Monday, May 27, 2013

2,000 friends! Developer questions, part 4



Q1. What will you do if by some miracle COH comes back? What will happen to TPP?


Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"We'll still be here. I'm fairly certain we're past the point of no return."

Nate "Doctor Tyche" Downes, technical director:

"Even if CoH comes back, it is past the point of no return for it. There will never be the development it once had, the coders and support personnel have moved on and gotten new jobs. Any new team will find itself facing a code base which was bordering on needing replacement anyways. If anything, CoH coming back would make TPP more critical."

Dying Phoenix. Geddit? Geddit?

Q2. What will happen to tpp if the game doesn't come to anything, doesn't get off the ground, or has to be closed :(? 

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director:

"There's a number of avenues to take, should it happen. And I'm sure we're all reluctant to even think about things like that at this point. Even if TPP doesn't take off and we have to drop the project, Missing Worlds Media is still an incorporated company and I for one would like to stick around to see it successfully launch a product."

Q3. Can we have a 'carrying' travel power? For if people are 'killed' in game, or are natural origin and don't have flight or something? 

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"Huh... I was just mentioning the other day to the other Officers about having a "plushifying" temp power to allow other players to either carry you away from or to a destination. Of course... I made it in jest because I wanted to make the "IT'S SO FLUFFEH!" comment, so take that with a grain of salt ;) It is a very interesting game mechanic idea, however. Ultimately how well it integrates into the game and engine, plus the animation and model limitations is going to determine whether the players get it or not and we're not quite at that stage yet."




Q4. When can we expect the product to be finished? And please, no Blizzard Entertainment answer of "soon." LOL.

Lauren 'Rae' O'Neill, press, PR and social media: 

"Soon. Ish."
 
Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"The goal for initial product launch is late 2015."



Q5. Any idea what the game will be called yet? The Phoenix Project is a cool name for a TF in game, but it doesn't seem like a marketable name to let the masses know what it is. 

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"We will let you know Soon(TM). It may or may not surprise you to know the name is something we've been... discussing for the past- what? 5 or 6 months? We are very close to announcing the chosen name of our game, just have a Berlin wall to bring down before we do."

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

2,000 friends! Developer questions, part 3


 As you might've noticed, I'm impressed by numbers. For example, 2,000 people is a lot of people.

And today I spotted that this blog has has over 10,000 page views.

And that our YouTube teaser trailer has been viewed 23,881 times.

That's a lot of people. I'm pretty sure all of them can be me pressing refresh to make sure I haven't posted something stupid.

..23,881 times. And a Spanish re-post has had an additional 50 views.

Wow. Seriously. Wow.

That's more people than I know in real life, and everything.

A entirely-gob-smacked Lauren

---

1. Are you really all secretly former COH devs?



Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"If I am, then someone forgot to tell me and I have a bunch of backpay that needs rectifying ;).
Actually, all our Officers in the MWM company (most of which who hold developer roles in the project) will be brought to light (some a little more than others) when we get our ducks in a row and launch our Kickstarter.

"There is planned at some point to be a Team page on our refurbished MWM website where ALL of our team leads will get a write-up and let you know a little bit more about who we are."

2. Will the choice between hero/villain be at character creation or after tutorial (or later)?

Tom "Cerulean" Filiaggi, game architecture lead:

"Alignment is a tricky trick, and it has yet to be fully ironed out. But, we do expect a choice at character creation, with alignment being largely dynamic as you go, so it will be possible to "change sides".

"The biggest difficulty in handling alignment is in regards to mission sharing and how alignment progresses. We don't want to limit teaming opportunities."

 3.  What type of travel powers will be available in the game?


Tom "Cerulean" Filiaggi, game architecture (GA) lead: 


"The following is a list of travel powers we are targeting, but please do not take this as comprehensive or all-inclusive. This just gives you an idea of what we are wanting to do: flight, teleportation, extreme jumping, extreme running, tunneling/matter-meld, swinging, crawling, sliding/surfing, gliding - and variations thereof."

Nate "Doctor Tyche" Downes, Technical Director: 

"We've so far tested out Flight, Teleport, and Jumping to conclusion, with others still being worked on.

"We have a huge pile of options to study, to find the right way in which to do them. We don't want swinging, for instance, to just be a re-skinned flight, with the cable going up into nothingness.

