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Home : Interview with Mehul - May 29, 2006Following is a 10-question interview by Lady Solaris with Mehul Patel, creator of Utopia, held on May 29, 2006.
1. Utopia is now in its seventh year online. During this time, the game has evolved from a narrow variable environment to a multifaceted role-playing game. What were the most challenging or memorable moments of its development? "The most challenging moments were definitely in the early years, when we were still learning some of the challenges that we would face from a technical perspective. The growth rate was well beyond our expectations back then, and constantly trying to upgrade our technology while being fiscally responsible was always a balancing act. We also were learning on the fly how to get the most out of our machines, how to tweak our operating systems, etc. The most memorable moments are the random emails we get sharing with us how we have made an impact on people’s lives – that was what instigated the Utopian Experiences section, which is now on the site. Entertainment is fleeting, and in the grand scheme of things, it does not have a huge impact on lives. One of the best stories we got was early in our run, when the parents of an adopted child emailed us. The essence of that story was that the parents had really struggled to connect with their son, and he was having trouble accepting them. He had begun playing our games, and the parents joined and it served as that bridge to start the process of turning them into a family. My long-term professional goals in life do not involve games or entertainment – they involve helping change and improve lives, so it is these types of stories that really make all the time and effort put into Swirve truly rewarding." 2. Despite the quest to make all races and personalities equally interesting, one or two races, and relative personality combinations, seem to prevail among all players, new and old. Do you feel this is due to their superior playability or that players have become too set on their choices? "I think that will always be the case for a number of reasons. For new players, certain "known" races will always be popular. For example, even if all races were equal, you would see more humans and elves than anything else, simply due to their names. Beyond that, there will never be perfect balance in a game like Utopia, and with the level of organization within the game, if a few races are just slightly better, that will become quickly known and spread within the game, creating a huge imbalance in the numbers of each group. I do not think players' being too set on their choices is a huge issue – some simply like to play a particular race, and that's great as it creates diversity and it encourages players to take bigger challenges by not picking the "ideal" race." 3. In December 2005, the Utopian Standoff setting was created, which was projected to last three months at most. Its conclusion came about two months later than expected, on May 13, 2006. How do you explain the surprising length? Is there going to be another unique atmosphere such as Standoff in the near future? "The 3-month timeframe was essentially an estimate and a soft-target. We had never had an elimination-type game in Utopia, so it was impossible to project just how it would play out. We believe you just have to go with it and see how it plays out. The intent was to accelerate it if need be to get it moving more quickly, but we felt after a few months that we had already pushed the floodwaters on our end about as high as we were willing to go. So at that point, we just let it continue as long as it took. Its just one of those things that the only way to learn is to go through the experience." 4. In recent ages, and many times before that, players expressed the desire for kingdom-wide interaction, or group interaction, with results benefiting a kingdom as a whole. With the creation of Standoff, you introduced elements that would affect the whole kingdom over time. Did this experiment prompt a review of feasible group interaction? "I am not sure I want to go in that direction on the main servers, simply because we are playing a balancing act of making the kingdom/teamwork aspect an important part of Utopia, but not to the extent where we drive away less experienced players. If anything, we are on the too-much-kingdom-focus side of that pendulum, and I do not want to do anything that pushes us further down that road. Things like the longer attack times and more flexible wars this age are meant to start swinging us back towards the middle there. I do, however, think there's a place for that strong kingdom focus, and the new Great War tournament is designed to really foster that "all for one, one for all" aspect of the game. It remains to be seen how that will play out, but the tournament is designed for more active, experienced players, so it leaves us more flexibility in pushing the kingdom side of things." 