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A casual MMORPG ZzangOnline, "an easy to play game!"

MuhanGame announced that they will start an OBT of a casual MMORPG ZzangOnline (http://zzangon.gamengame.com) later this year.  ZzangOnline was developed by MuhanGame and is being served to world wide gamers through a GSP.

ZzangOnline has been conducting a CBT since the beginning of January.  By feedback from users, ZzangOnline has been continuously improving the game features and environments.  Now it's time to start an OBT.  Today, we talked to Kyungseop Shim, team leader for overseas marketing of Muhangame about the service up to now and the future plans of ZzangOnline.

Briefly, what is 'ZzangOnline'?

ZzangOnline is a horizontal scroll casual MMORPG. It's an easy to play game. There are other similar games i.e. Dungeon & Fighter, Quest Play, Get Amped, and GemFighter, etc.

Unlike other existing casual games, ZzangOnline has 3D characters, instead of cartoon renderings.  It has dynamic actions and a slow motion feature for battling enemies. The Battle zone is a PvP mode.  Up to 4 are allowed to participate to clear quests.

Speaking of a 'battle zone', there are 'Sun' and 'Judgment' opposing to each other also in the game.  Gamers are to occupy the 'battle zone' through battles in the system.

Was there any episode during developing ZzangOnline?

The targeted gamers of ZzangOnline are mostly the late 10s. So, our developers visited Internet PC game rooms to meet and monitor teenagers while developing the game, so that we could build the most attractive game for those targeted users.

Those 10 teenagers have been questioned about the action and features of the ZzangOnline, in addition to the graphics and/or skill components compared to other games which they have enjoyed playing.  Although they are young, they had plenty of valuable opinions, more so than we expected.

What were some of the good and bad user feedback received during the CBT?

A good comment was that ZzangOnline looks like a 2000 renewal version of 'Dungeons and Dragons' which was the most popular game in the 1980s.  On the other hand, some comments received stated that ZzangOnline was boring and nothing too special. We took that feedback and ensured that all our users would be thrilled with the new additions and features to the game.

The average playing time of ZzangOnline appeared to be around 1 hour, which is not short for a casual game.  We believe that this time shows us the proof of users enjoying the game, even though it's a shorter playing time than other authentic MMORPGs.  Furthermore, there are about 100 'circles' in the ZzangOnline community, which are very active.

What about the overseas marketing strategy of ZzangOnline?

Southeastern Asia has a similar culture to Korea and is familiar with a horizontal scroll game. However in America, most users are familiar with video games, not with horizontal scrolling.  So, we are focusing first on the Asian market as a key area for our overseas marketing, before expanding into North America and Europe.  Actually, we are currently dealing with some countries in Southeast Asia.

How about a strategy to overseas marketing through a GSP?

We started a CBT in January and it is still being conducted.  We had a large update added in April, in which the battle zone in the PvP area was added, as well as quest contents. User Interfaces were updated too.  In the morning, users from Europe usually enter through a GSP, as well as users from Brazil and other Spanish speaking users.  The status of user's access looks stable.

We are currently serving the same contents in English as well as Korean, and are planning for an OBT of the game later this year.

Some users are worried of being reset through a GNG site.  What is a solution?

In establishing a GNG policy for ZzangOnline, we may have to extend the contract for GSP once we have overseas service partners. In any event, we will announce it to users prior to this happening to ensure our users won't have to worry.

Lastly, can you explain the service schedule of ZzangOnline for the future?

As mentioned earlier, we are preparing to commercialize ZzangOnline later this year.  We expect to start an OBT within the 2nd half of the year.  In an OBT, we will focus on controlling character balances or game components, in addition to increasing the completion of the existing game features.  There were some issues on game features and balances during a CBT and that's why we are more considered with getting rid of bugs as addressing all these issues when dealing with an OBT.

A casual game, ‘Tcrew.’ “Make friends while collecting crews together!”

