Where is Draconi? Can we get an official word from EA

[Africanus]

Is the man who destroyed Magincia still with us. I have heard some bad rumors that he is no longer with Mythic/EA. This would be a bit distressing as he was one of the few trusted old guard who truly cared about this game.

The first post [questioning layoffs at EA] indicating a change in his stratics profile was something that drew my attention.

I would love an official word from the EA/Mythic UO rep as to whether he is still the lead designer. If he is not, I would love to know who is in charge. Do they have UO's best interest in mind and have knowledge of the game?

 

[LadyNico]

Cal_Mythic addressed us when the axe fell. He likes to talk about veterans. Military ones, though, not UO veterans, sadly.

 

[Kat]

From the looks of this, Sakkarah is the Lead Live Designer. I am presuming there is only one "Lead" Designer. *shrugs*

ETA... That or "Lead" and "Lead Live" are two different positions, possibly.

 

[Flutter]

Draconi is a victim of the layoff.

 

[Kat]

Draconi is a victim of the layoff.

Wow! Really sorry to hear that. I was a fan of his work here and hope that bigger and better doors are open for him... And soon.

 

[Flutter]

Draconi cared more about UO than anyone else on the team I think. He will be missed by many of us.

 

[Demonous]

theres no proof of him being laid off yet... i can't imagine why he would be when hes been with the company for such a long time

 

[Eyes of Origin]

theres no proof of him being laid off yet... i can't imagine why he would be when hes been with the company for such a long time

Sometimes its those who show loyalty through out the years and really care about their work who end up getting the short end of the stick =/

Is that "our" Draconi lurking in this thread?? or someone who chose to copy cat his name?

 

[JohnnyO]

From the looks of this, Sakkarah is the Lead Live Designer. I am presuming there is only one "Lead" Designer. *shrugs*

ETA... That or "Lead" and "Lead Live" are two different positions, possibly.

Draconi was or is lead designer, Sakkarah is the live lead designer and supreem is the lead programmer. That's just going off the dev section on stratics. I'm Not sure who is still employed. Sakkarah and Supreem I think have both posted since the lay-offs. Clicking on Draconis name says invalid user specified, so who knows at this point

 

[Eyes of Origin]

Looks like we might finally get an answer from Draconi himself....... maybe? *hopes*

 

[Taylor]

Is that "our" Draconi lurking in this thread?? or someone who chose to copy cat his name?

It is our much beloved Tim "Draconi" Cotten.

 

[Flutter]

I think Draconi would have capitalized his name.

 

[Eyes of Origin]

I think Draconi would have capitalized his name.

It's him, theres a link in his profile to his FB page.

 

[S.P.A]

Flutter, it's him, read his Stratics profile: http://vboards.stratics.com/member.php?u=96816

 

[Taylor]

No, it's his same account, but the account name was changed from Draconi_EA to draconi. Look at the previous comments made by this poster - when people quote him, his quoted name shows up as Draconi_EA.

 

[Flutter]

I think Draconi would have capitalized his name.

It's him, theres a link in his profile to his FB page.

I could put a link to his FB page in my profile too.
I did check the posting history, it looks like it is him.
I am sure he is under some sort of NDA, he cared about us too much not to say goodbye. This I know for a fact.

 

[Eyes of Origin]

this so doesnt look good

 

[Mayadevi]

Well, if that's him, and it looks like it is. At least he knows we all care about him too.

He does know that, doesn't he ?

 

[Frey Wavestrider]

If the worse has happened I would have to wonder what an investor in Ea is thinking. Right now I would be seriously thinking about where EA is going and if the CEO is looking out for my investment. Letting go people who have made your oldest money maker successful is not very encouraging. Also, as a player I worry because it would seem to mean a shift is occurring and one I suspect a majority of the player base will not like. So are they planning to basically sabotage their game? The moves make little sense and are worrisome. BTW, the wife and I had thought about getting stock in EA before this.

