Calling all large scale, guild-focused PvPers: We have a new MMO launch on the horizon with Warborne Above Ashes, which launched late last night. Back in May, I was able to get my hands on Warborne during its open beta event, and I walked away really impressed. It brings together a lot of familiar gameplay elements and encourages groups to work together to achieve area control for their faction.

I was fortunate enough this past week to have time to chat with the team at Qooland Games and learn more about what Warborne is offering. Read on for the whole story!

MassivelyOP: Before we dig too deep into the details, can you tell me how you would describe Warborne Above Ashes to new players who aren’t as familiar with the title yet?

Qooland Games: Warborne is a sandbox MMORPG built around large-scale wars. On the world map, players fight for territory, resources, and strategy, and when battles break out, they can jump into real-time fights that feel like a MOBA. And also, we want players to enjoy both sides – the big strategy of leading a war and the excitement of fighting together in battle.

For those new players just learning more about Warborne Above Ashes here and now what would you suggest as a good way to get started. How would you suggest they go from being a complete newbie to joining in on the greater faction and guild war?

In the first few hours of each season, players land on the edge of the sandbox map and slowly get used to the basics – like what resource points are, how upgrade points work, and how to put together a simple build with character and gear. Before long, they’ll run into enemy factions in the “Verge Zone,” where the first resource fights and skirmishes happen.
After that, players need to join a warband (guild) and start preparing for territory wars together. Early territories on the map’s edge are mostly about PvE races, though rival guilds might show up to cause trouble.

Around day 4 or 5 of the season, players break through fortress gates and push into the central part of the map, where resource battles get much more intense. With large-scale wars kicking off, war prep costs skyrocket – crafters and support players step up to produce supplies, while front-line fighters clash over resources in heavy battles.

Now for the veterans – could you tell me a bit about what has changed since the last beta? I played back in May during the previous beta and really had a good time. I was even kind of blown away by just how many great features are in Warborne. Has anything been completely overhauled or was it more of a refinement?

After our last tests, we got a ton of player feedback, so over the past few months we’ve made a lot of improvements and optimizations. You can check the full details in our patch notes, but let me point out a few highlights:

• We changed the season settlement system. Now the final Warband ranking is decided by “Conquest Rating,” based on how many hubs you hold and their tier. This makes the endgame more about strategy and diplomacy, in-stead of just rushing to grab the central hub.
• We’ve upgraded the auction house to be cross-server, so players from different servers can list and trade items. This helps stabilize prices and also makes sure players on lower-population servers can still take part in the economy.
• In past versions, weak factions didn’t have enough protection. Now we’ve add a new design Faction Capitals – if a faction holds its capital, it gets big buffs and even a fightback chance. We also made improvements to faction switching system and weak faction protection so those players can have a better experience.
• We rebalanced a lot of resource and reward systems in the open world. The goal is to encourage more small-group play and reduce the heavy grind. With more tradable resources in the mix, players have more freedom to choose whether they want to play casually, go gank, or grind.

Who would you say is the primary gamer that you expect to see in Warborne? I can see a lot of players who enjoy Albion Online finding a home here as well gamers who play League of Legends. Can you tell me at a high level what it is about Warborne Above Ashes that really distinguishes it from some of the other games in the same space?

Honestly, we’re mixing genres a bit, so it’s hard to say there’s a perfect one-to-one audience. But I do think anyone who used to love PvP in MMORPGs will feel right at home.
In our earlier tests we saw something interesting – strategy players and even MOBA fans really clicked with parts of the game too. Different types of players are finding their own fun in it, which is great to see. And personally? I’ve always loved open-world PvP – like back in the early days of World of Warcraft or PlanetSide. These days, there just aren’t many games that deliver that same kind of experience. That’s a big part of why we’re making Warborne in the first place.

One of the biggest draws for a game like Warborne Above Ashes is the large scale 100 vs. 100 player PvP battles. Did the team initially have a smaller scale in mind or was it always meant to be massive? Were there ever any technical limitations to enabling battles on this scale?

We wanted Warborne to feel like a full-scale war game. That means whether it’s 100 vs 100, a small 5-player squad, or even a solo raid, all of it is something we want players to experience. Right now, 100 vs 100 is the sweet spot that balances scale and performance for a smooth player experience. We’ll keep optimizing and might push that number higher in the future, but player experience will always come first in combat.

How do these sort of large team battles originate? Is it a natural flow where players are moving into an area of the map already controlled by one faction or are the fights initiated by guild leaders? I’m thinking about how large battles in New World are scheduled and created as opposed to a more natural battle where players just show up and begin to fight.

In the early game, our large battles are pretty organic, much like those Verge Zone skirmishes I mentioned. Players naturally converge in certain areas because they’re all trying to grab resources. Think of it like the early days of WoW, around Southshore, where Horde and Alliance would just run into each other and start fighting. But that quickly evolves. As players get into season objectives and start contesting Hubs, the battles definitely become more organized and strategic. It all happens in the open world, so there’s a huge sandbox dynamic at play, almost like a game of Go, I guess you could say?

When signing up to play, I recall there being six different factions to choose from. In other games, I’ve often seen developers create three-way battles. Guild Wars 2’s World vs World battles feature three different “worlds” or servers to fight each other. Even PlanetSide 2 went this route. Why did you choose the six factions?

We went with six factions initially to give players a lot more choice in the first season, and crucially, more room for diplomacy – you know, alliances, betrayals, all that fun stuff.
Looking ahead, different seasons might have totally different setups. We could definitely see two factions, three factions (kind of like China’s famous Three Kingdoms era), or even no factions at all down the line. It really depends on the story we want to tell each season.

Stepping back a bit from the massive to the more personal gameplay, where do you see players having smaller scale battles if they are not as keyed into the large fights? Personally, I often enjoy the tactical and skill based nature of small group content compared to some of the large zerg based PvP. Are there any dedicated solo, 1v1 or even small party based PvP content in the game? And can you tell me about some of the other game modes available? When I played previously I found that I enjoyed playing in these areas of the game as well.

By fine-tuning things like resource spawn times, visibility, and reward distribution rules, we can definitely reduce the impact of large Zerg teams sweeping the open world. This creates more opportunities for smaller groups. We’ve also designed several activities specifically for individuals and small teams, like stealing from Hub vaults, Supply crates, Random bosses at monster camps, and Vein Hole Extracts. And in future seasons, we’ll be adding even more content tailored for small teams – but that’s a secret for now.