From the first time we heard the name we knew we wanted to interview someone at FoxySoft. Unfortunately someone (not saying he has soft curly hair or anything) forgot. Flash forward in time and FoxySoft was making news again. This time the job was given to someone else (perhaps the responsible one). So sit back and enjoy our virtual sit down with Alex Allen, Founder of the company with the absolute best name ever……FoxySoft, and their game Venus Rising.
Dutch Justice: How did you come up with the concept for Venus Rising?
Alex: As a grown up game player I was looking for a fun, easy to play, role playing game with some sex in it. You may laugh, but when people are searching for a good book, movie, or TV show they are often looking for storyline, action, adventure, fantasy, and sex. Aren’t they? So why not seek the same in your gaming entertainment. What I found was tons of very rich and deep games that we all know, WOW, SWTOR, Everquest and of course the games I had worked on. DC Universe Online and Star Wars Galaxies. And though they are all great games, they all proved to be very time consuming, a little advanced for the average casual gamer, and of course all geared towards kids. I also found quite a few of adult games that were pretty much just cheesy porny chat rooms. No “game” to them at all really, and quite ugly, dull and downright nasty sometimes. There is no in between. No game that is fun to play and facilitates sexual activities in a beautiful tasteful way. I saw an opening and chance to forge a new genre of online gaming. I also realized that if I wanted to play this kind of game, I was just going to have to build it myself.
Dutch Justice: At what stage of development is the game currently?
Alex: We are very close to Alpha. We have most of the basic features working and will open a server for Alpha testing this Fall.
Dutch Justice: When do you plan/hope to launch the game?
Alex: If all goes well we should be able to Launch mid to late 2014.
Dutch Justice: What kind of business model do you plan to use (subscription based, free to play or hybrid)?
Alex: We are going to go with Freemium model. The game will be free to play with an in game store for micro transactions of vanity items and booster items but no adult content. A monthly subscription will unlock the adult content and offer discounts and free booster packs from our microtrans store.
Dutch Justice: What are you looking at for subscriber fees?
Alex: We haven’t set an exact subscription fee number yet but it will be low. Lower than our competitions for sure, which is around 20$
Dutch Justice: Obviously this game is geared towards adult players. What kind of system is/will be in place to ensure that kids aren’t playing?
Alex: There is no sure fire way to keep kids out entirely. And that’s true of any adult oriented venture. The free portion of the game will have no adult content. Subscriptions that unlock the adult content will require a credit card which will weed out children. Also declaimers and terms of service agreements must be acknowledged before anyone gets into any part of the game. That doesn’t do much for keeping kids out but it protects the company and other players legally. These are the standard tactics all adult oriented web based ventures use to keep kids out. Of course we are careful to not market to the wrong crowd. We are very clear that this is an adult social online game and not meant for family fun. Unless of course your family is just you and your spouse.
Dutch Justice: How customizable will character creation be?
Alex: Players begin with basic control over their features such as hair style and color, skin tone and body shape. A few clothing options are available that are also color customizable. Once in the game, players can earn or buy more customization items like tattoos, armor, weapons clothing, houses, mounts ect..
Dutch Justice: Will there be voice acting in the game?
Alex: No voice over. We are launching world wide and can’t localize voice as easily as text. Not that that’s easy either, but we don’t have the budget or bandwidth for voice at this time.
Dutch Justice: Out of the three classes in the game, the soldier seems like the only one geared towards combat. Will the politician and merchant class be able to fight? If so how might combat be different for those classes as opposed to the soldier class?
Alex: Politicians can fight on a very low level, only because they need to assassinate their enemies from time to time, but they will be whipped in an actual battle. Merchants have no need for combat. PVP is optional and consensual and nothing in the game will kill you unless you enter the “danger zones”. And for that you may want to play your alt soldier character. Oh yes, you can have as many characters as you like.
Dutch Justice: Is there anything to be gained from having sex in the game or is it just a side feature for players to enjoy?
