Interviewee: Yazour

Intervewer: Micloren

Date: June 15, 1999

Comment: I want to thank Yazour for giving up his time and patience for this interview.

<Micloren> What exactly is your job at infantryzone/warzone?

<Yazour> At InfantryZone I generally just find misc news around the gaming field and post it. Now that petvirus is no longer a staff member, I have fufilled his roll as general webmaster, fixing up sections, adding sections, etc. I am also messageboard admin, but Beta's script is so advanced, he makes my job nearly obsolete. As for WarZone, I don't really work for them, but I got a free @warzone.com email! :)

<Micloren> Some people arent happy that Nick Fisher is publishing the game. What are your thoughts about this situation?

<Yazour> Well, I personally like Nick myself, he is a very decent person, and whenever I have talked to him he has been a pretty great guy. As for other people not liking him, I think JeffP made a great point about this. His wife needed some pants, but she didn't want to get CK ones because of their ads. When she accidently tried them on, they fit so well, she decided to buy them anyway. For Infantry, it doesn't really matter who the publisher is if it's a great game, right?

<Micloren> Overall what do you think about infantry?

<Yazour> Well, because of the NDA agreement, I can't go into all the details of what makes it a great game. Still, it is currently in alpha, and even with the current bugs, it has the same addictiveness to it that made Subspace a great game. It's still 2D and the sys req's are not too much to worry about, and it has a lot of the old Subspace features like spec, squads, etc. The "classes" make the game a lot deeper, and there is a ton of new weapons and vehicles that make the game awesome. I can't decide whether myself if I should be the hoverboarding squirmisher or the big flamethrowing, rocket launching heavy weapon guy! I'm sure during beta, when the skill system is worked out a lot more, that everyone will have a lot of fun with this game.

<Micloren> In your opinion do you think the game will be ready for for public beta testing in august?

<Yazour> Right now I'm not sure when the beta will begin, the Harmless Team does not want to rush it. Right now the action and rpg elements seem nearly done, and all jeffp and rod have to do is work out the flaws, and program a few more bits into the game. I am sure the game will be in beta testing by late July to early August.

<Micloren> What is your favorite aspect about infantry?

<Yazour> Ah, this is a tough one. My favorite aspect of Subspace was just the fact that you can pick up the game and play, and Infantry can be the same way. I say "can", because the game is extremely diverse in that matter. You can come home from work or school, open Infantry, and get into your RPG zone and work your char up for 15 hours before school or works begins again. Or, you can just go into the standard games like WarZone, Running Zone, Chaos, etc. Then, you can just play around until you get tired. Infantry is so unique compared to other games.. it's incredible.

<Micloren> Do you like the idea of a monthly charge?why or why not?

<Yazour> Well, I don't really have that much money (hehe), but I think most people, like myself, can find 10 dollars a month. There will be many ways to pay, not just by credit card, so that helps to. I really like the monthly fee, and I wish Subspace did that too. Think about it, if you have a monthly fee, the developers will enjoy their project and continue to support it until people stop paying. Now look at Subspace, once everyone and their mother bought Subspace, Vie said... "Why do we have to support the community anyway? Everyone that wants the game will already have bought it". So, Harmless Games will never leave this game if we keep giving them money :)

<Micloren> Do you think infantry will be a success?How about bigger than Everquest?

<Yazour> I don't really like comparing Infantry to a game Eq, because they are entirely different game types. As for money, I have no idea. But, I think Infantry will be a success, because of the game itself, it's addicting. We have a very strong community, and I bet a lot of the former Subspace players along with current SS players will try out Infantry. I think it will be a profit, but I don't know how much compared to other games. As for gameplay, I'm sure it will be a major success.

<Micloren> For people who play/played subspace, will infantry be easier as newbies for them then someone who has not played subspace?

<Yazour> Infantry will have a lot of guides out for newbies, so help will be there. When a new player enters a standard zone as a neg, unlike in Subspace, people won't try to attack him because it will do them no good, and maybe even hurt their score (of course there will be neg killers). The biggest thing that will make it easier for newbies in the RPG Zone is being worked on by Rod. Somehow people will be able to build up their characters without being attacked by those who play all day and have incredible characters.

<Micloren> What are the vehicles like in infantry?Are the tanks easy to manuever?

<Yazour> There a tanks, hoverboards, buggies (space ships), along with many other vehicles a player can ride. Some are easy to manuever, and very fast. Others are slow and big but come packed with weapons. The only vehicles that require more than two people are the tanks (driver, main turret, backup turret, also can hold currently up to 2 passengers) and the buggy (driver, chin driver). As the game gets more advanced in alpha, the features of the vehicles will improve. Right now if you have the skills, you can just hop right into a tank, and kill people with it until the tank dies, and you'll have to find a mechanic.

<Micloren> An update to one of dbx's questions. Can (people,tanks,flying craft,other) move through each other as in subspace?

<Yazour> Right now everything can go through everything, and no damage is done. Although, in the tank, when you go over a person, you can "squish" them, killing 'em instantly. Only the driver can do this, and you have to be directly over them, but it's a very funny feature, although annoying :)

<Micloren> What alpha player should beta tester watch out for.(or in other words who is the best player right now)

<Yazour> Right now the points leaders are Messin' Around, Python, and Cardinal Dancer. In my opinion, the best players excluding myself are Hellcat, Cardinal Dancer, RAM1024 (despite his 1:4 win/loss ratio), and both hydro and Apriori.