"No, we want it more like the old Spiderman 2 game, where you're actually swinging off of the buildings. And that is but one example. We want this to be a very solid experience, where each travel system has its own uniqueness about it."




4. How do you take your coffee?

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director, Missing Worlds Media: 

"Well I like to take out all the coffee and replace it with hot cocoa and whip cream. Caffeine makes me drowsy."



5. Will there be a 'shakes pom-poms' emote? You guys are awesome!

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director: 

"That would certainly be a fun emote to make and have!"

Nate "Doctor Tyche" Downes, technical director: "Well, we do have Pep Rally as one of our artists..."

Monday, May 20, 2013

2,000 friends! Developer questions, part 2

1. Question. I'm sure I'm not the only one who really appreciates all the efforts the team are making to get this project to go live albeit on a voluntary basis. Has anyone at MWM done a cost study of how much would be needed to employ (full time) the people needed not only to get the project live, but also to maintain and increase the content on a regular basis, to maintain the servers, and to rent a "home" for all the assets, and how much are we talking about in real terms to make this a going concern? 


This is pretty much what the Skype backscroll looks like, most days.

Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, studio director Missing Worlds Media:

"We have. The number came in at the high six figures, and we were told by outside experts that we had overestimated it.

"This number drops a bit if and when we have an active revenue stream; this number reflects a static pool of money needed to pay salaries to keep people alive if they shifted to doing this full time before we had money coming in. We are continuing to look into these sorts of things.

"After the Kickstarter, there will be more potential to get some interested money looking at it, as it will demonstrate that we have a fervent and willing-to-support-us audience. Eventually, we WILL be having full-time staff supported by the revenues of this (and possibly others to develop down the road) game, because that's what will be needed to sustain it.






2. When TPP goes live will you have a marketing campaign to promote this outside the community? What promotional ideas have you tossed around. That time will be here before you know it! You all are working so hard *shakes her Pom-poms*

Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, studio director Missing Worlds Media: 

"We absolutely will. We're even exploring - though sadly, with our budget, it's not likely at this time - options to advertise the Kickstarter itself outside our normal community venues.

"If any of you have connections that could help us find ways to spread the word when the Kickstarter goes up, we would GREATLY appreciate it. Getting even a little bit of attention outside the "shell" of gamer news and community will help a lot, especially if we can tap into the popularity of superhero movies coming out this summer. Marketing is going to be a big part of this game's success!"

 3. Will there be badges like in CoH? 






Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, studio director Missing Worlds Media:

"While we're not sure what we'll call them yet, a very familiar system of recognitions and achievements will be in the Phoenix Project."

4. I know this is way ahead of us, but have you thought of offering a lifetime subscription rate during the beta phase? It would give you some extra cash up front. Or maybe some sort of tier level in-game bonuses for donations of varying amounts?

Nate 'Doctor Tyche' Downes:


"We are not to hit the beta stage for awhile. We've discussed several options for subscriptions, but it is too early to decide that."




 5. Will there eventually be a Halloween event?

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director, Missing Worlds Media:

"There will, quite hopefully be all sorts of holiday related events including Halloween. Will there be one this year? Well that's iffy, but we do plan on having them in-game."

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Making an MMO - by DC James 'Terwyn' MacKay, president of Missing Worlds Media


One of the hardest things to remember about making an MMO is that the goal is not to simply build a solid game to be played, but to provide a social networking platform through which games are played.

It is all too easy to fail to recognize this fact, and get caught up in trying to perfect the wrong aspects. As with any project, it is important that we note that it is impossible for us to succeed at this on our own. We may build our city, shape our new world, and record a rich and fascinating history, but only a community can give our work life.

Testing the Unreal engine with some stock assets

As we build this world and its inhabitants around the needs and wishes of a pre-existing community, there are some things that must be acknowledged. All of us involved see something good and noble about this project, as it is an effort which gives an unprecedented level of flexibility when it comes to interaction with our fans and our methods of accomplishing the goals of the project.

I’m not going to lie. Striking the quintessential balance between incredible systems and other valuable elements – whether technical or narrative – is a constant challenge.

Continual changes will be necessary to keep things going if the project is to accomplish its goal of being a long runner. This is why it is extremely important to bear a constant reminder of the community which the project will serve, and to always strive towards building a better world for its inhabitants.


