Lance James, also known as Myll Erik, is back with his next installment of “Art of War”. For Art of War part 2 he wants to know “What’s your take on games focusing on the aggressive only playstyle?” and “Should there be multiple options/choices? Are there disadvantages to having too many ways to play?”.

Art of War – Part 2

I’m a big fan of options. I like to play my games the way I want to. The case used to be that I could be successful by playing in a variety of ways. I could stay defensive and build up my forces, I could be aggressive and go for the kill, I could take an expansion route, I could go for a choke, or I could take the rubber approach and bounce off what my enemy did in game.

I’ve saw that the majority of all current RTS titles only offer players the attack/conquest option for winning and they have also shifted to a speed/attack/rush mentality. I’ll flat out say – that is my preferred way of playing. But that’s not everyone, I’d even say that’s probably not the majority. In most games I’ve played recently it’s all about being the first to attack and getting the quickest military possible. It’s hard to be a boomer or turtler in RTS games these days as often there isn’t a clear reason to play that way. From my perspective, RTS games need to allow players to choose their path, be it playing aggressively or defensively and both ways need to be balanced in order for them to be a real choice.

Junkie Nation was on hand last weekend at New York Comic Con to watch the developers of three different Trion games talk about their respective properties. Here we have Chris Lena, Senior Producer, go over all the different aspects of End of Nations. The one item that may be new to the game is that there will be two classes per faction.

We were able to ask Chris if there are any plans on population balancing mechanics and he mentions that they do have the capabilities to offer either side different bonuses but nothing has been set in stone.

Part 2 of the panel after the break.

JUNKIE NATION is heading to New York Comic Con this weekend to get the latest scoop and interviews with the guys at Bioware’s Star Wars: The Old Republic and TRION’s Rift, Defiance and End of Nations. Stay tuned to all of our network sites for the latest coverage on all of these games.

Lance James, also known as Myll Erik, has started an interesting post on the Official End of Nations forums. He titles it “Art of War – Part 1″ and essentially asks the community what your take is on having shorter games.

Welcome to our new series where we will be taking a look at various RTS game-play mechanics and examining what makes certain things work. We will also be discussing various other aspects of the RTS genre, so keep checking back for new topics! Now for some ground rules :

- Stay on Topic
- Keep things as general as possible – this is not a bashing thread!
- This is to encourage thought – therefore well thought out ideas are encouraged!
- Healthy Debate is also encouraged, but flaming/spamming will be dealt with swiftly.

Our good friend Lance James (Myll Erik), End of Nations Community Manager, recently had the opportunity to take Chris Lena, Senior Producer for End of Nations, out to lunch.

Chris sheds some light on how he got started out in the industry, what his overall favorite game of all time is, what exactly he does as Senior Producer for End of Nations and much more.

How did you get started in the industry?

Chris Lena – I first started by doing a tech support job. I was actually managing a book store, but quit and was jobless. I had friends in the industry who suggested I apply for the tech support job. I took a test (I Failed) and then got the job.

What do you do outside of gaming?

Chris Lena – I’m not particularly exciting. I like to read. I do not surf, I do not go to sporting events, and I cant think of anything exciting that I do. Well, I did sign up to run a half marathon in January…not sure if that was a good idea.

What do you do as a Senior Producer?

Chris Lena - I’m mostly a big organizer. We have a lot of moving parts in dealing with our Trion teams as well as our Petroglyph teams. I help get everything set up properly and try to make sure things don’t go wrong. I like to think, if I’m doing my job correctly you won’t see me.