When you think about it this seems more like a logistical thing than anything else, I could be wrong - would definately not be the first time. ALOT of companies would have parted ways with Grimm when they moved operations to Va a while back. The way I see it we were fortunate enough to have had him working with UO for a few years now.
Did anyone in Virginia though know anything about UO and its "art pipeline" at the time of the move? I could be wrong, but I thought I read a post Grimm made somewhere where he mentioned developing or fixing up the existing tools for the art pipeline sometime AFTER that move. So I would imagine when the move was made, he very well might have been one of the few people with the knowledge and expertise to do his job specifically for UO.
Actually, as you all know when they moved production, the entire art staff was let go since no one wanted to move to VA. This actually included me. But our art director at the time asked "If you're going to lay everyone off, who's going to train the next artists?" I got a call the next day that they'd like me to stay on.
UO's art as a whole with the exception of actual expansions has been spotty at best. The last large amount of art the game has seen was around 2009. Yes, we have had smatterings here and there, such as the boats, but nothing very substantial comparative to other onlines.
So, that said, it is difficult (imo) to accurately gauge what was done concerning the art pipeline and how it may have impacted UO in an important manner.
I completely understand your point, and I'd have a hard time explaining the pipeline improvements in a way that's A) interesting and B) doesn't disclose too much of our proprietary tools. But, something that came to mind in your posts that might give some clue as to what I do. Because of improvements I made in our tile art creation pipeline, in the High Seas Expansion we were able to generate as many pieces of tile art in 6 months than all the pieces of tileart ever created for UO! That's something I always thought was pretty cool.
-Grimm