LIGHTING NEEDS TO BE REBUILT!

While not everything necessary to succeed with our goals will be popular, it is an unfortunate reality of the industry. I certainly hope that everything we do will be understood as being what we think necessary to uphold the standard of quality that we’ve promised with this project.

We’re not just building a game; we’re building a world, which we hope will be able to stand on its own merits in an environment fraught with intense competition. It will only be able to do so with the support of its surrounding community.

Without the community from which we came, and which we serve, there would be no Phoenix Project, and a multitude of incredibly skilled and talented people would be bereft of the opportunity to apply their abilities in new directions.

Those of us involved have learned a great deal over these past few months, and I personally want to thank everyone involved for the knowledge and expertise they have shared.

~D.C. James “Terwyn” MacKay
President, Missing Worlds Media

Friday, May 17, 2013

2,000 friends! Developer questions, part 1




2,000 friends.

It doesn't seem possible.

I remember how I felt when I was sat here writing about getting 1,000 Facebook friends, and just the overwhelming sense of appreciation and feeling completely humbled. And just a few months later, here I am trying to find the words to express what it feels like to know that we've doubled that number.

And, like last time, we sort of smashed through the big number.

I was talking to Cameron (Segev) Johnson on Skype about our upcoming Kickstarter, and the fact that we were starting to approach 2,000 friends. I asked for ideas of what we could show our community as a thank you, Nate and Yoko threw some ideas out there, DC promised to write a blog. We thought of a few ideas of things we could give our 2,000 FB friend.

"How long do you think we've got to organise this?" Segev asked.

I ummed and aaahed, and said that it could go either way. Some days we get 30 new friends, some days we get three. There's no real science in it and I tried to explain that to him, as best as I could, and with too many smiley faces.

"Best guess..probably 9, 10 days?" I said.

The next morning, I woke up to discover we had 2,009 Facebook friends, and messages of congratulations from the gaming websites, the podcasts, and you guys who have supported us and thrown your faith into what we're trying to do. 

Seeing the notifications of new 'friends' on Facebook always warms the cockles of my heart. Each little red number is genuinely like finding a new friend, a member of a community that was scattered to the winds too early.

..but you sorta got there a bit fast, so bear with us a couple of days while we iron out a few details.

In the meantime, while I try to wrestle screenshots out of Nate (he hides them in his beard, don't you know?) and we get the final details of our next Livestream event bashed out, here's the first set of questions you asked us, duly answered by our devs.

If we haven't answered your question yet, don't stress - it'll be posted up soon.

As always, a huge, huge thank you. Whether you're here because you're genuinely interested in TPP and what we can offer, or if you're just here because we're becoming one of the largest former-COH communities on the net, you're here, and that's all that matters.

-Lauren
Press Officer, public relations, and that chick who is still, despite all the odds, posting stuff on Facebook, Twitter and G+. Seriously. Can you believe they haven't got rid of me yet?

--

1. Curiosity question: Is Samuiko on the team? 

Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, Studio director, Missing Worlds Media: "To my knowledge, she is not - if she's on under a pseudonym, I don't know about it. She would be welcome, however, if she is interested!

2. 
  • What can we expect in terms of end game content? Are we going to see raids like Hamidon that anyone can go on or will you need certain items/skills/flags.
  • What will be at endgame? Raids pvp ext... Will raids require tactics to take bosses down or tank and spank?
Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, Studio director, Missing Worlds Media: "Endgame is actually something we're still thinking very hard about.

"Personally, I want to design it so that it doesn't feel like you suddenly changed the game you're playing when you reach it.  Too many MMOs have the nature of the game change significantly at the end, shifting to PvP and mass-raid with gear-centric advancement.

"Players who enjoyed the game leveling up suddenly feel like they are no longer welcome; players who want the end-game feel that the levels leading up to it are a speed bump to get through before getting to the "real" game. I would like to design our game and endgame so that they merge fluidly. Exactly how we are going to achieve this remains a matter of brainstorming.

"We have numerous ideas and half-ideas; at least one is inspired by the Incarnate system. I'm thinking to some extent that base-building and indirect PvP in influence-spreading of factions or alignments around the city might be a part of it, but again, this is still in the "what can we do?" stages.

