John Funk
Interviewee: Jeff Lyndon, VP of China Operations, Interzone Entertainment
WarCry: Just to get things started, could you introduce yourself? What's your name, and what is your role on Interzone Futebol?
My name is Jeff Lyndon and I am the Vice President of Interzone's China Operations. I have a strong background and a great deal of experience in the gaming industry, so, I get to wear several hats in this position! Currently, my top priorities are ensuring smooth operations in China, establishing business development for the Asia market, and acting as Interzone's international spokesperson.
WC: What were the factors that led you to make a football (soccer) MMOG (as opposed to, say, a baseball or American football one)?
Simple...no sport has ever drawn global recognition like soccer.
WC: The majority of football games in the world are team-based, placing the player in charge of an entire team as both manager and player. Why did Interzone opt for the current model with the player controlling a single character?
Yes the majority of soccer games currently on the market are team-based through the control of one to four players. While I am playing these soccer games, my family or friends who are not familiar with soccer games will often comment, "That's not soccer you are playing." I am often left speechless when given such a comment since I can see from their point of view and it is kind of frustrating.
In Interzone, we believe soccer is not an individual sport; it should be played en masse! There should be interaction among team mates, team captain, team manager, referee, the massive audience in the stadium, and furthermore, the whole world! This is what we are aiming to deliver in multiple stages of releases.
WC: Will players be able to create their own teams (much like other MMOGs have guilds, for example) and compete together? If yes, what sort of customization do you intend to have as far as jersey color, logo, etc? If not, how will teams work in the game-if there will be any?
Yes, players can create their own team and even club. This is something our design team has focused on intently throughout the development of the game. Players can design their own logo and uniform, and gain sponsorship. They can even personalize their custom uniforms and even add their sponsor's logo. This feature will be turned on shortly after launch. At our initial launch we will include default soccer clubs for player to join in order to populate, educate and keep our players together. We believe that this will create a strong foundation and kick off the community for players to know each other and later on spin off and create their own team/club.
There will be various default clubs for each player to join. After our initial launch, as the game grows in popularity and player interaction explodes, players will be able to create their own clubs through networking and socialization within our virtual world.
WC: Will characters have 'classes,' so to speak? For instance, when I create my character, do I have the option to make a "defender," "goalkeeper," "forward," etc? Or will my character be able to fill any role on the field?
Your character will be able to fill any role on the field, just like in the real world. We feel that we should not limit our players and we want them to connect to multiple characters instead of just one character.
Limitations are not part of Interzone's vision: Anything is possible.
