GameSpy: The last time we talked to you (and I might add, introduced some of your game concepts to the world) was back in October, 2001. What have you been up to in the last year and a half, and what major milestones have you met or exceed in that time?

Daniel: Researching new technologies, lurking forums, following leads, doing press interviews, and helping to build an online community. As a result, we have a growing number of consistent early adopter contributors and potential candidates. The amazing thing is the growing response from around the globe. It has been really positive, and it is very daunting to realize that news is reaching around the globe. It is something that was just not possible until the internet. People from France, the Netherlands, UK, Australia, and New Zealand have come to share their ideas. Thus, project credibility for a world-wide market is exceeding our expectations.

GameSpy: Has Frontier 1859 become more than a game concept?

Daniel: As I sincerely ponder this question, I see a child who has become a teen. I also see a wild stallion that needs a bridle. When a concept translates into a shared dream by many people all over the world, it tends to have a life all its own.

GameSpy: You have talked a lot about this western-themed MMOG in other publications around the internet but how much of the game is actually fleshed out and what areas still remain fuzzy?

Daniel: We have a master design, a budget, technology partners, perspective candidates, and a growing global online community. The fuzzy part is where/when the rest of the pieces fall into place. We are doing all that we can with the resources that we have.

GameSpy: The last time we talked we didn't take into account your background in the game industry. You've actually done a lot of graphic design, level design, and game design work on a number of prominent projects - Care to give us a list of your credits over the last ten years?

Daniel: Well – when you’re a young lad, you can’t see the forest through the trees. If you keep working – stuff piles up. My goal was to be a filmmaker. After art school I was hired as the guy who interprets creative ideas and turns them into reality. We had an Aurora CG system, and we also designed for the Bosche, Quantel, and Shima Sieko paintboxes, and I was responsible to figure out how to solve each problem. This process required a lot of drafting, planning, and managing small crews with shoestring budgets. Somehow I accumulated 12 years of TV spot work doing this.

After helping a buddy move out to Reno - an ad pops up in the local Newspapers looking for a game artist in Truckee, CA. That was 1994. About three months after being hired, on milestone 2 of a SNES/SEGA game called “Rap Basketball” the company closed down. It seems “Motown” failed to follow through. So the former art director and I started “Digital Outpost Studio.” Sierra gave us a year contract painting elements for “The Realm Online” followed by Tachyon on ‘Blood & Magic” and so on. This career path has now led to work on over ten published titles, and three cancelled titles. There are certainly a lot of people with more popular titles than I have had the privilege to work on, but one must do the best with what they have to work with, and so my favorite project thus far was working on the “Descent 2/3” series.

I had a realization that my career has been a lot like math class - creating problems in order to solve them. So I think that there is always a solution – a way – a possibility. In fact I am challenged when someone says it cannot be done. This approach has unsettled some situations where people are comfortable - but [thank God] we have never failed to work out a solution, and 20 years of doing that kind of thing is a good foundation to build on.

GameSpy: Let's jump right in and talk about Frontier 1859. It was a great idea 1 year and a half ago and it's still a great idea today but publishers have not done the smart thing and pounded on this game concept. Why do you think there's hesitation on the part of publishers to take on this project?

Daniel: It is a matter of not meeting the right person, because many projects are getting funded no matter how tough times are.

Despite that the whole industry has been going through a shake down, on-going changes to National security, economics, and corrupt business leaders coming into the light - projects are still getting funded. Imagine if film and network TV shows were all the same theme! It seems like today’s idea of a safe bet means shipping 99% products following the same theme.

Despite theses challenges, Cosmic Origins has survived through the toughest times. It is a good time for a publishing partner, private funding, and/or LLC members to team up with us. If it were not so you would not see X-box, Game Cube, and PlayStation 3 planning for broadband support!

