There Can Be Only One ArchLord

[Cintaria]

The designers at Codemasters who created ArchLord, a massively multiplayer online game, revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last week that the winner will be flown to England for a castle tour and will receive an 8-foot-high suit of real armor. Ed Relf, head of Codemasters Online Gaming marketing, told SCI FI Wire that ArchLord has a number of features that have never been seen before in an MMO. "In huge games like [World of] Warcraft or Everquest, there's never a chance to become the one all-powerful player in the game," Relf said in an interview. "Now players have that chance. They can achieve the position of ArchLord, and during their reign they can do whatever they like to the game environment. They can control the weather. They can curse guilds. And, [in] another first in MMOs, they can fly on the first free-roaming Dragon Mount across the persistent playing field in real time for all the [rest] of the players to see. It's brilliant."

ArchLord comprises three factions—orcs, humans and elves—who can go on more than 2,500 quests. To level up characters, players work with vendors, hone skills and do all sorts of missions.

Gaining the position of ArchLord won't be easy: There are three castles in the game, and guilds can lay siege any of them with the hopes of gaining control. At the end of each month, the guilds that control each castle will face off for the title of ArchLord.

In addition to the grand-prize suit of armor, prizes for succeeding ArchLords will include an armor helmet in a glass case. The name, photo and profile of the current ArchLord will be displayed each month on the game's Web site.

"If you have a bad day at work, and you're ArchLord, you can log on and summon a bunch of monsters to attack a city, raise taxes or create a massive meteor shower," Relf said. "The power of the entire gaming world will be in the ArchLord's hands, and no other game has ever done that." ArchLord is scheduled to reach beta in August and should be released for PC this fall.