Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria

Mabinogi's latest expansion, Pioneers of Iria, has recently gone live on the servers after much anticipation by the fans. Now players are able to not only explore the brand new continent of Iria, but also able to take advantage of new races in character creation, such as the giant and the elf, and the brand new exploration system.

We here at Massively recently had a chance to catch up with Nexon's Matthew McCullough, the associate producer on the North American version of Mabinogi, to ask him some questions about their brand new release. Is all of this new content truly real? Is it really free? Can elves and giants live together with one another in harmony?

Hit the continue reading link below, if you want the answers to these burning questions! Also, if you're a Mabinogi fan, look forward to our hands on with the Pioneers of Iria expansion later on in the week!

Pioneers of Iria was originally scheduled to be Generation patches 4-8, as the storyline was slowly introduced to the players. Why the decision to release most of the content from Generations 4-6 in one large chunk like this, and how will it affect Mabinogi's generational progression?

As far as the main storyline of Mabinogi, there really isn't anything "new" in terms of the overall story arc. Generations 4-6 are all about releasing Iria, Elves, and Giants. The strife between the Elves and Giants is pretty central to the whole of Iria, so we thought it was imperative to release them together. We are constantly trying to refine our localization processes for Mabinogi (and all of our other games) at Nexon America and one thing we realized is North American MMO gamers are big fans of gigantic expansion packs. Well, why not grant them the expansion pack they're used to receiving – and often used to purchasing – and give it to them for free? It was also a chance to highlight just how much incredible content is in Mabinogi. We're really excited with the expansion and are in the process of deciding how we'll update Mabinogi in the future.

Can players expect everything that was announced in Pioneers of Iria to be delivered onto the server in one large burst of content, or will parts of the content slowly be revealed over time or depending on player interaction with the storyline?

We've released everything we announced in a large burst of content. Even after this large patch, we're in the process of testing more content to be patched in within a few weeks. We felt it was important to offer our players the experience of an expansion pack in a free-to-play game and so far, our player base seems to really be enjoying it.

The exploration system has been shown to include over 600 new quests, as well as different systems for discovering long lost ruins. Does the player have to be on a quest to find these places, or can they benefit from stumbling over exploration points without a dedicated quest?

No, a player does not have to be on a quest to discover landmarks. Exploration is a pretty big theme for Pioneers of Iria – and a big reason we used the name. We wanted our players to feel like they're getting a chance to explore just Iria, just as the American pioneers once did. Plus, players who discover ruins and markings throughout Iria will find new titles available to them.

It's well known that giants don't like elves and elves don't like giants. Does that mean giant and elven characters can engage in a form of player vs. player combat?

Absolutely, but players must flag themselves for PvP if they wish to heighten their ancestral disputes to physical skirmishes. We're excited to add this element to Mabinogi – and really think the player base will enjoy the chance to challenge each other in this fashion. However, we also think players should have the option to engage in this combat and that's why it's going to be up to them to take part.

Thanks for your time, Matt!