No game compares to an MMOG, because an MMOG is people. Where else can you make a dozen friends around the world and maybe even meet someone, and fly over to visit them? The MMOG costs less then making movies, reaches a world-wide audience for an extended period of time, and offers more entertainment for the dollar. Funding a project like this dispels fear, create jobs, and set new precedence [not to mention stay profitable]. Plus, the MMOG has spawned many new technologies to choose from, boosted broadband subscriptions, and created a new virtual frontier. It truly is the shape of things to come.

GameSpy: What are some of the things you and your design team plans on doing to keep costs as low as possible during the development cycle that might entice a prospective publisher to sign you?

Daniel: Our focus is on making every dollar count. We’ve already got a very lean spreadsheet. We know that the project will suffer if it is under funded, so the company is prepared to relocate, merge or whatever it takes in order to make every dollar count while building the best product possible. We have technology partners who understand how important it is to support each other. There is an incredible amount of job market talent available to increase the cumulative knowledge-base needed to meet our potential. It’s prime time.

GameSpy: What are you planning on your end to keep costs low when the game finally does go online?

Daniel: I’m planning the company flexible for “situations to come.” Everything from our internal development structure on through to our technology framework will function like “plugins.” When a component is no longer efficient or cost-effective – we want to be able to plug something else in.

GameSpy: You're really committed to using the Horizons engine to build your game. What does it offer that makes it a "must use" product for you and your team beyond being cost effective?

Daniel: I believed in Horizons’ idea. Back when it was first conceived, and at that time we wrote them a letter of intent, and I haven’t changed my mind. In Frontier 1859, people will be authoring their own playground from many points around the globe. We need to have an acclimating system. Horizon, [now “Silver Platter Software”] guarantees their technology will reduce overhead costs in bandwidth consumption while also supporting a dynamic content network.

GameSpy: Let's talk about the actual game now. Frontier 1859 is going to be set in and around historical Virginia City. You've obviously done your homework on what life was like during that time, but have you had to take liberties with certain aspects of history for the sake of gameplay?

Daniel: Ah, the art of building a game without a game! Well, “don’t keep your eye on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glorwee” Bruce Lee once said.

Our prime directive is sustaining a “frontier life role playing experience.” The team will consistently be reminded to interpret real life senses. What kinds of things can we do to make the interface mimic how we sense the world around us? This causes us to pay attention to interface and delivery. It has the same top priority as object interaction and intuitive character movement. (Read Graeme Devine’s article in Game Dev. Sept. 02 “Game Object Interactions” it hits the nail on the head).

For example, when a PC mouses over a concealed weapon – other PCs near will be aware of it. This is a way we mimic real life senses through acclimated conditioning. A light goes on and tells you that danger is near – unless of course, something has rendered you oblivious to it. Beyond it all is your reaction to it. Obviously this has nothing to do with history but it will help the player feel more immersed into the environment.

GameSpy: One of the major stumbling blocks that your team will have to overcome is avoiding gameplay that is derogatory to real world races during that time-period. Are you concerned that some players with radical philosophies may take liberties with the game's historical setting and role-play characters that are racist or sexist? How do you balance historical accuracy while maintaining socially and morally acceptable gameplay?

Daniel: Which is the greater evil, being racist or killing? When one finds themselves part of any race, it is only human nature for racist tendency, but what separates us from the animal kingdom is the ability to discipline ourselves - to act despite of our human nature. In a virtual experience, people can play a role that is not at all like who they really are. They are testing the “other side” of who they are, and at the same time, who they really are gets poured into the role they play.

In many games, the main involvement revolves around the combat system. This prompts the defensive and aggressive posture in each of us. It gets us thinking about killing. Society calls that “pre-meditated murder” but in virtual reality only characters are being killed. Even so - the character being killed has been developed over time and through the concern of the user. So in effect, it is like killing a little part of the user. Thus the MMORPG presents a new equation for game development. Our solution is to foster in-game accountability for one’s actions, in order to reinforce the notion of being civilized in the place where it al begins – our mind!

No matter what players will exploit bugs in the game. They will exploit objects. They will exploit each other. They will be selective over time. Many will help, some will hinder, and the game will keep track of the repetitive activity that it is looking for in order to embellish player disposition and reputation.

