by Savanja on May 01, 2006
By: Savanja
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I happen to think that the developers of EQ2 are some of the coolest
ever. They are witty, entertaining, and sometimes even informative.
I confess to having favorite developers, (although Blackguard DID turn down my marriage proposal and technically isn't a developer) for various
reasons.
These guys and gals
work hard, at a rather thankless job, to bring us the entertainment that we so love
and crave. While it's been said that
they take our money (and roll around in it
naked), doing very little actual work, I
happen to know this isn't true
. The long hours and dedication that these people invest is astounding. And unlike most people, where the work ends with the end of the work day, a lot of these guys are found still at work, after hours, or at home, still online or in game, dealing with issues. Truly, most of the fanbase does not realize the kind of hours that
they put into the game that we so adore.
In game development we
have designers, coders, and producers.
There are many different
departments and various jobs within
each. I'll take a little peek at each one
and give a brief overview of the people who
bring us EverQuest II.
John Smedley
This is the big guy at the top. The President of Sony Online
Entertainment. He oversees all of the SOE games, including EQ2.
This has got to be the coolest job ever, though I'm sure it's rather
stressful. Being the boss means being the person that everyone yells at.
And in the gaming industry, I'm thinking that a lot of people yell.
Scott Hartsman
EQ2 Producer and my personal God. He goes by Gallenite on the forums,
and he's the guy who over sees the production of our game. I haven't had
the pleasure of chatting with Hartsman myself, I am too lowly for such an honor,
but I hear he's a pretty cool guy.
Being the Producer means that he is responsible for the direction of the game. All our developers look to him for direction and
guidance. He's the guy that makes
all the tough choices, like whether or not
to nerf the Rangers. Wait a minute! We don't
like being nerfed! Hey! Get that guy!
The guys that end up being all out there. The ones that interact with the community, and the ones we know the best.
First, we have Brenlo, our Director of Community Relations. And he is the boss of some of our favorite people, namely
Ryan "Blackguard" Shwayder, and Joel "Raijinn". These are the guys who
have the pleasure of interacting directly
with the community. These are the guys
for whom I frequently feel bad. Why? Because, while they get
the praise of the playerbase, they also get
the hate. The complains, hate mail,
threats to their bunnies, etc.. Managing
the fans, and keeping them happy
will always be an intensely hard job. They technically have very little of the power, but they take the brunt of the abuse.
Under them are the lowly
Mods in Blue. These are simply Joel
"Raijinn" Sasaki's minions and peons. As
an evil moderator, he HAS to have
minions.
Then we
have the super cool moderators of the non
English speaking forums. For the German
boards, Eovania and Xaycon. For the
French forums, Soffrina, Akaamia, and
Oreliya.
Moderating, as I've said
in the past, can be a pain, but I think a lot
of the moderators will tell you that it is
rewarding.
Being able to be the one that gets to interact directly with the public, also means you get to hang out with the awesome people,
like me! And who wouldn't want to hang out with me? Hmm?
The coders are our little
work monkies. I never get to see these
guys. I don't know if they are just
anti-social or so very super cool that they
don't have to actually talk to us. It's
possible they are scarce because Scott
"Gallenite" Hartsman is wielding a whip
over them as they toil away in some
terrible dungeon, working away at fixing
bugs and coding content.
That's likely it. Regardless, they are the technical folks who do all the
really hard techie stuff that would be total jibberish to us mere mortals.
The other little work
monkies are the game designers.
These guys make up the bulk of the
development team. It would be impossible to
name them all, but the ones that stand out in my mind are Owlchick, Vhalen,
Moorgard, Saavedra, Glendral, Archonix, Arathym, Dymus and Lockeye. I know there
are more. There are the some very talented people who build the game. It's
unfortunate, for as much as the designers pour into the game, that I still see
people feel free to mock, interrogate, name-call, and generally belittle what
our designers do and who they are. I have had the pleasure of knowing a
couple of them, and I have always been very impressed with how much time and
effort they put into their jobs.
Then of course, we have
Lotus and the folks in the art department.
Technically these guys are game
designers as well, and go in the above
mentioned group. However, I feel, that
these guys deserve some special props
because, in my opinion, the graphics and
artistic design of EverQuest II are
unmatched in today's market. Bravo to them for doing
such a brilliant job!
I wish I could thank each
and everyone of the many people who
work so hard on this game that I love
individually. Perhaps one of these days I'll
make it to a Fan Faire to kiss their feet
and bring offerings of energy drinks and
fluffy bunny slippers.
Until then, I want to give a big thank you to
the creators of EQ2 on behalf of myself, and TenTonHammer.com. We love you
for what you do, and what you bring to our lives. Without this game, I'd
just be some chick talking about stuff that made no sense on the net, and I'd
have a whole lot more free time.
Happy gaming people!