ZAM Talks with Outspark About Seven Dragons

Seven Dragons is Outspark's first browser-based MMO. We sat down with members of the team to discuss this free-to-play RTS/RPG hybrid.

Outspark is a portal known for it's free-to-play downloadable games, but the latest addition to its catalog is a little different. Seven Dragons is Outspark's first browser-based MMO, which means you can play it anywhere you can access a browser, including your iPhone or iPad.

Seven Dragons is an RTS/RPG hybrid that is all about forming alliances, building empires and engaging in PvP. We sat down with Executive Producer Roxy Gibert and Outspark COO Philip Yun to get more details on the company's latest game. Check out the full interview after the jump!


ZAM: Can you tell me a little bit about Seven Dragons?

Roxy Gibert: Seven Dragons is Outspark's newest web-based MMO game. The genre is basically a combination of real-time strategy and RPG elements. The core of the gameplay is you come into the game and form alliances while you build up several cities across this land. The storyline is that the land of Gallia is infested by dragons. You're here to build up an empire and form alliances with other players and then battle each other and the dragons.

The game has a consistent narrative that goes through all the core features of the game, but the top features of the game are the ability to build up your cities, build up and raise an army, form alliances with really rich features, participate in PvP where you're battling and conquering other players' cities, and the roleplaying aspect of building up your hero. Then there's the overarching narrative where you're going through the land of Gallia battling all of the dragons.

ZAM: With the combination of RTS and RPG elements, who do you feel is your target audience?

Gibert: Our target audience is players who like a rich strategic hardcore experience. They're the ones who aren't necessarily going to download a full MMO, but they're really interested in roleplaying and strategy. It's what we call our medium hardcore players.

ZAM: How do the RPG elements work? Are you leveling up a character?

Gibert: You have the ability to recruit and build up several heroes. The heroes are customizable. You can change their name and how they look. You build up their skill sets in a couple of different ways. You choose a character class for that hero and then you build up your skill sets accordingly. There's a lot of skill gathering and stat choices, so you're strategically choosing the way to level up your character.

Each character class has different features that unlock for them. The actual look and feel of the game changes depending on which character you are. If you come in as a dwarf, your buildings are going to be dwarf-related. If you come in as an elf, your buildings will be elf-related, as well as your skill sets. Each different character class has skills, buildings and advantages that are specific to them and their particular class throughout the game. For instance, if you're an elf you get a magic fountain. If you're a dwarf you get a crazy bunker-type thing that's more geared toward battles.

ZAM: The game is free-to-play. Do you have a cash shop or other forms of monetization?

Gibert: We have two things we're focusing on for players to be able to pay. The main one is diamonds, which is a separate currency within the game. As an Outspark player, you can come in and use your SparkCash to play any one of the Outspark games. In Seven Dragons, that SparkCash is converted into diamonds so it allows you to purchase weapons, instantly allocate your resources to whatever area you need, enjoy instant construction, and utilize several social and VIP features.

The other form of payment is the ability to unlock content via friend accounts through viral features, like what you would see in a social game. The more friends you have, the more benefits there are to playing the game. You should begin seeing that in early or mid June.

ZAM: So it pays to get your friends into the game.

Gibert: Yeah. One example is you're building up different cities for your empire, and in order to get another city you can recruit a couple friends into the game or pay for it with diamonds.

Continued on Page 2.

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