In Frontier 1859, one can get a disposition for being a racist if they fail to do commerce with any particular race each time the opportunity has occurred – but it is more likely that a person will role play, and annoy other players and thereby become known by social groups as “so and so.” So through this process of play, racism, sexism, and morality take back seat to progressive tactical behavior – “what am I going to do next?” – Per say.

GameSpy: What are some of the things that you will not allow players to do in terms of social interactivity?

Daniel: This topic recently came up on our forum. It is common knowledge that ruining role play is a key issue. Most of the ruining of role-play comes through chat. However, it is wrong to force people to follow a protocol for speech in a free world. Thus, we will give each player tools for squelching out what they do not wish to read/hear, and a ranged chat system.

Other limits include rewarding virtual behavior. The game system rewards for perseverance by calculating the difficulty and duration of the problems solved – and while some of the rewards for crime might seem good for a time – getting caught will change that, but we feel that part of the fun is being able to play the role you choose, and the tension between the hostile and just players make for good game-play elements.

GameSpy: What practices or behavior will be deemed unacceptable?

Daniel: We have taken a tough stance against promoting any depiction of violent acts against women in marketing, or as an attractive and rewarding play experience. What’s next – rewarding players for killing their parents so we can have a hit game? These kinds of signals coming from current trends in game development could eventually cost us creative freedom. It’s the “worm in the apple syndrome.” If too many are bad – and families start to become active in what their kids are doing - we all get framed for being part of the problem rather than noticed for developing a better option.

We know that all crimes begin in the mind. Therefore, in a virtual reality, the mind must be disciplined through the support of positive and constructive behavior. Careless game play – or calling it just a cartoon for the sake of exploiting or making criminal behavior seem rewarding or humorous reinforces destructive thought processes.

Our approach is to hold players accountable for their actions. Frontier 1859 will have a justice system, as well as a peer-based jury system for permadeath trials. I know some people won’t like jury duty – or permadeath - but it’s a necessary institution for authentic sociology to happen in this frontier setting. It will take a lot of cooperative effort to bring a criminal to justice – and so it makes for a good balance.

GameSpy: And how far down the rabbit hole are you willing to go to enforce certain rules?

Daniel: We don’t do rabbit holes here. Many of the current MMOGs are already good examples of enforcing rules for player conduct. We are going to be no different in this respect. We will not tolerate behavior that ruins the fun for everyone.

GameSpy: You've mentioned in a number of other interviews that magic, spirituality and beliefs will play a role in the game, but you haven't really gone into detail on how they will be applicable in the game. Will certain character types be able to use this type of "skill" or belief on other players or is it more subtle. Give us a few examples of how these things can benefit the player using them?

Daniel: Yes they will, and it is more subtle than obvious. We have plenty of reference to model many immigrant cultures. We are still learning about the native cultures that have been planned for the first release. When the project moves into full production we will be consulting experts on the subject. I can tell you that Native cultures will have their own crafts, skills, and spiritual belief system. No one outside the tribe will have access to it, and people will have to purchase a separate account in order to play both sides of the coin.

We did not get to know much of the native belief system before we began killing each other – by the time we were all aboard the continent – the masses had already concluded that the Indian was a savage, and savage meant they posed a threat. We are all still learning about the holocaust we imposed upon them. Thus, we will try to provide the best tools possible for native tribes to reenact their lifestyle, and it will be a progressive addition to the game.

For instance, when a tribal group shares in a rain dance, and the vibe is right - the rains will come. Another example of implementing lore is the legend of “Tommyknockers” among miners. Those who believed in them would leave some food for them, and somehow, the “knocks” came before an accident would happen. Those who did not believe did not benefit from the early warning. We also plan to have characters whose attributes have rendered them of “skeptical disposition” and therefore do not see the things that others see.

GameSpy: One of the more interesting aspects of Frontier is that you can design and build things offline. Tell us how this will work and what will be required to bring it into the game.

