NelsonT - -[ Nidain ]- Hello, i just would like to ask why horizons is nowhere to be see in France
and most online french shop including Amazon are not shipping Horizons before January ?
Eski-AE - The French and Spanish markets are a bit overloaded with product this year. Shelf space
is extremely limited due to the sheer volumes of product shipping this year. The retailers in
France have expressed their desire to place the product on the shelf in January or when product
clears out. My suggestion is that if you want to play is to purchase from an online source
 

NelsonT - *Tsalrioth* Will the european and american versions have the same server?
DavidBowman - There are two different sets of worlds for Europe and North America. The European
worlds are hosted by Game Network but receive the same core code and assets as the North American
worlds. It is possible to upgrade either your North American account or your European account to a
Transatlantic account which gives you
 

NelsonT - -[ olorin ]- simple one: is there an european roleplaying server?
DavidBowman - the ability to create characters on both sets of worlds.
Olivier - Depending on the demande in Europe Game-Network will set-up a role playing server. But
first we want to see how the launch goes and track the amount of requests for a RPG server
 

NelsonT - *Nidain* Hello i would like to ask if Game Network could "tag" servers as unnofficial
German server, French server and so on ? It would help a lot new player that have no friend online
yet.
Eski-AE - I understand what you mean. The great thing about Horizons is that you will meet people
from all over the country or from different countries. Before we launched the European beta we had
a tremendous European beta testing group from several European countries. If you read the News
alert from the other day, you will see we released the names of the European shard. Pick one you
like, there will be plenty of people to meet.
Olivier - We don't have plans to tag the servers at start, if the german community is large enough
it could be a possibility in the futur
 

NelsonT - -[ SheerWolf ]- If I order Horizons from Germany, I wont receive a german version of it,
will i? theres only the english version?
Steve_Snow - Digital Brothers and Atari are initially distributing the English version. Once that
is available we will be looking into the translations and the territories for those translations.
 

NelsonT - *Fluffy-* Q : Can you confirm the UK release date as it doesn't seem to be available in
the UK until the 12th at most online stores but some stores list as the 5th
DavidBowman - The European worlds will be available for play in Europe on December 5th. That
include service for the UK. The distribution of the retail boxes is handled entirely by Atari, and
you should see delivery starting from the 5th, but some retailers might have internal reasons for
not receiving the shipment which I can't comment upon since they don't share that with us.
 

NelsonT - -[ Pharcellus ]- What are the major issues being addressed by the dev team prior to the
[European] launch?
Steve_Snow - Right now we are finalizing some last minute issues with the game and some balance. We
have an internal priority list of issues we want to address over the course of the next few months.
But our real estimation is that that priority list will change drastically once users start playing
Horizons.
Steve_Snow - We will adjust that list to fit with what the player base is in need of as opposed to
what we want to do.
 

NelsonT - *Kheldon* Will AE do something about the starting levels? Which at least in beta threw
the character straight into a level threadmill.
DavidBowman - Horizons starts with players discovering that they are members of the Gifted Ones.
They need to receive training and learn how to become powerful members of the Empire of Istaria in
order to successfully defend against and drive back the Withered Aegis. The first period of time is
centered on that and will remain centered on that. If you choose to continue doing nothing but
improving your character and not participating in the world, that choice is viable, but
DavidBowman - but the rest of the players will be missing your contribution to the real game.
 

NelsonT - -[ Kheldon ]- Will the North American and European versions be hard coded to restrict
owners of one version to play on the servers of the other?
Eski-AE - Hard coded is not the way to look at it. We are launching with servers in Europe and
servers in North America. People who purchase the game from any of these territories will be only
able to play in the territory they live in. (there are several ways we ensure this)…
Eski-AE - If they want to play on both Euro and NA shards, then they can subscribe to the
TransAtlantic account. The TransAtlantic accounts give more character slots for the CD key and
allow the subscriber to play in both territories.
 

NelsonT - -[ Skyler ]- What's going to make me up sticks and leave my current MMORPG and other
games in order to play Horizons... whats really going to get me hooked?
Steve_Snow - Show me another MMORPG that has an in-depth tradeskill system that is viable within
the gamespace. A community building system that actually lets you own land, develop it as you see
fit as well as establish your own specific structure types and
Steve_Snow - a quest system that allows you to get away from grinding against item crafting and
killing monsters all day. There really isn't another product anywhere that lets you do everything
Horizons does.
 

NelsonT - *ooompalooompa* What are the major difference between the EU and North American Servers?
i.e. Lag
Eski-AE - Location. The infrastructure design is the same as the US as is the content at launch.
The differences will come post launch with the Europe team delivering events and in game content
for their shards and NA for NA. This does not mean the content is different, but how the content
is used by the teams and how it is received in the game by the customer is a big difference.
 