"An attractive bit of that is that player characters can be involved at any level. But it would have to be carefully done to maintain the comic book feel, rather than turning into "Politics: The MMO."

3. Asymmetric costume patterns - yay or nay?
 
Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, Studio director, Missing Worlds Media: "Yay."

Lauren 'Rae' O'Neill, press office, Missing Worlds Media: "Really? Yay!"

Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver, art director, Missing Worlds Media:  "One of our very first considerations when we started planning for our costume creator is just that.

" Among such things as quadrupeds, upgrading the "Radmonize" button to allow you to lock in features you want to keep and how much slider customization we can do before we break the game and/or model mesh, the ever popular request of Asymmeticality is on the table and in the plans"

4. Will there be a facepalm emote? That's a dealbreaker for me



Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, Studio director, Missing Worlds Media: "I don't see why not."

5. What steps are you taking to avoid legal issues that COH had to deal with early on, such as limiting costume options to avoid tribute creations that Marvel, DC, even NCSoft may be keeping an eye on? Will there be policing of names and costumes? 




Cameron 'Segev' Johnson, Studio director, Missing Worlds Media:  "Well, we are not going to have anybody else's IP inserted into the game "officially," first of all. It will be stuff only our contributors developed.

"The actual question, though, focuses on the problems of customizability leading to TotallyNotWolverine, the PC. We will have a banned list of names; it obviously won't be exhaustive, as there are so many ways to sneak some weird spelling of, say, "Wolverine," into a name generator.

"We won't have explicitly banned costume combinations, because honestly, that's just not possible to do usefully. Our EULA will state that no creation that violates copyright, trademark, and IP laws is permitted, and that we reserve the right to change any that engender complaints thereof.

"We will be responsive to such complaints, as well. It's the best I think we can do. We're in the same boat as the ESRB when it comes to rating online user-driven interactions. We can be responsive, but pro-active prevention is largely futile. We can only do our best and show good faith under the law." 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

The Phoenix Project Update: Monday, May 13, 2013

The Phoenix Project
Update: Monday, May 13, 2013
By: Cameron 'Segev' Johnson

Last Wednesday, we were in an interview for two hours with Critical Hit. It was their fourth episode, and they were very kind to have us on. It is now up as a podcast ( http://ogrshows.com/ogrshows-randomstuff/478 ) on their web site.

We'd like to thank them for the opportunity to answer so many questions about the game and the process of making it.

In at least as humbling and flattering news, a song (which can be found at http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/17271521 ), written by a member of our community, has been dedicated to our project. Thank you so very much!

As if that weren't enough, we're also very, very close to reaching 2,000 friends on Facebook. Doctor Tyche has pledged to demonstrate placing things in the Unreal engine, including at least one clickable, in a livestream event, the weekend after (or, possibly, two weekends after, if we happen to hit it too close to the mark) we reach that monumental place.

The timing is very good, too; we're just about ready to launch our Kickstarter! I know many of you have been asking when we were going to do it; well, we're just about there. We have the level of progress where we need the additional tools to continue, and we are sure we can pull this off if we meet our goal! We are putting finishing touches on a KS video, and have one or two more behind-the-scenes things to finish off, but expect it within the next one to three weeks!

Finally, I've been asked to remind you to come to our panel at the Phoenix Comicon, if you're in the area on May 25th. It's at 7:30 pm.

I apologize for all the exclamation points this week; I'm just a bit excited about all the things that have happened and are coming up.

Thank you all, as always, for your interest, energy, and support.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The Phoenix Project Update: Monday, May 6, 2013

The Phoenix Project
Update: Monday, May 6, 2013
By: Cameron Johnson

Last week, I promised something very exciting. Amongst other things, Nate 'Doctor Tyche' Downes, our technical director, informs me that we have three travel powers working, and the foundational bits for two more in place.

An 'Ask the Devs' line has been opened on Facebook, and we have an interview coming up for two hours on Wednesday (May 8th) evening with the new show, Critical Hit, on Online Gaming Radio (http://ogrshows.com/) from 6 pm to 8 pm Pacific time. (That's 8 pm to 10 pm Central, and 9 pm to 11 pm Eastern.)



We're also rather excited about David Nakayama's interest in the Plan Z projects, and are in the process of contacting him.

