One of the most critical assumptions I personally have relied on in my administrating the business affairs of Missing Worlds Media is that anything can be a source of nourishment for the mind’s desire to play. There are many reasons for this, but most of them ultimately boil down to the odd quality that is joy. Social and cultural cues may vary, but the basic emotional content of certain gestures are a constant – laughter and happiness sounds the same in any language.

This of course means that my key goal for when City of Titans escapes into the wild is to ensure that it has all the support it needs to adequately satiate the desire to play and relax. It goes without saying that whether or not we planned for the occurrence, people are going to run into a number of unexpected rewards, not the least of which is the opportunity to interact with people from all over the world and bond over shared experiences. I consider this to be the most important factor in developing any sort of marketing or advertising support for City of Titans.

There are the obvious questions – How do we get more people playing? How do we minimize player churn and retain the player base? Are there places that normal games don’t go that we can explore? How thoroughly do we respond to the inevitable customer service issues? It may sound strange to say, but we have a surprising degree of similarity to the hospitality industry in regards to the particular issues we’ll be facing once the city is built.

I would like to think that the solutions we’ve been evaluating for these issues are counter-intuitive in their simplicity, as these solutions always begin the same way – with you, our fans and players. We’re building a vibrant digital city, which like any city will almost certainly develop local character from the interactions of its inhabitants. I’ve always been fond of Star Trek, and consider what we’re attempting to do with City of Titans a very worthy inheritor of the Vulcan IDIC philosophy – Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.

Games, especially ones as complex as an MMO, are an inherently social activity. We’ve probably all heard the old joke about the card game of solitaire and being lost in the wilderness, so I’d like to think that we all understand that our need for play is intrinsically linked to our need to connect with others (with some exceptions, of course). Looking at the map of the various launch districts, I’m filled with no small degree of anticipation at what the local character and dialect of these areas of the city will be.

One of the hardest parts of marketing is accounting for all of the various nuances introduced by these local flavours, which is why I want to hear from people. In your minds, how does the local flavour of City of Titans present itself to you? What is it about City of Titans and Titan City that will get you to stay and make a home of it, rather than simply checking into a hotel? What are you most looking forward to?
For me, personally, Titan City is Toronto, my hometown. What we call street food, the world would call a taste of home. I’ve walked its historic Yonge Street thousands of times, and everytime I see something new and wonderful. It is my hope that Titan City carries this sense for each and every player, and I look forward to hearing all about the new and wondrous things encountered in the city.

A city is, in its own way, a vibrant, living organism. The seed of culture depends on having fertile ground upon which to grow, shaped by these local flavours and again by external influences. Without the interactions of the city’s inhabitants, there can be no culture. I asked many of these same questions when we were at an even earlier stage of development. I ask them again because as we’ve matured as a project, we’ve learned the reason behind why we asked the questions, and getting a clearer picture of the now enables us to better shape the image of the city’s future. After all, a city without a history is a cold and empty place.

In a city like this, we make and shape our own history. The fans, players, and other backers are a critical part to that process, and we’re grateful for all of you. A city is nothing without the individual flavour of its districts and neighbourhoods, and while we may be scattered around the world, I believe that the City is stronger for it.

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Written by DC James/Terwyn

Discuss this update at: http://cityoftitans.com/forum/discuss-business-update-local-flavor