(
Source)
Aion is easily one of the biggest MMOs of the year, so when a new North American community manager took over recently we decided it was the perfect time for an interview with the new team member, Andrew Beegle -- known as Tamat to community members.
We asked Tamat about new methods of community interaction, the hotly anticipated experience boost patch and even some personal questions about our new community manager. You can never really know enough about the person serving as the conduit to your main MMO -- at least that's what we tell them!
Massively: What steps will the team be making towards improving the channel between developer and player?Andrew "Tamat" Beegle: While the Aion team already interacts with the community utilizing a number of tools (forums, event presence, official Web site, facebook and twitter), there are always ways to enhance and improve communication between a game development team and its players. In this regard, we've been making giant steps forward. We've started a weekly Eye on Community series where we answer questions that we receive from the community and highlight activities going on at Aion fansites. Another way we're working to enhance communication is with our monthly address to the community that speaks to the driving current concerns of the community. With those in mind, we're also working diligently to build the official website and forums to deliver exactly what players want.
These are examples of a few ways we plan to drive the overall communication. However, one of our secondary goals right now is making sure we communicate that we're receptive to the feedback that we've been receiving from the community.
But communication is not all about addressing serious issues. Stay tuned, as we have quite a few fun ideas planned that our players will want to look out for.
Can players expect the experience boost patch any time soon?Tamat: Definitely. We've taken a good look at the current quest reward experience, and we should be increasing the amount of experience rewarded for a high percentage of the existing quests in our next update. Additionally, we've been reevaluating the experience rewards characters gain for individual kills. Ultimately, we want to make sure that each individual experience boost is in the best interest of the game, and as you can probably imagine, that takes time to properly evaluate.
What's your biggest priority coming into the position of North American community manager?Tamat: The need to enhance the communication between the Aion team and the community. Thankfully, the entire NCsoft West team is committed to improving community relations, so there is a lot of opportunity to do just that.
How much control does the North American/European team have over the evolution of the game?Tamat: The west plays a vital role in the overall success of Aion. All branches of the Aion team contribute ideas and information to each other for consideration. We evaluate each territory's individual needs and priorities, and then we plan accordingly.
That is a large and ambitious task with a game of this scope and size. Though it may not always seem immediately evident from the outside, we're in constant communication with the studio in Korea. Many of the changes implemented during the last year have been a direct result of that communication. That same influence has resulted in many of the future enhancements that we haven't announced yet.
Will we be getting the same patches as the Korean version of Aion, or will they be tweaked to be "localized?"Tamat: Our goal is to keep updates as close together as possible in timing. Ideally we're shooting to keep these updates within a month apart of each other. Every update will contain similar content, changes, and features. However, there may be times that we pick and choose what we implement depending on what appeals to the Western market (North America and Europe). You can get a sense of how this will pan out by looking at the depth of Western customization and design we implemented in version of Aion currently available at retail in the west.
How has the team felt about Aion's reception since launch?Tamat: Aion has been met with an overwhelming amount of praise overall. Our players love the game, the review scores have been cumulatively high, and despite the issues that exist in every new MMO, we had a solid launch-a fact that was recognized by both the press and the players.
With that said, we've been listening to the feedback that players have been sharing, and the team has been working relentlessly to address gameplay issues and abate nuisance issues that sap fun by putting in place changes that will be coming to the live servers sometime in the future.
What's your background on MMOs? What games have you played? What's your favorite?Tamat: I'm a lifelong gamer, but I've been into MMOs since high school. It started with EverQuest, and that led to my first position in the industry at Warcry, which led to IGN, and ultimately my four-year stint at Allakhazam (now known as ZAM). During my time writing about MMOs, I had the opportunity to play nearly every MMO on the planet. It's funny looking back on it now. This all began many years ago as a hobby, but turned into my career.
Some of my all-time favorite MMOs include: EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, Planetside, Lineage II, EverQuest II, Vanguard, World of Warcraft, and now Aion.
Have you been a fan of Aion before taking on this position?Tamat: Absolutely. EverQuest was and is still to this day my favorite MMO. For whatever reason, the combination of difficulty and overall depth appealed to my inner masochist and gave me a sense of immersion that went beyond previous online experiences. Aion is enjoyable for me because it has a unique set of challenges that transcend the majority of post-World of Warcraft MMOs, while also being easy enough to play casually and feel a sense of achievement.
Aion has the perfect combination of hardcore and casual elements that put the game into its own category altogether. For now, I'm calling that category "Totally Awesome."
Thanks for your time!Tamat: Thanks for the opportunity to talk about Aion.
