RoseZA Interview – SA's own free-to-play MMORPG

We’re actually long overdue for a nice feature on South Africa’s very own free-to-play MMORPG – RoseZA. The game attracts hundreds of local gamers on a daily basis to its distinctly cartoon inspired fantasy world. We caught up with RoseZA’s project leader Jacque Montague Raymer to get some insight into the project, and where it is headed.

You can find out more about the game and download it for free at RoseZA.co.za

MyGaming: Briefly explain what RoseZA is, and when did it start?

Jacque: RoseZA is a Fantasy MMORPG. Broken down it is R.O.S.E.Z.A ( Rush on Seven Episodes Zuid Afrika ) is a free roaming typical level-up based MMORPG featuring anime inspired graphics and a very “cute” game environment in comparison to many other titles on the market. Players fight monsters, gain character levels, obtain new skills and find equipment to prepare themselves for future battles. Players travel to different planets and explore new environments as well as battle other players and declare wars against other clans.

Battle it out in a Player Vs Player UnionWars event. The game features its own in-game economy which is directly controlled by players. Supply and demand can change each day so it is up to the player to seize the opportunity.

We went Live End July 2009 but we had been working on the game for quite some time before that. It started in a spare room in the back of my house, we were developing and running a test box on a 1Mb ADSL line (later became 4Mb). We got a lucky break when someone at Mweb was given a client and logged into the test box, liked the game and as an end result we ended up being Sponsored by Mweb. Although they only sponsor the Local box and bandwidth, the website and international box is completely owned and run by us. You can find a full introduction to the game on our website.

MyGaming: How many people work on RoseZA, and are they full-time or part-time?

Jacque: We have a crew of about 20 guys, it’s all part time, and since it’s a free project the staff do it for fun and they know that real life takes priority, although some of them put in far more hours than they should. We are more like a group of friends than a team really. I spend more time with some of these guys than I do with my girlfriend, I don’t know if it is just the South African maturity, but I can count on less than 1 hand in the last 3 years that we have had any kind of argument within the team.

We just work so well together, everyone has a great sense of humour, we all know each other’s limitations and capabilities and we just get along great for the most part. Everyone has a role to play and none of this game would exist if everyone did not do their part, it really is all a team effort. I also want to point out that our team is both multi racial and multi gender.

MyGaming: Does it cost anything to play RoseZA?

Jacque: RoseZA the game is completely free; you can go from level 1 to 250 without paying a single cent. We do have an item mall where players can purchase specific items for money, but they earn rose Points as they play as well so everyone can purchase items from the mall if they are patient enough.

MyGaming: How many people have played RoseZA, and how many currently play?

Jacque: Thousands have played and our current player base is definitely a few hundred active, if not more. To have people constantly logging in and out and still maintain a constant on-line figure then you could in reality X5 the current on-line player base to give an idea of how many active players we have. RoseZA is not a game for the masses; it is really designed for a small community. Maybe in the long run we would target a bigger market. We are having more and more foreign players joining the game, almost every second time I log into the chat channel I get told there are new players from some other country.

MyGaming: What are your goals for RoseZA?

Jacque: We are working at the moment on just expanding on our current development tools, adding some new events and features to better the game for existing players and for the staff to quicken their daily tasks. It sounds easy but it’s a lot harder to improve on something than to build from scratch. There are a few new patches coming out very soon that will add some nice fresh content.

Long Term: To finish the story and complete all seven planets, perhaps eventually finish the new Open Source Engine that is in development.

MyGaming: You’ve also recently opened an online PC hardware store. Tell us about that.

Jacque: The game is free to play, but it costs us money monthly to host the Germany based server, both websites and so forth. I was looking at ways to generate a source of income for the game so it can pay for itself. The item mall works great, however it is not consistent and quite often I have had to fork out some cash to cover additional costs.

Someone suggested we offer banner space to hardware companies for a monthly fee since we have thousands of daily hits on our site by mostly gamers. Well, I looked into it and it got me thinking, why must we use our space to advertise someone else’s products and enrich them further for a few hundred bucks that come our way, and then we must still put up with all the issues they may present us. I thought to myself, we can do it ourselves; we can supply hardware to our own players and anyone else out there that is looking for a new source to purchase from. My goal was simple, to find good suppliers and to put as small as possible mark-up on items, start small and try stay cheap.

We had already been selling Rose Points for 2 years and have plenty experience with on-line sales and I myself was in the IT trade for several years. But I must tell you, it was really hard work getting the store online; much more than I thought it would be. But it’s done and it’s there to stay. I am expanding the store a little every week, and I’ve have already added almost 40 new items since it went live 2 weeks ago and we now offer just under 200 items and it’s still growing. Our Ggoal as a whole is quite simple; to make a name, to expand on that name and who knows, we could end up a major corporation one day with hundreds of employees.