Dazoin (President Chae Myung pil, www.dazoin.com) announced that casual online game ‘Tcrew(http://tcrew.gamengame.com)’ will begin its service from this year end through the GSP(Global Service Platform.)

‘Tcrew’ is currently doing its OBT. A lot of Asian gamers are showing a great interest in this game. Some even became a big fan of this game. The fact that some of these Asian player are trying to play in Korea because Korea is the first place where it provides ‘Tcrew’ service, proves that there is something fascinating about ‘Tcrew.’

So we asked Director Joo Hyunggun about ‘Tcrew’ as to its fascinating power and their worldwide marketing plans.

Give us a brief introduction of ‘Tcrew’

People from all age can enjoy ‘Tcrew.’ We have harmonized the process of maturing, collecting and collaborating in this game. We have first worried that people might take it as a simple visual game because ‘Tcrew’ has small and pretty graphics. But the majority gamers turned out to be gamers in their teens, 20s and 30s. I guess people started to have less prejudice about small and cute graphics due to Japanese animation cartoons.  

Is it true that there are already big fans of ‘Tcrew’?

Yes, there are. Currently GSP version is at 1.1. The first service area, Korea, has 1.6 version. That is why some of Southeast Asian players are accessing to Korean websites. Some of them are even learning Korean language to communicate with Korean players. They are mostly from Southeast Asia and Netherlands.

A while ago, a college student from Netherlands who studies international communication asked for an internship position. He is a big fan of ‘Tcrew’ and has a great interest in e-business. He is planning to visit our company around next week.

How is using GSP to provide ‘Tcrew’ service going?

Last year, we have heard positive feedback from foreign buyers regarding ‘Tcrew.’ We gained a lot of confidence. They said ‘Tcrew’ has a competitive power.

Players from overseas react if we just say ‘we provide Tcrew service’ without advertising good points of GSP. They also share information with one another. Some of them even give suggestions to remedy.

There are a big number of American gamers. Besides, there are a lot from Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and England. In Asia, most gamers are from Southeast Asia that includes Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.

How do foreign gamers evaluate ‘Tcrew’? What do they say about strong and weak point?

Many say it is fun to collect ‘crews.’ There are 26 kinds of crews which is a ghost. Players can differentiate their fighting skills according to what kind of crews they have. Crews grow and mature together with the character.

As players collect crews, they want to have more and have different kinds. So players ask each other about more information on crews as to where crews are located. This activates communication among players.

Weak point is that ‘Tcrew’ is not fast enough to respond to players’ requests. It is because the company does not have enough manpower to respond to players 24/7. We are trying to come up with a prompt and efficient measure to solve this issue. 

How is GSP different from the original international service?

There would not be a big change. Fantasy game does not show much difference in the West and East. We are retouching the background pictures according to the voice of a player. And we are also planning to add two more main characters and make it six.

Tell us about GSP game test schedule and its practice.

Now it is currently doing OBT. Regular service will start from the end of this year. In Korea, 80% will be opened to the public and the rest will introduce new features such as user interface or guild system within the game.

Using GSP will enable players to team up with players in Brazil or England. They can even make friends. These are the things that we expect as we prepare the test.

In practical sense, optimizing circuits according to PC and network environment would be crucial. This will be also very important when updating Tcrew’s guild battle and boss stage.

Lastly leave a few words for Tcrew players.

Tcrew is continuously evolving. We need a certain amount of time to upgrading it, so please be patient. We would do our best to bring better service in the near future.

Shot Online, a 3-D golf game, developed and served by OnNet (CEO: Seongju HONG, www.onnet.co.kr), has been chosen as an official game of GNGWC 2008 (Game and Game World Championship 2008) which will be hosted by KIPA and sponsored by KT Corporation.