Daniel: You stake a claim (and sometimes squat) virtual land, download it, and build upon it while offline, and then upload the content onto the game board, and flag it for public, private or scheduled use. For instance, if you have been working on a farm, ranch or underground mine and require additional help, and you want some friends to work with you rather than NPCs, you would give each friend access to your mine, set their pay rate, list stock in your mine available for sale, and you might even purchase additional pumping or drilling machinery with a portion of the sale of your stock.

Then there are kits. Kits equip players with the stuff they need to build a particular structure. These consist of the common buildings seen in frontier towns in 1859. In most cases they do not include all of the furnishings, and therefore rely upon goods, services and trade skill interactivity. In almost all cases, they do not need to be online while they are working on their structure, however the game will need to have online access in order to check resources.

Kits can be purchased, traded, or auctioned. The kits are a necessary way to ensure that the structures are authentic to the game. Free-form structures such as tents, lean-tos, sod houses, and starter T-Pees are planned to be included with the retail version.

GameSpy: Will players have base statistics to work from like dexterity and strength? Give us an overview of the base stats that players can build up?

Daniel: Player attributes, such as dexterity and strength, can be improved while your action-figure [Player Character] life essence remains at “fullness of life.”

Strength performance stays peaked [depending upon body type] by movement that builds or maintains strength (i.e. when logging, digging, lifting, and doing other forms of work). This activity maintains top-notch strength. Dexterity can be polished in the same way – but through activities that focus on dexterity (i.e. running, riding, jumping, melee practice, and so forth).

GameSpy: Frontier 1859 is skill based rather than class based. How many different kinds of skills are there?

Daniel: This is a progressive work. But to give you an idea, skills have three classes; “Attained, Schooled, and Inherited.” Following these three classes are sub-sets. For instance; becoming skilled at “Hunting” includes a set of skills like “Knowledge, Tracking, Skinning, Stealth, Accuracy, Awareness, Strength, Sight, and Smell. Knowledge itself can have many categories – such as Familiarity, Navigation, Identification, Direction Finding, and so on.

GameSpy: Will any of these skills have an affect on NPCs in the game?

Daniel: Yes. Also, any skills that an NPC may possess could be used against players. NPCs are bound to the same restrictions as players.

GameSpy: Will players be able to use certain skills to positively or negatively impact the way NPCs interact with their chracters?

Daniel: Disposition and Reputation will have affect on NPC interaction and may even discourage or encourage social interaction from other players. Again, the same goes for NPCs.

GameSpy: Give us an overview of the reputation system in the game.

Daniel: Certain activities pre-determined by the game system are added to your “conscience inventory.” For instance, if your apt to steal that which belongs to someone else, you accumulate “stolen object = X” in your “conscience inventory.” Since reputation is something that is “known” by others – rather than oneself – to have a reputation requires getting caught, being witnessed by others, or accumulating enough “repercussions” that it becomes obvious to others.

Another example is the art of passing rumors. Say you forge a rumor about someone and send it to others. The others who receive it will have the option to “believe it or not.” If a certain amount of people choose to believe it, the rumor could stick, whether it is true or not. These would appear listed under the target players’ reputation. This can work “for or against” PCs in a social setting. This is a way of modeling the kind of influence “word of mouth” had in the old west, and it still happens today. In fact, tabloids capitalize on rumors. Did I mention there is a repercussion for being a “rumor spreader?” ;)

GameSpy: What are some of the minor and major things that players can do that impact gameplay in an effective and engaging way.

Daniel: One of the focuses of Frontier 1859 is to have a dynamic environment. A player, having chosen a nice place to build a house on the outskirts of a mining settlement, might decide to focus his skill set heavily towards working with iron (blacksmith), whether creating nails or horseshoes. The player might then hire additional help to add a workroom because he doesn’t have the necessary carpentry skills. By his very location, he attracts clients and gains a reputation as being an honest, fair, and exceptional blacksmith. After some time, he notices that people need housing and stabling for the night. Thus the blacksmith hires some workers to expand his home to incorporate an additional two rooms and a stall.

