The number points allocated to subscribers scales with the duration of the subscription as we felt it was important to reward the loyal, longer-term ones. The points are also awarded at the point of subscription, so if a player takes up an annual subscription they get the added bonus of a nice stack of points to spend!

Jonric: What goals did you have for the initial selection of items? What did you decide to offer initially, and why?

Craig Morrison: For the first batch of items, we really wanted to nail what it was we were trying to offer players in terms of some really cool items that would be appealing without impacting the gameplay. I am really proud of how the team approached this question, and also of the solution we came up with.

The first items on offer are new vehicles for players... jet bikes and hoverboards. We couldn't think of anything cooler and more in keeping with our sci-fi theme. Visually, the bikes are the most complex and stunning items we have ever tried to implement in the game. We took the technology we developed for the previous expansion that allowed the player models to be visible in Lost Eden's PvP mechanized walkers, and then applied it to these new sleek, cool vehicles. There are three different models of bike, and two boards, each with six different skins, offering a wide variety of choices.

When riding in one, the players sees all the character's equipment and items as usual. It's not just a morph putting them in a different shape; it's truly a mounted vehicle. The new ones also look so much cooler then any of the vehicles we have been able to put into the game before. Our art director and his team really pushed the envelope on them, and we are very happy with how well they turned out. It even amazes me sometimes what they are able to do with our engine, considering its age.

Jonric: What does shopping for these bikes and boards entail? Is there a p location where players can see them on display?

Craig Morrison: We also 'went to town' on how these are offered. It isn't just through an anonymous vendor in a store; the bikes and boards are available at a massive showroom our world builders made at a central location... Newland lake for those who know it. At this venue, they're all on display so players can walk around, see what they might like, and get an idea of the size and scale. The location itself is really quite impressive, spread across a series of floating platforms with hologram displays and even a robot salesman that will give you a sales pitch and background on the manufacturer.

Jonric: How useful are the new vehicles, and are they functionally different from the ones that were already available?

Craig Morrison: As mentioned earlier, a primary decision when it came to implanting this content was that we specifically didn't want it to alter the gameplay. Boards and the bikes are mainly social items, but we also found some neat ways to differentiate them from other vehicles.

For example, they are summoned through nano-formulas, Anarchy Credits version of spells, so they don't take up inventory space, something we felt was important since there are so many of them. In addition, the hoverboards can perform special trick animations when you jump in them.

The new vehicles also break when players are struck in combat, immediately taking them out of travel mode. This ensures that the existing ones still serve a purpose by allowing players to traverse more dangerous areas.