Zwillinger

Some thoughts before I nod off...

I've shared some of the sentiments expressed in this thread with others around the studios. It's been very helpful as we discuss options we currently have in front of us.

Also, I took some time to talk with the proper people about some type of an official meet and greet. No promises as of yet, but I really would like to make this happen.

It's been a very hectic 2 weeks since I started here at Paragon, so thanks for bearing with me and my sporadic check-ins.

Hey all,

I've been extremely busy for the last couple of days (being a manager doesn't mean more decision making, just more meetings!), but I wanted to take a few minutes to thank everyone for a few things:

• Thanks to everyone who came out to last night's BAF(!)/Event Grouping test! We had a great turn out and are only looking to improve attendance at these events!
• Thanks to the European Community for continuing an open discourse on their needs and things they'd like to see moving forward.
• Thanks to everyone who's sent the kind and supportive welcome messages! I'm extremely humbled by the reception and am looking forward building on this.
• And thank the gods that I finally found a house to rent so I can get my family out here to the west coast!

On a final note, sadly I won't be joining the rest of the Community team for tomorrow's Animal Pack code giveaway as I have to go and sign a lease for above mentioned house, however I leave you all in the capable hands of Avatea and Beastyle. I know that everyone will be nothing but nice to Avatea and B, and wish I could be there!

Just in case I don't get to pop in tomorrow, have a great weekend everyone and I'll talk with you soon!

I love ZP, however don't always have the time to watch it. This invariably leads to me sitting at my desk, writing documentation and cackling with glee as I catch up on back "episodes".

Jumping in between meetings/calls...

Parity in service is one thing that's extremely important to me, on a personal level, and as such is something I try to consider when making recommendations regarding Community events.

Because the dev team is so vocal with the Community at large, I'm sure you understand the day to day rigors of developing for an MMORPG, but sufficed to say, scheduling is something that remains a constant challenge. When we're involving say, only the Community Team, it's much easier for us to drop everything and jump into game for events such as the upcoming code giveaways. Where we run into logistical nightmares is cutting into the day to day development and work of the Designers and Production folks.

Knowing those kind of restraints, and that we're working with a 8-9 hour difference, what kind of things do you, as players, feel are reasonable expectations from the developers?

City of Heroes is a vibrant, lively and global community. The challenges we face in engaging players from across the globe, as a Community, are pretty straightforward.

I'd like to start things off by asking our players from Europe a few questions. Your answers in this matter are much appreciated and will help us to more effectively make decisions to benefit us all.

• What time of day do you find yourself positing/reading the forums the most?
• What's more important to you? Having someone able to engage you and watch the forums during what would be considered "peak" posting hours or having someone who may be several hours behind, but has greater access to the development team?

Thanks in advance for your answers and I look forward to reading your feedback!

And yes, I know the title is cheesy as all heck

Hi all,

Just wanted to stop in and let you know we've passed this concern along.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

It's time to tear the roof off the North American Beta server, and we're going to to do it in style this Wednesday night, 2/16/2011 starting at 4:00 PM PST (7:00 PM). Come and get a sneak peak of the Incarnate Trial: the Behavioral Adjustment Facility!

During this test we'll be doing everything we can to put the new turnstile group queuing system through it's paces, so feel free to jump in and out of the queue and do all the wacky things you can think of to it. Please keep in mind that this is an early look at systems currently in development so content may change before it hits the Live Servers.

What's better than a Sneak Peak? A Sneak Peak where you get to play with the Dev team! Come join the Paragon Dev team as we jump onto the North American Beta server with everyone for this special sneak preview.

Here's a few links you may find useful about the upcoming Sneak Peak:

• Guide to installing the Beta client for our North American players
• Patch notes
• Feedback thread for the B.A.F.
• Feedback thread for the Event queuing system
• Feedback thread for the League system
• Bug report thread for the B.A.F.
• Bug report thread for the Event queuing system
• Bug report thread for the League system

Join in the Community Discussion here!

Hey everyone,

Just popping in between meetings (gotta love Monday) to say I hope everyone had a great weekend in City of and wish you all an exciting week to come.

We're going to be talking about some plans for additional Sneak Peak testing (to be scheduled for this week ideally) so please keep your eyes peeled on the announcement forums. We really need the Community's support to put i20 through it's paces, so if you can spare some time we'd be very appreciative!

Alright, back to meetings and documentation!

Have a great week everyone!

Don't forget to post your Sneak Peek bugs in the i20 Sneek Peek Bug report Forum.

Thanks for the heads up here, and thanks for coming out to the Sneak Peek!

Putting on my CM hat briefly...

Thanks for continuing to keep negativity out of the conversation.

Z

The following post is not intended to impart any message aside from contribution to the conversation:

There's a right way and a wrong way to introduce free to play aspects to a preexisting game. A lot of people are looking at recent offerings with a very critical eye these days. There's a lot of things that companies have done well with (personally I respect what LOTRO has accomplished) and some that are missteps that the entire industry will look for ways to improve upon.

It's a personal belief that companies seeking to change their current business model should always do so with their current Communities in mind. Any sort of change should be done so that it gives your veteran (existing) players a show of appreciation and recognition of their support over the years. Yes, the prospect of expanding a Community via F2P is attractive, but the reason they're able to consider such a thing is because of their existing Community.

Everyone have a great weekend! Time to knock off here!

I was thinking more along the lines of sleep deprivation, but that works as well.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone there!