Dragon Oath keeps on growing, and Age of Destiny is being dubbed as one of the most anticipated expansions of 2010. Naturally, we wanted to know why it is being called so. Find out what we discovered.

FreeMMOGamer: Could you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi, I am Martin Tan, General Manager of ChangYou.com (US) Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of ChangYou.com Ltd., China’s leading online game developer and operator.

FreeMMOGamer: You’re calling Age of Destiny the most anticipated expansion of 2010. What makes it so special?

We have over 75 million players worldwide, but that number alone doesn’t do the game or its expansion justice. The fact is our gamers are among the most dedicated in the world, and they love the universe in which they play. We first released this expansion in Asia and it soon became a hit. The number of concurrent players jumped from 300,000 to 500,000. So we think definitely we need to bring this most sucessful expansion we had in Asia to the U.S. market to give U.S. players an even more exciting and joyful gameplay experience. What sets our game apart are the various social systems and ways in which our players interact with each other and build online communities and friendships. The expansion, Age of Destiny, is only going to add more social features to an already expansive list that includes Marriage, Kin/Family, Master and Apprentice, Guilds, and much more. In addition, players are rewarded for cooperative play, and some of these rewards are quite impressive, such as a new Mountable Dragon named Bladewind, available for dedicated Masters and their Disciples.

FreeMMOGamer: This expansion was named after a player’s suggestion. Did you get many suggestions and felt great involvment from the community?

We had an overwhelming number of responses from very enthusiastic players. It was just another example of how dedicated our player base is. In the end, we sorted through the hundreds of submissions and chose the name that best fit the idea of the expansion, which will introduce content that will allow players to further fulfill their desired in-game destinies. We always value our community most and that is the key element that sets our game from other MMOs. I understand players here get the impression that online games from Asia are usually about endless and pointless grinding. But Dragon Oath is certainly an exception. We emphasize players’ interaction more than anything else. We do everything to make players feel that they are playing with each other, but not with computer only, like we have an in-depth social networking platform, in which you can get married, build guild and master/apprantice relationship. Besides, our unique and diverse pet system would also allow you to make friends with other pet owners and even became in-laws if your pets create a bond.

FreeMMOGamer: The new Dragon Mount “Bladewind” seems impressive. How hard will it be to get and train it? Tell us all about the Bladewind.

For people who have watched the movie Avatar and dreamed of owning a flying mount, here is your chance to make dream come true: in Dragon Oath: Age of Destiny, our dragon mount Bladewind looks the same as the one in Avatar and is even more powerful. And also as it is true in the movie, only the stoutest and bravest warriors are qualified to tame one!

The dragon mount “Bladewind” is certainly one of the biggest (literally!) additions in the expansion. The Legendary Dragon is an enormous and extraordinary mount with razor sharp claws and a massive wingspan that produces dust storms in its wake while increasing the player’s speed by 70%. Players who obtain this creature will certainly get other players attention while flying across the map, and can even take a companion along for the ride! It will drastically help players to level because of its incredible movement speed and the ability for it to carry two people. Another great thing about the dragon mount is that you don’t need to buy it! It’s available to players through Lucky Bingo and Master/Apprentice relationship points. The mighty Bladewind can be captured in only two ways…pure luck or pure determination. In order to catch this elusive beast, you must seek out these rare items: the Claws of Bladewind, the Wings of Bladewind, and the Teeth of Bladewind. This is no simple task. You will need your friends and unparalleled effort to do so. Or...you could be extraordinarily lucky, and Cissy Lau of Lou Yang may let you claim it from her game, Lucky Bingo.

FreeMMOGamer: Can you give us a description of the new areas, and which one is your favorite?

The new areas in the expansion are flat-out amazing. Just to give you a couple of examples: Yan Tomb is a dark, evil dungeon that is 9 levels deep. Each level is protected by an army of minions and a sub boss. On the bottom level of the Tomb resides old King Yan, the demonic defender of the instance. Armed with his flaming sword, he destroys all who attempt to infiltrate the core of his tomb. If you somehow manage to defeat him, you’ll receive King Yan’s Pearls, which can be traded for very rare and powerful armor pieces. Swallow’s Dock is an event in the game that truly makes player’s feel like they’re part of a movie. Players get to trek through multiple stages of a large scale attack on the Song Dynasty. The presentation of the event is out of this world. The Ice Space zone is a place where players can come to gain experience in a calm environment. If you’ve ever felt like building up experience without having to go out and kill things, this is the place for you. You don’t need to log out to gain your experience either; you can stay online and hang out with other players in the zone.

FreeMMOGamer: Of the new features, which one do you recon is making players more excited about?

The new quests in the expansion, I think. They will benefit players greatly by giving them a more in-depth look into the Dragon Oath story. All of the quests are incredibly rewarding in terms of weapons and armor sets and extremely important to the player’s progression. The quests themselves all lead towards tons of weapons or pieces of armor, so nothing is pointless in this expansion. Everything is catered towards helping the players get fully-equipped with new items.

FreeMMOGamer: With Age of Destiny, do you feel like you’ve included everything you wanted in an expansion to Dragon Oath?

This expansion is huge! Several new and grand areas, new pets, new quests, new weapons, new events, new mounts, an upgraded social networking platform… I am sure every player will be captivated. Of course, we always strive to boost players’ satisfaction as much as we can. Age of Destiny is our first major expansion this year. We will launch another major expansion in August and will keep doing numerous in-game events for each festival through the year. The first to expect after our major expansion is the Valentine’s Day Events. Keep your eyes peeled for these great new features.

For more information of Dragon Oath: Age of Destiny, check out the expansion’s mini site: http://do.us.changyou.com/expansion/index.shtml