay to play” or P2P, in every location that this game will be played. A P2P model does two things for our customers, which will all be in the same Beyond Protocol universe. First it allows us to dedicate the best services, work hours, and hardware we have to insuring that our game is as fun as it is complex and challenging. Second, it cuts down on a great deal of the, less pleasant elements of the gaming community as a whole. Spammers, flamers, cheaters and lamers are all far less likely to pay for an outlet for such behavior. Of course this by itself will not prevent these elements from being present. This is the responsibility of GM’s and CSR’s. We already have several CSR’s and GM’s are soon to come. Of course, both positions require some degree of compensation, so once again a P2P model increases the quality of their services.



MMOABC: Are you guys planning to do any Beyond Protocol contest events in the next coming weeks or months?

Diplomat: We are not yet at the point of holding full blown online contests, per say, but we will be making several more appearances at conventions around the US this year, at which we’ll be giving out free gear. There are also special offers only available for dedicated beta testers, like two for one subscription pricing and special in game hulls, but the major competition there is against time. That typically comes in the form of a question like this: How much of the game can you test over the time you are willing to dedicate to it? Therefore, anyone interested in learning about these offers should really get involved now.

MMOABC: Will the Beyond Protocol development team be attending any Video/MMO gaming events for 2008?

Diplomat: As I quickly hinted at a minute ago, we will. We have already been to A-Kon, Wrath of Con, and the Origins Game Fair, some not quite “video gaming” events, but real life events none the less. Next on our convention tour is Gen Con Indy, in Indianapolis, around mid August. After that we’ll be at E for All in Los Angeles in early October. Our past conventions have been fairly successful, so we’re looking forward to the next ones. 2009 is up in the air for the time being, but I can say we have considered some international conventions and an even bigger roster of domestic conventions, but with the game’s release slated for September of 2008, we’ll probably wait to see what happens for now.

Thank you for giving me the chance to talk about my favorite game. Hopefully this will inspire others to check it out and eventually be able to say the same!

MMOABC: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to talk with us. We wish the best of luck on Beyond Protocol!

You can check out Beyond Protocol here:

http://www.beyondprotocol.com