Blackstar Interview with MMORPGItalia

[Samhayne]

MMORPG Italia had a first look at Blackstar, our mobile sci-fi MMO that is currently in development, earlier this year at the San Francisco Game Developer's Conference. Now, they sit down with Spacetime Studios CEO Gary Gattis for a follow up.

Here is an excerpt:

MMORPG Italia: What are the main differences between Pocket Legend and Blackstar?

Gary Gattis: Blackstar is a more serious game. It is science-fiction instead of fantasy. It has years of pre-production behind it since it was designed to be a very large-scale PC product. It supports more environmental gameplay, and may have randomly-generated content at launch.

MMORPG Italia: How many areas/zones will be available at launch?

Gary Gattis: The launch of Blackstar will be similar to when we launched Pocket Legends in terms of scope. At least three different zones with many more following quickly as updates.

Click here to read the full article on MMORPG Italia.

[JaytB]

Just read the q&a

Can't wait until it gets a release date

[neko]

How the heck am I gonna support all my characters across BOTH worlds?! [Sensing the addiction shakes starting up again...]

[ratava]

Thanks a lot for the interview and update STS. MMORPG.italia ask good questions I've found: They're good journalists. So sticking to instances? Will each instance still have a 5-person limit? Interested to hear more info on the combat system/skills "when it's ready."

MMORPGitalia: Can I upgrade my armor and my weapons in the game?

Gary Gattis: Absolutely, we will have even more customizations available than we do in Pocket Legends.

This is very cool. *_*

I'm guessing that means the animatons are a little more diverse too. Eg shooting/running etc?

Keep up the g8 work!!!

[bronislav84]

How the heck am I gonna support all my characters across BOTH worlds?! [Sensing the addiction shakes starting up again...]

This is basically why I doubt I'll play BS past the first week. Not enough TapJoy for more than one game. I think those without money will have a very hard time playing both.

[maddogcharlie]

This is basically why I doubt I'll play BS past the first week. Not enough TapJoy for more than one game. I think those without money will have a very hard time playing both.

Always a cost thats true but compared to the other options PL and B* (i hope) offer good value for money entertainment, its also not so high end that those on older units cant play. Making the main spine free to play shows they have some integrity imo.

[ratava]

Back on topic what are ppl's thoughts about the interview?

Nice to hear a little detail eg more customization, 3 levels, the devs are already playing (!), pre-alpha stage of dev, marketing tie-ins, devs thoughts on o&c, older device specs seem to be on the menu...

[Major]

I honestly cannot wait for this game!!!

[bronislav84]

Charley I doubt they'll do that for BS for a looooooong time, though.

As for money, I think you misinterpreted that. I've got money or I wouldn't even be online, just don't have any additional money for online purchases. And My Touch 4g is still fairly high end. When a device reaches a year old it might start to be considered old.

My point was playing PL on only TapJoy and earning 1 or 2 plat everyday or every other day (There were two today, but probably won't be any for a day, two, or longer because it is random), it barely covers PL. A TapJoy player like myself cannot "afford" to play two games due to the limited plat income. On top of that, TapJoy offers are across all apps, and if I use an offer for PL it will not appear for Shadow Era to earn Shadow Crystals. Thankfully, BS would share plat with PL, so if BS doesn't launch with TapJoy enabled, we would be able to earn plat with PL and use it on either game.

At least neko has the option to charge plat for money as can be afforded. What I meant was that's not as big a crisis as somebody who is completely dependant on TapJoy and barely gets enough plat for PL. I won't be able to play BS religiously until I've gotten everything I want in PL. Until the next expansion, or whenever the BS name reserve comes online, I count 30 more plat I need to earn. It's daunting.

By the way, I still recommend everybody do TapJoy even if they can charge plat. It still earns money for STS and is a way to support the devs on top of doing it out of pocket.




On topic: I quite enjoyed the screenshots, which look too good for a handheld platform, and learning more about the game from the devs.

[ratava]

Charley I doubt they'll do that for BS for a looooooong time, though.

