Welcome to the FAQ page of my portfolio.
Here I will attempt to write answers to commonly asked interview questions, just for my reference and reference of others who stumble upon my site!
What got you into mobile gaming/free to play gaming?
I went to high school in Korea and besides Counterstrike, WoW and Starcraft, I played and enjoyed Kart Rider and Freestyle Basketball. Those were really the games that showed me what free to play gaming was. The game I spent the most early on was Marvel Avenger’s Alliance on Facebook. Collecting Marvel heroes and truly fun rudimentary turnbased RPG on browser really impressed me.
The first mobile game that really resonated with me was Monster Strike (NA). Taking a simple but innovative gameplay of marvel flinging, putting collectible heroes to the forefront, and the emphasis on PVE real time gameplay was a potent mix. The community social pressure of bringing in meta heroes to aid your real time team was immense. The sense of community that was brought with the mandatory of Line for match making was probably it’s downfall but in retrospect probably helped foster a strong hardcore community of players back when Discord communities didn’t exist.
Which games have you found to have the best live ops?
I’m sure there’s plenty of games out there I haven’t played or gotten too deep into (Summoner’s War for example), but the first game that comes to mine for fantastic live ops that made me go “WOW” was Dragalia Lost. The sense of celebration and rotation of PVE events that coincided incredible holiday updates (Each update seemed to change the Home screen and even soundtrack when it came to Halloween and Christmas). The number of fantastic value packs to go alongside an industry trend setting pity rate was really easy to whale on.
Epic Seven (the most I’ve spent in a mobile game by far) I think set the standard for hero releases, metagame progression and the true emphasis on PVP and eventually Real Time Pick PVP contributed to its longevity and dedicated player base. Epic Seven is also probably the best eye candy for animated ultimate abilities that set the industry trend for increasing value of new heroes tied to their ultimate animation as well as their kit.
Cookie Run Kingdom in the past year has been killing it. Their varied randomized progression achievement systems, price packs and price points for all player demographics and amazing UI style that feels and looks different on each huge new update is truly awe inspring. They even outdone themselves by creating an entire new Guild museum this year (2022). I never thought I would care about the Cookie Run IP and cookie heroes, but the amount of polish and monetization acumen really won me over.
Dragon Ball Legends and Dragon Ball Dokkan Battle’s longevity is amazing. Although their lack of sales and packs leave to be desired, they are probably the best IP game that maximizes on their IP’s strengths and fosters a dedicated community that buys into what Bandai is doing in those games. Dokkan Battle has really upped their Ultimate skill animations, bringing in HD actual anime scenes to recreate iconic scenes of their new heroes. They benefit as well since Dragon Ball has continued to release critically acclaimed movies. Dragon Ball Legends continue to impress with their strong real time PVP gameplay that truly feels like a fighting game with cards and leverages team building outside of the moment to moment fight. Ultimates and character types continue to be innovated upon.