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[Happy]

SmallWorlds Blog
A Fireside Chat With SmallWorlds Co-founder Darren Green
June 19th, 2009 by SmallWorlds Chronicle


Winter has well and truly arrived here in New Zealand. To warm things up a little, it seemed high time for a nice cosy fireside chat with one of the co-founders of SmallWorlds – Darren Green.



I’ll be asking Darren to speak about the recent economy changes within SmallWorlds, clarifying some of the concerns which have arisen, as well as solutions to address the inequities which arose from the changes. He’ll also give us a taste of some pretty exciting stuff coming up over the next 3 to 6 months. So, cozy yourself up and let’s hear what he has to say…



Honesty:  Darren, thanks for making time to talk!  I’m curious to know what drew you into this business. Why virtual worlds and online gaming?

Darren Green: I’ve spent a great deal of my working life in this arena… gaming and 3D companies, so I’ve put a lot of hours in at the coal face!  But really I just love gaming!  In  my leisure time I play a lot of on online games. I think I must have played nearly every MMORPG that’s ever been created. I play online FPS games – of course I love playing in SmallWorlds too!


Honesty:  What ‘floats your boat’ in your spare time?

Darren Green:  When I get a little more time away from creating SmallWorlds, I’d like to play some more tennis as well as dust my mountain bike off and head out into the forests – there’s some awesome tracks in NZ.


Honesty: There’s been some recent changes to the SmallWorlds economy. What were the reasons for the changes?

Darren Green: It’s not only Dan SmallWorlds who has ambitious plans for SmallWorlds. We’re wanting to add new elements, develop new types of gameplay, create new content… the reality is that in order to keep taking the game to the next level, we need to improve our ability to finance our new developments by encouraging more players to buy or earn Gold.


Change is always difficult, and thanks to all the feedback from our great community, we now know that the changes have had a few negative impacts and we’ve been working hard to find solutions to them.


Honesty: Thanks for bringing that up Darren.  As you know there are citizens out there who feel that earning tokens and doing missions now hold less value than before, as does purchasing gold and VIP. Can you address these concerns?

Darren Green: Sometimes when you make changes it’s hard to see some of the fallout.  We will always listen to the community and we’ve heard your frustrations.   One of the big complaints has been that earning Social XP for Offers diminished the reasons for doing missions and buying gold. So we’ve decided to remove Social XP from offers - when you complete a Gambit or Peanut Labs offer you will receive Gold only. So, as of early next week, Social XP can again only be earned in-world, particularly by completing missions.


Honesty:  Many citizens have been saving their tokens for a long time to purchase high-end wearables only to discover that these are now a gold-only purchase. A ‘token amnesty’ has been mentioned. Can you tell us about that?

Darren Green: Their frustration is understandable. We’ve come up with a solution that I think you’ll all like. For a four-day period, from Friday thru Monday SWT, we’ll be opening a temporary store, the Token Thrift Store.


All wearables that have been previously available for tokens (and are now only available for gold) can be purchased again for tokens - for a limited time only! Monthly collectibles and unreleased items will not be sold! The store will be staffed by a moderator to assist you. Please visit this forum thread for important information about the store before you visit.


I also want to add that 50% of items in SmallWorlds can still be purchased with tokens, and normally there is at least one item for each “set” or range of items that can be bought with tokens - you just need to look out for them.


Honesty: You’ll be aware that Gambit and Peanut Labs offers are unavailable to many citizens outside of the US.  What about citizens from other countries?

Darren Green: I agree, it’s not as fair as we’d like it to be, and we’re limited by these third-party companies as to what offers they have on their systems. Currently, many are only available to US citizens. Finding a more inclusive solution is important to us, and we are looking.


Honesty:  I’ve heard rumors about Citizen Point payouts for those who purchase VIP memberships…?

Darren Green: You’ve heard right, Honesty.  We’ve decided to add yet another great benefit to the VIP membership package. All VIP members will now receive 60 Citizen Points (3 Levels) per month. That means if you purchase a 12 month VIP membership, you’ll receive 720 CPs (36 Levels)! These CP earnings will be applied retrospectively for all VIP members.


Honesty:   Darren, I think all these changes are going to be appreciated, thanks to you and the team. To finish off, we’re all so curious to know more about whats coming up in the next 3 – 6 months…

Darren Green: Well Honesty, there’s a lot to share! Obviously I’d like to keep a few things up our sleeves but here’s some of the exciting stuff we’ve got coming up…

    * NPC’s – Non Playing Characters:  These are avatars that you will be able to purchase, then customize using the avatar builder. Then, using the NPC Artificial Intelligence (AI) Interface, you’ll be able to create this character to serve you! You may want a bartender, a bodyguard, a ghoul – the choices are endless. Citizens will be able to dramatically extend the in-world experiences they create, from The Sims(tm)-like doll houses, to mini MMOG-like adventures.