The above is only one example of what can happen in Frontier 1859. Services are needed, whether minor, such as the need for horseshoes, or major, the building of additions to a house employing other skilled workers. The outcome is that the once barren land now has a large, permanent building. The blacksmith might only want to work from sun up to sun down, or possibly only at night, having days off.

GameSpy: Let's say I want to build the kind of character you'd find in the starring role of a Clint Eastwood movie. What skills would i need to build a stone cold, dead eye gunslinger?

Daniel: Oh, this is a good question. A Clint Eastwood style character isn’t all about skills, but about personality and role-playing, which is the essence of Frontier 1859. As for skills, this depends on the movie. In “Hang ‘em High,” you might choose rifle, aimed shot, accuracy, awareness, sight, horsemanship, and aimed shot to name a few. Also, this character would be considered a faceless outlaw, thus he would need personal interactive skills like “charm, bluff, and intimidate.”

The skills a player chooses are only one facet of a good character. Playing the character role is what makes for a very fun and enduring game.

GameSpy: What authority systems will NPCs control when the game launches and what aspects of power in the game will be in the hands of players?

Daniel: Newbie towns along the trail to the Frontier will have NPC lawmen. Trail Guides taking people into the Frontier will have a lot of knowledge and awareness of danger. There will be chances along the way to make friends. Certain NPCs will appear to test your disposition about them.

Other figures can appear like a Federal Marshal, Bounty Hunters but these will usually be looking for someone. Some of these characters are more likely to be actors [guest appearances] rather than NPCs, and may even be a GM. For the most part however, the power is in the hands of the players. If they want law – they must work together to enforce it. [I.e. “The Magnificent Seven, Pale Rider”] Even the office of Governor will be available sometime in the first year when Nevada becomes a State. Whoever wants to run for Governor must campaign and be elected into office by the people.

GameSpy: You've mentioned crime and punishment in other interviews and I want to touch on the concepts you e plan for Frontier when it launches - give us some examples of how a person can be put on trial for a crime and what conditions have to be met in order for the person to be found guilty?

Daniel: If a PC has been wanted by the law, for crimes committed against citizens, and he/she refused to turn them self in, and they get caught by:

a. Bounty Hunter

b. Sheriff, Deputy, or Marshall

c. Citizen, Posse

Your character will most likely be incapacitated through combat. (I can't see anyone coming along peacefully who is already a hardened killer). At the point of incapacitation, your body is recovered, treated for injuries. Although it will seem like only seconds have transpired- during that time (the game) checks your "conscience inventory" and if you have any icons with people's names in your list that read "murdered" then the game will check to see who has produced burden of proof against you. If anyone has turned in "witness flags" with your name on it to a Sheriff, Marshall, or Deputy, then the match is "True" and that character goes to jail.

A trial is announced, which will notify witnesses to appear. If no-one appears to produce any evidence against you, then the judge will be forced to let you go.

If several people appear in court with "witness flags" with your name on it, your found guilty and sentenced. Sentence is carried out the next morning at sunrise. You will still have some control over your character, although it will be restrained with ankle chains and hand ties. The PCs last rights will be given, and the sentence carried out in public.

That PCs name will appear on a tombstone in a cemetery, and all of the player's Skill points are rounded off, and available to be used in any new character with the same family name ( See “importance of having a family”). If no heir is available, then there is a point-penalty, but the player can re-invest those points into a new character.

This gives you a basic idea about how we plan to implement "permadeath" through the justice system. It will be fined tune of course, during play-testing.

People will have to learn how to play a game where they are responsible for their actions.

On the flipside, the game will always have a way out of any situation - it's up to player ingenuity to use the resources at hand to solve a problem. In the case of busting a buddy out, you could do it if it was well organized. You could even bust them out at the last moment before a hanging was executed. I can't tell you the exact steps - what fun would that be, but I can give you a hint - that anything that can be targeted - can be shot at. Anything that can be bound - can be loosed!

