Greetings,
My name is Eric Slick, the person
spearheading this effort. I'm a Producer with Simutronics,
the leader in creating online Internet games. I've been employed in
this industry for over five years now, first working on Simutronics'
number one product, GemStone
III, and then working on making DragonRealms
a reality (which quickly became the number two product at
Simutronics). Currently I am the DragonRealms Producer.
I'm also a Christian. I've previously spent
over seven years in the ministry as a teacher, a Minister of
Education, and finally as a Christian Bookstore owner. For years,
I've envisioned creating a cutting edge game designed by and for
Christians in which thousands of players can play and fellowship
together online.
With my background, experience and success
within Simutronics, I believe it's time to explore that dream.
I have full confidence that a fun,
uplifting and successful online Christian game can be created.
Simutronics is a company with a proven track record and a solid
reputation. They have the ability and depth to see the project to
completion and beyond to the game's growth and ongoing success.
If the idea of helping create a cutting
edge Christian game on the internet that tens of thousands of
Christians can play appeals to you, I invite you to look over the
enclosed proposal and contact me regarding your interest in
investing in this enterprise. If you have any questions, I'd be
happy to answer them. Simply contact me by email.
In Christ,
Eric Slick
Director of Development and Technology, Simutronics
Corp.
eric@simutronics.com
Summary
Even though the thought of a Christian
roleplaying game may seem an odd combination, there is a potentially
significant market for a well done, well thought-out Christian
roleplaying game. If created and presented in a manner sensitive to
conservative Christian beliefs, it will be accepted into the
Christian community as an appropriate form of entertainment. In
addition it can become a way to uplift and encourage Christians in a
unique community by providing a "safe" environment in
which to fellowship.
Goal
To find sufficient funding and support for
the creation of a Christian roleplaying game that would reach out to
a Christian audience with a game design more in tune with Christian
sensibilities than the current online offerings.
Simutronics
Simutronics brings their considerable
expertise and a solid, proven infrastructure. Simutronics can
design, create, maintain, support and continue to expand such a
game. Simutronics has been in the business of creating massive
multiplayer online games for over twelve years. Their current
offerings are among the most successful online games ever.
Simutronics games have been played by well over a million users and
is currently one of the very few online gaming companies that make a
profit. As a partner in this enterprise, Simutronics offers a level
of reliability and expertise most startup companies can't match.
Every one of Simutronics' online offerings
is still available and making a profit, even its oldest game which
still has players from over seven years ago. These kinds of games
have an indefinite life-span and will continue to be popular for the
foreseeable future. Like books, these games will continue to grow in
the face of flashy graphics.
Investors
The investor/s bring a shared vision and
the monetary means of producing and promoting a unique and enjoyable
game to fellow Christians. Naturally, the investors will expect to
make a profit so the game will be created using the proven model
Simutronics has already developed. The potential for a significant
profit exists, including the chance to provide a unique, cutting
edge product to the young adult and teenage Christians.
Target Audience:
Conservative Christians: This target
audience is potentially large and there is no known competition in
this area for this kind of game. By "conservative" I mean
those Christians who take their faith seriously, believe the core
doctrines of the Faith (for preliminary reference, the Church creeds
up to Nicea would sum up the core beliefs referred to here as being
conservative) and wish to live their lives as Christians. These
conservative Christians may be those who are seriously committed as
well as those who are somewhat on the fringes but who still hold to
core Christian doctrine. In other words, mainstream
conservative/evangelical Christianity.
This in no way is meant to exclude any
Christian group (or anyone for that matter), but merely a way to
define a common ground on which to proceed. Ideally, the game will
be acceptable to an audience as large as possible. Reality dictates
that it will be impossible to meet every group’s desires in such a
game but prudence indicates that we should try to reach as wide an
audience possible while remaining focused.
Cost & Development
Simutronics will design and develop the
game, provide customer support, connection to the Internet, the
hardware on which to run the game and the infrastructure for
handling billing. This includes web pages, the web message boards
and the Front End that runs the game for the user. In effect,
Simutronics offers a "turnkey" operation. All that is
needed to get things started is the commitment of sufficient
investment dollars.
This type of game is easier and cheaper to
develop than the industry standard game today. As such this game can
be launched 12 to 14 months after design begins. Industry standard
games often cost from one to two million dollars and can take
upwards of two years to create. Fortunately, it takes only a few
hundred thousand dollars to create a quality, massive text based
game. This low cost is primarily because the infrastructure needed
to support the game is already in place. For a startup company to do
what Simutronics has done would take millions of dollars and years
to accomplish.
Why do it?
There is currently a conspicuous lack of
Christian games on the Internet. By providing a quality online game,
this untapped market can be reached. With millions of Christians on
the web and no competition, it makes sense to explore this market.
The game and web site will become a place
of Christian community where Christians of common interest can come
to enjoy themselves without feeling guilty about playing a
non-Christian online game. As the success of the game grows, the web
site can also become a repository for game reviews written around
Christian sensibilities and a place where Christians and family
oriented players can come and feel "safe."
