Homerun

Can you give us a brief introduction about who you are and your community?

Good day, my name is Spire and I am the founder of Solace City. Solace
City is a professionally established website whose aims are to provide
users with an original, fun and interactive experience online; where
self-expression and creativity are the main factors of our
community-driven application. Solace City is planned to be an online
virtual community which will cater to teenagers between the ages of
13-18. At this time, we are successfully maintaining a large population
by providing users with regular updates, news, competitions,
interactivity and events whilst completing the private BETA client. We
know that it's frustrating to wait for an extended period of time for
something you are eager to see and experience, but projects like this
take time. I sincerely thank everyone who has supported us throughout
this crucial development process, and I hope that we will continue to
receive support from everyone out there interested in being a part of
our unique community and atmosphere.

What would you consider your MMOCC's accomplishments up to this point?

Solace City opened on the 25th of October and since then we have
accomplished a great many things when taking into consideration our mere
6-month existence. We have developed and customized a professional
website with a unique style and feel, whilst keeping in mind our
customers' needs. We have successfully established a monthly newspaper
scheme named "The Metropolitan" which serves as a communication tool
between Solace City and its citizens; offering many useful articles and
community news, it has proven to be a hit already. We realise that our
main priority is our users and have therefore expanded on our customer
service capabilities to meet the demands of our ever-growing base of
clientele. Our customer service representatives endeavor to answer your
queries as promptly and efficiently as possible. Also, we have a great
membership on the forums called the "Citizens' Union". The Citizens'
Union is Solace City's exclusive members club. Users that join are
automatically entitled to many benefits, such as "Walkabout" and basic
chat demonstrations; courtesy of our friendly programmers. Not only are
users getting heaps of cool features by joining the Citizens' Union, but
they are supporting Solace City at the same time. In addition, we've
provided users with a basic chat room (Where occasional events such as
trivia nights are held) where they can talk to other members, an
exciting arcade with loads of games, SolaceSTORE and SolacePOINTS to
have fun with, heaps of forums to talk about anything and everything and
much, much more!

Any failures your chatting community has faced?

From my point of view, I don't think we have faced any failures. Some
may beg to differ, but being able to see what's going on behind the
scenes, I can safely say that Solace City is coming along quite nicely.
There will always be a form of stigma surrounding new projects such as
this, but this is because users find it hard to trust the management of
such projects, fearing that it won't make it out into the big wide world
of multi-user applications. I for one believe that given time, Solace
City will prove skeptics wrong.

How did you get your position in Solace City?

I came up with the idea to create Solace City, but I would not be where
I am if it weren't for all the wonderful staff that support and
contribute to the project. My thanks go out to them, and all our members
that consistently aid in community development. Well done everyone.

How would you describe the community aspect of Solace City?

Our community is a fun, vibrant and friendly one. We welcome all new
members and each and every one of us participates and contributes to the
success of Solace City. The members and staff are a great bunch of
individuals who all make this project worthwhile. Without our current
community profile, we would be nothing. I urge everyone to come and
visit us in order to experience the excitement yourself.

In the six months Solace City has been open, how have things changed community and programming wise?

I've addressed this in the "What would you consider your MMOCC's
accomplishments up to this point?" question.

The BETA release of Solace City is coming soon! Can you give us
information on some of the planned features on the beta version? How long the wait may be?

You know I can't spoil the surprise, but let's just say it'll be
something that you've never seen before; completely unique. Nobody knows
when the BETA will be released, and I don't want to set an approximate
date in spite of crushing the hopes of our users. All I can say is that
everyone is working extremely hard to make this happen, and we will not
rest until it does.

How will Solace City stand out from all the other MMOCCs out there?

We plan to be very different from the rest. Many seem to be taking the
easy route, but I can assure you that we will do everything we can to
make that the Solace City experience a unique, safe, interactive,
exciting and enjoyable one. You'll just have to watch the adventure as
it unfolds.

Any advice to those wanting to start their own virtual chat?

Yes, I do have some advice; PLAN! Before you even start thinking about
it, do some research! Find out everything there is to know: what
language to code in, how much it will cost, what staff you will need.
When you are absolutely sure that you can handle the pressure of
managing such a large project, only then you can start on your business
model, developing contracts, hiring programmers and graphics people etc.
When you have developed a significant portion of the actual game, then
you can start on a website to get support from others. Whatever you do,
don't start a website before you actually complete some of the
programming; you will get many complaints! So, to wrap it up, plan ahead.

Where do you see the MMOCC market in ten years?

Nobody can predict the future, but I hope it continues to grow and
strive as a successful industry. I'm sure it will develop into something
massive, and then the competition gets tough. Good luck to everyone who
will be involved in the MMOCC world; it's demanding but very rewarding
at the same time.

Where do you see Solace City in ten years?

I see Solace City as a successful company fulfilling its aims and goals;
providing users with an extraordinary experience online and successfully
competing in the flourishing MMOCC market.

What does the future hold for Mr. Spire?

When the public version is established, I plan to travel overseas to
promote the business and create life-long partnerships. I will make sure
that our users get the best possible experience from our services,
creating something to be proud of and something I will never forget
along the way. I would once again like to thank everyone who has helped
me get this far and I hope that I will be able to return the favour.
Thank you for this interview and best of luck to all of you in the
future. I hope to see some of you at Solace City soon!

Sincere regards,

Spire
Managing Director
Solace City Australia