Sami Maaranen interview

Hello, long time fan, I made the female action pics mod, maybe you remember. Anyway I have a youtube channel now and I'm making a video about UrW. If you have some time I have a few questions about the game. First  question: UrW is the only game with a barter system and no money. What  are the good things about the barter system? How have players reacted to  it?

Hi there Ryan, Mr. Wendal, sure thing I remember you, because of the female action pack and from  the forums in general as well. Nice to see you're getting youtube  creative, and I wish all the best for your channel. 

I'd be glad to answer your questions, so let's get started with the barter system question; Personally, I feel that no-money barter system gives the game certain  kind of immersion. As there's no money the game world seems immediately  different compared to other RPG/roguelikes. It also takes the gameplay  focus away from hoarding money/wealth, which is very common in many  game. Personally it's also satisfactory from developers point of view. I  wouldn't be so happy with the game as a whole if there was monetary  system still. We had it early on, but I always felt things need to be  made actually historically accurate. I think the trading system appeals  to most of the players, but there also players who have trouble with  actual "prices" never being revealed to the player.

Is Unreal World a game people enjoy for the wilderness survival  challenge, or a simulation where they enjoy experiencing a past way of  life? Basically, why do you think most people play the game?

It's both. Some people enjoy the wilderness survival without minding the  setting or era that much, some find the historical setting more  interesting. We've got a good combination there :)
But I think some sort of survival oriented gamer mind is necessary to  fully enjoy the game. During the years of development simulating the  nature and survival aspects have had the most focus from my behalf.
 

I thing the most important aspects why people play UnReal World are the  realism and detail put to both game mechanics and world, and the  historically accuracy. That together with the freedom the game offers is  probably what keeps people playing. This is a big topic and quite hard  to pinpoint.

How important is progression to players and to you? (i.e.  improving skills, getting better gear, more resources). What is more  important than progression?

I guess people have used to progression being integral part most games,  so I believe that is important and rewarding for many, if not the most  players. For me progression is not that important. I believe that  scarcity is basic need of a man ;) and life is most rewarding with a  little struggling. I think more important than progression is to  experience different situations the life (game world) brings upon you,  and to try different playstyles and approaches to live in the unreal  world - as possibilities to life your characters life are numerous.  Exploring the world, for example merely observing wildlife in the game,  is on some level more important than getting every game animal you meet  downed and turned into a hide. This is also a big topic, and philosophic too :)

The video I'm making is about what Unreal World is to me. So I  wanted some information about how you feel /  how most players feel  about it to compare. Feel free to completely disagree with me. For  me it's different to all other RPGs and roguelikes I play, because it's  not about progression.

Sounds interesting, and I'm awaiting for the episode. It's very true  that the game represents different things for different people. Even  though there are underlying concepts and ideas of mine in the game not  everybody sees and finds them. But I think you have.

Part of that is the barter system. Like you said  I don't feel the need to hoard things, because I can't convert them to  other things easily using money. Actually it's the only game where I  give lots of things away for free, I share things (especially  meat) with the villages. Most other games are designed around capitalist  kind of philosophies. Get more things, sell them, become rich, buy  super stuff, now you're powerful. Maybe unlike a lot of players, I don’t  even focus on gear and skill increases in UrW. It's the only game where  I don't care about character progression, I just enjoy living (and  maybe dying) in iron age Finland.

This is pretty much the essence of the game to me as well.

So I think Unreal World is rare non-capitalist, or non-materialistic game. What do you think about that idea?

I like the both terms being associated to Unreal World. There was this Finnish radio interview back in 2004 where I talked a bit about this  kind of thoughts. Here's english translation of the interview . Chapter where I start with "The current market economy, national economy  is rising, things becoming more technical, overall things are supposed  to be rising and growing." is probably best readings of the interview.

It's interesting what you said about scarcity and survival aspects.  Survival is why I first started playing, but now I can do it pretty  easily. In my script I wrote:  "Nature  provides in abundance. Surviving in Unreal World is about you the  player learning how to acquire the food, water, shelter and warmth which  was always there for the taking. Ironically for a survival game, it has  very little scarcity." I guess you disagree with that statement?

For experienced players keeping themselves fed isn't a problem, so in  that sense there is no scarcity for veterans. More end-game challenge  for experienced players is constantly craved thing :)
But newbies do starve a lot, fail miserably, and experience scarcity to great extent.

Is it accurate to say you "live in rural Finland and have a deep
connection to nature and the past"?

Yes, it is.

How do you pronounce your name?

I can e-mail a sound file if need be, but you can also try this speech synthezer . It speaks Finnish, and I made it to say my name and it sounds correct.

Could I possibly use a few seconds of your July 2016 "thank you"
video in my youtube video?

Permission granted. You can do that. Even half a minute if you like.

Thanks for everything.

You're welcome.