Finally, laws can only be enforced as strong as the town-folk who enforce them. Thus there likely will be bad places you just don’t want to go, and the towns that have the very best who are "the law.

GameSpy: Are you concerned that players will use the justice system as a means of getting revenge against other players? Is there any way that a player can be framed for a crime they didn't commit?

Daniel: Yes it is possible, but unlikely because the “flag of witness” is only produced at the scene of the crime. It is not always easy for the perpetrator to know who was a witness.

GameSpy: Let's talk about families in the game. Players can join up and create families and they can have children that are NPC characters. At what rate do children grow in the game?

Daniel: Well, to understand in-game time, each year we plan to release an update. From Frontier 1859 is planned to follow 1860, and so on as long as people continue to play the game. Therefore children will not grow much in a year of in-game time. You have to understand that the reason people need siblings in Frontier 1859 is for strategic game play. They can help a family with its’ daily needs, or simply reserving future slots. Also kids will have a positive affect on a PC’s disposition. Other players who wish to join a family household can jump into the slot reserved by a family sibling – but they may no longer be a child. This may seem a bit contrived, but nevertheless its’ a game.

GameSpy: What functions can they perform for players in the game?

Daniel: The Frontier 1859 reward system is looking for posterity events. The “surviving family unit” is at the top of the reward system hierarchy. You must have children or adopt them in order to create an inheritance and carry on the family name. NPC adolescents can do chores, run errands, cook, just about whatever you’re willing to teach them. We are going to work towards implementing AI that chooses several of its own traits while also automatically inheriting a few traits from the parents.

GameSpy: On related note can players "Will" their homesteads and property to NPC children or other family members?

Daniel: Yes, this is one of the most basic rules of the game. Think of children as “slots” for other players in your real family household to merge into, or open slots for adopting other PCs into your family name, or a future slot for you to play out if something happens to your main. If there are no more slots to inherit – the lineage is broken. Having a surviving family lineage helps players feel very accomplished, and promotes co-operative play much like guilding.

GameSpy: How many different ethnic groups will be in the game and what are some of the major differences between them? Are some races better suited to certain skills than others?

Daniel: Each ethnic group will have a default talent for a skill that seems naturally inclined or inherited. These talents and skills might be unique, only usable by one particular ethnic group. Someone with another ethnic background might be able learn the basics, but nothing beyond that.

GameSpy: Tools degrade over time in Frontier 1859, but you haven't been specific on how quickly they degrade. It's not uncommon to find tools from the period that still are in good working condition in the real world. Give us a basic idea of how quickly a tool can degrade, whether or not it can be repaired and what the end result of not repairing an item is.

Daniel: Well, in the case of mining tools and machinery, they will wear out and/or break, but can operate as long as they are well maintained. Stress factor also comes into play. It really depends upon the item. What would wear with use, what would not, and the quality of the item. Better material and craftsmanship could lead to a longer lasting item.

GameSpy: How will homestead placement work? Beyond having the proper amount of finances in the game what other requirements have to be met in order to build a home?

Daniel: We want building to be as intuitive as possible. Like stacking logs, sod, or erecting a wood framework – if you build it improperly, it will collapse under its own weight. But if PCs are patient enough, they can build on any location they want. They may either learn the various construction skills or hire others to do the job.

GameSpy: In your opinion what's going to be the hardest gameplay element to implement into Frontier 1859?

Daniel: Truly intuitive movement and object interaction. We want fighting to be like the best fighting games, horseback riding to be as fluid as possible, and handling objects to be as though they have realistic physics. We want players to be able to shoot from wagons, coaches, and horseback. We want players to be able to run, jump, fall, limp, and roll. We want players to be able to swim, dig, push, and pull - fun stuff that makes you feel more intimate with your character and the world around you. This freedom of movement is top priority, and we will also include an auto-assist mode for the people who do not like twitch style movement.

GameSpy: What are the advantages of a player being a homestead housewife?