This year will mark the 3rd GNGWC. A total of 6 countries, including Brazil and Singapore newly added this year, will be holding local contests with the final match being held in Korea in November. 'Shot Online', an official game of the first year GNGWC 2006, has been very attractive to world wide gamers.  Now for the 3rd year of GNGWC, 'Shot Online' is expecting more gamers to enjoy it.

Gamers will feel like they are playing a real golf game on the field with Shot Online, as it has been developed as a full 3D game. Jaesun KIM, a director of OnNet said "our goal when developing the Shot Online was keeping the game within the basic rules of golf, and we are still working to achieve this goal", showing the intention for Shot Online as a realistic golf game.

Shot Online is being served on the global market through a U.S. branch, while also being served in Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan through various partners.  Shot Online is planned to be served in 8 different languages within this year.

We visited OnNet and talked to Jaesun KIM, a director of the company, about Shot Online which was chosen as an official game of GNGWC 2008.

 ¡ã Briefly what is Shot Online?

 The difference of Shot Online from other existing golf games is that its background is like the most realistic golf field. The basic engine was built by a developer whose major at university was physics, so that the game environment is more realistic and effective.  Furthermore, the game is based on Turn method which reflects various communities, such as communication between users or activities using the plaza, etc. In fact, users of Shot Online have built and operated communities for a long time.

¡ã It is said that 'difficulty' was applied to the Shot Online to give more interests to the users. Can you explain it more?

Yes.  The first users of Shot Online often feel that the game is tough.  In particular, compared to other golf games, the difficulty of putts at Shot Online is very high.  We initially thought that the game should be easy and finished quickly in the beginning stages of developing the game. However, we focused on our goal that we would make the most realistic golf game. As a result, we were able to bring more satisfaction and excitement to the gamers who have been enjoying the game longer. We are putting our efforts into describing even the condition change or feelings of a character, rather than to simply build just a game.

¡ã Why do you think world wide gamers are interested in Shot Online?

Shot Online is currently being served in Korean, Japanese, English, German, Cantonese, and Taiwanese, and planned for expansion into Chinese, Spanish and French. Thus, we can check the user’s tendency in each country, and realized that users in different countries tend to have certain similarities. Most users of Shot Online are older and they enjoy the game while chatting at the same time.  We believe that golf is not limited to a certain culture, but appeals with interest and familiarity in any country.

¡ã What has been the benefit by being chosen as an official game of GNGWC for 3 consecutive years?

In fact, Shot Online has extended its business to other countries through overseas marketing sponsored by KIPA.  Shot Online has been commercialized through that and users formed communities through that gradually.  In the meantime, it was chosen as an official game of GNGWC, and as such, the new users and the access have more than doubled.  Specifically, we opened its service in Germany last year around the period of GNGWC, which made it a bigger success. To open branches in other countries became easier too.  Many users of Shot Online believe that it's the game which world wide users enjoy together.  GNGWC, which makes opportunities to meet other people from other countries, is very helpful for overseas marketing.

 ¡ã Have there been any special users of Shot Online in your memory?

First of all, the first and second winners of the local contest in Germany last year became a couple through the Shot Online.  In addition, a real professional golfer participated in the local contests. There was the Japanese winner of the first year, who visited Korea to see the final match in the following year with his own money. Furthermore, some guilds printed their characters in specific outfits/clothes which made the contests more interesting to see.

¡ã How are you preparing for GNGWC this year?

 The European local preliminary contests will start on August 1st, and the local final contests will be held in sequence, starting from Germany on August 22nd, upon the KIPA schedule.  This year there are a total of 6 countries who will run the local contests including Brazil and Singapore, which are new additions this year.  Sometimes, it happens that winners of online preliminary contests are not able to join the offline contests due to the local circumstances. We will fully support them to ensure that they are able to participate in the local contests as well as the final match in Korea.  Also, we are planning for various events through the GNGWC website this year.  We will also keep world wide users posted as to the contest status live, so as to ensure them enjoy GNGWC together.

