Here’s how the Civilization Online MMORPG will work

Civilization Online will launch in Korea “very soon”, according to 2K senior producer Garrett Bittner, but since most updates via English language media have been infrequent or shared only on social media, there’s a lot we’ve yet to find out. Fortunately, we have learned quite a bit from the recent G-Star 2014 convention.

Civilization Online is a cooperative MMORPG in the truest sense. Unlike traditional MMOs, emphasis in this game is on each individual civilization’s success, rather than the player’s. 2K Games has been heavily involved in the production led by XL Games.

There are a total of four civilizations players can choose from at this point. 2K Games has clarified that while there are no individual classes, players are still valued for personal contributions rather than achievements, as in traditional MMORPGs. To help players give back to their cities, there will be over 50 player careers, with an average of over eight careers for each of the six available eras.

As for earning rewards, a player who has contributed more to a losing civilization will get more rewards than another player who only logged in for a few battles in a winning civilization. At the hands-on demo at G-Star 2014, I was also able to choose from a variety of pre-set character models, ranging from the strapping Roman hunk to the generic, broad-shouldered craftsman.

Players will need to work together in order to fight off invaders and get cities set up. This involves chopping trees and smashing rocks for wood and stone building materials, and performing simple quests. From there, they’ll be able to work together to ensure their civilization’s dominance.

How things will work

Having a massive bunch of people running around the map, setting up their own little towns would be chaotic, to say the least. So XL Games and 2K have decided to allow only guild leaders set up cities. Guild leaders are the only players who can put down special buildings like Wonders, but anyone belonging to the city will be able to place basic buildings like watch towers, barracks, and hospitals as long as they have the resources for them. 2K Games has told us that Wonder blueprints will cost gold to build, so there is likely going to be a premium currency available only to guild leaders. After this, everyone need to make like peons and start mining stone and chopping down trees to get these buildings up and running. During this layout stage, the camera view switches from third-person to top-down, and the city planning UI comes into play.

Anyone can be a guild leader, but since these cities have to literally be built brick-by-brick, each will need a minimum of 20 players to progress at a playable rate. There is no limit on the number of players who can join, and subsequently, no limit on the number of people who can go to war! These cities, or guilds, in Civilization Online will also be more fluid compared to traditional MMORPGs, with players being able to join at will depending on each guild’s settings.

See: Warlords of Draenor is one of the best World of Warcraft expansions yet (review)

Guilds will have to work together within their respective civilizations to do battle with the other three battling for dominance. War will take place within server-initiated sessions – which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to three months. It appears that a standard game session will last for a week. These sessions will have victory conditions straight from the boxed Civilization game: domination, culture, and science.