Alex: It’s side feature but it’s a game in itself. Your character can gain experience and abilities just as they can in combat. The more you do it, the better you get at it. And the tougher the competition gets. For instance; To start with, players have no money, very little stamina and are capable of performing only 1 or 2 sexual positions and can only interact with the lowliest wenches. As you develop, you gain wealth, stamina and many more positions which attract more glamorous partners, like generals and princesses, maybe even the gods themselves. When you engage with other players the more advanced character will override any limitations a less advanced character has.
Dutch Justice: Nova wants to know if he plays a politician would he be able to “sleep his way to the top” by seducing NPC’s?
Alex: Yes everyone can sleep their way to the top, sex quests give xp for all classes.
Dutch Justice: I believe the game was originally titled Orgia Romanus, why the name change to Venus Rising?
Alex: Orgia Romanus was always just a working title and never meant to be the actual name of the game. But somehow it stuck for a while. It didn’t really denote what the game was actually like, it made it sound like another virtual sex chat which is what I want to get away from. So Orgia Romanus had to go. Venus Rising is more appropriate for this game. It conjures up something beautiful, majestic, shows its Roman Mythos origins and alludes to its sexiness.
Dutch Justice: You’ve done work on some big games previously, anything you are particularly proud of?
Alex: Star Wars Galaxies will always be my favorite. I came onto that project just before the NGE. (If you don’t know what that is – it was major change in the way the game was played that really pissed off our player base) And after the storm that followed, the team coalesced to a smaller, core team of developers who worked hard to turn it around. We won back some of the original base and grew a whole new crop of loyal fans. Eventually SWG went down in history as one of, if not the, most innovative MMORPGS ever produced. I hope I can bring some of that to Venus Rising.
Dutch Justice: You are doing some crowd funding for the game. With crowd funding so popular these days what sets you apart from other projects? And what can supporters expect if they choose to help fund this game?
Alex: We are always crowd funding, but not for the reasons you might think. Of course it’s supplemental funds for development, but that’s the least of it. We want to show traction, prove to potential Angel investors and business partners that we have a following, and that following is willing to pay for the product. The crowd funding not only offers us funds, but more importantly it attracts beneficial partnerships that we otherwise would not have the opportunity to form.
Also more important than the money is the community environment. We believe that if the players have a vested interest in the game, it will make for a strong, positive community. I want our players to have special items in and out of the game that show they have played a part in our development. It gives us all a bit more pride and enthusiasm for not just Venus Rising, but all Independent ventures. Crowd funding is so much more than just funding a project. It’s a phenomenon of collaboration and a giving spirit that raises everyone to a higher level of experience. I want that to show in Venus Rising.
We have run independent campaigns through our own website and used platforms like Offbeatr and InvestedIn. We can’t use Kickstarter or Indiegogo because we are too sexy for them. Offbeatr is crowd funding platform for adult oriented projects and InvestedIn is a more professional, entrepreneurial platform rather than art project based. We branch out like this to see what works and where we fit in the best. And to expose as many people as we can to Venus Rising.
We currently have a campaign running on InvestedIn where players can get swag like key chains and mouse pads and awesome in game rewards like gold togas and enchanted swords. Of course there is a guaranteed beta spot and even immediate access account. Assuming of course we meet our goal.
http://invested.in/P4219/venus-rising
Dutch Justice: Everyone here thinks that FoxySoft is the best name for a company ever. What are the origins behind the name?
Alex: Haha, I’m glad you asked me that. The word Foxy makes me think of certain adjectives like fun, playful, sexy and mischievous. All things I want our games and company to be. And Soft, as in, well you know, software, gives it a slightly more technical and professional slant than FoxyGames or FoxyPlay. Which were some other names I was tossing around.
Dutch Justice: Is FoxySoft currently just focused on Venus Rising or do you have other projects going as well?
Alex: Venus Rising is our only project. That’senough to handle for now. We do desire to branch out as we grow, and
maybe more games across different platforms will be on the horizon.
Dutch Justice: Is there anything else you’d like to share/add?
Alex: Just that we are working hard to build a unique game, not only for our players, but with our players. And I hope you all enjoy it, continue to follow our progress and participate in our growth. And I want to Thank you for this opportunity to discuss Venus Rising.
Dutch Justice: Thank-you Alex. For more information check out www.foxysoft.net and be sure to listen to The Verdict episode 98 as the gang gives their thoughts on Venus Rising.
