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Click here to go to the next VIP post in this thread.   Old 2012-10-14, 02:41 AM   [Ignore Me] #93
Malorn
Contributor
PlanetSide 2
Game Designer
 
Re: Joining the PS2 Team


Originally Posted by Tapman View Post
One thousand congratulations to you Malorn! You have been a large inspiration for me to contribute my thoughts and ideas to the community, particularly your Manifesto. I have felt sometimes that my (albeit infrequent) number-y/wordy posts/threads have been less appreciated but your effort and the feedback/discussions generated have been an inspiration for me to take the time to share them anyway. I am extremely happy that someone has been brought on to design Planetside 2 who not only spent years playing Planetside 1 but obviously spent a large amount of time, focus, and creative thought in analyzing why certain parts worked so well and how other parts could be improved. Furthermore, you have continually shared and grown your work in conjunction with the community. I am confident that your contributions will not only help Planetside 2 feel more like Planetside, but will improve the overall gameplay experience.

I will admit that I am EXTREMELY jealous, I regularly feel like there is little else that would excite every fiber of my being every single day than to wake up and get the opportunity to go build the game that I have been craving and dreaming about for years. I would apply in a heartbeat if I thought I had an icicle's chance in hell of being hired as a remote employee because managing a tech support office by day and serving food by night doesn't quite do it for me but it gladdens my heart to see the team hire someone as committed to creating the best damn game ever made as you.

My top question is based on your experience in PS1 and PS2 thus far, what are your top five goals for this project in order of importance and why? What do you think the current or previous builds have done the best? Do you have any recommendations for someone who would like to get a job in game design? What is your favorite beer, or other alcoholic beverage if you don't enjoy beer?
Thanks Tapman! Five goals...hrm.

1) Fun. If the game is boring people won't play it and it dies, so #1 is keeping it fun. More specifically I think that means lessening downtime/waiting for stuff to happen, keeping the action always going, making it easy to find that action, and avoiding boring/tedious things.

2) New player friendly. New players need to be hooked on this game within 5 minutes, because new players are the future of the game. The vets and people who read this forum seldom think about this, but I consider it extremely important that the game is easy to jump into and immediately start having fun.

3) Reasonably monetized. While the game is F2P and F2P will help it long term, it still needs to make money or it'll stop getting developed and die. That means that it has to be reasonably monetized so we are willing to pay the money, feel like it's worth it, and not feel like we are being taken advantage of (i.e. no pay-to-win).

4) Play to the strengths. The big thing about PS2 is the scale and the persistent world. Those are two things that other shooters can't offer and the unique edge of PS2. To me that means there always needs to be big fights and a sense of conquest where it's more than just a simple session shooter.

5) Variety & Freshness. This goes to fun factor... keeping the game fresh is important, like seeing new continents or seeing the same content in a different context. The day-night cycle helps with this, and weather will help also. Cross-continent warfare is another way this will stay fresh. Having a unique fight and seeing places the player may not have ever had a fight before, or perhaps a very different fight from the last time. Keeping the battle moving along is a bit part of this and not letting every day devolve into the same fight at the same place. New weapons to unlock, new certs to try out, having something to look forward to. This is all what I would consider essential to long-term success so players don't get bored of the same thing all the time.

So those goals all amount to having fun in PlanetSide 2 and ensuring it thrives and is worth playing for the next decade.


Current/previous builds have all done a great job prioritizing the important stuff and addressing the biggest pain points of players. If you go back to tech test its come a long way and every patch added something significant that players asked for or complained about.

Job in game design? Honestly look for something else. I never expected or planned to be where I'm at now and couldn't have anticipated it. If you ask Matt or Clegg though they'd tell you to get your foot in the door by doing QA. It worked for them so it can happen. I'd say have a plan A first. Plan to not be in the games industry but still do computer-sciency things. Develop your core skills and then use your off time to develop your game design/programming specific skills. Look for opportunities and see if those you get fit with where you want to go and are worth the tradeoffs.

Favorite beer is Smithwick's Irish Ale.
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