As for money, I think you misinterpreted that. I've got money or I wouldn't even be online, just don't have any additional money for online purchases.-snip-

On topic: I quite enjoyed the screenshots, which look too good for a handheld platform, and learning more about the game from the devs.

I think he's saying PL main spine is free; not B*?

Screenies are concept artwork in the mmorpgitalie interview. We've only got the one in-game shot and that's very early (But still freakin awesome imo!).

It will be interesting to see how the pricing of B* works out. Devs should have a firmer idea what works with ppl from PL now which has had a few bumps along the way! Personally if B* is really quality I am happy to pay for such. I doubt I spend more than $3 on apps in a month usually, on average = negligible cost.

[bronislav84]

Try earning 10p on TJ alone. If you assume you get 1 every other day, which isn't really the case but go with it, this takes about 20 days give or take. Since starting the game in late December, I've earned 50p (19 spent prior to the free update on content which is now free). That's hardly enough to support PL, let alone BS as well.

The prices for BS should be about the same as PL, I'm guessing. 10p per zone, 20 for 3 if they release enough to have bundles. Assuming the level cap does not go up in PL by the release of BS, or the next campaign is free which I doubt, to have nothing I'd like to buy in PL so I can spend it all on BS, that's give or take 3 months for the 30 more plat I still need. June at the latest, that's roughly only 2 months left and a month I can't invest I'm BS. That's not counting the price of a name reserve for BS, which will be soon.

I am very excited about this game, but it is starting to become apparent that to play both, one needs to charge plat or give one up for a while.

And I don't think I'm off topic right now. They did mention content will be released like PL, so it should be ok to speculate on prices, right?

[Arterra]

i wonder what kind of people we will acquire when the game comes out... what kind of new forum users we will get, who purely play B*... O.o

[F1zzzzp0p]

I be this game would be laggy while I play cuz I saw previews and the
Graphics look too nice so might freeze often

[ratava]

Half of our user-base on the iOS side plays on iPod touches. A large percentage play over 3g and Edge network. We think that today’s mobile players will continue to enjoy a hybrid experience that is not a direct imitation of a PC product. It is one thing to imitate, it is quite another to innovate.

A lot of growth of smartphone use in BRIC countries, maybe language is an issue but could be a smart (no pun intended) move^.

and may have randomly-generated content at launch.

Surprised no one has commented on this yet?! Sweet as.

I be this game would be laggy while I play cuz I saw previews and the
Graphics look too nice so might freeze often

Those vids have been taken down now. They were for the PC version. The game plays over edge etc so I'm sure performance (with <1kb/s) should work fine on most devices including my old iphone... at least I hope so!

[maddogcharlie]

Oh er sorry Rat that was my cue for a dumb question ........Randomly generated content.......so whats that all about do you think? Random spawns?

[ratava]

Yeah, reckon that could be random spawn mobs... Procedurally generated levels would be cool too

Also sounds like content could be diverse >100hrs across the B* [whole] universe.

[ratava]

Quick Q for the devs:

"Will you guys be doing any special promotions for PL players for B* release?" as you mentioned in the MMORPGitalia interview:

"We are still evaluating the opportunities, but we are looking into co-promotional activities with hardware manufacturers and telcos."

So that's for the telcos but what about us players too?!

[maddogcharlie]

Maybe like free ingame stuff depending on your carrier, tmobile = additional character slot, sprint = custom UCDF uniform colors, verizon = Will Smiths gun from MIB and apple = the free parrot from POTBS. (joking of cause)

[ratava]

Maybe like free ingame stuff depending on your carrier, tmobile = additional character slot, sprint = custom UCDF uniform colors, verizon = Will Smiths gun from MIB and apple = the free parrot from POTBS. (joking of cause)

AT&T?! ^Reminds me of Battle Royale

Items actually could work really well, now I think about it some more. If they are adversised in PL eg and could be purchased early or such? Not one for in-game gear usually tbh... or maybe even an access code to see first footage of B* or something outside of the game that is promotion related?