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July 28, 2006
Wake up and do something about it...
Dan's been dreaming... And for the most part, he's right.
Obviously, as a publisher I get a lot of exposure to other companies and their thoughts about the MMO space. This particular quote is so accurate it gave me the chills.
There’s a palpable sense of fear and terror amongst mmo developers right now. They’re scared shitless of WOW. They see it, believe it’s insurmountable, tuck their tails and go the opposite direction.
What does that mean?
It means you’re going to have company after company fucking around with smalltime, smallscale free products. Myspace Killers, Habbo Killers, Runescape Killers, you name it.
You make some great points, Dan. So, are you just going to point out the obvious while you sit at home being armchair exective producer in your underwear, or are you actually going to do something about it?
Posted by SunSword at 12:36 AM | Comments (1)
July 26, 2006
EA's Lord of the Rings RPG
For those of you who haven't stumbled across it yet, check out the website for EA's newest Lord of the Rings game "The White Council".
I had the pleasure of working on the early phase of this game, and I have to tell you some of the best people in the industry are on that team. I really am looking forward to playing it when it comes out. In a few short months I learned a hell of a lot from Executive Producer Steve Gray and crew about pre-vis and keeping the highest standards. Several of my ex- Ultima Online team members remain on that project as well. See if you can pick them out in the "CREATORS" section.
It seems I just can't stay away from Lord of the Rings games. If you're reading my blog then you're probably already aware of this game in the works by Turbine. Of course, unless you went to Camp Zone or E3, you haven't had the pleasure of playing it before the BETA begins like I have! Muahaha.
Posted by SunSword at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
How to get into the game industry
Someone has suggested that I give my thoughts on "how to break into the game industry." Sure. Why not? Everyone else does it. More on this tonight...
***Updated***
Okay, "in a few days" would have been more accurate.
I only have a few thoughts for you, the first of which is a cop out.
Go visit Zen of Design's Breaking In Page and follow all of the links. Plenty of good advice there.
In no particular order, or mixed together do the following:
- Do get a college degree. There's too much educated competition out there. Lean towards a traditional education over these new fangled "Game Design" schools. A game-centric path at a reputable higher learning establishment is probably okay, but go get that general education.
- Figure out what you are good at, and go do it. Do it a lot. There's no excuse for a resume to come across my desk that doesn't include a demo and/or portfolio. Artists are generally great about this. Programmers so-so. Designers are absolutely rubbish about providing useful work demonstrations. There is absolutely NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for not taking an off the shelf game like Neverwinter Nights, Civ 4, or just about any RTS that has shipped in this decade and building a working demo/scenario.
- Talk to some people in the industry about what the actual roles in game development entail, and try to tailor what you are good at to that area.
- Forget about being a "Game Designer." Level Builder? Sure. Systems designer? Unlikely unless you are specifically in the MMO or RPG space. Learn a useful trade such as animation, modelling, programming, or production and plan on being a game designer every day on the job.
That's it. It's not genius. As my mom has said to me in the past about the book trade, "Writers talk about writing. Authors write." Get out there and make something. It won't be brilliant at first, but as everything in life, the skills you need to succeed in this industry are not latent. You must build on whatever talent you have by constant practice. The end result will be some rudimentary skill and something demonstrable to talk about when you apply for that entry-level position you found on http://www.gamasutra.com.
Posted by SunSword at 07:37 PM | Comments (3)
July 05, 2006
Online games don't HAVE to bore the crap out of you
but they sure seem to try real hard...
As a consumer, I am continually confounded by the amount of boring crap one has to slog through in just about every MMO. Why can't we make online games that are consistently fun? There's only one real reason we developers ever give for it, and that's the cost of creating enough good content. The other reason no one ever talks about is that they haven't figured out how to do it consistently as the core game mechanic(oops, I let the cat out of the bag! I might get kicked out of the s00per s3krit MMO designers club). People write books about it, but can they actually deliver on it? So far, from my experience the answer is no.
Most MMOs I log into these days, I can play about 5 minutes before I think to myself "I know how this ends...and I don't want to get there." It's actually very depressing.
But really, as a player, I don't give a rats ass as to the reason. We all pay a monthly fee, plus the retail box price. Why don't we expect a gameplay experience as riviting as HALO, Half-life, or even Knights of the Old Republic? Why do we settle for hours and hours of multiplayer "whack-a-mole" (not to mention "steal-a-mole")?
Of course, I'm not referring to the down-time associated with socializing or even preparation (although I have issues there as well). My gripe is the core, basic, fundamental activity of almost every major MMO: combat & questing.
I may have said it before, but I'll say it again, just about every second of every session of Battlefield 2 has been more entertaining than every second of every session of World of Warcraft (or DDO, or RFO, just add your favorite MMO here). Perhaps it's the twitchery of UO's combat that kept me engaged for so long?
So why is it I find these other games more fun? It's not because I don't like story with my game. It's not even because I like 1st person over 3rd person. It's because I like some game in my game. The hardcore raid boys (or PvPers) will tell me that I'm missing out, because they have that game, that second by second heartpounding, you'd better not make a mistake or the whole night is shot, stress that makes the game challenging and therefore fun. Fine. That's great. I still say there's too much boring filler crap in between.
In the short term, my professional goal in life is to blend the highly entertaining experience of a traditional retail boxed product with the connectiveness and persistence of MMOs. As a publisher, that's where I think the FUN is.
So, why the sudden rant? I guess it's because I spent part of the last week playing an online game that actually delivered on the fun. FINALLY. Fun from the get-go. Fun all around. Fun fun fun. And not just "fun" fun. Sticky FUN! (not that kind of sticky fun, you pervs), the kind of fun that I think one could play for months if not years. The kind of fun you want to foist on all your friends.
And you know what? NOT ROCKET SCIENCE.
Now all I have to do is sign it and I can tell you all about it. And if for some unforeseen reason I can't bring this one to the table, I'll be furious.
P.S. - I'm in the Airport lounge in South Korea. I've just finished watching Italy beat Germany with about 50 Korean folks stuck in the airport just like me. I've flown 2 legs of my riveting 24 hour flight back to England. One to go. Nothing like an 8 hour layover that starts at 5AM to make you grumpy.
Posted by SunSword at 01:29 AM | Comments (3)