WGE MAG: 37
“From design and to final conception of Taikodom Hoplon, it’s been now 11 years of blood, sweat and tears.”
AR: What partnerships did you have to establish to get the game distributed internationally? Did you experience any difficulties as a Brazilian producer?
TT: I would say that there was more a feeling of astonishment than opposition. It was a bit unexpected, until recently, that a game the size of Taikodom could appear in Brazil. But it came out and was well received, because the games industry worldwide is very open-minded, always looking for news. Of course, a good command of English and excellent lawyers helped a lot.
AR: How did you pick the team for creating Taikodom? Did you have difficulty in finding qualified professionals in Brazil? Was there any foreign labor involved?
TT: The workmanship is all Brazilian, except for a few potential advisors (the lawyers I mentioned above). But it was not easy to find professionals with expertise already established in Brazil, and often Hoplon was forced to recruit people with great talent - talent that, thankfully, does not lack in Brazil! - And train at home.
AR: How long did it take from the primary design until the official release of the game?
TT: From design and to final conception of Taikodom Hoplon, it’s been now 11 years of blood, sweat and tears.
AR: With the great advancement of broadband internet in Brazil , the idea of online games is not so new, but when Taikodom began to be developed the internet was not as widespread as today. Was it always intended to be a MMORPG or did it start out as a single player game?
TT: It was always MMORPG, but is designed to meet the poor quality of Brazilian broadband and even dial-up internet. Unfortunately, despite the increased penetration and some improvement in quality, the best definition of broadband in Brazil is still the old joke: “Broadband is one that makes no dial noise.”
Look at Korea, the plans from the government over there were very comprehensive and well coordinated making them a powerhouse in the online gaming community. Connectivity was far beyond what existed anywhere in the world, to create an internal market that reflects the future needs of the world. Unfortunately, here in Brazil, we continue with a connectivity of 1992 and not 2012.
AR: Is Taikodom restricted to PCs or do you have plans to release on PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii?
TT: Right now, I cannot comment on that, though I can point out that the Hoplon ambition was never small.
AR: What do you think about Free2Play? Is it a format that the Brazilian market are finally coming to terms with?
TT: Absolutely! If you create a fantastic game and offer free access to it, people will engage and pay because they love the game and want to get more into it. It’s a format which is here to stay, in our opinion. So much so that many of our well established competitors are beginning to look across at us with some jealousy.
AR: The book Taikodom Awakening is part of a series of comic books with the theme of the game. How did that come about?
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