Interview with Deathstar - Blix City Owner

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

Well, my name is "Deathstar" at the Blix City Forums, and I am the Founder and Managing Director. I am twenty-two years old and I reside in Miami, Florida, where our offices are located as well. Blix City, as you probably already know, is another one of those massive multiplayer online chat communities, looking to make a difference in on-line gaming and chatting.

Favorite foods? Movies? TV shows?

Well, I like all different types of food: popcorn, sushi, and bananas. My favorite movies: "When a Stranger Calls" (newer version) and "Outbreak." My favorite TV shows are mostly those found on A&E and Court TV, Discovery Channel, etc: "Dog: The Bounty Hunter," "Cops," "American Justice," "Dallas SWAT" those types of shows.

What are you favorite bands?

Well, I basically like heavy rock, goth rock, stuff like that. I love the bands: Deadstar Assembly, Marilyn Manson, Deadsy, Cradle of Filth, Atreyu, CKY

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

Well, we are coming along quite well. We are a tad bit behind our expected schedule, but overall, we are doing great.

Any failures your chatting community has faced?

Actually, we've had no FAILURES, but we've had a few problems with other MMOCCs, their owners, general competition issues. However, we have this issue pretty much cleared up.

What led you to create Blix City?

I was actually working for another MMOCC, until the owner lied about his LLC, funds for the game: stuff like that. So, I was looking at making a MMOCC that actually lasted, and that is actually working to make a difference: so that's what gave me the idea to form with two professional companies/sponsors to create a soon-to-be MMOCC.

Blix City has been opened for about five months now, how have things changed community and programming wise?

Well, we were just looking at getting some forum members in the beginning (December, 2005) then I started to bring Blix City with my friend, so we are both programming Blix City, and I find that we are coming along quite well.

Blix City is a small yet very active community. What's your secret to having members stick around and post with just a few previews and a forum?

Well, as I said before, a starter-MMOCC, and we have faith in the countless staff members assisting us, and we have posted a few more previews, and a basic breakdown for the BETA client, so we expect to have the game's BETA released sometime soon.

The BETA client of Blix City is expected to be opening soon! Can you give a range of how much longer we'll need to wait? Any events planned for the day? Anything else we should know about it?

We are awaiting the final designs for BETA, since we pretty much coded the BETA client. We do have some events planned for opening day, and if I may say, we are doing quite a bit of competitions through our forums: winning BETA access, city dollars.. things like that. There is no expected date as of this time for BETA to be released.

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

Well, our number one goal is to have staff and moderators that actually care about the members. Then, we are going on to providing inexpensive products for the game, such as inexpensive BETA access, city dollars, and VIP membership.

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

1) Please don't start one if you are a minor;
2) Find decent programmers;
3) Train and provide great staff/moderation team members;
4) Open a vBulletin forum;
5) Be nice and kind toward ALL members.

What does the future hold for Mr. Deathstar?

I'd like to stay with Blix City as long as I can, while doing web and forum development with the company I currently operate. If that doesn't work, I would like to be a freelance photographer, or movie producer.