2001-03-15: Comments from Calandryll

Comments from Calandryll

For almost two years, I’ve spent my time here at OSI listening to player feedback and then going into someone’s office (usually a designer) and delivering that feedback to them. I’ve always enjoyed these conversations, learning the thought processes of the designers and working to find compromises and solutions between the original design and the hundreds of different players’ feedback. During that time, I’ve had more than one person ask me “So when are you going to become a designer?” It’s something I have thought about a lot during those meetings.

Starting next week (Monday, March 19) I’ll be on the other side of those conversations as I move from Manager of Community Services to a Designer on the Ultima Online Live team. As much as I truly enjoy Community Relations, the opportunity to work with folks like Sage, Runesabre, and of course reuniting with LadyMOI (the person who hired me in the first place) is something I could not pass up. Add to that the chance to work directly on the game I have played for over 3 years with one of the most dedicated teams I have ever had the pleasure of working with and it really was a no-brainer. I am also very pleased that Leilo is taking over as Community Manager as there is no more qualified person in the industry that I can think more worthy.

So how does this affect all of you? Well, for one thing, I won’t have time to answer anywhere near as much e-mail or post as much as I used to. That’s not something I am particular happy about, but given my new responsibilities, the time to do so simply won’t be there. I’ll still be reading the boards as much as possible though, as I’ve always felt those posts are an invaluable resource to anyone who works on UO. At the same time, I hope to bring what I have learned as a community representative to my role as a designer.

I do have a long way to go however, before I even approach the level of skill of the current design team. For the next few months, I’ll be learning the scripting language, previous designs, and everything else I can before they even let me actually change anything.

So while this is certainly not a farewell, for me, it does sort of feel like one. It’s never easy to leave behind something I helped build from the start, but at the same time, I could not be leaving it in better hands. To say I am excited about this new opportunity would be an understatement and I am looking forward to the future of UO, now more than ever.

Calandryll