GS: There are about 1,000 skills, as well as about 1,000 god powers in the game. Are you afraid of overwhelming the player with so many options? How do you present this to the player so it seems very logical?

SH: Well, if you logged in and were immediately confronted with a thousand skills and powers to sort through, then yes, we'd be concerned about overwhelming the player. As it stands, the large number of skills and god powers are spread out over six classes, and in addition, they're not just dumped in the player's lap without just cause. Presentation is actually our ally in this case thanks to the fact that the player is a scion of a particular god; thus, a player will find that his god is the guiding light over time, helping with the discovery of his newfound powers.

Overall, we're pretty comfortable at this point at how the player progresses through the game and the acquisition of new powers and new skills. As we continue through the beta stages, if we find that players are telling us that they're feeling overwhelmed, then we will adjust the progression accordingly.

GS: The game has a maximum level cap of 50, so how much playing time do you estimate it would take to reach the cap, assuming you play about one or two hours each night?

SH: It's hard to tell at this point. I mean, everyone hopes that they've created a game with the right amount of content to keep the insane powergamer at bay for at least a couple of months the first time around, weeks if you're really unlucky. Yet, at the same time we're careful to remember that there's no fun in the quagmire that tedious content can create for the casual gamer. I'd say right now the casual player can expect that the road to 50 should be on par with most massively multiplayer role-playing games, if not a little bit more challenging.