2000-05-05: Comments from the Team - Producer
Comments from the Team - Producer
May 5 2000 9:58AM
This was originally posted to Development at uo.com.[1]
And we go through another changing of the guards… for those of you who have been around awhile, you know this kind of change is not new. I’m the fifth Producer of Ultima Online in its history. Each of my predecessors has made their mark on the world of UO. The original producer, Starr Long, is largely responsible for there ever being a UO at all. Thank you, Starr. Rich Vogel brought you The Second Age and led the team to evolve and grow UO even more after that. Thank you, Rich. Jason Bell brought a sophistication of process to the team and truly understood and capitalized on the value and resource of the other areas of the service, including community relations. Thank you, Jason. Rick Hall took Jason’s initiatives and kept the team focused through the publish of Renaissance. Thank you, Rick. All four of these men have had outstanding teams that are really the ones that make UO happen. None of this would ever come to pass without the outstanding efforts of the programmers, designers, and artists who have graced this project. Ultima Online has been touched by some of the most visionary and dedicated people in the business. I'm honored to be a part of this lineage. Now it is my turn...
Formerly, I was the head of the Community Services group, which includes the Community Relations department and, as of about 6 weeks ago, the Event Programming department. (Some of you may know it as the Interest group.) I created the Community Relations department here at Origin from scratch and am extremely proud of that group and the progress that has been made. Our goals included: understanding the community, delivering timely and accurate information about all areas of the service, and creating new and interesting entertainment on the site. I believe that incredible growth has been made in those areas and I know that Calandryll is going to do even more.
My new role actually feels very similar to my old job. As head of Community Services, I was supposed to manage the staff, work against a set of objectives, keep my team protected from as much of the existing pressures as possible, and to continue to build and grow the community services. As Producer of UO, I’m supposed to manage the developers, work against a set of objectives, keep my team protected from as much of the existing pressures as possible, and continue to build and grow the game. I'll help this newest phase of the UO team to understand their mission, to focus the designers and programmers on that mission, and to keep the machine running. That means the designers will continue to refine existing systems and to build new ones and the programmers will continue to fix bugs, program features, and develop tools, and I'll be there to try to drive it to the finish line on time and ready for you.
So, what’s next? Well, the first thing I have to do is move my office. After that, I’m going to roll up my sleeves and do the best work I can to make UO the best game it can be. I’ve still got some openings on the team, too. If you have the qualifications along with a passion for UO, I'd love to have you join the team... I’d love to have you join me in the newest itieration of the UO team. ;)
Kind regards, Carly Staehlin
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