NelsonT - *piepiepiepiepie* Is there a seperate Staff maining the European servers? Who would us
European be contacting?
Olivier - The European based version of Horizons is managed by a dedicated team based in Milan,
Italy. Game Network will offer localized support in five languages to start with (French, German,
English, Spanish and Italian). Next to our support team we have a dedicated team that will maintain
the servers daily. Due to our close relationship with AE we have a daily contact to work on any
issues together
 

NelsonT - -[ pieIsLove ]- I Hope you changed your mine in being able to make pie in game. Pie is
the matrix.
Steve_Snow - Pie is very important to Artifact Entertainment, we like pie and we like the people
that like pie. We have a comprehensive list of pies that confectioners can cook up in Horizons.
There are all kinds of pie in Horizons, including mutton pies, gruok pies, beef pies, venison pies.
Steve_Snow - That's just for the first tier! Not to mention that Mr. Carnes is creating a special
assortment of sweet pies as well!
 

NelsonT - *Nidain* Will we be able to swim anytime soon? or at least able to stay underwater for
more than a few seconds ?
DavidBowman - Swimming is not part of Horizons yet. You will drown if you stay underwater too long
in Horizons. We will add swimming when we are prepared to expand into the water portion of the
world. Due to the dynamic technology that underlies Horizons, we will be able to make this
transition very smoothly.
 

NelsonT - [ Ara_Horizons ]- Will there be major changes from the land mass beta members see and
what retail players will see
Steve_Snow - We altered the tutorial significantly so right at launch you will have a new tutorial
area to mess around in. As time goes on we will be adjusting existing areas to fit with requested
gameplay from the player base as well as creating whole new areas for users to explore.
Steve_Snow - Plus there are many areas that have not been explored by the players that were
available in the beta.
 

NelsonT - *Kheldon* What purpose does the "TransAtlantic account" have and why is there an extra
fee/subscription on it? Does it provide anything more than other games that allow you to play on
whichever server you wish?
Eski-AE - The main purpose of the TransAtlantic account has is the service and quality we are
delivering to the customers. Both AE and GM are working to provide localized support for the
territories. This being said all we have done is extended this service to those who wish to play
in either territory by placing a small fee which only covers costs.
 

NelsonT - -[ Salvy ]- we saw some classes were not in beta (like assassin and Champion) are u
planning to put them in game from tomorrow?
DavidBowman - Horizons has a very flexible school system that allows us to add schools whenever we
believe they are ready. As for Assassins and Rogues, neither of those schools are "official"
schools of Horizons, but if they were I'm sure they would not be made available through trainers
standing in town saying "Pssst, you want to be an Assassin?".
 

NelsonT - *pieIsLove* Are European HZ players more sexy then American HZ players?
Olivier - I think all Horizons US and EU players are sexy, but I must say that we European kind of
invented the word sexy. So, up to you to make up your mind on that one :)
 

NelsonT - -[ Frencheh ]- Is it true that Mr. Escalante is really a time traveller from the late
18th Century, one of the radical "sans culottes" from the French Revolution?
Steve_Snow - Yes! Mr. Escalante was one of the key members of the revolution. He personal was
responcable for leading the small task force that made it possible for the rest of the mob to storm
the royal grounds by opening the doors, and he was wearing culottes at the time.
 

NelsonT - -[ Nidain ]- Don't you think that the lack of item decay will soon or late kill the
economy ?
DavidBowman - The average item/weapon/tool in Horizons does not decay, but that does not mean that
they are not removed from the economy and it also does not mean that other types of
items/tools/weapons will not be "invented" by the players that involve an opportunity to upgrade to
a temporary higher performance. We are watching the economy very closely.
 

NelsonT - -[ Kheldon ]- Are there any plans on the starting quests to differ in more ways than how
many of X monsters you need to kill? The length chosen for the quests simply raised the number you
had to kill, will these tasks be changed towards more meaningful quests that immerse the players
with the world of Istaria?
Steve_Snow - Task master quests are for a quick and dirty something to do. Horizons offers
significantly more quests within the gamespace for you to complete. But you'll have to seek them
out.
 

NelsonT - *Ara_Horizons* is there any ETA on weather as per the FAQ on the horizons website, and
also Falling Damage
DavidBowman - We have tested the weather during Beta and there will be dynamic regional weather in
the world at launch. The larger global movement of weather will be sparingly used until we are
certain of performance on all systems. Falling damage and environmental damage will be turned on
with an update, the question we are still asking is do we announce it in advance?
 

