capnjosh

I want to work in the Game Producer field.  Associate Producer, Intern Producer, or just an Intern… all are quite fine.

Link to My Resume
My MMO game design philosophy:

  I have a vision for what MMO games can and will become, but I don’t expect to impose it on someone else’s project.  When it’s someone else’s idea, my primary goal is to do everything I possibly can to make their vision a reality.

  That being said, I thought it might be of interest to have a rough outline of what I see MMO games becoming.

In General Terms
  I see MMO games as “virtual worlds” moreso than they are ”games”.  I believe the “game” aspect to be a subset of the “virtual world”.  Games can take place within a virtual world, but it’s the virtual world that defines the context within which the games are played, e.g. the rules and the tools used.
  To design a virtual world is to essentially design a whole bunch of tools available to the player.  To design a game is to define distinct limitations and ways to win; in effect you design how a player must play the game.
  I believe there is a significant difference between a D&D “hack ‘n slash” adventure and a virtual world.  The “hack ‘n slash” adventure is largely a game set in a game context with a “winning outcome” (finish the quest).  A virtual world is exactly that.  It’s effectively a parallel universe to real life with different “skins” and different physical laws and limitations.  When a person plays what they think of as a virtual world, they are not looking for a “game” perse; they are looking to experience the novelty of a different way of doing real life.
  I think virtual worlds and games are occasionally mistaken for each other.  When a player makes this mistake that player may experience some frustration for a while.  When a designer makes this mistake many players may experience frustration for the duration of the game’s existence.  All I imply is that projects will be more successful if what that project really is is fully understood, recognized, and designed toward throughout it’s entire development process.

What this means practically:
  Gameplay mechanics are designed without a particular gameplay style being preferred.  Instead, gameplay mechanics are designed to allow for as wide a range of play styles as possible.
  Skills-based “leveling” system.  Players level up discreet skills.
  Constrained player-generated content that is wrapped up in the item crafting system. All objects in the virtual world are constructed from a set of components.  A subset of these components is available to the player as item crafting primitives.
  All-time PvP except in player-defined areas.  Players are able to build “safe zones”, e.g. cities, outposts, forts, etc.
  Largely static resource spawns.  The game world has definite locations of high strategic value.  This allows for more “valuable” player activity.