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Forge of Empires
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| 0s | Welcome! Could you please shortly introduce yourself? |
|---|---|
| 3s | Yeah, hi I am Mathias, Marketing Manager for Forge of Empires. |
| 10s | I'm Thiago and I'm the Product Manager on Forge of Empires, responsible for the seasonal events. |
| 15s | Thank you guys. Today we want to talk about the Care for Tomorrow event, our new event that is currently running on Beta. |
| 23s | We want to share some insights with our community about the event, because it is a special event as we want, as a Community, to contribute to planting trees in the |
| 33s | real world, and we got a lot of questions that we want to answer now today, so I will jump in with my |
| 39s | first question. So, what inspired the idea for the Care for Tomorrow event and the collaboration with |
| 45s | our partner Dots.Eco? Yeah, the answer is not very exciting. So I attended a conference last |
| 54s | year and there was a presentation from the Playing for the Planet Alliance, and the session |
| 61s | was about how we can harness the gaming industry's influence to tackle environmental challenges and |
| 74s | raise awareness for sustainability. And around the same time, maybe one or two weeks later, the |
| 84s | game team approached us and asked us to to brainstorm ideas for a new event in Forge |
| 93s | of Empires and yeah it was basically a perfect match, so I thought that's a great idea |
| 103s | to leverage our community and promote sustainability by implementing an In-Game Event |
| 117s | into Forge of Empires and I presented the idea to the game team. Luckily everyone was convinced by |
| 126s | the idea, so the next step then was to look for a partner who can help us to translate the |
| 137s | in-game achievements of the players into real world impact, and we looked at a few companies and |
| 146s | then found Dots.Eco, who's specializing in exactly this area, helping companies to translate virtual |
| 159s | impact into real world impact, and yeah this this is how it all started. Perfect thank you. |
| 170s | So this is maybe a question for both of you What are some challenges you faced in developing the |
| 176s | event and how did you overcome them? Yeah, the development of this event was actually |
| 181s | pretty straightforward. We already had a very engaging mechanic that players already enjoyed a |
| 186s | lot, and the main challenge was actually how to find the balance between player engagement and |
| 194s | our company goals and put it all together. How do we spread the trees, how we divide it, how do |
| 202s | we set the targets and the goals for that one and technically actually also how do we implement the |
| 209s | whole feature in a way that the participation of each of the players actually counts? After these |
| 214s | things were sorted out then the whole development was super easy. The point then moved on into what |
| 220s | are the visuals, how can we show the players that inside of the game each merge that |
| 227s | is done actually relates to saving the planet, how to choose the pieces, the progression, the |
| 233s | color schemes? But overall when we decided what the goal was everything else came out very easy. |
| 240s | Anything from marketing side that was particularly challenging? Finding a partner as already |
| 247s | mentioned to translate the virtual impact into real-world impact, a trustworthy |
| 254s | partner, but yeah apart from this nothing to add. Cool thank you. When designing the Care |
| 263s | for Tomorrow event you decided for a futuristic design, can you share some insights why Thiago? Yes |
| 270s | I actually discussed that a lot with our art team and we never tell them exactly what to do, we |
| 276s | give them yeah in this case we gave them the Care for Tomorrow sentence, that is also one of our |
| 284s | company values, and asked them to create something that resonates with it. And in our company |
| 292s | caring for tomorrow is not only caring for the planet, but also for our players and |
| 297s | the longevity of the games that we're actually producing, so we keep players entertained for years |
| 302s | and years to come. And that's what was brought into the design. How would the world be in the |
| 308s | future if we had a perfect combination of nature and technology and based on this futuristic but |
| 316s | yet natural society our artists start to produce. Every single asset in the game shows |
| 323s | what we see as the future of our world when we understand the importance of the environment |
| 330s | and instead of pushing the boundaries to see where we can fit what we actually integrate it |
| 336s | and the same vision we have for the world is the vision that we bring in game. That's a very |
| 341s | beautiful answer thank you. Hope our players will also like this vision that we try to convey. |
| 348s | So, how do player actions actually translate to real world tree planting? Yeah, so we know that |
| 356s | the Merge Mechanic has one of its main progression points unlocking the locked pieces on the |
| 365s | board and we understand that players have to do that that's the fun of the game that's the most |
| 369s | strategic part of the game so every single piece that is unlocked will be translated into a player |
| 378s | individual progress. And this individual progress then is added up with all the other players on |
| 384s | the same world or same server and these will move the progression and start to unlock |
| 392s | the trees. And this was also one of the points that we had back in the beginning of the design |
| 397s | what do we want to do, how these progression should look like and again we refer to our goals inside |