5. The game environments recurrently available today are the World of Legends and Genesis servers. World of Legends has become increasingly competitive, mixing new and seasoned players, and widening the gap between kingdoms. May new players are quickly disheartened or are forced to take orders. Do you have any plans of reintroducing the Battlefields environment? "Not at all. I do not think the Battlefields did a good job at all separating those two types of players. Even when that server was down to only 10,000 people or so, more than half the kingdoms that were forced into it did not want to be there. While I do not like the treatment of new players, there are not enough new players to separate the two environments and create a separate game structure for new players, so I am not sure of a good solution there. That is also part of the nature of a more mature game – Utopia is no longer new, so the players that are here have often been playing for many years. That is a good thing from the perspective of a dedicated community, but discourages new players who often find themselves as outsiders, or find the demands on them to be unreasonable." 6. For a long time players have had the opportunity, in World of Legends, to stay with their current kingdom as they move to a new age, while Genesis players start anew. World of Legends has approximately four times the number of players of Genesis. Aside from the difference in variables, do you believe that players value being with their friends more than the challenge of the game itself? "Absolutely. A big part of Utopia is the community it fosters, and it is not surprising that the bonds it creates are a big part of the value of the game. We see Utopia as much an engine for driving interaction as it is a game. Genesis offers a different sort of environment that is clearly not as popular, and understandably so. It also suffers from being a “second” server – if a player is going to play only one server, they will (rightfully) choose WOL, so even with a continuing game structure, Genesis would be much smaller than the primary server would." 7. Although security and anti-cheating measures have evolved and improved over time, players still find new and resourceful ways to get around the rules today. While playing multiple accounts is certainly more difficult and short-lived, trading practices thrive. Most new players are asked to trade and/or give up their accounts or be eliminated, for example. Do you think that such practices ultimately drive new players away? What measures, if any, can be taken to curb this illicit phenomenon? "I think it is obvious that if a new player to the game is asked to give up their account, they are not as likely to stay and experience Utopia. It is an unfortunate side effect of running a free game. It is simply a microcosm of human nature – good and bad. Just as you have criminals in the real world who do not respect laws, the same will be the case in a game. People will justify it any number of ways, but it is no different from a psychological standpoint. We are always finding new ways to combat the problem, but there are limits as to what we can do." 8. Players are given the opportunity, through the general forums, to get involved and contribute ideas and thoughts on how Utopia should change, improve, and evolve. In fact, many suggestions and contributions were implemented over time. How important are the voices of the players and what would you like to hear from them (besides number crunching)? "We want to hear the players' thoughts – that is all. I rarely try to guide the direction of feedback, because I prefer to see what issues are important to them. We do not have some type of long-term plan for where Utopia is headed, so we look at suggestions and see how it would fit with the overall game goals. The biggest value from users' feedback comes from their discussions about the reasoning behind the changes, the benefits, the drawbacks, etc. Sometimes, we will identify a problem but find a different solution for it. Then again, we will see a suggestion and turn it into something similar that addresses an entirely different goal of ours." 9. Utopia has been and continues to be more than just a game. Utopia is the springboard for new friendships, it is educational and fun, and it has spurned the creation of satellite sites and discussion communities. Are you surprised at the high level of commitment on such a broad scale? "When the game was designed, it was specifically meant as a vehicle for interaction and education, so the idea that it would generate those types of impacts is not surprising. On the other hand, I am very surprised that it has been as successful as it has. We did not expect Utopia to be around this long or have the kind of reach it had. Therefore, from a depth standpoint, it has gone well beyond all of our expectations." 10. Last, but not least, what do you see in the immediate future for Utopia? Are there any plans to add spectacular new elements to the game or its structure? "There is nothing very specific in terms of game play that we are looking to change. To some extent, you have seen a move the last few ages to try to get back to our roots a bit – and I think that will likely continue. Simplification, playability for all, etc. – things like that are our focus. I would also like to keep trying to find new ways of doing the tournament game. We probably will not run a tournament just for the sake of it – only if we can find a creative, unique way to do it each time. That adds a lot in comparison to the World of Legends and Genesis servers, which rather repeat the same general idea."
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