 

[Restroom Cowboy]

Well, if that's him, and it looks like it is. At least he knows we all care about him too.

He does know that, doesn't he ?

Yeah he knows...he was just browsing the thread. I say give the guy an opportunity to do what he needs to do...perhaps then he will post.

 

[Eyes of Origin]

*sigh* I was really hoping he would let us know since he was actually on. I guess Cowboy is right in a sense, Draconi will post when hes ready. My patience isnt something I pride myself on though lol so its a lil hard to sit here waiting to see who is left and who isnt.

 

[Viquire]

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
So I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire the most
The Father Son and Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music…
Died.

 

[Theo_GL]

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
So I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken
And the three men I admire the most
The Father Son and Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music…
Died.

Wrong lyrics....

I met a necro who sang the blues
And I asked him for some happy news
But he just withered and turned away
So I went down to the britain shore
Where I’d heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play
And in the streets the PvPers screamed
The PVMers cried and the RPers dreamed
But not a word of power was spoken
The moongates all were broken
And the three peopl I admire the most
Chrissay Leurocian and Tim Draconi Cotton
They left our game but won't be forgotton
The day that UO…
Died.

 

[wrekognize]

The whole thing is BS!! the fact they have not kept us up to date is insulting. They are treating us like turkeys....

edit: i have not logged in for weeks now but to check my vendors, and i used to be in game all the time.

 

[Thunderz]

I sooo hope they havent got rid of the Legend Draconi, but if they have i think someone else there still loves us as we'v seen in this turkey event - there correcting issues and the 50EP rings issue very fast and still listerning to us

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

I feel as wrecognice. I play alot less than I used to , even if I love the turkey event.
I lost the spirit. That Carl made such baaaaad impression on me. We had such a good team earlier and tings looked so good.

 

[Petra Fyde]

A lot of people are jumping to some wild conclusions and making a lot of assumptions. Let's wait a while longer? I don't know, but I'm guessing the end of the month maybe.
btw, the 'Carl' who made such a poor impression is actually Calvin.

I get the impression of someone who's trying desperately to relate to a group, ie the UO Players, but missing because he doesn't know the 'language' and so uses it wrongly. He's at least trying, let's help him instead of blasting him?

I'm 90% sure he had no idea some people would be insulted to be referred to as 'carebears'. After all, the Carebears in the cartoons were good creatures who cared about others. Not a bad thing to be at all.

 

[RaDian FlGith]

I'm 90% sure he had no idea some people would be insulted to be referred to as 'carebears'. After all, the Carebears in the cartoons were good creatures who cared about others. Not a bad thing to be at all.

I have to be honest, I 110% believe that he knew the connotation was a negative one when he said it. After all, he said something to the effects of, "And yeah, I'm going to go ahead and say it, 'Carebears.'" That hesitation/recognition doesn't come from someone who has no idea what it means.

 

[Splup]

A lot of people are jumping to some wild conclusions and making a lot of assumptions. Let's wait a while longer?

That's what most of the European leaders were thinking before Hitler took Europa by storm.



ps. Sry I just felt the need to make comparison to something that is not related to the topic or issue at all. Carry on.

 

[Aurelius]

The 'carebear' comment was part of a paragraph that also contained something I found more baffling :

"We're going to have an announcement after this launch about another piece that will turn UO back into the Wild, Wild West that everyone wants".

Everyone? Really? Doubt that....

As for other things he's said, in another interview around the same time he also came out with this on IndustryGamers (IG is the 'reporter', CC is Mr Crowder):

IG: Are there any Origin Systems veterans left on the Ultima Online team?

CC: Yes! All of them work for me, and that's really cool because the community members remember them by name, so when they log on there's a celebration.

 

[Reximus]

Maybe they just don't give a **** enough to say goodbye, It is just a job, I wouldn't bother saying goodbye to my customers at work unless I needed them for the next job I was going to.

