2001-08-27: Introducing Helios
Introducing Helios
Aug 27 2001 12:33AM
This was originally posted to Development at uo.com. [1]
Hi. I'm Helios. Well, my name in the real world (whenever I get a chance to go there) is Kai Steinmann. I started playing UO about three years ago and never stopped. So what's with the name? Helios was one of the Titans in Greek Mythology. I'm a pretty big guy, so I figured it fit me pretty well. Plus, I really like the Titans on Titan Island. :-) Ah yes... the Titans... (insert memories of provoking and running from Titans for hours on end here).
While I used to put in 40 hours a week of gaming, these days I focus on helping to improve upon a world that we all enjoy. I do still play UO every day, just not for eight hours like I used to. :-) Being in game is an excellent way to get feedback from players that don't visit the boards. I think player feedback is one of the best things a game development team can have as one of their tools for progressing a game in the right direction.
I started with Origin as a Game Master and eventually moved into Design, which is what I'm doing now. That gives me the unique advantage of seeing our game from many angles: as a player, a support representative, and now as a member of the Development team.
I spend a lot of time on the boards reading suggestions, complaints, and compliments players leave for the Dev team. I know that at times it seems your words fall on deaf ears, but be assured that all of us read the boards A LOT. We may not be able to answer every person that writes a note, but more than likely someone will read it. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to register on our boards (http://boards.uo.com) and speak up about what's on your mind. Tell us why you want something, and how it would improve the game for you. Keep the feedback coming. :-)
What am I working on these days? Recently, I have been working on a wide range of localization changes as well as some ideas for animal lore (which you guys liked for the most part - woohoo!). We're always trying our best to improve the localization process to be as unobtrusive to the game's ambiance as possible. There’s always room for more improvement, but at this point, some of the localization changes we’re making now are so transparent that you can't even distinguish them in game. You’ve got to love those programmer types.
So I suppose that's it for me this time around. Don't be a stranger and drop me a note sometime. It's always nice to hear from everyone. I look forward to meeting many of you at the Fan Fest this year.
'Til then. Cheers!
- Kai "Helios" Steinmann - Designer, Ultima Online Live - [email protected]
References:
