Blogzilla Interview with GrimmOmen

[Flutter]

Pretty good interview.
Can be found here: Link

 

[Storm]

Awesome Thanks Flutter

 

[kelmo]

Nice find. Thanks for sharing this, Flutter.

 

[DevilsOwn]

thanks Flutterbug I never find this stuff, so it's handy to have people that point!​

 

[TuxedoSLY]

I feel slightly more popular Yes, yes we did talk to JP for the site. He was a really great guy about it, too. Definitely my favorite interview I've done so far. It's like a sports nut talking to a player from his favorite team. I had pom poms and everything...

 

[Taylor]

I feel slightly more popular Yes, yes we did talk to JP for the site. He was a really great guy about it, too. Definitely my favorite interview I've done so far. It's like a sports nut talking to a player from his favorite team. I had pom poms and everything...

Nice job.

 

[Basara]

I added a reply to the interview, as it appeared that at the time of the interview, JP didn't know about the Ghost of Exodus Peerless being added in place of Ver Lor Reg in the first content publish after the bug fix publish. This Peerless was announced at the 15th Anniversary party in Fairfax.

 

[Larisa]

Ever since the 15th anniversary stratics video I keep picturing him with no pants on.....I can't take the man seriously anymore...*sighs*

Miss you Grimm...pants or no pants!

 

[Viquire]

Missed, and we don't have a bagpipes or kilt yet. :/

 

[Basara]

hmmm...

 

[Poo]

Are MMO fans impossible to please?
Are MMO players impossible to please... Lol. Okay, let's try this!

I think the old saying about pleasing everyone all the time is a perfect response to this. I think given that people have such varied opinions on what would make any game better,that its hard to implement changes that please everyone. Invariably you are going to please the people who have always wanted those changes, anger the people who thought the system was perfect, and make irate the people who think you've been wasting your time and their money by ignoring the things that matter most in the game (to them).

Communication is the key though. Players don't have to agree with you, but if they understand why things are changing, the odds are good they'll cut you some slack. This is one of the reasons I had started my "To-do" list on Stratics. Given how incredibly small the art team was, there was no way for me to address the players concerns and keep up with the demands of production. That list served to show that I was listening to what players were saying, that although I might not be able to get to it right away, it was on a list that everyone could see. Not communicating with the players just opens the door to the feeling that devs aren't listening to players, that devs don't care, that there's no "vision" for the game.

The catch to communication though is that you're laying all your cards on the table, so you better have a plan for the game, otherwise everyone will see that you don't!

ok, seriously.... can we hire this cat to run UO?

hell, im gonna CC this post to the current dudes and maybe..... dear god maybe they will listen to one of their own and former comrades!

 

[TuxedoSLY]

ok, seriously.... can we hire this cat to run UO?

hell, im gonna CC this post to the current dudes and maybe..... dear god maybe they will listen to one of their own and former comrades!

Agreed. Talking to JP made me feel like he had a great grasp on the industry and the problems that plague it. I can't for the life of me understand how he's no longer working in said industry.

 

[Lady Storm]

Reason.... EA needs a reason? (Would love to have long and meaningfull convo with the person who booted him. I think I'd love to be the one to boot them....)

Seriously Bio and Mythic are on their own till EA says so. Till then the roving talent scout made the changes in personel to make all "IN HOUSE" I think. Grimm was just too far off the grid to suit them.
I cant blame the guy for not moving to VA. I too have had enough of EA playing musical chairs with UO.
My question is where next to move them.... BFE??
Thats got to be what some EXE at EA is thinking.... If anything they should have kept Grimm and added this new fellow as on the spot help. (if your wondering yes I am bias on this matter.... Grimm was good at what he did and I saw no reason to do what was done just to make a body at mythic office.)

 

[Lady Storm]

Your Welcome Grimm..
I am a lady who says her mind and heart in matters. I dont ***** foot around. If EA had half a brain in its collective head they would keep you in your position and the new young pup as well, just so they do have a warm body they think they need and the good talent the is the hall mark of TheGrimmOmen. The new guy is ok but the years of exprience in UO that Grimm has is invaluable in my humble oppinion.
If it was a $ cutting measure.... shame on you EA. Good talent that has the knowhow and exp in UO is way more valuable then the young body who will take less... I am beginning to think corprate america has gone nutz, ridding themselves of older, more exp personel in favor of young cheap talent to pocket more $ in the end is suicide both for the company in the long run and for america.
If the idiot who cut Grimm wants to get a earfull of sound advice he can call me... I'll be happy to oblige him. Someone must stand up to the lunacy, might as well be me. I'll give them more then 2Cents worth!

