management posts

Bill Roper no longer executive producer of Champions Online, game improvements promised

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 16th 2010 at 10:30PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Patches, News items, Champions Online

Most of the news coming out of Cryptic Studios of late has centered around Star Trek Online, which has garnered quite a following and looks to expand with the upcoming Season 1 patch. But Champions Online hasn't gone anywhere, and the game is gearing up for its mini-expansion and for the future. A state of the game letter has just been released, announcing both what's coming for the game as well as some management shakeups. The latter comes last in the letter but is worth noting early -- Shannon Posniewski, known as Poz on the forums, will be assuming the Executive Producer role for the game, taking over from Bill Roper.

In terms of actual in-game changes, the letter reiterates many things we heard at the GDC: the team knows there are level bands that are a bit thinner in terms of content than the players (or the developers) would like. While they're not prepared to reveal details, they are looking to expand those areas with more content and more to do. There's also the promise of new Adventure Packs, which sound similar in concept to the packs of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The full letter also mentioned updates to powersets and melee damage that should be welcome news for all Champions Online players, a clear sign the game is moving forward and not forgotten.

Tags: adventure-packs, bill-roper, breaking, champions-online, change-in-management, co, cryptic, cryptic-champions-online, cryptic-co, cryptic-studios, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons-online, management, revelation, shannon-posniewski, state-of-the-game

David Allen leaves Alganon

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 10th 2010 at 9:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Alganon

It's been a strange ride over at Alganon of late. The game's announcement of a shift to a subscription-free model came out on the heels of David Allen's statements that the game would never go even remotely free-to-play. It seems that it didn't exactly happen on his watch, as Quest Online has just announced Mr. Allen's departure from the company. There's no reason given, although speculation can (and no doubt will) run rampant. Replacing David Allen is Derek Smart, creator of the Battlecruiser 3000AD game series, and something of a contentious figure in the gaming world.

The company continues to push forward that the game's "official" launch is in mid-April, after having retroactively turned the opening in December of last year into a "soft launch." What this means for the game as a whole is still uncertain, although the number of shakeups of late certainly don't suggest that it's been a resounding success thus far. Alganon players should keep their eyes peeled for any news about the game, as a new president usually means that there will be some significant changes in store.

Tags: alganon, david-allen, departure, derek-smart, launch, launches, management, qol, quest-online, soft-launch

PoxNora gets a major update

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 1st 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Patches, News items, Free-to-play, PoxNora

Better a little late than never, when you get down to it. PoxNora's large-scale update was originally scheduled for last Wednesday, February 24th, but it wound up being a few days late. But it's all good, because the update has gone live today, not even a week behind schedule. Even if you can't help but be miffed at the delay in the update, you can probably be happy with the scope of the update, not to mention the Heirs to Legend midterm expansion going live at the same time.

So what's changed? Major interface changes have been made, including large-scale improvements to the UI as well as a greatly improved Rune Manager. With improved sorting functionality in the manager and a new rune dock in the UI, it should be much easier to enjoy playing on the game's twenty new or revised maps, as well as working your way through a streamlined and improved leveling process. The game has also made attack and defense values more straightforward, while improving the tutorial to help guide players into the game. As a free-to-play game, if the scope of the updates in PoxNora sounds interesting, head on over and take a look at this unique offering.

Tags: expansion, heirs-to-legend, management, midterm-expansion, poxnora, soe, sony-online-entertainment, sorting, statistics, ui, updates, user-interface

Anti-Aliased: A Cryptic opinion

by Seraphina Brennan Feb 4th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Super-hero, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Champions Online, Anti-Aliased

So, wow, what a set the last week and a half has been. There seems to be a very strong theme going on in my inbox recently, and that's, without a doubt, Cryptic Studios. I've read unflattering comments about my integrity as a journalist, the usual statements of how this site is Cryptic's lapdog due to all of the Star Trek Online and Champions Online coverage, and, even more oddly, people want to know my opinion of Cryptic's recent actions -- specifically Star Trek Online and Vibora Bay.

Well, I was never one to shirk from the truth. I've been wanting to give my personal opinion on these events since Vibora Bay hit, so I might as well dedicate this column to my evaluation of Cryptic Studios. But, before we get to Cryptic, I have a few ground rules that I want to go over with you guys. Some facts that I'd like to set straight for, oh, I dunno, the fifth time.

Tags: anti-aliased, business, champions-online, comments, cryptic, cryptic-studios, featured, ferengi, forums, kitchen-sink-patch, klingon, management, microtransactions, new-races, opinion, performance, qa, quality-assurance, star-trek-online, testing, vibora-bay

The Economist on games and profit

by Samuel Axon Aug 27th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Business models, Culture

Newsmagazine The Economist ran an article titled "Playing for profit" about using video game technology to increase productivity in the workplace. The article -- which was a sort of book report on "Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business" by David Edery and Ethan Mollick -- looked to trends such as game mods and web-based-games-as-marketing-tools for inspiration, but special emphasis was placed on MMOs, including World of Warcaft and EVE Online.

Believe it or not, the WoW feature that was heralded by the writer was the soul-crushing grind! Or rather, the grind was compared to the sorts of tasks that your average office worker has to sit through each day. WoW provides a context -- the leveling system and other rewards -- that (supposedly) makes the grind worth the trouble. Companies should emulate that, the article says.

EVE, on the other hand, was used to demonstrate what not to do. That's pretty ironic, since The Economist's editorial stance is all about economic and societal openness! Regardless, the author pointed to the famous incident in which a CCP employee provided inside help to a corporation at war, using it as an example of the dangers of game-playing in a business environment.

Tags: business, changing-the-game, corporate, david-edery, editorial, ethan-mollick, eve-online, grind, grinding, management, profit, the-economist, world-of-warcraft

Harvard looks to MMOs for online leadership styles

by Chris Chester May 6th 2008 at 8:30PM

Filed under: Business models, Guilds, MMO industry, Raiding, Academic

While much has been said in recent weeks about raid leaders and whether the job necessitates being a jerk, nobody seems to dispute that the position engenders players with valuable leadership skills. In fact, according to a recent report by the Harvard Business Review, big companies may have a lot to learn from MMOs in terms of fostering leadership roles in a business world that is every bit as geographically decentralized as the roster from your typical raiding guild.

But before you go and put your guild leadership experience on your resume, you might want to read the report in full. While they say that there are parallels between leadership in-game and leadership in a board room, the report focuses more on how the games themselves engender these leadership qualities, by creating an environment that fosters honesty, duplicity of leadership, non-monetary incentives, and transparency. It's interesting to think that games might actually change the way business works in the future, but we guess only time will tell if that proves prescient or not.

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: game-politics, guild-leaders, guilds, harvard, harvard-business-review, leadership, management