You pay money to play the game, the devs shouldnt be obligated to post anything ever except the patch notes.

 

[Splup]

Maybe they just don't give a **** enough to say goodbye, It is just a job, I wouldn't bother saying goodbye to my customers at work unless I needed them for the next job I was going to.

You pay money to play the game, the devs shouldnt be obligated to post anything ever except the patch notes.

Every company needs to listen to their customers and be in contact with them to survive. You cant keep selling same crap forever, and you should develop stuff that customers want, not just stuff you want to develop.

You can think UO as a company and Dev team as the board.

 

[Minerva Foxglove]

First time I ever disagree with Petra.

Being a pvper and not knowing about the carebear thing is as bad as using it to insult the biggest part of the player base.

I know its Calvin Crowner but the last post I saw from him was signed Cal_Mythics.

I get the image of letting a bull in a mirror shop so far. Hope he proves me wrong.

I have old vet friends that say the same. They dont feel like playing much right now. Its not lack of adapting skill ..we sure bhave trained that skill ower the years, but some bad feeling about the future thats hard to chase away.

 

[Lady_Rachel]

Maybe they just don't give a **** enough to say goodbye, It is just a job, I wouldn't bother saying goodbye to my customers at work unless I needed them for the next job I was going to.

You pay money to play the game, the devs shouldnt be obligated to post anything ever except the patch notes.

Perhaps some are like you say.

But some are part of us. The big US...part of our community.
They traveled the lands of Sosaria with us at one time. Fighting, laughing, and dying with US. They looked forward to logging in game and running into friends. Being part of that community.

After they became devs they didn't lose passion for the game nor their enjoyment of interacting with US...the community. And it showed by their posting on the various forums. Whether it be to share something cool they are adding to the game or just to banter with us a bit.

Like a friend you may have in game who becomes absent for awhile you are left wondering. What happened to them?

You want to let them know they are missed. That they made a difference. That Sosaria will be a bit dimmer with their leaving.

So.....if Draconi is truly gone from UO..for what ever reason.
I wish him well. I hope he finds something to fire his passion as much or more than UO did.

You will be missed Draconi. Never doubt that sir.
You have left a blazing trail across Sosaria..*in more ways than one* the likes of which may never be seen again. And yes Sosaria will be dimmer with you gone. I salute you sir. May life treat you kindly.

One last time...

NOTRAB!

 

[Der Rock]

I want Draconi back !
draconi is one of the 2 devs i´ve respected.

draconi if you read this, it is not fair to let us alone in the dark,would be nice to read something from you


thx.

 

[DevilsOwn]

I'm 90% sure he had no idea some people would be insulted to be referred to as 'carebears'.

some are offended, not all..... hope he gets that

 

[Ancient Sosarian]

Every company needs to listen to their customers and be in contact with them to survive. You cant keep selling same crap forever, and you should develop stuff that customers want, not just stuff you want to develop.

You can think UO as a company and Dev team as the board.

There is always an exception which "proves the rule." UO has survived against all odds and despite having the worst Customer Service and Customer Relations I have ever seen. Only the US Congress has pissed down more constituents, er, customers throats than UO, and gotten away with it.

An SoS

 

[RaDian FlGith]

some are offended, not all..... hope he gets that

Not quite sure why anyone would not be insulted by a derogatory term... and even if they're not personally insulted by the derogatory term, the implication of your post is that it should be okay for him to refer to a majority of his playerbase by a negative connotation.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about words and how we give them power (which is I why I the only offense I take to word usage is when someone tries to belittle another with the use of words that are known to be sore subjects). So me, I'm not personally "offended," per se, but rather think that not only was it a poor choice of word, but also has the uniqueness of being used by someone in charge of the game in a manner that he (in my opinion) knew was a sore-spot within that very same community.

