Interview: SocioTown's Social Networking MMORPG; Key for 50 Beta Testers

SocioTown started popping up in the blogosphere a few weeks ago when the first official video of the "Web-based 3D Social MMORPG" debuted on YouTube. From Outside of the Box Software, an indie game company with a few moderately successful casual games, SocioTown runs in Shockwave and is targeted at the rapidly filling teens and young adult market. "We're one of the few social virtual worlds that has some game progression to it," said Lead Developer Chris Evans. "Everyone has items that you can decorate rooms and such or maybe some mini-games, but we have complex interactions and missions with NPCs that aren't just inanimate objects dispensing information. You can click on them and get missions that require you to solve problems. We want to introduce people who have been hesitant to the get into the social worlds as well as those who are reluctant to get into the hack-and-slash online games."

Currently in internal alpha testing, Evans plans to take SocioTown into a closed beta early next year, but he says he's been thinking about the idea for a long time.

"I got into Web 3D games because it was one of the few outlets where small companies or individuals  could create games and reach the masses," he explained. "With Web games it's very open. If you have something kind of special it can spread like wildfire. It's always been my desire to work on this kind of a chat world. It just took a couple of years to figure out how to do it. About three years ago the idea started to materialize, and then in early '06 it looked like this is where the industry was heading. The small games on the website are kind of baby steps to get into SocioTown. It's really our flagship project."

So far every Outside of the Box project has been self-funded, and Evans plans to continue that path. For SocioTown he's looking to generate revenue through microtransactions for items and customizations as well as light advertising.

"We don't want to have it so intrusive," he explained. "We're thinking about limited sponsorships and be very, very careful about having anything in the game. It's more of a supplemental income, not the primary source."

The gameplay with missions, which is still being tweaked, will still focus on social connections. The quests Evans envisions involve solving problems for the NPCs and developing relationship based on decisions of whether to double-cross one or build trust instead. That fits in with the social networking aspect of the  world, which, instead of allowing users to simply add friends, builds networks based on actual interactions. A social network will display connections with icons, like a chatterbox, based on your interactions, and an friend circle will show the depth of relationships.

"The inner circle basically shows your friends, your very good friends, and your lifelong friends based on how much time you spend with them online," Evans explained. "With sites like MySpace, you can add a friend, but there's a ton of people that collect friends. I want to emphasize that it's not about the number, but about the relationship. Your value is in each friend." 

So far about 2000 people have signed up for the beta with the highest demographic ranging between 15 and 35.

If you'd like to participate or try out the beta, Evans offered this link to guarantee 50 Virtual Worlds News readers a spot.