Game Stooge

INTERVIEW: Abandon Interactive Entertainment’s Freaky Creatures

• Scribbled on December 13th, 2007 by Derrick Schommer
• Filed in Action, Interviews, MMO, Mobile Gaming, PC

GameStooge was lucky enough to be one of the first, if not the first, game site to interview Abandon Interactive Entertainment’s president Jamie Ottilie and creative director Matt Saia about their upcoming game, Freaky Creatures.

We asked them a few questions about their upcoming Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) game and what it might do for the industry. We also wanted to know a bit about the Freaky Creature action figure toy which comes with the game. Unfortunately, their time was limited do to press calls so we asked as much as we could in the limited time we had.

Freaky Creatures is a game which arrives on a USB key with a Freaky Creature toy you’ll purchase in the store upon the games release. The USB key unlocks the full MMO experience by allowing you to register online and begin playing the trial mode version of Freaky Creatures after setting up your profile.

GameStooge: Can you explain exactly what is a “freaky creature” toy, is it a plush toy, platic, etc.?

It’s 5″ collectable action figure, we’re finishing up the final sculpt designs right now so I don’t want to tip my hat too much on that. It’s aimed squarely at both the core gamer collectable market and core “boys toys” age range in terms of what it is.

GameStooge: Your press release states you can collect 10 collectible toys all packaged with USB keys, is there any other expense to play the game or is the cost of the toy all you’ll be investing?

It is a creature building and battling game and we will launch the creatures in sets of 10. At launch we’re delivering “set one” which will present the the first 10 creatures. We will continue to add new sets of 10 as times goes on.

The game works like a traditional MMO, there is a subscription fee to pay after your trial period ends in order to continue playing the online aspect of the game.

GameStooge: How long will the trial last?

The trial period time frame is not set in stone but we’re playing around with 30-days as the trial time. We want to give you enough time to get involved with the characters and the universe. We also want it to be a fair value for what you purchased at retail.

GameStooge: How much will the Freaky Creatures action figure cost?

We’re not ready to talk about pricing yet, we’ve certainly got thoughts on it but we’re in the midst of conversations with retail and distribution partners, we have to finish those before we announce a price point but it will be competitive with toys in its category of toy.

GameStooge: The game plays off a USB key, is it actually attached to the toy or does it arrive in the box separately?

It will not be attached to the toy itself.

GameStooge: Does the game play off the Web or is their a downloadable application involved?

It is a fully downloadable application with web integration but the game itself is a stand alone game.

GameStooge: Macintosh/OS X Support?

Not at launch no, we’re looking at it but truth-be-told we’re PC and console developers and we’d have to find a partner team to work with on the mac side.

GameStooge: Any DirectX Requirements?

We’re currently running on DirectX 9. The latest and greatest.

GameStooge: Once you’ve purchased a Freaky Creature and become a “Freaky Creature trainer,” do you gain in power based on how many creatures you purchase or does the field stay level regardless of how many creatures you have?

You have different advantages from different characters but their is no competitive advantage by having more creatures. The parts you aquire from additional purchases are balanced, their isn’t an uber part that can beat everyone.

It’s more than cosmetic but not overpowering. You won’t get a rare “game breaking” item from a purchase of other Freaky Creatures.

GameStooge: How will Freaky Creatures differ from that of Blizzard’s World of Warcraft?

I would say we’re basically trying to fit between a web based mini-game experience and WoW. Like many people, I don’t have the time to invest 4-hours to have a satisfying experience in World of Warcraft, but I also like really nice graphics and have a nice computer with a good 3D card and I like, basically, good looking stuff; as nice as any core gamer would want.

We tried to design something that you can have a satisfying experience with in as little as 10-minutes.

GameStooge: Is it more of a guild wars style where you have the all-in-one world and the graphics are much prettier?

I think you could lean more towards that, its a lot more battle oriented at this point. More one-on-one type battle oriented, and then you have your own environments you can customize, like your lair.

The interactions you have are much faster, you can get something done in 10-minutes or you can play for two or three hours. It allows you to get to the action quickly, you don’t have to wait around; there is no traveling or anything like that going on right now. You get right into the experience.

GameStooge: Are we talking about full PvP or are there Player Vs. Environment as well?

It’s PvP. The PvE element would be mainly used for decorating your own lair, having people over, and other non-hostile elements of the game. You can invite people over, hang out, let your creatures interact with each other.

GameStooge: The game is targeting “tweens”, but serves everyone in the community. Your press release says players will immerse themselves in an online Freaky Creatures social community, what safety precautions can parents expect to have in place for their children when getting online?

If you register under 13 you won’t be able to get into open chat. It’s not just blocked… it’s not an option for them at all. The only chat a 13 year old and younger gamer can access is pre-created messages which are also the only ones they can receive.

We spent a lot of time going through the rules in Child Online Protection Act (COPA) and we’re erring on the side of caution. No private messaging, everything is said in the open area, if you say something everyone in the world will see it.

We also have an aggressive word filter which can be added to regularly, and it’s based on the restrictive standards we could find.

GameStooge: How would the experience be different for 13+?

You’re still restricted to open chat, word filter is still in place–we want people to be good online citizens. It’s basically the same product. There is a website which functions as a social network called myfreakycreatures.com. At launch, we’re not allowing any user contributed content but as we progress we may experiment with user generated content for 13+ aged gamers.