Weren’t all great names once just a few guys in the back of a house/garage doing what they love against all odds?

MyGaming: When did you start playing games, and what are some of your all time favourites?

Jacque: My first gaming device was an Atari console, shortly followed by a 286 computer with a monochrome monitor. The first Computer game I ever ran was Larry the Lounge Lizard followed by the Police Quest and Space Quest series. My favourite MMORPG would have to be Star Wars Galaxies; it is by far the best MMORPG ever made and to date the only real sandbox MMORPG to ever exist. No game has ever managed some of the same depths that SWG has or had, and I’m sad to see it go at end of this year.

My other favourite MMORPG is Dungeons and Dragons online. I like the fast paced die roll combat they have managed to code so brilliantly. Turbine really out did themselves there. Some other great classics I have enjoyed are Half Life, Doom and Quake series. It’s always hard to name only a few favourites; I can make a massive list.

MyGaming: Which developers/games do you look up to most in the video games industry?

Jacque:  Bioware, Sony, Atari, Cryptic studios, Turbine, Valve. If I see these names on any release I know that it is a game I will at least try and most likely buy.

MyGaming: Aside from RoseZA, what else are you currently playing, and do you own any consoles?

Jacque: Currently I am playing Star Wars Force Unleashed II. I know it’s been around for a while, but it’s been such a hectic few months that I haven’t had the time to actually sit down and play anything. I really enjoyed the first one so I have been itching to play the sequel.

I own three desktop computers and a laptop; no consoles. I guess I always felt more comfortable moving a mouse rather than steering my character with a push of a button. One of my good mates owns an Xbox and I have jammed a few titles with him in the past, if that counts at all?  (Not really, no – Ed :P)

MyGaming: What have been some of the biggest challenges for you developing and maintaining RoseZA along the way?

Jacque: The hardest part was to find a sponsor for the local box. A 100mbit local connection with a bandwidth usage of 200GB+ monthly is not easy to come by and not cheap at all. We have had many obstacles; we have had three server boxes blow up on us (and they aren’t cheap at all to replace).

Every-time a developer leaves it can slow development to a crawl until a replacement is found. Funding the project monthly until it found its own feet was also quite costly, and because of this there was no spare cash to expand the project. So yes, we have definitely had our growing pains and we have learned quite often the hard way how to go about doing things.

Most of this is however behind us; the game is carrying itself financially, and the development of the game is moving along at a steady pace. Our development list is evidence of that. We have been on the PC Format disc twice in the last 2 years; we have made it more than once to the top 5 in some of the free top 100 MMORPG lists. We have a good and able team, if someone is away or on leave, someone else is able to take over his tasks. Most companies make or break in the first 12 to 18 months. Here we are 24 months later and still expanding ourselves in the SA market. I would say we have definitely made progress.

MyGaming: Do you think WoW will die in the next 5 years, and what sort of game would it take to replace it in the international MMO arena?

Jacque: No, I think World of Warcraft will be around for quite some time still. I hope not another 5 years. My personal feelings are that it really passed its expiry date after the first expansion. It went from being a “challenging and complex game” to a “follow the markers on the map” and “gank lower level players” game.

It will take a game with a lot of depth and complexity to unseat WoW. The next logical step to creating MMORPGs is better artificial intelligence. To have the game almost play itself, and you as a player can truly have an effect on the ever changing story line. To have in game characters actually do something other than stand around and hand out quests and give rewards. Game content in MMORPG’s is being put out far too slowly. Story lines need to move quicker, the games need to evolve faster. You must log in on the 3rd of the month and play for a few hours and then log in the following month and find that you have actually missed out on a month’s worth of storyline. That X and Y have happened and Z is the result and it affects you in this or that way.

MyGaming: Is releasing RoseZA in a commercial environment, such as Steam, one of your goals?

Jacque: No.

WoW or Guild Wars?

Neither really, although in its prime I enjoyed both equally. I am however looking forward to trying GuildWars II.

Micro-transactions or subscriptions? 

Micro-transactions.

Xbox 360 or PS3?

I am not much of a console guy, but I would have to say Xbox.

Nvidia or AMD?

ATI/AMD – always have been huge fan of theirs. I feel that they offer not just speed but a lot of features even on their midrange cards.

AMD or Intel

I own both AMD and Intel Boxes, my personal preference is AMD, I just like the name, like the logo, like their style, have owned an AMD since the days of K-6 450mhz and have watched them struggle against all odds to where they are now.

Call of Duty or Battlefield?

Battlefield!

Zerglings or Murlocs?

Zerglings of course 🙂

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