Sunday, May 14, 2006
About Me...
Bio:
Here's the short version. I'm a guy that loves MMORPGs and discussions relating to their design.
Online games first came to me in early 1995. I was a high school sophomore and an early AOL user, when a friend suggested that I try a game he had found through the service. The title was Gemstone 3, presented on AOL through the Simutronics Corp.
Gemstone 3 (and later another Simutronics title "Dragonrealms") would hold a magical grip over my free time for the remainder of my high school years. After the third or fourth round of punishment from my father (these were the days when AOL was $3/hour), I knew I had found a genre of entertainment that would keep me entranced for many years to come.
I continued to play Gemstone 3 and Dragonrealms off and on throughout my college years (thankfully by this time, Simutronics had left AOL and now charged what would soon become an industry norm -- a flat monthly rate). But I found myself increasingly drawn to the design discussions related to these types of games and how they could be improved.
I found my way into the beta testing phase of one of Simutronics realms: Hercules & Xena: Alliance of Heroes. Later, I managed to become part of the posting communities of a few different MMORPGs in development.
I am extremely grateful and lucky to have spent 2000 and 2001 as part of the Horizons: Empires of Istaria fan community. In those days, Horizons was a truly ambitious product, fueled by creative ideas from both fan and developer.
Unfortunately, Artifact, the company behind Horizons, ran into some inner turmoil during the development. The company founder and driving force behind the project was forced out. The remaining team proceeded to create a much less ambitious game, that was both easier to produce and market. The Horizons released in 2003 was, but a shell of the majestic realm that the Horizons community had believed in only a couple of years prior.
Next, I was part of the Star Wars Galaxies fan community. And I was lucky enough to participate in Sony's Phase 2 and Phase 3 beta of Galaxies.
During the last semester of my undergraduate program, I had the chance to travel to Japan for four months as part of a university study abroad program. Immediately after returning to the US in Jan. 2004, I found out about an open position at Auran Games of Brisbane, Australia for an assistant producer for an MMO title they had in development for the Asian market. For the position, I filled out a detailed questionnaire related to game design, development, and production philosophy. Despite my complete lack of true industry experience, they seemed impressed enough to invite me out to the Game Developer's Conference 2004 in San Jose, CA. Unfortunately for me, even though I was considered one of the top candidates, it turns out that the position was eliminated internally, completely nullifying the need for a new assistant producer.
The trip wasn't a complete lost as, since I was already there, I got the chance to stay at GDC, hear lectures from, and chat with many of the key figures in online game design. I met with some of the guys from NC Soft, and for the first time, I had the chance to play City of Heroes. Ironically enough, right before GDC, I had applied for the City of Heroes beta test. And when I returned home from the trip, a COH beta 2 disk was waiting for me. I played City of Heroes from beta and its release in April 2004 through May 2006.
These days I have returned to the world of academia, where I am in the middle of finishing a masters degree in alternative energy technology.
Finding me on the internet forums:
These days I post on the IGN forums under the name Arcas. (that's Arcas followed by a period). I also spend a good deal of time under the name Arcas on the MMORPG.com forums. There's also a dozen or so other boards I frequent on occasion, but I'm just a reading lurker (keeping up on all the posts and trying to contribute would be way more work than I could handle... in fact it's one of the reasons I started this site...).
Other stuff by me:
I'm to blame for a couple of Star Wars Galaxies guides. The first is a grouping guide that can still be found on Allakhazam's SWG site among other places. The second is a brawling guide that somehow made it onto the net (not by any fault of mine, I only posted it on the forums). A quick
google search should track it down if you're really interested.
Here's the short version. I'm a guy that loves MMORPGs and discussions relating to their design.
Online games first came to me in early 1995. I was a high school sophomore and an early AOL user, when a friend suggested that I try a game he had found through the service. The title was Gemstone 3, presented on AOL through the Simutronics Corp.
Gemstone 3 (and later another Simutronics title "Dragonrealms") would hold a magical grip over my free time for the remainder of my high school years. After the third or fourth round of punishment from my father (these were the days when AOL was $3/hour), I knew I had found a genre of entertainment that would keep me entranced for many years to come.
I continued to play Gemstone 3 and Dragonrealms off and on throughout my college years (thankfully by this time, Simutronics had left AOL and now charged what would soon become an industry norm -- a flat monthly rate). But I found myself increasingly drawn to the design discussions related to these types of games and how they could be improved.
I found my way into the beta testing phase of one of Simutronics realms: Hercules & Xena: Alliance of Heroes. Later, I managed to become part of the posting communities of a few different MMORPGs in development.
I am extremely grateful and lucky to have spent 2000 and 2001 as part of the Horizons: Empires of Istaria fan community. In those days, Horizons was a truly ambitious product, fueled by creative ideas from both fan and developer.
Unfortunately, Artifact, the company behind Horizons, ran into some inner turmoil during the development. The company founder and driving force behind the project was forced out. The remaining team proceeded to create a much less ambitious game, that was both easier to produce and market. The Horizons released in 2003 was, but a shell of the majestic realm that the Horizons community had believed in only a couple of years prior.
Next, I was part of the Star Wars Galaxies fan community. And I was lucky enough to participate in Sony's Phase 2 and Phase 3 beta of Galaxies.
During the last semester of my undergraduate program, I had the chance to travel to Japan for four months as part of a university study abroad program. Immediately after returning to the US in Jan. 2004, I found out about an open position at Auran Games of Brisbane, Australia for an assistant producer for an MMO title they had in development for the Asian market. For the position, I filled out a detailed questionnaire related to game design, development, and production philosophy. Despite my complete lack of true industry experience, they seemed impressed enough to invite me out to the Game Developer's Conference 2004 in San Jose, CA. Unfortunately for me, even though I was considered one of the top candidates, it turns out that the position was eliminated internally, completely nullifying the need for a new assistant producer.
The trip wasn't a complete lost as, since I was already there, I got the chance to stay at GDC, hear lectures from, and chat with many of the key figures in online game design. I met with some of the guys from NC Soft, and for the first time, I had the chance to play City of Heroes. Ironically enough, right before GDC, I had applied for the City of Heroes beta test. And when I returned home from the trip, a COH beta 2 disk was waiting for me. I played City of Heroes from beta and its release in April 2004 through May 2006.
These days I have returned to the world of academia, where I am in the middle of finishing a masters degree in alternative energy technology.
Finding me on the internet forums:
These days I post on the IGN forums under the name Arcas. (that's Arcas followed by a period). I also spend a good deal of time under the name Arcas on the MMORPG.com forums. There's also a dozen or so other boards I frequent on occasion, but I'm just a reading lurker (keeping up on all the posts and trying to contribute would be way more work than I could handle... in fact it's one of the reasons I started this site...).
Other stuff by me:
I'm to blame for a couple of Star Wars Galaxies guides. The first is a grouping guide that can still be found on Allakhazam's SWG site among other places. The second is a brawling guide that somehow made it onto the net (not by any fault of mine, I only posted it on the forums). A quick
google search should track it down if you're really interested.
I wrote a handful of guides during my time in City of Heroes. Most concerned grouping with other players, teamwork, and coordination.
Of course I have written a great deal of other things, but they were all part of sites that no longer exist or forums that have long been wiped. Maybe some of that will find its way onto this blog in due time.