Those in the Phoenix area, we have confirmed that the Phoenix Comicon panel (http://www.phoenixcomicon.com/) will be on May 25th from 7:30 to 8:30 pm. Stop by and see our Creative Director, one of the heads of our Composition department, and the head of the Game Architecture department, throw them questions, and watch them skillfully dodge--er, I mean, hear their words of wisdom about the game and what's going on in development.

Additionally, our Art and Technical teams have gotten a lot done.

We have a video to show you of it. It's not much, now, and the little guy is mostly looking at a wall, but this is the first element of our 3D modeling that will actually appear in the game. (No, I don't mean the little guy.)

Friday, May 3, 2013

Developer interview: Jessica 'Nytrinhia/Yoko' Weaver - art director

1. What's your name, how long have you been involved in TPP, what role do you have, and what does it involve?
 
Well my handle is Nytrinhia, but most people call me Nyt or Yoko. A half-hearted google search would find you my real name, but it's also so common of a real name that you likely won't find much beyond my DeviantArt gallery.

I've been involved in The Phoenix Project since oh... around the end of December 2012. So from the time I write this answer, about 2 months worth of time. Quite a newbie compared to some... most of the other Leads, and some of the people I manage in my team.

I'm the Art Director, which means I'm responsible for the way the game looks from the concept art to the UI to the finished product. It's a big responsibility that basically means it's on my head if anything is off about the look. I report directly to our Creative Director, Jim. I specifically manage the team, make artwork/art assets, help make sure the rest of the team has the art assets they need and keep my team motivated and inspired.

2. What other MMOs/games have you played in the past? What drew you to them? What makes a game enjoyable to you?
 
Uh... well let's see... There was Maple Story, Dofus, Angel Sanctuary and then I went through a dry spell where I didn't play MMOs period because they all ran into the same basic problem. It became about the grinding, or you got to a point where you had to team up with people or you couldn't do higher-level things or dungeons. Any friends I played MMOs with, soon quit and I was left soloing most of my time, so I turned to solo games.

Then I was introduced to Allods Online, which I still play and is fun because I'm a laid back kind of person who takes their time getting levels when I'm playing by myself. Soon after CoH went F2P, and my wallet rejoiced. And then it cried because I subsequently fell to effective marketing strategy and subscribed. Champions Online has been my weak tea substitute since the closing of CoH's doors. I have since dabbled in The Secret world, Planetside2, APB, EVE Online, Mabinogi, Sanctum, Team Fortress 2... and that may be it... The majority of them I've played about an hour or two for research.

As for what draws me to a game, most likely accessibility. If I can get to it from my meager budget, I will likely play it at least once for at least an hour or two. Art plays a big role in my ability to... "stand" a game. I haven't even made an account for minecraft because the 8-bit block style drives me crazy. I love and appreciate what some people can do with it, but it's a personal quirk I can't get over. Allods has me for as long as I can progress solo because their art concepts are unique and gorgeously applied. Who wouldn't want to be a cyborg zombie mummy? Or a female orc that doesn't look like they should belong on the cover of a fantasy version of Sports Illustrated. Either way, I will play anything at least once if I can have access to it, but the quality of the game itself overall is what keeps me there.

Since I am not huge on the MMO scene, here's a list of some of the things I play/have played: LoZ, LoZ II, OoT, MM, TP, SS (Can you tell what company and franchise I'm a fan of yet?), Diddy Kong Racing, Mariokart (64 and Wii versions), a plethora of NES games (That still work along with the floor mat and zapper), 007: Golden Eye, those Wii family games (Wii Sports, WiiMusic, WiiSports Resort), Kirby Yarn, Blockscape, Everquest, Dragonquest, Borderlands, Hydrophobia: Prophecy, Portal, Portal 2, Audiosurf, Dota2 (still have no idea what I'm doing), Faerie Solitaire, Flock!, Mirror's Edge, Offspring Fling, PixelJunk's Eden, Q.U.B.E., The Stanley Parable, Torchlight, and World of Goo.

Games that have been sitting in my queue and waiting for me to play them: Borderlands 2 (waiting for me to finish the first one and to buy the second, likely to be a Black Friday purchase >.>), BioShock and Bioshock2 (I am a bit of a scardey cat, I will admit that), Half-Life, Krater, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Prince of Persia (the whole franchise that you can get through Steam), APB Reloaded, Prototype, Team Fortress Classic, Phantasy Star Online annnnd I'm sure there's other things in my list of things I want/need to play for either research purposes or selfish play.

