Q&A with Sean Hong

MMORPG.com Exclusive: Shot Online Q&A

I recently had a chance to sit down with Sean Hong and from OnNet, the developers of a current MMORPG currently in beta testing, "Shot Online". I also asked a few questions from MMORPG.com members to talk to Sean about. The interview appears below:

Shot Online is at first glance a golfing sim. When you take a closer look into the full aspects of what the game has to offer you will understand that it is more then that, it is a MMORPG. At the moment we are still introducing some of the main features of the game that will eventually be some of the main foundations that we can work with on a RPG level.

Right now we are in the process of implementing things such as a guild system. We hope this could help players feel as if they are really playing golf, and not just playing a game. Many MMORPG's at this time have ither a clan or guild system that they use and we are looking into having ranked guilds or even having tournyments between them for a prize.

Shot Online has 6 programmers, 6 graphic-desginers, 2 planners (for events that happen every month in which people compete for the best score on a 18 hole score card) and 1 Project Manager. We have over 30,000 registered and active accounts playing Shot Online. We average around 2,500-3,000 players on our servers at any given time. Once we release our game out of the beta stages, we plan to release a major update that will require more developers, and thus we will expand.

The average number of hours our community plays per day is just over two hours. We belive that this will drasticly increase as we implement more and more content, such as courses, the previously mentioned guild system, etc. We belive that once you try Shot Online for the first time you are instantly hooked!

Alot of the people who play Shot Online do play for extended periods of time, but even the casual gamer who plays for even 10-15 minutes can have a great time even playing one or two holes of golf. Again, we are currently in the beta stages, and it costs nothing currently to play our game so there is no commitmnt that you need to get your moneys worth.

There has been much debate over this topic. We currenly just don't know. We are leaning towards having a system in which you would need to pay just for purchase of special items such as a platnium club (Which does not exist, just an example), and the rest of the game is free, and purchase of these items are not nescessary but will enhance your gaming experience. Yet again, we still haven't made our final decsision, but this is the direction that we are leaning in at this moment.

Of course, the Shot Online Masters are hand selected after they apply at our website which is open for more applicants every month as our community grows. The Masters basicly make the game more entertaining, as most of them give lessons as well as help players with problems, they are comparable to a GM in any other MMORPG but that accually does play the game. (All Shot Online Masters are over the level of 21, and have a vast experience of the game).

Oh yes! There are many diffrent shops for customization, you can create a look that is unique to yourself, along with diffrent shops to customize your play on the course, such as diffrent types of clubs, and balls that you can use.

Thank you too Alex. I would just like to say Shot Online is much much more then just a golfing sim, you will relize after playing a few rounds of golf. You can visit our webpage at shot-online.com and sign up for a free beta account, and get playing ASAP!

We also invite you to let us know what you think in this comment thread and on the game's hype meter!