david-allen posts

Anti-Aliased: We put the no in innovation

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 12th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased, Alganon

So, yesterday I was browsing our site, and I was happy to see that our community interview with David Allen had gone up, as I didn't get the chance to read it. We had lots of great questions sent in, and I think the ones that Shawn chose were really some hard, direct questions, that I felt someone really had to ask.

Reading David's answers left me thinking, however. David is a person who I certainly admire, as he was the brain behind Istaria, and he really presented some very innovative gameplay mechanics in that game. Alganon, however, is not innovative nor is it cutting edge. It is, quite frankly, another World of Warcraft. Something that, in my opinion, this genre does not need another of.

David's rationale as to why Alganon looks and plays like Warcraft is the part of the interview where I was left in thought. While I understand he wanted to make a game that players could easily adapt to... did it have to resonate of Warcraft so strongly? Furthermore, are we, as a genre, stuck in a rut?

Editor's Note: (As always, if you wish to comment on this edition of Anti-Aliased, please do so on page two of the column. Thank you!)

Tags: alganon, anti-aliased, art, creativity, david-allen, design, featured, innovation, mmofps, opinion, theme, user-interface, world-of-warcraft

Alganon community interview: Your questions answered

by Shawn Schuster Nov 11th 2009 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Alganon, Community Q&A

Last week, we reached out to the Massively readers for questions to ask the team at Quest Online regarding the upcoming Alganon MMO. David Allen, president and co-founder of the studio, stepped up to answer the ten questions chosen for him by us.

In addition to this Q&A -- found after the jump below -- Alganon is also announcing their open beta that kicks off today. So if you find David's answers interesting and think you might want to try the game out for yourself, head on over to this link and check it out for yourself.

Tags: alganon, david-allen, featured, interview, q-and-a, quest-online

Alganon open beta announced for November 11

by Brooke Pilley Nov 3rd 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Alganon

If you were disappointed to hear of Alganon's recent delay until December 1, this news might cheer you up. We just received word that Alganon open beta is set to launch on Wednesday, November 11, 2009. This is a great opportunity to check out the game for yourself rather than taking other peoples' opinions for it. The client can be downloaded from a number of places including Direct2Drive, Fileplanet, MMORPG.COM, Curse, and the Alganon and MyAlganon websites.

If our previous closed beta key giveaways are any indication of the interest in this new title, open beta should receive a hefty amount of player attention. If you're already in the beta, Quest Online seems to have made a number of improvements across the board that should make for a better gaming experience. We recently caught up with president and co-founder, David Allen, for an interview, so feel free to give it a read while you wait until next Wednesday.

Tags: alganon, beta, david-allen, open-beta, quest-online

Massively's pre-launch interview with Alganon

by Shawn Schuster Nov 2nd 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Massively Interviews, Alganon

After a newly-announced launch delay, we now have just under a month before Quest Online's Alganon releases to the public. Now in its beta stage, Alganon has enjoyed mixed reviews since the NDA was lifted two weeks ago. We thought we'd take this opportunity to ask some of the questions floating around about this new fantasy MMO, and how it sets itself apart from existing fantasy MMOs.

Quest Online's president and co-founder, David Allen, was kind enough to answer our questions, which include everything from those of PvP content to his thoughts on being compared to World of Warcraft. Keep reading below for the complete interview.

Gallery: Alganon