¡ã Any final comments for world wide users who are preparing for GNGWC 2008?

 We are happy for Shot Online users to gather and play it at GNGWC again this year. We put our full efforts into the preparations of such. We hope the gamers will enjoy their play fully, in hopes of them becoming the best player of Shot Online at GNGWC 2008.  We will see you in Korea soon.  Thank you!

.... Shot Online has a realistic description and it's relaxing to play while enjoying communication. but you never can lose your tension at Shot Online.... We hope that it will be updated continuously to keep it's original basics...

2D MMORPG ‘WindSlayer’,“Evolve with User and Market”

Avocado Entertainment (Representative Sung Jun, Kim, www.avocado-inc.com) announced that they will begin the second CBT session of 2D MMORPG ‘Windslayer(www.windslayer.net)” that had been provided by Avocado via GSP(Global Service Platform), starting from July 1.

Avocado Entertainment have finished the first session of CBT last month. Then they expanded its GM in English speaking countries and hired native people to edit the contents. Avocado thus tries to provide services that are equivalent to that of Korea to different countries. Korea was the first place to have WindSlayer services. Moreover they are planning to reinforce game system and security with a view to provide stabilized Internet infrastructure. They are motivated by the fact that users are the key factor to make WindSlayer evolve and grow.

However there are potential problems, such as number of users before the OBT session, game span, rack and etc. Reasons for these potential issues could be verification need and different infrastructures in different countries. We have met director Jae Suk, Choi who is in charge of overseas marketing to learn more about WindSlayer and their overall service plans.       

To being with, what words do you think best describe 2D vertical scroll MMORPG ‘WindSlayer’?

WindSlayer put all-effort to maximize actions. People might have a vague idea when they hear the word ‘action’. In general MMORPG, great arms, armors and liquid medicine are the important factors that determine the outcome of a war. However WindSlayer has a variety of action features, for instance, you can jump and attack the enemy from the back of their head, you can defend and attack at the same time, at a right timing to maximize the power. How well you coordinate different features and skills of a character would be the best way to win a battle.    

What experiences do you have in order to make WindSlayer more interesting?

Existing MMORPG game had a single round PVP battle. WindSlayer, on the other hand, has an all-time battle field called, ‘Field of honor’, other than a hunting ground to hunt monsters. WindSlayer’s Field of honor can hold maximum 10 users versus 10 users at one time. Field of honor also provides team matches, death matches and snatching flag games.

How was the outcome of first CBT?

We were able to find bugs after doing the first CBT. It is necessary to verify them due to different Internet surroundings around the globe. Computers with different options could cause rack problem. This has been quite controversial. Using different web browsers or graphic chips could cause the problem.

Second CBT session would not have additional contents or game functions. It is focused on stabilizing the system by dealing with bug and rack problems that we have found after running the first session. We also have plans to locate our server at IDC, in North America. We would like to prove the new game contents and functions during the OBT.

How do overseas game users evaluate WindSlayer?

Some users viewed WindSlayer as an imitation of Maple Story. However, the actual users have played WindSlayer say that there are a lot of different features. They say that PVP battles are fascinating. Not only the ways to control keypad are different, but also WindSlayer requires more intuition because it is more dynamic. Besides, WindSlayer can be installed in computers with less option. That makes WindSlayer more accessible in various countries.

Limited contents and options were pointed out by some users. But we don’t think this would be a problem. We are still at CBT level, and contents and options could be added anytime along with the growth of user population and playing conditions.

Could you explain overseas expansion strategy via GSP?

We prioritize North America than any other region. We plan to establish a legal corporation in the States. As to the rest of the countries, we definitely need more time to consider. We should approach countries with consistency, but it is also important to take into account local cultures in different countries. These are the complicated things about overseas marketing.

Windslayer began its service from year 2005 in Korea. How is GSP distinguished from the local services that are already in proress?

