Icarus Studios News

Icarus’ Tools for Expansion

(Continued from Part 2)

If you’ve been paying attention to the first two parts of this post, you’ll know that community and communication are essential elements to the success of an online game. A game that doesn’t maximize community interaction is missing the point of online gaming—both from a player experience and a business standpoint. So, of course, Icarus products offer a variety of ways for players to communicate with one another. Some of these will be familiar to gaming veterans, but for the sake of completeness, here are a few of the fundamental features presently available in the Icarus environment:

There’s an in-game live chat feature that allows players to communicate with one another in real time. It’s a vital part of any online game, because it gives players the ability to coordinate their efforts (or just get to know one another). Our features also include a built-in mail system that allows players to not only message one another, but also to exchange virtual cash and goods. And, of course, there’s a feature that allows players to manage a list of friends, which tells the player their friends are in the game world. Friend management often gets dismissed as trivial, but it’s simply mandatory for creating persistent links between players. On top of these basic items are a few impressive features, including an in-game camera that players can use to send one another snapshots. There’s a phone system built in that enables players to make and receive real-world phone calls: What better way to get friends into the game?

One of the most exciting community elements in the Icarus toolset is the ability to link to external social networking Web sites, like Facebook. Facebook already claims more than 90 million active users and 6 million user-created groups, so it’s a natural extension for any game that focuses on community development. Players can access and modify their personal accounts from inside the virtual world, so the social networking site—and any custom plug-ins it uses—become an extension of the game. Once a player logs in to Facebook through the game, they can choose to make their Facebook profile part of their game profile. A site like Facebook is full of tools that can enhance the game experience and expand the player base: For example, overlapping groups of people with related interests can introduce new people to the game. Naturally, Facebook isn’t the only option—any Web site can be displayed in-game, including forums and information sites customized for a particular game or community. So the sky’s the limit when it comes to networking and linking to external sites.

-Jason Cisarano, Virtual Worlds Team