Pangya Interview with Ntreev’s Sang Kwon

Mobin Koohestani talked to Ntreev’s Sang Kwon about their Free to Play golf MMOG, Panya. The MMO Gamer recently had a contest for the game and after the jump you can read what the developers have in plan for the future of the game.

The MMO Gamer: Hello! Could you begin by introducing yourself and telling us a little bit about what you do at Ntreev and your responsibilities relating to Pangya?

Sang Kwon: Hello all! My name is Sang Kwon. I am the Assistant Manager for the Game Operations Team at Ntreev USA.

My job is to make sure everything is lined up and moving. Just like a mechanic who works on a car to make sure the engine oil is changed on time, and timely maintenances are being regularly performed. Let’s just say I have my hands in many different cookie jars.

The MMO Gamer: Where did the overall inspiration for Pangya come from?

Sang Kwon: Pangya’s basic concept was accessibility. The original goal was to have players play a golf game without feeling like they were playing a traditional golf game. At the time, golf was becoming a mainstream sport and we thought the attraction of the sport and pacing was a good fit for an MMO. So, take golf, fantasy, anime style art and an awesome storyline to tie it all in, and you have Pangya.

The MMO Gamer: What were you hoping to achieve with Pangya that no other online sport simulation game has done before?

Sang Kwon: We wanted to make players feel that golf game can be visually satisfying while keeping the core competitive nature kept intact. How do we facilitate an environment or sports style gaming platform so that players would not feel intimidated or bored? The answer is simple, our goal is not to simulate but to entertain using the structure of golf.

The MMO Gamer: Do you feel Pangya has reached its peak of development?

Sang Kwon: Not by a long shot, online games offer the opportunity of infinite possibilities and opportunities, and there is an active development team dedicated to future content. In fact, there has been a steady increase on the overall development of Pangya. By that, I mean that our players can expect to see some big stuff in the future. There will be of course be a “Season 5” and we’ll be sure to have some North American tailored items and content in the future as well.

To top it all off, we’ve just launched Pangya here at Ntreev USA. We have the full support and commitment of the Pangya Development Team. I’ll go so far as to say that we are just getting started here.

The MMO Gamer: What incentives do you offer to help convince those players who don’t frequently play online sport simulation games to try Pangya out?

Sang Kwon: Well, we are not trying to emulate professional golf any time soon! I guess the immediate incentive is that you don’t have to pay a dime to register for an account, download and play. Once you are in the game, you can take time to try a tutorial, play around by yourself to familiarize and head over to various different rooms to play with other players.

If you are familiar with basic rules of golf, then all you need to do is learn a few control keys and then hop right in. It doesn’t look like golf… When was the last time you’d seen a huge epically styled fantasy sword, used to knock an exploding Comet 400 yards towards a cup, set to the tone of anime style imagery, fashioned to the back drop of a world re-living the tale of a hero saving the world… in a game? Then again… that’s Pangya.

The MMO Gamer: What are some of the different gameplay modes offered in Pangya?

Sang Kwon: We offer various player vs. player modes; including a 30 player tournament mode. One particular mode, that I’m personally fond of, is the Family Mode. Family Mode basically imitates the old school gaming days of sitting in front of a TV or PC when only 1 TV or PC in a household was common.

Family Mode allows more than one player to share that one computer, and take turns at the controls to play a round together. It reminds me of the old days of sitting in front of a TV with friends & family to play a game. It makes me happy when I hear our players telling stories about using Family Mode to play with their family members.

The MMO Gamer: What are some of the new features in Season 4 that gamers should expect to see?

Sang Kwon: We have added the very popular new character “Lucia”, a new course, new items, a new User Interface and more. A new play mode is slated to go in soon as well; there is way too much to list here. There is so much involved with “Seasonal” updates that it almost feels like a new game and not just an incremental upgrade.

The MMO Gamer: What’s different with the creative anime design approach to a golf simulation game?

Sang Kwon: It’s all about opening up to the new audiences. Anime inspired game designs have a great history in Eastern Asia; take the global appeal of anime and manga for example. For all intents and purposes, I feel that it’s a fun, stylistic approach that utilizes the Pangya art team’s full potential.

Also, being in a fictional universe means that we have a great degree of freedom in designing courses and items. We are not bound to the traditional design of “golf” courses, items, clothing *ick!*, characters, etc.
Many players have told us that they were never interested in playing a golf game before, but after playing Pangya, some of them have gone so far as to watching golf on TV. At least for myself, I now understand why the game of golf is so exciting!

The MMO Gamer: Can you expand more on one of the features in Pangya: “special shots”?

Sang Kwon: Special Shots are like special moves in a fighting game. With a specific command input, players can trigger special animations with over-the-top action camera angles, and pull a shot that’ll go further, backspin, explode and even pull off certain feats that a regular shot couldn’t. If you are familiar with sports anime/manga and their so called “special moves”, then you’ll feel right at home with the Special Shots.

The MMO Gamer: Finally, where do you see Pangya in the next few years?

Sang Kwon: Pangya has enjoyed enormous success worldwide. There is a huge fan-base and we have no intention of slowing down anytime soon. My personal hope is for Pangya to be so successful that we would have the opportunity to host live tournaments in a major metropolitan convention in California or New York.

We have an amazing staff, talented developers and avid fans! Our job is to provide our players with Pangya content that they will continue to enjoy, and maybe even find that place where both fantasy fans and real-life golf fans can come together.

The MMO Gamer: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions!

Sang Kwon: Thanks for the opportunity and I hope everyone can come and check out Pangya at http://pangya.ntreev.net/!