 

[Shakkara]

If it was a $ cutting measure.... shame on you EA. Good talent that has the knowhow and exp in UO is way more valuable then the young body who will take less... I am beginning to think corprate america has gone nutz, ridding themselves of older, more exp personel in favor of young cheap talent to pocket more $ in the end is suicide both for the company in the long run and for america.
If the idiot who cut Grimm wants to get a earfull of sound advice he can call me... I'll be happy to oblige him. Someone must stand up to the lunacy, might as well be me. I'll give them more then 2Cents worth!

I work in the industry, went through the job application process with EA, and know quite a few people that work for EA or have worked there.

They're cutting down on personnel costs tremendously. Recently they laid off a whole production team and are rehiring them in India to save 70% on the salaries. I also know a few people working for Disney and the're doing the same thing, firing teams in the US and Europe and they now have a studio in Argentina, where the programmers work for $700 a month instead of the $2500+ they cost in a western country. Companies in the Netherlands do not hire new people anymore, but instead make use of 3 free interns to do the work of one regular programmer or artist; many studios have more interns than they have paid personnel.

I bet EA has just said "Well, revenue of UO is down by 15%, so you now have 15% less budget for staff, go lay off a few people and hire someone cheaper!"
Unemployment is rising hard, who do they expect to sell all these games to if no-one has any money anymore?

 

[Aurelius]

Agreed. Talking to JP made me feel like he had a great grasp on the industry and the problems that plague it. I can't for the life of me understand how he's no longer working in said industry.

Well, it may be exactly because he does have a good grasp of how it stands nowadays in the 'games industry'. Too many games companies seem to think their products are best marketed in the same way as shelf-stocked consumables, and therefore treat development, staff, ongoing support (for something like an MMO that's huge if you want it to work, but so far 'outside the box' for the bean-counter mentality that it never registers with them at all) and 'loyal customers' with something close to contempt.

 

[Apetul]

I also know a few people working for Disney and the're doing the same thing, firing teams in the US and Europe and they now have a studio in Argentina, where the programmers work for $700 a month instead of the $2500+ they cost in a western country.

Programmers in Argentina doesnt work for $700 a month, but yeah here a Senior dev with +10 yrs experience will get 2500, if he is lucky enough to find that deal. I know the company that hired ppl to work on Disney products and they pay more than 700 a month.
Oh and, Argentina is a western country

 

[Shakkara]

Programmers in Argentina doesnt work for $700 a month, but yeah here a Senior dev with +10 yrs experience will get 2500, if he is lucky enough to find that deal. I know the company that hired ppl to work on Disney products and they pay more than 700 a month.
Oh and, Argentina is a western country

And I have two people in Argentina working for Disney for a year now for $700 per month as junior (1 and 2 yrs experience) programmers.

Here in the Netherlands, Junior developers right out of school get EUR 2000-2500, a senior dev with 10 years of experience gets EUR 4000-5000. Junior artists on the other hand are plentiful and only get 1700-1900. As game designer/programmer I started with 2300, 3 years later I earned 3250 Euros. Now I get 180 per day as freelancer and I'm considered cheap, as one of the other freelancers gets 400 a day for writing stories.

Things are a bit 'off' in the world I guess. When our game company finally manages to get investment sorted, we'll hire the Argentinans and an Ukrainian for a decent salary to work on our new game though. I hate to see people exploited by the big companies.

 

[Apetul]

Well, these guys clearly doesnt know that the big companies here (HP, Motorola, Intel and others) are paying more than 700 usd per month (or u was talking about Euros? there is a significative difference).
On a side note, if they get paid in a foreign currency then there is a bonus since our Gov doesnt allow us to buy foreign currency. Selling foreign currency on the "unofficial" market means you will get 30-40% more than the official one.
So, 700 euros not converted by the official (gov) rate for junior devs I can tell you its not bad here.

Back on topic, nice interview (but i didnt read it all, just a quick read..)

 

[Taylor]

Re: Communication and Grimm.

Grimm worked on UO for literal years and barely spoke to the playerbase until a few months before his termination with the company.

Going to intervene here and point out that this user is wrong on every point. With 757 posts, TheGrimmOmen was the third the most communicative devs in Stratics' 15-year history, behind only Sakkarah, who was a Stratics staff moderator prior to her employment with EA, and Draconi. He communicated with users on this forum consistently over an eight year period and there was no significant change in activity during the couple months prior to his departure. Even after his departure, he appeared in a live video stream celebrating Stratics' 15-year anniversary.

