We chat with Konstantin Drewitz, Producer & Product Manager for Bounty Bay about various parts of the game and some other things!

1) The MMORPG scene is fairly chock-a-block at the moment with different fantasy/science-fiction and other genre MMO games. What do you feel sets Bounty Bay Online up above the rest?

The game offers a mixture of action packed sea-battles, land-fighting, exploration possibilities, crafting and economic simulation.

The largest difference to other MMORPGs on the market is that you will not see any dwarves, elves or other fantasy related characters in the game. The setting is more related to a historical background. This does not mean that there aren't any mythical creatures in the game, but those are rather rarely used in special quests. The other huge difference is the possibility to explore the high seas and fight in sea battles against other NPC captains or players. This adds a large depth and variety to the game.

2) Can you tell us anything about the pricing structure?

The retail box version of BBO, which is available in the UK, costs 19.99 GBP. The online download version costs 19.99 EUR and is available to all players in Europe.

Both versions include 30 days free subscription.

After your free subscription time you can chose one of the following subscription packs:

* 1 month subscription: 9,99 € / ~£6.79
* 3 months subscription: 27,49 € / ~£19.02 (this would be 9,17 € / ~£6.23 per month)
* 6 months subscription: 49,99 € / ~£33.93 (this would be 8,33 € / ~£5.66 per month)

3) What has been the hardest part of developing BBO?

Yusho is operating the game in Europe. It was was developed by Snail Game in China and is already available in more than 7 countries all around the world.

4) What is your least favourite feature of the game so far, anything that you feel needs dramatic improvement or that you'd like to tweak even more?

The game is based on an item mall payment method in China and many other countries. We decided to make it subscription based and changed many parts of the game according to that. In comparison to a game that uses an item mall, all players will have a level playing field. No one will be favoured or handicapped because he is willing to spend more or less money each month. This will make the player community work much better because they all have the same chances.

5) What's your favourite feature of the game, is there something that you'd consider to be a cut-above the rest in terms of perhaps gameplay, graphics, character classes or skill implimentation?

Similar to the real world at that time, there are guilds in Bounty Bay Online as well that can be founded and administered by players. The advantages and possibilities of guilds in Bounty Bay Online are so numerous, that it is difficult to talk about every aspect in detail here. Just to name one... guilds have diplomatic states to another guild. For example if they are in war status they can have guild battles on sea and on land.

6) What about the story to the game, can you elaborate on that?

BBO is set in the 15th century. BBO allows the player to discover the world as it was known at that time on land and on high seas. They can dive into a gigantic world full of seafaring tales and pirate fascination. In BBO you can actually experience history and be part of the most exciting time of mankind.

7) How much input to the world do the players have? For instance are they able to make their own mark in the world of BBO or are they shackled in by the game's constraints, can they form their own towns, ports, cities and the like?

Players have the possibility to conquer cities with their guilds. Once they have done that, they will have access to special items and need to defend the city once a week against other guilds.

8) When developing an MMO what do you think are the 3 most important factors to consider?

Like said, we are not a game developer, but for us it would be long time motivation, player interaction (with and without fighting) and scalable graphics. BBO does very well in those areas.

9) Yo-ho-ho a Pirates life for me. So can players take on the role of a Pirate, can they become as infamous as William Teach or even Captain Jack Sparrow?

Sure, you can become a pirate in BBO! And it makes a huge difference playing as pirate or not. But being a pirate is more "high level" content in BBO, because the pirates live is not that easy...

10) Lastly, non-game related question: Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 or 3? Which is your favourite and why?

We do like all 3 parts very much, but the third one offers very nice sea battles. So if we need to pick one, it would be the number 3. :)


games xtreme would like to thank Konstantin Drewitz for taking the time to answer our questions.