Something is confusing me regarding this dev shakeup

**Tabbitha** · 21st January 2008, 07:04 AM

So loqucious posted

We are told that the dev team is going to be working on what looks to me like 3 or 4 different onlines games simultaneously. Doesn't a single online game require a full time dev team? The team prior to the Mythic acquisition was never able to handle all the fixes that UO needed and always seemed behind the 8-ball. How is this current team going to handle several games at once?

Furthermore, if one team is doing all the games, how are they going to make each game unique? Since the team will have their own "style", won't all the games seem similar? And if they are similar, why have more than one of them?

~~~~

Tzar wanted a link to this information.

Can you link us to where we were told that the dev team is going to be working on multiple games?

Certainly EA-Mythic will have several (as did EA), but from what I understand, the development team will still be devoted to UO with other teams on Warhammer and DAoC.

Personally, I like having UO associated with other development teams to share ideas and thoughts, but the team needs to have a good understanding of UO so that they do not stray too far from what we players have come to expect from Sosaria.

~~~~

but Jeremy was quick on the answer.

There's no crossover between teams. There is crossover in management to a degree, but not at the individual-dev level.

It's possible that certain positions may get crosstrained - I'm thinking of worldbuilding specifically, because the tools are very similar and the need is intermittent - but there's no overall merging of the teams. That way lies madness.

E. Jeremy Dalberg
UO Community Coordinator
EA Mythic

**Tabbitha** · 21st January 2008, 07:08 AM

In the same thread AustinRules said

It is good to know our skeleton staff isn't being used for other games. But then again, isn't that why the devs are all at one site? So manpower can be moved around to where they are needed at the moment?

Still wish we had that list of 40 or so developers that put KR together. We still need much more manpower to get KR out of beta. Hopefully we will see a decent size KR patch Thurs/Fri.

That was back at the beginning of this month [ 9th] and warranted a response from The Grimm Omen himself.

Well, to some degree, having the developers all at one site makes sense from a management perspective. While some development can be done off-site, off-site management is a recipe for disaster. I think this was possibly one of the overriding factors in bringing UO developm.ent to Virginia. It's common practice, actually, to move developers from one team to another as needs arise, but there is always a core group of developers that maintain the overall direction of the game. Developers that are usually moved from one team to another include engineers, world builders, and artists.

As Coldren states, there are some distinct technological advantages to having all development teams under one roof. Not the least of which is the fact that were both using similar systems and the same engine. think this'll be advantageous for the new development staff. And I would imagine it would be very nice to have everyone working around to working on MMO as opposed to the way it was, where we were just a small team packed into the corner of the sixth floor where no one knew we were even there. This will help the new developers feel like they are a part of a larger entity. Happy milk comes from happy cows...

-Grimm

JP "TheGrimmOmen" Harrod
Associate CG Supervisor, EA Mythic
EA Mythic

~~~~

**Adam** · 21st January 2008, 11:41 AM

I'm still wondering how many UO staff we lost and how many of those lost, are going to be replaced (If they are)..

**kitiara** · 21st January 2008, 11:41 AM

"Happy milk comes from happy cows..."

LOL but very true - Grimm makes some good points.

21st January 2008, 07:04 AM	#1
Tabbitha Administrator Join Date: Mar 2006 Shard: Europa/Snowbourn Posts: 5,543 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 86 Thanked 76 Times in 34 Posts	Something is confusing me regarding this dev shakeup So loqucious posted We are told that the dev team is going to be working on what looks to me like 3 or 4 different onlines games simultaneously. Doesn't a single online game require a full time dev team? The team prior to the Mythic acquisition was never able to handle all the fixes that UO needed and always seemed behind the 8-ball. How is this current team going to handle several games at once? Furthermore, if one team is doing all the games, how are they going to make each game unique? Since the team will have their own "style", won't all the games seem similar? And if they are similar, why have more than one of them? ~~~~ Tzar wanted a link to this information. Can you link us to where we were told that the dev team is going to be working on multiple games? Certainly EA-Mythic will have several (as did EA), but from what I understand, the development team will still be devoted to UO with other teams on Warhammer and DAoC. Personally, I like having UO associated with other development teams to share ideas and thoughts, but the team needs to have a good understanding of UO so that they do not stray too far from what we players have come to expect from Sosaria. ~~~~ but Jeremy was quick on the answer. There's no crossover between teams. There is crossover in management to a degree, but not at the individual-dev level. It's possible that certain positions may get crosstrained - I'm thinking of worldbuilding specifically, because the tools are very similar and the need is intermittent - but there's no overall merging of the teams. That way lies madness. E. Jeremy Dalberg UO Community Coordinator EA Mythic __________________

21st January 2008, 07:08 AM	#2
Tabbitha Administrator Join Date: Mar 2006 Shard: Europa/Snowbourn Posts: 5,543 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 86 Thanked 76 Times in 34 Posts	Re: Something is confusing me regarding this dev shakeup In the same thread AustinRules said It is good to know our skeleton staff isn't being used for other games. But then again, isn't that why the devs are all at one site? So manpower can be moved around to where they are needed at the moment? Still wish we had that list of 40 or so developers that put KR together. We still need much more manpower to get KR out of beta. Hopefully we will see a decent size KR patch Thurs/Fri. That was back at the beginning of this month [ 9th] and warranted a response from The Grimm Omen himself. Well, to some degree, having the developers all at one site makes sense from a management perspective. While some development can be done off-site, off-site management is a recipe for disaster. I think this was possibly one of the overriding factors in bringing UO developm.ent to Virginia. It's common practice, actually, to move developers from one team to another as needs arise, but there is always a core group of developers that maintain the overall direction of the game. Developers that are usually moved from one team to another include engineers, world builders, and artists. As Coldren states, there are some distinct technological advantages to having all development teams under one roof. Not the least of which is the fact that were both using similar systems and the same engine. think this'll be advantageous for the new development staff. And I would imagine it would be very nice to have everyone working around to working on MMO as opposed to the way it was, where we were just a small team packed into the corner of the sixth floor where no one knew we were even there. This will help the new developers feel like they are a part of a larger entity. Happy milk comes from happy cows... -Grimm JP "TheGrimmOmen" Harrod Associate CG Supervisor, EA Mythic EA Mythic ~~~~ __________________

21st January 2008, 11:41 AM	#3
Adam Lead Administrator Owner Join Date: Oct 1990 Posts: 5,273 Thanks: 36 Thanked 312 Times in 112 Posts	Re: Something is confusing me regarding this dev shakeup I'm still wondering how many UO staff we lost and how many of those lost, are going to be replaced (If they are).. __________________ Get your own personal forum Like these ones - Personal forum listing Bored @ work? Play in our arcade! Useful Tips on how to use UOForums Open your own blog

21st January 2008, 11:41 AM	#4
kitiara Polar Bear Queen Join Date: Nov 2006 Shard: Atlantic & Lake Austin Posts: 4,026 Thanks: 4 Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Something is confusing me regarding this dev shakeup "Happy milk comes from happy cows..." LOL but very true - Grimm makes some good points. __________________ [UOCraft.com] - [Photography: Blog - Photo Gallery - Flickr] - [Other Blogs: Bird Blog - Geek Blog]

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