Quite frankly, his usage of it, based on his intonation, the context he used it in, and the derived meaning there of could very well be insulting to those who take that kind of thing to heart.

To put it another way, I don't care if someone calls me a dip**** *******... but you better believe that if it's the head of something I'm paying money for, I'm going to be less than pleased that he feels that way about me as a paying customer.

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

Ahhh great another one of these threads. I`m amazed at how much people get wrapped up in the politics of a game. Before anything changed all I saw were threads like :

"WHY HAVEN`T WE GOTTEN THIS YET!!! WHEN ARE WE GETTING THAT?! WHY DOES NO ONE LISTEN TO US!? I`M GONNA QUIT IF THIS DOESN`T GET FIXED!" AND so on and so on and blah blah blah

Now that theres been a shake up......my how attitudes change.

Alas....I still see the ones who can`t be made happy.Pissed when we had a dev team and now pissed again because we have a different(or reorganized) dev team and by the way getting fixes out faster than I`ve seen ina while.

No this is not a shot at Draconi or the likes. I`m sure they would say the same,stop worrying about me and play the game WE love. I`m sure he`ll land on his feet running somewhere.

Its alot different for some other types out there who have lost their jobs.For example where does a bus driver go or a teacher or a truck driver once laid off? Yea pretty close to the bottom already...THOSE peaple have something to worry about since saying "Hello! Welcome to Walmart!" doesn`t pay what driving a truck used to.

IMO just shadup and play for cripes sake.

Getting so wrapped up over things you have no control of is just ludacris and laughable to say the least.

 

[DevilsOwn]

Not quite sure why anyone would not be insulted by a derogatory term... and even if they're not personally insulted by the derogatory term, the implication of your post is that it should be okay for him to refer to a majority of his playerbase by a negative connotation.

actually, I meant exactly what I said, that some are offended (as repeatedly pointed out at any opportunity) and some are not... how you read that as implying anything I don't know.... for myself, no, I do not see the term as derogatory

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all about words and how we give them power (which is I why I the only offense I take to word usage is when someone tries to belittle another with the use of words that are known to be sore subjects). So me, I'm not personally "offended," per se, but rather think that not only was it a poor choice of word, but also has the uniqueness of being used by someone in charge of the game in a manner that he (in my opinion) knew was a sore-spot within that very same community.

Quite frankly, his usage of it, based on his intonation, the context he used it in, and the derived meaning there of could very well be insulting to those who take that kind of thing to heart.

To put it another way, I don't care if someone calls me a dip**** *******... but you better believe that if it's the head of something I'm paying money for, I'm going to be less than pleased that he feels that way about me as a paying customer.

That folks are upset about it I understand, I'm just saying that not everyone is upset.

 

[Specialshoes]

Alright Draconi I see what thread you are viewing! Give us something!

 

[Salya Sin]

For goodness sake... why is everyone sooo bloomin' upset about that whole Carebear thing? It's the same connotation as being called a Trammie... Trammy... Trammi... (gosh I've seen it spelled so many ways)...

Anyway... It means the same thing! And no one on here ever starts in on that... so why so much grit about Carebear? Well... I've got a GREAT idea... seeing as how the Carebears are but one of MANY character ideas spawned from American Greetings in the 80's... pick a villain from any one of the following... Strawberry Shortcake (I'd suggest The Purple Pieman), Lady Lovely Locks or perhaps you can jump a bit and look into Hallmarks Rainbow Brite... Either way you look at it... pick one... and all Felucca dwellers can hence be called that and all will be even...

How about Cabbage Patch Kids vs The Garbage Pail Kids? I'm partial to this one... Seriously guys... why do we care? I've heard worse than that from just about every Red I've ever encountered... hell... I get worse than that from guildmates who think it's funny that I stay out of Fel. I have a blast playing as I do... and it really never bothers me if someone else wants to classify it.