 

[Lady Silverbrook]

Going to intervene here and point out that this user is wrong on every point. With 757 posts, TheGrimmOmen was the third the most communicative devs in Stratics' 15-year history, behind only Sakkarah, who was a Stratics staff moderator prior to her employment with EA, and Draconi. He communicated with users on this forum consistently over an eight year period and there was no significant change in activity during the couple months prior to his departure. Even after his departure, he appeared in a live video stream celebrating Stratics' 15-year anniversary.

And if you look a massive amount of those posts they were months before he was terminated. Just like I said. So I'm not wrong. I stand by what I said.

I'm wrong he had years to get around with a to do list but only did so months before his termination? Sorry. I'm right. Again.

I'm also correct that art that was discussed for literal years went untouched as well.

So much for the 'wrong on every point'.

 

[Taylor]

No, you are still quite wrong. He has posted for eight years, and his posting habits did not change significantly during the month or two leading to his departure. Additionally, many errors were repaired during his time on the team, so your claim that he never even started a to-do list was uncharitable, if not completely wrong (I strongly suspect that he had a to-do list or two during his many years on the team).

 

[TheGrimmOmen]

Hmm, I'm not sure what your looking at that would give you that impression, but i can tell you that this isn't accurate. I started communication with the player base just after Samurai Empire and had been in as frequent communication with our community as time allowed.

Again, not sure what you're looking at, but even speaking mathematically, there's no way that I could have posted a "massive amount" of them in the months preceding my departure and had time to actually perform my duties.

The (public) list I was referring to can still be found here: http://stratics.com/community/entries/the-do-list.18/

And as for what I was able to get done, well, my priorities came from above, and I accomplished as much as I could. Keep in mind that whatever time was put into these tasks was entirely personal time, I was never afforded time to specifically work on those tasks. So hopefully this gives a little better insight into that situation.

Best wishes, and Happy Holidays,
Grimm

And if you look a massive amount of those posts they were months before he was terminated. Just like I said. So I'm not wrong. I stand by what I said.

I'm wrong he had years to get around with a to do list but only did so months before his termination? Sorry. I'm right. Again.

I'm also correct that art that was discussed for literal years went untouched as well.

So much for the 'wrong on every point'.

-Grimm
(Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD)

 

[kelmo]

Hi ya Grimmy. Do not let the "bored" warriors trouble ya too much. They just think they know everything there is to know about any given subject. Game design, graphics, even yer personal life at times...

 

[SlobberKnocker]

and that my friends is callled taking the high road.

a valuable lesson to be learned if you take the time to reflect on it.

a healthy and happy holiday to you grimm. you are missed.

 

[Picus of Napa]

Grimm,

You did a fine job and should be proud of your addition to the game. I'd like to think that I am one of the hardest critics of the dev team and I found it a pleasure to read your postings, it's a shame you are gone. Good luck in the future, I hope you land well. Come back and help us if we are ever cut loose, please.

This game needs a person at the helm that actually can play the game and understands what works.

 

[Flutter]

I should get a cookie for not going totally off on ignorance. Sometimes doing the right thing DOES deserve a trophy.
*Waves at TheGrimmOmen *
*grumbles under her breath and closes thread again*

 

[Gheed]

Going to intervene here and point out that this user is wrong on every point. With 757 posts, TheGrimmOmen was the third the most communicative devs in Stratics' 15-year history, behind only Sakkarah, who was a Stratics staff moderator prior to her employment with EA, and Draconi. He communicated with users on this forum consistently over an eight year period and there was no significant change in activity during the couple months prior to his departure. Even after his departure, he appeared in a live video stream celebrating Stratics' 15-year anniversary.

I'll add a tiny observation I always thought was nice. Not only did Grimm communicate frequently, he also communicated when the rest of the team was in lockdown. I've noticed when things go bad in a publish (like the Atlantic revert) or some points of a publish are not received well, devs would sort of steer clear of the boards for a while either by chocie or command.

But Grimm's reponsibilites left him mostly immune to those sort of issues. He could chat about art related goals or process and claim "not my issue" on any coding snafus. So often, during rough times, I would look at the dev feed for some sort of comment or status update. Most of the time GO would be chatting about something completely irrelavent to the current crisis. Still it was nice to see someone from the team communicating when bad things are happening. Does that make sense?