Interview with Scavenger Chronicles Creator Jody Russell

Oliver "Threedog" Campbell interviews Bonafide Diversions founder Jody Russell about the company's recently launched Facebook mmorpg, Scavenger Chronicles at E3 2010.

Oliver: I'm here at E3 with Bonafide Diversions with Scavenger Chronicles, a new MMO that's coming out on Facebook. The game has been out about a month. We're here with the creator, Jody Lynn, and we're just going to go over the game for a bit, figure out what they're working on, and kind  of find out who these guys are.

So, Jody, why don't you tell me what Scavenger Chronicles actually IS.

Jody: Scavenger Chronicles is the world's first sci-fi MMO on a social networking platform. We've created it specifically for the hard -ore gaming community.

Oliver: So the game has been out for about a month now. What kind of subscriber numbers are you looking at right now? About how many players do you have, on average, utilizing the game?

Jody: Right now we have almost 700 monthly active users, which is just a great number. We're really pleased because we've already had a couple of updates. We wanted to start small, because we're new at this, and it's our first time out. There are bugs to fix, and a lot of feedback we've got to respond to. We're really making a point to do a lot of hand-holding, for the initial players. Since we're such a small operation, that takes a lot of man-hours. So we're good, we're really pleased with the numbers right now.

Oliver: What kind of features do you have planned for the game coming up in the near future?

Jody: It's all about content:  utilizing and implementing the chat feature, and just all of the MMO features so that everybody, world-wide and on Facebook can play together.

Oliver: Let me make sure, isn't Scavenger Chronicles actually compatible with Iphones and other smartphones?

Jody: It's not yet.

Oliver: But that's the plan?

Jody: It is. It's kind of in the works, but it's a maybe. It's not compatible with the Iphone yet, it's not specifically an Iphone app, but it is availble for the Ipad. If you have an Ipad, it plays great on it.

Oliver: You heard it here first! It IS compatible with the Ipad, so if you have an Ipad, go ahead!

Jody: It works great.

Oliver: And it is free-to-play. But it is monetized a little bit, isn't it?

Jody: It is, through in-game purchases like weapons, supplies, additional eco-suits, action points, and the subscriptions, too.

Oliver: What are those subscriptions like?

Jody: There's a Basic subscription and there's Premium, anywhere from 3 dollars per month up to 6 dollars per month.

Oliver: Do those subscriptions actually set you up with, like, those a la carte purchases, but grouped together?

Jody: Yes. If you purchase a subscription, you also get 25% off all in-game purchases. We created this game specifically for, again,  the hard core gaming community. We created this game because we wanted to play this game as well, and we're all about the player. We're not here to just make as much money as possible and compromise on the integrity of the game play and the trust of our players.

Our purpose is to really observe that community, to build that community, to build up the trust with the community. We want to make the game accessible to those that want to play it, that's the most important thing.

Oliver: As far as your community feedback- you've got about 700 users so far. What is the number one feature that players love the most? What is the thing that's the most popular?

Jody: Well, it's that it's actually a real MMO. That it's not just a casual game on Facebook. All of the ones that currently exist are still casual games. They have no strategy required, there's no skill required, just push a button to do quests. The biggest difference is that we're a true MMO, with real skills required. In fact, if there's been any frustration with our initial users, it's that they're not used to a traditional RPG, and we're actually more like a traditional pen-and-paper RPG. For those gamers who have their spreadsheets, who have their stats, the ones who are REALLY playing, they're rocking. Anyone else, who isn't used to that kind of game play, it can be a little frustrating, but we're here for the hard core.

Oliver: On the flip side, what's the most negative feedback you've gotten about the game so far? And how do you plan on fixing it?

Jody: The most negative feedback... one is "More content". Once players get into the game, they're constantly wanting more content, so that's where a lot of our manpower is, keeping things updated. They're also wanting a little bit more hand-holding. I think because we kind of assumed that we were here for the hard core community, especially the MMO hardcore community - they already know, they go to the application and play right away. But those that are a little bit in-between casual gaming and hard core gaming, we do need to serve them a little bit more, and they've requested that.

Oliver: Going on from here, what other projects is Bonafide Diversions have in the works?

Jody: We have the next two MMO's in the works. One is a ninja samurai MMO, one is a fantasy MMO. But we don't just want to create MMO's. We want to create other strategy games, period, but specifically for the hard core gaming community.

Oliver: There are a lot of different avenues you can go down; there are a lot of casual games on Facebook, however, there is a lot of untapped potential. I mean, there's the Farmville thing that kind of exploded, and the key is Farmville didn't do anything new. Natsume has been doing that with Harvest Moon for years, but they brought it to Facebook, made it accessible. There is a ton of stuff you can go back to. Bring us your harder games, jump in there, put your twist on it. I'm really interested in your ninja samurai MMO, I'm sold.

Jody: Awesome! I will say just one more thing. The reason we decided to serve the hard core gaming community is there is just so much love and respect for that elite group in the gaming industry and community, and I've been working with (gifted and complex) adults for a number of years and there are so many of that demographic, gifted, brilliant people who are a part of that community, and they are the ones that, we believe, push progress forward in the area of technology, like you see here at E3. So much technological progress begins in video gaming, and I believe that it starts with elite, hard core gamers, who require that those limits are pushed.

Oliver: Thanks, Jody.  If you want to check out the game, you can go to Scavenger Chronicles on Facebook. You can also find out more about Scavenger Chronicles and their projects at Bonafide Diversions, and they have a mailing list set up for more information.