And Draconi... whatever you are doing... do it as you have been doing it... Awesomely all the way!! We'll be here (because most of us are diehard) when you are ready... and if it should come to pass that you do not make it back to us... I pray that where you end up is as stimulating to you as where you were before!

 

[Eyes of Origin]

Having Draconi read the thread helps in a sense. We know hes paying attention to what we're saying, even if he doesnt respond, whether it be he cant or just hasnt.
It's just kind of a tease seeing him here and not hearing anything from him.
Kind of funny on one side, but so wrong on another lol

Oh and another thing, I know some of us havent felt like playing lately, for some reason or another. I know I'm in that spot as well, but I dont think thats the right way of showing we care about UO as much as we claim. Just saying

 

[Sellingahouse]

I loved the fireworks in Luna I think it was Draconi that set them up. I also loved the plants we got, was it Mr.tact or wilki? I know one or both left but one came back, is that person still here? I like the 5 on friday and the Inu quest, who was that? Many are gone and it is sad everytime I hear about another leaving, but UO still goes on. Maybe Draconi is just layed off for a month or two and will be back when they call him into work.

 

[Frey Wavestrider]

For goodness sake... why is everyone sooo bloomin' upset about that whole Carebear thing? It's the same connotation as being called a Trammie... Trammy... Trammi... (gosh I've seen it spelled so many ways).../QUOTE]

It was in the context that he said it. He appeared to blow off the players who did not PVP, and then went on to inferred that they would be forced to PVP. Draconi had to put out the fires for a long time because of that. IF he did not realize it would cause a problem then that is a problem in itself. It means he does not understand a large portion of the player base and what they play UO for.

 

[Sweeney]

Reminds me of when I found out Designer Dragon was gone.

 

[FrejaSP]

The 'carebear' comment was part of a paragraph that also contained something I found more baffling :

"We're going to have an announcement after this launch about another piece that will turn UO back into the Wild, Wild West that everyone wants".

Everyone? Really? Doubt that....[/i]

I believe he just tryed to tell, UO is going to changes road.
For 12 years, EA had believed the money makers would be the "Carebears" = the non con community and they had to protect them.

Maybe they now are going to give more love to the the players who love PvP being a part of their game.

We do now have so much land, that giving the non con players access to most of it won't hurt as PK's can't be anywhere and many PK's will join faction to find victims.

We could start letting Faction work on all facets and let reds go to all facets but only allow them to fight warring and faction enemies.
Then draw back some of the trammel zone and allow non con PvP there. That could be some levels of the dungeons. It's more difficult to draw back the house land but we could draw back some of the forest and open up for some non con housing with cutting some trees or adding new island or highland towns on some of the mountains.

Most non PvP'ers won't mind that, only a small hardcore group will pancake about is, (I won't even label them carebears as they don't care, they only hate)

It's time EA stop listen to this little small group and start listen to the group that want the split gone and want old communities grow up again.

Calvin maybe come of a little clumsy but i'm excited, I had dreamed about this changes for years.

It look like it is going fine with the PvP zones in Abuss so lets see what is next, maybe the Ter Mur land we had not seen yet will be PvP zone *Dreams*

 

[Mitzlplik_SP]

QUOTE]

I hope for the same things. This game was founded on a PvP platform. It`d be nice to get back to the roots of where it all started.

I especially agree with this:
"We could start letting Faction work on all facets and let reds go to all facets but only allow them to fight warring and faction enemies."

I think its frggin wrong to allow any peacetime when your in factions. Shouldn`t matter what facet your on...enemies should always be enemies.

 

[Serafi]

Chalk me up as someone who would like to know what really happened, and whether Draconi is still with us. While I am certain the current team will prevail - it`s that little thing called continuity that bothers me.

 

[gjohnson5]

Hopefully he didn't sign some non disclosure agreement for free. They'd have to pay me for me to shut up. But hopefully some announcement will come soon about the direction of UO. Hopefully it's not this "wild Wild West" stuff