Development Day

On June 28, 2011, in Chengdu, Company, by Bart
1

A couple of weeks ago, we deployed a portal website for Eccky. Before, children could play Eccky through the Hyves or Facebook platform. With the portal, children can access the game without any of these social logins. Also Facebook users, Hyves users and portal users will from now on share one world.

Preparation of the portal took quite some time, since we wanted to convert our existing database to a more friendly structure that would support multiple login interfaces for the user (Hyves, Facebook, etc.).

Database conversion itself takes time, and it should be monitored all the time. With Eccky, we don’t have the luxury of a live shadow environment where we could convert the database on the background and when it’s finished switch it to the live environment.

Below is a recap of our deployment and a fine example of Murphy’s Law.

Monday, May 30th
04:00 Enter the office and start the database conversion.
09:00 Every table except for two large tables is converted, that seems promising.
12:00 One of the large tables, the BuddyList, is still not converted. This seems suspicious.
14:00 The BuddyList is finished, however after a few tests, my suspicion seems right, the table has been corrupted during the conversion. I feel Murphy standing behind me.
16:00 To repair the BuddyList more disk space is needed, so we need to clean up old tables and old files. In the meantime we make an empty dummy table so testers can still continue to test.

Tuesday, May 31th
00:00 Start the repair of the BuddyList. This takes some time, so some of the colleagues take this opportunity to get creatively some rest.
03:00 The BuddyList is back in its old state, so testers can continue to test for a while.
04:00 Everybody goes home to return in a few hours to continue the deployment.
12:00 Back in the office, the BuddyList is still in its old state and the only thing not working in the game. Instead of trying to convert it again (and risk corrupting it again) we start building on a workaround
14:00 Following Murphy’s Law, www.eccky.com can’t be reached anymore. Our domain name server decided to stop working. We immediately switch to another domain server, but domain propagation around the world could take around 24 hours.
23:00 Everybody is going home to get some good rest for what is hopefully the last day of deployment.
Sleeping in the office
Wednesday, June 1st
00:00 (@home) I am not completely happy with the workaround for the BuddyList. I try one more solution to convert the BuddyList.
02:00 (@home) The new solution seems promising.
03:30 (@home) The BuddyList has been converted, and a few tests show that the data is all there. It seems that Murphy is packing his bags.
12:00 The IP change of www.eccky.com is now visible to us in China, we can continue to test on a “live” environment, and fix last minute bugs. However, www.eccky.com is still not reachable in the Netherlands.

Thursday, June 2nd
00:00 (18:00 Dutch time) Finally, www.eccky.com is now also working in the Netherlands. It’s time to go live!
00:10 Children in the Netherlands are trying to access our game, however a bug in the login process stops several children to login.
02:00 The login bug is fixed.
04:00 Some more small bugs are fixed, the game runs, everybody can go home to have a good sleep.

This was just a small recap of the deployment. During these days the whole team worked hard to fix any last minute bugs. I thank Fenix, Tobe, Sophie, Ethan, Fair and Gabriel for their efforts and spirit. To everybody, just check out http://www.eccky.com to see the result. It is a fine start!

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Eccky Portal Website now available

On June 12, 2011, in Company, GameNext, Insights, New Games, by Gregor
1

The last couple of days we, TribePlay Game Development, worked hard to make our Virtual World Eccky available through a portal website. Now Eccky Portal is online and everyone can play Eccky, even without a Hyves or Facebook Account from one central website – the new Eccky website.

The portal allows you to play your old Eccky by logging in with your Facebook or Hyves account. Also you will be able to create a new Eccky and register an account! Choose if you either want to use Hyves or Facebook connect, or register a standalone Eccky on our webpage. Additionally the brand new Eccky website provides more information around Eccky, with an extended support functions. Get the latest news around Eccky and the team, and purchase Diamonds or even Gifts Cards.

Even if mainly designed for Eccky players, the new website also provides information and support for parents. Check it out on your own at Eccky.com. The whole TribePlay team is looking forward to see you enjoy the new features. Are you interested in this kind of virtual worlds? Join our Eccky team.

The new Eccky website

The new Eccky website

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Article about Virtual World Eccky on VentureBeat

On March 21, 2011, in Chengdu, Company, by Gregor
0

Hey check out this in-depth analysis of Eccky Virtual World on VentureBeat.com. Christian Batist chief executive of Eccky Holding is interviewed on the business model and development of the virtual world for kids. Eccky is developed by TribePlay Game Development.

“Eccky’s version of this strategy is to combine the elements of a virtual world with a social game; it combines open-ended play with mission-oriented quests.”

“Eccky targets children ages eight to 14. They can log on via the web site or through the social network. The company has six employees and uses a 12-person developer team as contractors to build the world.”

Read the full article on VentureBeat.com or directly play Eccky

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How to make a fun virtual world for kids

On March 7, 2011, in Chengdu, Flash, Social Networks, by Yan
4

Do you still remember what do you enjoy doing when you were a kid? As in my memory, I loved to put on my mum’s high heel shoes, dress up a piece of white cloth on my head to pretend it is a wedding veil, and take care of my imaginary baby made out of plastic lying in a fruit basket. Apart from that it proves that women are crazy about marriage and babies in a fairly early age, it also discovers the truth about where the interests of kids lie, simulating the real world.

In the beginning of developing Eccky, we invested quite some time on how to make our virtual world more magical and special by creating lots of superpowers. However, after a while, we hear from our young players that all they want is to throw a party at home, have a pet to take care of, hold a model show and let it snow in the world!
While club penguin and some other famous virtual worlds use animals as avatar, the setting of our world is very similar to the real world. I personally believe that a VW with a human like avatar has a larger space for content than penguin or bear avatars, because a human avatar is easier for them to position themselves into the world rather than an animal avatar to take care of. Kids have very broad imagination, strong curiosity, but quite limited access to the real social world. Therefore, they love to use the virtual environment to simulate and fantasize life with their peers, and to express themselves without fear or ridicule.

Eccky Winter Scene
As developer, we are sometimes extremely amused by the reaction of our players to the new settings and features. They take things very seriously, personal and are definitely not to be fooled with. Last Christmas we introduced the winter into the world and cover the whole world with snow. Kids are so excited about it just like it really snows in the real world and shouting out “Wow, it is so cold here, I will put on some jacket”. We have interviewed some of our loyal players and asked them why do they like Eccky more than other virtual worlds such as Habbo Hotel, their answers are “You can actually go to a clothes shop and try them on, while Habbo only offer stupid catalogue to order from.” It is a hilarious answer, but contains some truth inside.

However, I am not claiming that fantasy and magical elements are not important for a fun virtual world. They can definitely give the world an extra touch. There is no puppy or kitty in Eccky, but only a little water-drop-shaped Wobble with 2 eyes but no mouth or nose. Wobble is a creature which lived in the wild long before Eccky discovered the world and led a tough life to survive on themselves. They can be adopted but need the intimate care and love from the owners to be happy. Although there is no Wobble in the real world, we still surprisingly discover that most of our players are very emotionally attached to their pets. The funny animations of Wobble and interaction between pets and owners are the most importation reasons of that.
Wobble Eccky
Observe what kind of elements there are in the real life and introduce them into the virtual world with nice animation and design, if kids are relating them to the real world, then this world is already one step ahead towards a fun virtual world.

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