GameStooge: Will their be online system administrators to call on for problems?

Yes, you will be able to page someone if there are problems.

GameStooge: Speaking of social networking, will Freaky Creatures use any unified social networking interfacies for user management?

It’s all proprietary social networking accounts. There are no standards right now that are effective and we have our own challenges in that our website is integrated with the game at a much higher degree than anything we’re currently aware of.

So we pretty much had to write it from scratch. It’s almost impossible to play the game without the web part of the experience.

GameStooge: Is the entire website flash based?

Well, no. It uses flash elements but at it’s core it is not flash. The site is still useable without flash inside of a browser. The game isn’t linked to the browser, the game is a separate client but you can access all of your in game items via the website.

GameStooge: So it’s like how Blizzard, now, allows you to see your characters profile and weapons and all that?

Exactly like that, a couple steps beyond that really.

GameStooge: Any game client plugins like WoW for Interface design?

We don’t have any plans right now but we’ll look at it in the future depending on how much demand there was for such a feature.

GameStooge: How do you plan to tackle the scalability to the MMO? Realm based like WoW, or more like Guild Wars?

It’s more along the lines of the Guild Wars model, their are smaller “instances” if you want to call it that, but everyone is in the same world. You manage a friends list similar to how you would in a shooter and jump to where they are providing you’re in the right level range?

GameStooge: Is there a limit to the friends list size?

It’s pretty high, it’s probably higher than that of the Xbox Live friends list, but its a variable we can move around. There is no hard limit, it’s just a matter of making the list manageable.

GameStooge: Will you be able to transfer accounts?

We’re not going to allow it at launch, but I can’t say we won’t experiment with it after launch.

GameStooge: If I purchase a Freaky Creature and then choose to sell it after using the USB key online, can I transfer ownership to another user? Or is it bound to me?

You can trade the creature but not the key. The key is associated with your account once it’s created. The reason we do that is because once you use the key you get the digital object associated with that key.

GameStooge: Abandon Interactive Entertainment has a background in mobile technology, any chance this will make a hand-held device? What type of devices will you support?

It will run with BREW and J2ME for mobile devices, it will run on a reasonable spec’ed phone. If you purchased a phone in the last 18-months it will probably work on it.

GameStooge: I have a blackberry, which is more business oriented, but will I be able to use it?

It won’t work on a blackberry, they have their own set of standards and their own software development system and they don’t have an install base to justify the expense associated with it. It’s unfortunate because I have a blackberry too.

GameStooge: iPhone or iPod Touch?

Not at launch, but it’s certainly possible. We’re more than familiar with several developers making games for iPhone and Touch.

GameStooge: What would you compare your social network to be like in todays social networking chaos. I have a hard time keeping up with social networks, I join one and something new comes out and I have to switch again. How will you keep people on your social network?

It’s about the game, and acknowledging that markets are going to segment and like-interest is what will keep people together. The Freaky Creature social network is focused on Freaky Creatures, we don’t expect it to expand beyond the universe of the game, just a way for the community to interact with each other outside the game.

The people on your social network will be people you want to play with or want to challenge in battle because they’re doing really well or because you can potentially win a power in a round of combat against them.

There is a story line, and a very robust science fiction universe behind it and we needed a place to allow our users to explore that outside of the game. That’s what the website and the social network is about.

GameStooge: Can you have clans or guilds or anything like that?

You can have teams which gives you an aggregate score. We’re building an interface into the website to setup and manage your team. You get your own web presence associated with your team. Everyones contribution in the game counts towards what’s going on in the website, team leader boards, etc. There is a lot of benefits being in a team.

GameStooge: Is there a way to move items on your character outside of the game, through the web interface or just a snapshot of what you’ve done?

Yes, you can do trade and move items outside of the game. There is an auction system you can access outside the game to trade powers. This would be a quick way to go check on your auctions, and it’s part of the integration between the Web and the game.

Also, to be clear, it’s subscription based and we are going into the MMO marketplace, there is a live content plan which includes upgrades to the game, upgrades to the website, additional features, additional content that get added over time.

GameStooge: So it’s an MMO with a toy, will it sell at a normal retail store or game-only stores? Basically, where can I find it in the store once it comes out, since it’s a toy but it’s also a game.

We can’t comment on specific retailers right now. You’d probably not find us in the toy isle though, you’d probably find us where you’d find video games or computer games in general.

One of the hardest things to do right now, coming up on the launch…where do we fit in retail? If we tell you about it and turn you loose in the store, where would you go to find it? Ask ten people you’d probably get five different answers. So it’s one of the things we’re working through, which is why we’re not really willing to comment on it right now.

We view the toy as a collectable so you might find it where you find other collectables, and then non-standard distribution is also interesting to us in this space. If you look at something simple like webkinz, they basically launched in a traditional plush channel and developed two million users on their website in doing it.

We appreciate the time Jamie Ottilie and Matt Saia gave GameStooge to talk about their upcoming game, Freaky Creatures. It’s hard to invision everything they have planned for this MMO but it seems to me their doing it right and not trying to create a WoW killer, but take it into a different direction and bring about a different type of gaming community.

If you’re young, this may be a game you’re going to want to try, if you’re older you may give it a spin yourself or be thankful these guys are doing their job and keeping your kids safe online.

We can’t wait to see more!