Jonric: Expanding on this, how does the overall character development system work? How much choice will the player have with respect to the course of advancement over the long term?

Chris Bateman: We have a multi-tiered development system. On the one hand, we have the attunements system. On the other, we have a level-based system. Each level gained gives the player points to add to their core four stats. We wanted to keep the stats to a core set - too many games throw too many stats in, making it hard to assess how best to upgrade the character. And on the other hand (I have three hands; I'm a mutant) we have the equipment system. Weapons and armour pieces each have speed values, which combine with stats and attunements to determine the hit speed of the game characters. By tuning the equipment set-up, good characters become great. Obviously, better equipment becomes available as the game progresses.

Richard Boon: Back to the attunement system, the range of attunements is vast. This is a combat-oriented game, so there aren't many attunements that aren't combat-oriented in some way, but there's plenty of variety. And each attunement has its own requirements for use - Protective Aura attunements, for instance, only work for characters who don't wear armour. As the player gets access to new equipment, they also gain access to new attunements... so it all ties together. It becomes very compelling very rapidly. Gaining a new attunement can be likened to getting a new card in Magic: The Gathering - all of a sudden, you have new opportunities for new ways to play the game, and for new combinations