NelsonT - -[ Duckbill ]- Question: Could you clarify how the Transatlantic Account thing will work
? Are we apying for access to all servers or only if we want the 5 extra char slots?
Eski-AE - The TransAtlantic account gives you access to all servers available to the public that
are located in either Europe or North America. This is an additional $5 per month charge. We also
have given this Cdkey five more character slots. These slots are not restricted to 5 in North
America and 5 in Europe.
Eski-AE - You are simply awarded 10 character slots in total and can create characters and any of
the shards in either territory. So your motivation to upgrading your account could be for the
additional slots or the additional shards (more friend fun)… your choice.
 

NelsonT - *StormGuy85|away* how do you guys feel about having previous members of your team
publicly calling it a pile of crap?
DavidBowman - I'll let people judge for themselves the validity of any commentary made by an
ex-member of our staff. We are confident in Horizons. The motives are often apparent in the
language chosen to be used.
 

NelsonT - *boone* Will there be a downloadable trial version or offline beta one can try before
buying?
Eski-AE - With MMO's there is typically no demo versions outside of the beta. Of course I do want
to point out that a beta is NOT a demo although most people treat them that way. Anyway, there is
a trial period when you purchase the retail version of the game. For 30 days you get to play the
game for free.
 

NelsonT - -[ ickehalt ]- Greetings! Not sure if that question was already answered (just joined)...
when can we expect the european server to be switched ON tomorrow? any schedule?
Olivier - The servers will be launched this night (some time after 24.00) :) allowing the first
pre-order players to log-in and enjoy the wonderful world of Istaria
 

NelsonT - *NelsonT* What measures have you taken for the infamous "launch week"?
Steve_Snow - Even though everyone is very busy making sure our T's are crossed and our I's are
dotted there is a confident feeling that the launch will go well both in Europe and North America.
Steve_Snow - But that doesn't mean we've stopped wait for the other shoe to drop. We have put in
place many procedures to ensure that if there are any issues they get resolved quickly and
efficiently.
Steve_Snow - But that doesn't mean we've stopped wait for the other shoe to drop. We have put in
place many procedures to ensure that if there are any issues they get resolved quickly and
efficiently.
DavidBowman - and we've tried to give Snow some relaxation therapy as well!
Steve_Snow - See, I'm so excited about launch I'm spamming.
 

NelsonT - *[QT]Lyle* Why was Horizons released in Europe before it was released in North America?
Eski-AE - The European and North American markets have different retail demands and customer
expectations. We needed to launch in Europe by the 5th in order to have a solid presence for the
Holiday season. As you can see, even coming in on the 5th has given us challenges in France. The
US on the other hand does not have the concerns and it helps us work together to ensure a nice
launch in both territories
 

NelsonT - *NelsonT* Exactly how excited are you for the launch of Horizons, and is there anything
you'd like to say in closing?
Steve_Snow - I'm personally really pleased that Horizons is launching and I'm looking forward to
supporting our customers and building Horizons into even more than what it already is.
Steve_Snow - I think I speak for a lot of people when I say it's been a very long road and just
because we are launching doesn't mean we are done.
DavidBowman - We've been working mostly seven days a week for years to get to this point. Many
companies attempt to make massively multi-player games but quickly realize that it is much harder
than any other type of development. The team has done magic and Horizons is great fun to play.
Thanks also for the wonderful Beta participants.
Eski-AE - After the beta event last night… I can hardly contain myself. I work with a good team
that has worked their butts off to get here and I am proud to see this game ship. The beta
participants were also great. Thanks so much and see you all in Horizons.
Olivier - Together with AE we have been working hard for this day, we expect many players. We all
cain't wait to see players in-game after launch. Many thanks to all of the AE team for the
wonderful game we are about to launch :)
 

NelsonT - Thank-you all for joining us for today's HORIZONS: Empire of Istaria House of Commons and
European Chat! We'd like to especially thank David Bowman, Steve Snow, Steve Escalante, and
Olivier Voute for joining us!
Steve_Snow - Thanks everyone for joining the chat! Your time is greatly appreciated.
NelsonT - We look forward to hosting future House of Commons chats with the Artifact Entertainment
team and we hope to see you all there.
NelsonT - HORIZONS: Empire of Istaria launches in Europe tomorrow (December 5th) and in North
America on Tuesday, December 9th. HORIZONS: Empire of Istaria - Your New Reality.
NelsonT - Feel free to join the #horizons channel to chat about HORIZONS: Empire of Istaria!
Eski-AE - Thanks everyone! Cheers.

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