As a part of building our concept game “Planet Destroyer” we’re talking to a series of industry experts and mentors to help us think through everything it takes to make a game. In this episode, our guest is Starr Long, Executive Producer of “Shroud of the Avatar” the director of the original Ultima Online. We discuss the fundamentals of making a game while deeply engaging with players, how to focus intensely to preserve the uniqueness of a game, and marketing an indie game.

The central idea of our concept game Planet Destroyer is that it’s focused on the relationship between a Twitch broadcaster and their viewers. It has to be highly interactive and social to succeed. With this in mind we spoke to Starr about how we can use analytics to measure and optimize the social aspects of our game to increase engagement and revenue.

What We Discussed on the Show

Full Video

1. Meet Starr Long, Executive Producer of Shroud of the Avatar 
2. The DNA of Games 
3. Talking to players about making games
4. The Chicken Room
5. Discovering fundamental design flaws early
6. The leapfrog effect
7. Save me crate!
8. Viewer participation
9. How to choose what to build
10. Do you have any ideas to incorporate Twitch into your game?
11. Explaining the lore
12. Designing for YOUR audience
13. When to have a full story and when to leave gaps
14. Clown counters - enemies with purpose
15. Advice for the indie game developer
16. Wait, I can't afford to hire Kate Upton to market my game?
17. How do you turn players into fans?
18. When should I get a publisher?
19. Making the game is the easy part.
20. I spend 30% of my day on...
21. "Our love song to the birth of sandbox RPGs"

Please check out the game at www.ShroudOfTheAvatar.com and join the conversation live. Follow http://twitch.tv/PaulCutsinger to watch Tuesday through Friday morning (PST) and @PaulCutsinger on Twitter for the latest.  

Upcoming Guests

• 7/14 10am PST -- Robi Ganguly, CEO, Apptentive
• 7/22 10am PST -- Ray Winninger, Exec Producer
• 7/23 11am PST -- Sam Roberts and Gordon Bellamy, USC Bridge
• 8/5 9am PST -- Susan Cummings, Exec Producer and Founder, Tiny Rebel Games

Past Guests

• Dmitri Williams, CEO NinjaMetrics

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-Paul