Legends of Echo: the South African mobile RPG

[GrahamZA]

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News24.com

Today, Vodacom launch their massively multiplayer online game for mobile (MMOM), called Legends of Echo. Nic Haralambous, cool dude and project leader for LoE, tells you everything you need about the free-to-join RPG in an exciting interview with News24 Games.

Describe how Legends of Echo (LoE) works, as simply as you can.

Legends of Echo uses Vodacom’s location based services to locate users in the real world and place them in a fantasy world. Once in the Echo players can drop their home bases, find allies, locate enemies, build weapons, trade items and build up their legend points through battles and other activities in the Echo.  All of this is done through the users mobile phones.

Tell us a bit more about the story. Why are these okes battling each other?

The battles take place in a fantasy world called Echo. This world is only accessible through your mobile phone and is a world that exists on top of the map of South Africa.  There are five bloodlines in LoE; Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Industry. Players choose one of the bloodlines and out of the remaining four, two are your allies and two are your enemies. Each bloodline has its own currency called Elements and each bloodline requires Elements from other bloodlines to do certain things in the Echo. You then move through the Echo and create relationships with other players to benefit your game.  They are battling, in the end, to become a legend of Echo.

LoE incorporates real-world locations. What does that add to a fantasy gaming experience?

I think this makes the game more tangible. Players can visit real-world locations that they are familiar with and see them as they’ve never seen them before. It also allows players to communicate with one another more effectively using the locations they are in, or their friends are in or near.

Do you have levels and loot, like most other RPGs? And trading?

There are levels in LoE, however these are mostly used to allow other players to see how long and hard you’ve been playing LoE. Everyone enters the game on Level 6. The more you do (trade, battle, chat, build weapons etc) the better you get and move closer towards a level 1 player. There is definitely a focus on loot or items in LoE. The more Elements (currency) that a player has, the easier it is to do various activities in the Echo. Trading and bartering is a big part of LoE. Players can choose to barter and trade their items and weapons with other players in the hope of building up alliances and gaining better weapons or more Elements.

Here’s the big one: what are we paying to play this?

There is no subscription fee required to play or download LoE. Standard data rates do apply when playing the game but other than that as a cost there is no point in the game where you will be forced to pay for anything. There is a currency model built in to the game that allows players to spend airtime in the Echo Marketplace. Here they can buy Elements, weapons and items if they choose to.

Life at the top can be monotonous. How will you keep the game interesting in the long term, for players who stick around and level up all the way?

There is a reward system that we have built in to the game and we will be rewarding players for various achievements throughout the game from day 1 in the Echo. We will also be rewarding players for activity, if they play often but don’t necessarily win very often we’ll still provide them with incentives to keep playing.

The world itself is also quite dynamic. We have created an in-game newspaper, The Echo Enquirer. The newspaper will allow us to provide players with updates about the Echo, which bloodlines are taking over which areas in the Echo and who is at the top of the rankings throughout the game.

There is also an interesting cross-section between a player’s individual need to succeed and the bloodline that a player has chose. The domination map illustrates to players which bloodlines dominate which provinces in South Africa.
LoE has several built-in social networking features, including chat and personal message boards.

LoE has several built-in social networking features, including chat and personal message boards.

We have to ask: why is Vodacom doing a mobile MMO?

With The Grid going from strength to strength right now we looked at the available technology and wanted to create a commercially viable and extremely innovative product off the back of that technology. The key for us is innovation and pushing the boundaries of the mobile medium, social networking and gaming and coming up with the most innovative product we could. The product we emerged with is Legends of Echo.

Any tips for new adventurers? And who should our readers look for if they want to battle you?

It might be a mistake for me to give away my LoE nickname, I’d never get any sleep! In the way of tips I’d say exploration is imperative, scan near you and see what you can find. Be sure to read the Echo Enquirer everyday and be sure to build relationships with other players in the game, you’ll need them down the line.

The game is going live today (Monday, 19 April, 2010). Are you nervous? What kind of reception would you consider a success?

No, I wouldn’t say that I am nervous. There is a nervous excitement present and an anticipation after so many months of work, but no nerves and very little fear. It’s difficult to predict the success of a product but our goal is to have users download the game, get in to their roles and play as often as they can. I’d consider that a success.

Good luck with the project. We’ll be logging in to kick your butt very, very soon!

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[jGLZa]

You can navigate your phone browser to You are not allowed to view links.Register or Login but just make sure your phone is supported.

Guess that rules my Samsung E250 out :o

[GrahamZA]

Just tried to sign up and it's a ridiculous process for something that's mobile. I'll give me thoughts later on this evening.

[Cybernet]

i will lol if u can actually find ppl using the game as a cover.....
Some idiot might actually do that.

[NeoN]

Wow! I think this is pretty awesome, def a step in the right direction - usually we'd read about stuff like this happening in either Japan/America.

Personally, mobile gaming is not for me - when not at work, I've already got a ton of things to spent my time on. >_<

Keen to read your feedback Graham. ^_^

[GrahamZA]

Keen to read your feedback Graham. ^_^

Errr....I don't know what this game is supposed to do. Basically it works like Google Maps by positioning where you are atm and then overlaying it with a New World Map (CT never looked so green...)

Apart from that you can walk places, but I've yet to find anyone else at all.

[NeoN]

^ You walking in the wrong direction? >_< lol

Hmmm... Doesn't sounds that fun to me.

[jGLZa]

So does that mean i would be stuck in CPT forever? And what if I go overseas?