Hello Kitty is a successful brand all over the world. Now is the turn of the MMO market with a game made for (but not only) young female players. Let's talk with Burda : ic for having a glance at the european version of this product.

 

 

GS: Will there be differences between the european version and the other ones?

Burda:ic: One of the main difference between the European version of Hello Kitty Online and other versions is that we will offer a multilingual game. Currently we plan to translate the game into Italian, French, German and Spanish, and eventually Turkish following later on. Also we are planning to use a language realm system where you may or may not play on a realm which concentrates on your respective language’s community. You will be free to switch between language realms and always keep your game progress, so you may socialize with any language’s community that you wish.
Also we encourage players to become in-game supporters or GMs in order to create a support staff which covers any of the supported languages, so also young players who are not too familiar with English are able to get official support. We can guarantee our support quality and also a strong focus on events, to provide extra entertainment to the users. We don’t know that for the other territories.

 

 

 

 

GS: Could you talk about the gameplay ? What’s the goal, the endgame for the users? How to evolve the character and make some exp ?

 

Burda:ic: Hello Kitty Online evolves around a greater story arc. Due to a mysterious phenomenon, some of the lovely Sanrio characters suddenly fell asleep, their rooms being locked with magic. Now it’s your turn to find the magic keys all over the world of Hello Kitty Online, wake up the sleeping Sanrio friends and solve the mystery!

Just like any MMOG Hello Kitty Online is also constantly under development and max levels as well as endgame possibilities will change in future. Currently you have several ways to evolve your character.
While you are venturing trough the colourful cities of SanrioLand, like Florapolis, London or Paris,  quests which are leading you trough the game encourage you for example to collect items from monsters, collect plants, gather wood or even cultivate strawberries on your very own little farm. For all those activities you gain general EXP but also experience for the respective skill, for example Gathering, Lumbering and so on. From the resources you gained you will be able to cook or craft new items which will prove helpful in the game.
A very diversified and useful pet system accompanies you trough the whole game, as every monster you encounter could drop one of the rather rare pet cards which lets you turn the monster to your own personal pet which you may name. The pet does not only boost your stats (the boosts differ from pet to pet) but as you feed it gains experience and even provides you with useful… well… excrements which can be used on your farm as fertilizer.
Also all your achievements will be displayed on your GOP (Game Online Profile) which will be visible as of Commercial Launch for everyone on SanrioTown.com the official game community where you also sign up in order to play Hello Kitty Online.

 

 

GS: What kind of public do you expect for Hello Kitty? Just teen agers or adult players too?

 

Burda:ic: The actual target group of Hello Kitty Online consists of female players, age 14 – 25. If you look at current Hello Kitty merchandise you quickly realize that it does not only target younger players but also mature women (and men). Also when asking some of our community members in the SanrioTown.com forums at which age someone is too old for Hello Kitty, we got so many replies from women and men who were age 19 or older.
We also expect many players of other MMOGs to at least take a look at Hello Kitty Online out of curiosity.
But of course the game is greatly appealing to younger, female players, a group that has not been that involved with MMOGs in the past. This way Hello Kitty Online might open up a whole new target group also for other MMOGs.

 

 

GS: What’s the main features of HKO that will make the difference from other MMOs?

 

Burda:ic: Of course you will have a hard time finding another MMOG which features Hello Kitty and many other cute Sanrio characters. Also HKO combines popular elements like a crafting system, a housing system, farming features, a pet system and last but not least web 2.0 features like e-mail, blogging and video sharing, which can all be accessed from within the game.

  

 

 

GS: How to socialize in HKO? What kind of in-game situations the players could arrange to have some fun in a party? What kind of things i could do in solo and what kind only sharing quests with friends?

 

Burda:ic: As already mentioned, socializing in a web 2.0 kind of way is one of the key features in HKO. Imagine you can access somebody’s profile, her blog and even the videos she created from within the game, simply by clicking on her in-game character. Also guild play and guild community are very important to progress in the game, as building your own house for example takes up a lot of time if you don’t have help from friends or guildmates, who can speed up the building process by helping you. (And you would do the same for your guildmates, right? :D)

 

GS: What are the problems that recreate a world inspired by the HK brand could behave? Why a MMO?

 

Burda:ic: It’s a real challenge to adapt a game in a way to meet people’s expectations they have in Hello Kitty and the Sanrio brand, however we believe that SanrioDigital did a wonderful job with Hello Kitty Online.
Also it’s very important to design an MMOG in a way to make it more attractive for female players to play and at the same time open up the fantastic world of Hello Kitty to all players, as Hello Kitty Online is naturally bound to absolutely zero violence while certain MMOG standards are expected by players. (For example killing monsters for experience.)
As for the reasons for an MMO: Hello Kitty has always been strong regarding social matters, be it Hello Kitty stationery or simply little gifts to give to the people you like. So creating an MMOG all around Hello Kitty and her friends was just the next step, keeping up with a world of information technology.

GS: Will you plan some advertising campaign related to other HK products to promote the MMO, and viceversa, also to encourage cross-selling?

 

Burda:ic: Of course Hello Kitty offers a huge variety of cross marketing opportunities and we are very open to any possibility, also regarding SanrioTown.com. Currently we are also planning to release a box version of the game at around end of the year, which can be bought at stores.

 

GS: Why the isometric view and not a MMO with the classic third person style?

 

Burda:ic: The decision has been taken especially because the current display style really fits the style of Hello Kitty. Also the fixed camera allows to have an even more detailed adaption of Hello Kitty’s world, as problems which normally arise from offering various perspectives can be avoided.
Also the developers made sure that the player always has a good visibility of the surroundings, even without a turnable camera.

 

 

 

 

GS: What the game will offer in terms of kids security and player safety? What kind of technology?

 

Burda:ic: First of all Hello Kitty Online will offer a chatting filter which blocks inappropriate language. We will also have moderators ingame, but we also strongly believe in the sealf-cleaning process of the community by reporting any abuse or inappropriate behaviour. This will be applied for every supported language version. Also trading with other players requires a double confirmation by both players. If one player modifies the items / money to be traded and the other player has confirmed already, the other player is asked to confirm the trade yet again.
Regarding hacking protection, a built-in protection system will keep users from modifying packets or various other bogus actions.

 

GS: When will be the date of release for the game? What’s the state of the game now?

 

Burda:ic: The European version of the game currently is tested by our staff and trusted players in a Closed Beta. We are planning to release the Open Beta in June when everyone can play who is registered at the European version of SanrioTown.com.

 

 

Thx to Burda: ic and Sabine Fishbach for the interview.