| 403s | of the company. We don't expect players to exceed by themselves or just play nonstop, we constructed |
| 413s | the whole event and the whole mechanic based on the idea that if everyone does their own part we're |
| 419s | able to reach what we want. So we visualized on all the servers how much players were already playing |
| 427s | the mini game and how much they were already merging and breaking these blocks and evaluated |
| 434s | also the amount of participants on the event and for the Care for tomorrow event what we decided |
| 438s | is if every player plays as they intended already to do and motivate their friends to actually come |
| 446s | together, log in the game and also do their part, nothing more nothing less, only what they actually |
| 452s | were already ready to do, we are more than happy to translate each of these actions into a measurable |
| 459s | amount of trees and allow every single server to have the same impact. With this event we are |
| 467s | not looking for winners or losers, we we are looking towards helping the planet and that is |
| 474s | directly translating how the event is designed. Perfect. Are there already concrete projects |
| 481s | planned where the trees that our players achieve to plant are being planted in the real world? At |
| 489s | the moment we, as we partnered with Dots.Eco, they already have Partnerships with several |
| 495s | projects, they already do a whole dual diligence investigating how serious these projects are the |
| 501s | survival rate of the trees, so they ensure that the money that's been sent to each of these individual |
| 506s | projects is actually used in a place that they are needed and that we can ensure that the trees |
| 511s | planted will stay there and grow and help save the future. Currently we don't know exactly which |
| 518s | of the projects we will be supporting because they have different needs and depending on what |
| 524s | we achieve in the end all together as a result in this event, then we will ask Dots.Eco to find |
| 532s | the projects that need the most distribution, but nevertheless, we want also to know. Not only you |
| 538s | guys are actually invested in the event but us as a company we also want to see the impact that we all |
| 544s | together did. So by the end of the event you will all receive certificates telling |
| 550s | how many trees each of the servers actually reached and we will be able also to |
| 556s | see in a world map which of the initiatives were we able to impact. I think that's very cool and |
| 563s | I'm excited to see how many people we're going to be able to help. Indeed very curious to see |
| 570s | which projects will come to life through our contribution towards it and of course our players. |
| 576s | You already mentioned our company values a couple of times so how does this event align |
| 583s | with InnoGames' core values of sustainability and Caring for Tomorrow. Caring for Tomorrow event |
| 589s | does not have its name by chance. We did not come up with the event, we actually wanted to imprint |
| 594s | one of our core values that is actually caring for tomorrow, it's what guides our initiatives in InnoGames |
| 601s | all the time, into something real in the game. So the idea is we have this very cool attitude |
| 609s | and this very valuable mission that we every day work together on in the company. But how can we |
| 617s | actually make these things reach more people? And the easiest way is looking at our games. We promote |
| 624s | experiences to our players, we are in touch with them and we think that using the community from |
| 629s | Forge to spread this message across the world with all the countries that we |
| 636s | reach, with all the players that we reach in their different locations and ages we can make an even |
| 642s | bigger impact. So in the end it does not only - it's not only enough for us that work at |
| 651s | InnoGames to do something to save the planet. We are trying to use all the tools that we have at hand |
| 659s | to convey this message as far as we can. Awesome, thank you. Besides the trees that |
| 667s | are being planted or the certificate players will be getting after the event are there any special |
| 673s | rewards or recognitions for players who contribute significantly to the event? I think significantly |
| 680s | is a very very important point of the sentence. Since the beginning as I said of the design we |
| 686s | don't want to have one significant player or one significant server. Saving the world is not |
| 693s | a work for one or two people, it's a collective effort for something. So in the end there will |
| 701s | be rewards but these rewards will not be granted only for the players that helped more or |
| 705s | less. We believe that if everyone do their own part we're already going to reach what we want. |
| 713s | So the calculation and the balancing is based on what Players already used to do. Of course we're |
| 718s | going to have rewards and some of the rewards are directly connected to the word challenge, but they |
| 724s | will be equally distributed to all the players at the same time. So yes in the end when the event |
| 732s | is over the only winner is the planet. We don't expect any leagues, any bigger competition. This |
| 738s | event is about collaboration. I've seen already in several of our communication channels players |
| 745s | talking and discussing about it how can they help other players and that's something that I |
| 750s | personally would even encourage you guys to do. If you know a player that is confused, maybe doesn't |
| 755s | know exactly how to play the event think it from a better perspective. If you help these players |
| 761s | understand the event better, how the Mechanics Work and how they can reach a better result you're also |