Daniel: They provide a “Home” and “Safe Place”. A “Safe Place” is a game play element that can allow someone to be hid, or go into hiding. They also increase a husbands’ wisdom base, strength base, and raise the recharge rate for ”fullness of life”. The homestead “moms” will add significant bonuses to family groups. They can allow children to be created. They can help provide for the family unit with any number of new skills and resources. They can create a number of fashions, and much more. They can do whatever they want to do in a Frontier world.

GameSpy: What activities can players that choose this seemingly mundane path partake in? What are the rewards?

Daniel: Where did you hear that Frontier life was mundane? Frontier women did not get as much press and historical buzz as they deserved in light of the hardships they had to overcome in order for you and I to be here today, but that does not imply a mundane life. There were lady miners working the Comstock lode! There were lady outlaws. There were famous lady shooters. There were lady homesteaders who struggled with survival.

Do you know the story of Mary McGuire? About an hour before sunrise on December 31st, 1864, Mary McGuire, her 6 year old son Johnny, and two workmen were awakened by the noise and the light of the fire that was burning on the roof of the McGuire cabin at Hawean Meadows (now covered by Haiwee Reservoir) as a way station on the road from Visalia to Aurora. Mr. McGuire was away on business. The two workmen ran outside to extinguish the fire, and were greeted by a hail of arrows and were driven back into the cabin. Mary, her son, and the men now began to knock off the roof shingles from inside and to douse the flames with brine from barrels of corned beef. But they were unsuccessful and the heat forced them outside. The men urged Mary to try to dash past the Indians but she believed “It is of no use” so the men dashed out of the cabin and ran for their lives. Both men were shot at, and one was wounded in the head by an arrow, but managed to reach Little Lake 18 miles south.

Later, two riders traveling from Aurora to Visalia spotted the smoke rising from the McGuire way station. There, they found Mary McGuire riddled by 14 arrows and near death, Beside her lay her dead son, Johnny. He had been hit by 6 arrows, his arm had been broken, and his forehead had been bashed in by a club. The boy had his teeth pounded out to prevent him, as the Paiute believed, from returning after death as a wild animal who might attack an unsuspecting Indian. Mary, wounded as she was, had managed to pull every arrow out of her son. The two had put up a stout defense; an ax was found alongside her body, and the boy had a stone tightly clenched in his fist, indicating that “he died grit.”

I can tell you that there is going to be a system that rewards players for perseverance in the things that the game recognizes as promoting posterity. This is an equal opportunity system. It is only a matter of overcoming who/what gets in the way.

GameSpy: Have you guys begun designing any parts of the game or are you holding off until you get some funding?

Daniel: Well, we are caught in a catch 22. Without “proof of concept” it is difficult to get funded, and to properly complete the proof of concept we need to be able to license the technologies and pay the staff to demonstrate what we can really do given a little more resources. One advantage that this has given us is we continually modify and strengthen the game in terms of game play, depth, breadth, and gain more knowledge as to what our team and this project will entail.

In any case, I know that the right business partners are out there. Perhaps they are not yet involved in game design, but are looking to enter the market with a viable product. So you can bet we will continue with R&D, concept art, feature spec. updates, perspective candidate database, online community, consultant and historian database, and seeking perspective business members for as long as it takes.

GameSpy: Final Question - will there be brothels or similar establishments in the game?

Daniel: Nice end note question. There might be brothels instituted by player characters who want them, but we have not planned to encourage or design them as kits. Imagine your very own “Red Light District Cat House kit”??!! Any adult content that players author must be segregated from minor players. In many MMOGs, people are doing a lot of hinting at sex, and even participating in cyber sex while chatting. Our community manager; Jolene Brumbaugh referred to this behavior as the “15 year old horny boy syndrome.” I’ve seen people fly out to meet each other, marriages break apart, and new relationships form. People also make a lot of friends, and some enemies too. We are not going to police this kind of behavior, but if it turns into harassment, well then it falls under “player conduct policy.” Besides, it is up to the citizens of a frontier boom-town to decide if they will allow a brothel to remain. We will ensure that there are “repercussions.” In any case, it will be interesting to find out.