    * Smarter Pets – Building on the NPC system, we’ll be extending the abilities of your pets and their ability to interact with items and other players. Now you really will be able to teach your old dog some new tricks!
    * Clothing Range Extends & New Clothing Stores: We’ll be substantially extending the current range of clothing items. What’s more, we’ll be adding the ability to purchase clothing in-world at a range of new clothing Stores! You will be able to enter the store, try on an item, and if it looks cool, make your purchase!
    * More New Games: We’re working with a number of Game Developers of single and multi user games to connect them into SmallWorlds high score and tournament systems – great for all you avid gamers out there.
    * New Furniture and Interactive Objects:  We’ll be continuing to make new furniture releases and interactive items over this period, so you can keep the look of your space fresh, as well as evolving the online experiences you create.

Honesty: Thanks so much for your time Darren, that’s a lot of great  information I can share with all SmallWorlds citizens!  I’d like to summarize the main points:

    * Token Amnesty:  A four-day opportunity to purchase those high-end wearable items you’ve been saving for as a token-only purchase.
    * Earn your Social XP by doing missions and other in-world activities – no social XP for doing offers (remember that you receive double gold for doing offers until the end of June).
    * Citizen Points as part of VIP package - 60 Citizen Points  / 3 Citizen Levels per month
    * NPC’s, Smarter Pets, New Clothing + more… lots of exciting stuff to look forward to in the future!


Well there you have it Citizens, SmallWorlds really does listen!



I really enjoyed catching up with Darren, and hearing his responses to your concerns.  It’s so exciting to learn some of the  upcoming features we all have to look forward to!


I’m signing off now,  I’m off to Mysterios to make sure I’m clear about what items I want to buy with all the tokens I’ve been saving up, in readiness for my late night visit to the Token Thrift Store! Maybe I’ll see you there.

~Honesty Blaize

[Happy]

Here is the Token Thrift Store Info:  http://forum.smallworlds.com/showthread.php?t=20719

For a four-day period, from Friday 19/06 thru Monday 22/06 SWT, we’ll be opening a temporary store, called the Token Thrift Store.

All wearables that have been previously available for tokens (and are now only available for gold) can be purchased again for tokens - for a limited time only! Monthly collectibles and unreleased items will not be sold.

Items will not be on display. The store will be staffed by a moderator. To make a purchase, tell the moderator what item you want and they will assist you.

Important:
Please find out the exact name of the item you want to buy in Mysterio's before coming to the room. The moderator will not be able to fulfill vague requests (for example, for pink wings).
Only wearables that have been previously available for tokens can be purchased. Monthly collectibles and unreleased items will not be sold.

Wearables that can still be purchased for tokens in Mysterio's will not be sold in the Thrift Shop.

Please be aware that there may be times when the room is closed. We will keep it open as much as possible throughout the four day period, however there may be short periods where a moderator is not available to staff the shop. In that case, please try again later.

Please only visit the store if you wish to buy a wearable and have enough tokens to do so. Click here to enter the room.

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[Panda Pandora]

Thank you so much Happy for posting this.

I went into the "shop" (I would not call it a shop) today. It was like waiting in line at the bank on a busy day.
First of all the Mods there were not directing people when I was there. I was in line to be third so I sat in a chair which I thought was appropriate for where I was in line and was BOOTED to the end of the line.  Sooooo not cool!!!  Had to wait my turn again.
After I finally got back to the front I felt like I was at a car dealership. You then sit at a desk with a Moderator with a computer. So Dramatic! Tell her what you want and wait for her to tell you the items are 10x the gold price (sorry I did not know this up front...oh well). Then she puts the item you want on the floor next to you so you can buy it.  I made my purchase and left.


What would be the problem in just placing the items out in the new temporary store and letting people browse and buy at their leisure.  I think it is just not the way to go with this. And this four day offer is only this weekend; that is so little time for everyone to take advantage of the offer. Many people do not go on every day.

Oh well, seems I find fault with lots of things these days.  Maybe its the economic atmosphere in real reflected in virtual.
I am going to play with the grandsons tomorrow and recharge my batteries.

Hugs to all my virtual friends. 

[Happy]

Hugs Panda. 

Yes, it is a bit like a host trade event.  If anyone does go in the room, there are numbers above the red chairs.  Be sure to sit in weach chair in order 6-5-4-3-2- and then 1.  Missing a chair will teleport you out.  I believe it was done to prevent players from "cutting in front of others" and maintain some type of order.   

Not sure if I will take part in this event.  I was saving my tokens for anything of interest that might come out with the much anticipated 2.0 release.