| 766s | doing your part to helping us help the world. So the main goal of these things is actually focusing |
| 772s | on collaboration. There's no big winners. Everyone is a winner in here. Thank you. After the event is |
| 780s | over and the projects will be kicked off to plant the trees and stuff how do you actually plan to |
| 787s | communicate the positive impact of this event and the trees being planted to our players? Yeah |
| 795s | we will be in touch of course with with our partner Dots.Eco and they already promised to share |
| 803s | pictures and also numbers of how many trees were actually planted and where they were |
| 810s | planted and what impact our yeah initiative will have on on the planet. These will of |
| 823s | course be also then shared with our players? Yeah of course. One additional thing is by the |
| 829s | end of the event, just as the players already are used to receive the end of the event rewards, we |
| 835s | will together with the end of the event rewards send a link, and for the players that actually |
| 842s | want per email as well, with the certificate web page so you have a unique identifier of your |
| 850s | certificate and accessing the certificate will allow you to go directly to a web page, where you can |
| 856s | check where the trees are being planted, which are the initiatives that are being supported, so you |
| 861s | also can help us keep track of our collective effort. Thank you. Mathias when you came up with the |
| 870s | idea of a collaboration to also have the trees planted or other environmental initiatives |
| 878s | why do you think that environmental initiatives like this resonate well with our Gaming Community? |
| 885s | So why Forge of Empires? From my point of view the whole topic of environmental sustainability is |
| 898s | getting more and more prominent and by now I would say everyone more or less has to deal with |
| 907s | this topic and the gaming community, especially our community, is the community I perceive as |
| 918s | as very passionate and caring right? So I see a strong fit between the Forge Community and |
| 930s | environmental sustainability as a broader topic and then also restoration in |
| 940s | in a more specific way. Because - I mean the event adds another purpose to the game right? |
| 949s | Players can have a real-world impact through their actions in the game and I think that this |
| 959s | can motivate players, but also give the kind of rewarding feeling so that you actually contribute |
| 972s | to something bigger and what could there be bigger than saving or helping to to save |
| 980s | the planet? Indeed. I think this is a common goal everyone, also in our Game Community shares in |
| 987s | the end. Can you maybe also tell us more about any other partnerships or collaborations that |
| 994s | were essential for this event? I mean the whole event got inspired, as I already mentioned, by a |
| 1005s | presentation I attended by the Playing for the Planet Alliance which was basically born by |
| 1017s | the United Nations sustainability program. And this initiative is seeking to leverage |
| 1030s | the gaming community to promote sustainability and tackle environmental challenges. I think |
| 1041s | there was also the Green Game Jam? Right, this is part of the Playing for the Planet - The Green Game |
| 1047s | Jam is an initiative organized by Playing for the Planet Alliance and yeah this is basically |
| 1057s | about gaming companies trying to implement green activations into their game. So this could |
| 1068s | be green messaging, so just to raise awareness for a topic, or as we are doing it in Forge of Empires to |
| 1076s | implement green In-Game event to raise awareness for environmental topics like we are |
| 1087s | doing for for the topic of restoration. Thank you. Will there be more initiatives like this in the |
| 1095s | future? Hopefully. Yes, so I'm definitely planning to to continue this but there are |
| 1109s | no details to to share yet. I would love to make it. I would love to make it. So it most likely also |
| 1116s | depends a bit on how well this event plays out so that we can, once the event is over, evaluate |
| 1125s | participation impact and so on and then decide next steps? Exactly. Awesome! So just one last thing: Do |
| 1134s | you have any key messages you want players to take away from this event? From my side the key |
| 1141s | message I want players to take away is that small actions can already lead to significant impact and |
| 1152s | you just don't have to focus on the small action itself but also on the potential that lies within |
| 1162s | talking about those small actions. And talking about your green actions can create a ripple |
| 1174s | effect right? And then inspire someone else to also do something for the planet or be a bit more |
| 1183s | cautious in in their actions, and if we just think that every one of us inspires one other person |
| 1193s | imagine the impact that we can have with small actions we are doing. Yeah, probably hard to imagine that |
| 1208s | every action can lead to big change. You have to start somewhere. I can only second that |
| 1218s | it's interesting if you look at the the whole story you told us. You were at the presentation that |
| 1223s | led to a conversation that led to an idea and now we have millions - hundreds of thousands of players |
| 1230s | learning about these actions, about these ideas, and maybe spreading them forward - yes small things can |
| 1238s | actually make a change. Awesome. Thank you both for your insights and we hope that the event |
| 1246s | will also really resonate with these topics with our players. Thanks a lot! You're welcome. See you guys on Forge! |