We had global service in mind from the developmental stage of the game. Windslayer has a variety of cultural elements from many part of the world such as Sonokong and Samurais. Moreover the setting of the game is downtown America. The game is designed in the way that it does not place too much emphasis on certain culture or region to make 

localization easier.

Services that are provided in English are not much different from the current version. Game will evolve with the market. We will provide global services by communicating to the users. Then if American users have specific demands, we will try to reflect some of their ideas to the contents.

Evolution of individuals is shown in instant dungeon and guild system. Security issues are not easily noticeable but cannot be emphasized more. They will be dealt after the OBT by introducing solutions suggested by experts.

Some users worry about the reset via GNG websites. Do you have any counterplan for that?

We don’t have any set plans by now, but we will do our best to accommodate GNG users. We will have separate publishers for each country. That will help prevent problems to GNG users as oppose to implementing service policy.

Tell us about the GSP game test schedule and its use.

Avocado Entertainment promises to provide reliable service for the users with the know-how obtained from having run the Yahoo game site in Korea. The first CBT was held from May 6~13^th and the second begins on July 1^st. The OBT will begin approximately from the 19^th.

 KIPA (Korea SW Industry Promotion Agency) is holding the 3^rd GNGWC (Game and Game World Championship)

 -        Total 4 Korean online games chosen for official games in ‘GNGWC 2008’

-         Local final contests will be held in 5 overseas countries such as Brazil, the U.S., Japan, Germany, and Singapore

GNGWC, a big festival for world wide gamers each year, is bringing their attention with joy again this year.

 KIPA (director: Youngmin YOO) announced that the GNGWC 2008 will be starting with local final contests in Europe (Leipzig, Germany) in August.

 The international game contest, GNGWC, sponsored by KIPA, has been held for 3 years for the purpose of globalization of Korean online games.

 In this year, 4 Korean games, including ShotOnline (by OnNet), Atlantica (by NDoors), SilkroadOnline (by JoyMax), and Navy Field (by SDEnternet), have been chosen for official games.  The online preliminary contests will start in July, the local final contests will be in 6 countries all around the world, and the final match will be in Korea in November.

 GNGWC has become a source to find out great online games developed by medium or small sized Korean game companies, and to help them distribute the products to overseas by their own capacities in the short period of time.

Korea was the number one in the online game industries on the basis of world class IT infrastructures and game developments.  But other countries such as China getting into the business lately have been improved rapidly, and Korea’s overseas marketing with licensing through local publishers has met the limitation causing its market decrease.  At this moment, KIPA’s GNGWC has become the window for Korean game companies to prove their superior products internationally.

 KIPA and its official sponsor KT Corporation (CEO: Jungsu NAM) established base servers in 6 different countries considering their online infrastructures in order to support localization and marketing of the games for GNGWC.  This year in GNGWC, based on the administration know-how regarding international game contests, contests will be held in 6 countries, which is one more country compared to last year.

 In GNGWC 2007, about 120 gamers through online preliminary contests and the local final contests all around the world competed. The official games of last year such as Lunia (by Allm), BombNDash (by Innodis), and Navy Field (by SDEnternet) have been contracted for overseas services through GNGWC 2007.  As a result, those companies reached significant marketing achievements, i.e. increasing the number of new users, etc.

 GNGWC 2008 will start with online preliminary contests in July, with subsequent local final contests in Europe (Leipzig, Germany), Southeast Asia (Singapore), North America (San Francisco, U.S.A.), Korea (Yongin), South America (Sang Paulo, Brazil), and Japan (Tokyo), and the final contest will be in Korea in November.

 Taekmin KWON from the Digital Contents Business Group of KIPA said “Korean online game industries are currently depressed, and we need the entry for global market as soon as possible. And GNGWC will be the suitable marketing means”, and added “We will try to foster the domestic e-sports contests using foreign games for professional gamers, will try to encourage public users with Korean online games through the GNGWC.”