3. What server did you play on in COH? How long did you play for?
Protector. That's where my friends were playing so that's where I went. I was playing for about a year and about half, if not the majority of my social circle is made up of the people I met there on the Protector Server.

4. How did you get your role – did you volunteer, were you seconded and did you expect to end up with such a senior role? Do you have any experience/qualifications that make you perfect for this role?

I volunteered when a call went out that we were in need of a vicious overl- I mean a Character Art Lead. There wasn't much of seconding because I wasn't well known around the forums and no one knew much of me. I was more of a lurker until I busted out a full round of general critiques. And then my name wasn't exactly pulling the support HAHAHA! But I was interviewed by our illustrious cat herder and deemed appropriate for the job; and after some calming discussions with individuals over sore egos or hurt feelers and antennae, things settled right quick. I suppose it's lucky for me that I draw as well as I can point out errors.

And I've been functioning in that capacity up until our Art Director had to leave the project for personal reasons. I was then asked by the other company officers to step up into the roll. I was sad our Art Director left, but things must truck on and in my opinion, making this game a reality is more important than being sad over something I couldn't change.

As for my qualifications... I work for private clients designing and/or illustrating characters. Essentially I'm a freelance artist and I draw a comic for a private client/writer which can be found if you look half-heartedly enough. I have an unfinished degree in Illustration; 5 years years of my life were spent working for that non-degree which is a long story which I'm sure you're wondering about which can be boiled down to health issues, most of which are being taken care of. What I lack in hard industry experience I make up in ingenuity, creativity and a sense of humor. I have a critical eye, and like I tell my artists, I leave my personal feelings at the door when it comes to art, and we ought to be able to speak our minds to facilitate great design and make a game that people will enjoy.

5. Describe an average day working on TPP for you.

Well I log in, and the next few hours are devoted to playing catch up. If I'm lucky I then proceed to light socializing among the different team members while working on projects, meetings or other needed things.
If I'm unlucky then some disaster has arisen while I was offline or right before I was online or shortly after I log in, and that has to be dealt with. That can take anywhere from a couple hours to all day or several days.

Essentially depending on how imminent the destruction of Earth is, it can push aside any and all work I have, setting me back a day or so on progress.

If there's a meeting that day, I generally spend all day working on prepping for that meeting so it goes as smoothly (and quickly) as possible. Because of the different timezones to account for, we start late and end later so the more efficiently I cat herd, the more likely it is we'll end before the earliest timezone hits 2am.

6. What's the best thing about working on TPP? What about the worst?
 
I can honestly say that the best thing about working with TPP is the art team. I am probably working with the most lighthearted and fun people I have had the pleasure of arting with. We have a lot to overcome and work around, and they've all risen to the challenge, are doing their best and are so willing to learn and improve themselves. I couldn't have picked a better art team to work with.

As for the worst... probably the communication. Trying to find solutions across departments when there are no hard copies of things, no body language, voice tones or facial expressions to pair with the words cause a lot of communication problems and slight issues with making sure everyone is on the same page. And doing all that and putting in the extra effort to try and find solutions and ways around these problems takes time away from production.

It also doesn't help that time is further limited by the fact that we're all doing this without pay, meaning we have to have part-time or full-time jobs somewhere else. It's something we're slowly overcoming, but it's still frustrating to deal with in the mean time.

7. What are you most excited about in creating this game? What makes you most nervous?
 
I am most excited for the Avatar Creator in this game. I have a lot of big ideas and things to bring to the table, but... with that, depending on the funding we get and what the Tech team tells us we can or can't do, a lot of it can end up getting nixed.

8. What's the first thing you'll do once the game goes live and you've logged in to the city?
 
I'll likely stand in a newbie spawn point and help people out with any questions they have. Chill. I have and will have worked hard to get to that point, so I'm gonna sit back and enjoy the fruits of the labor with a quart of Edys Rocky Road Slow Churned ice cream and no intention of doing anything extravagant. After all we have to keep working after launch. Might as well enjoy the moment before the rest of the work hits us in the face.

9. Why should people be excited about TPP? Why should they trust TPP over any other MMO?
The Phoenix Project isn't just another independent project. It's an independent project founded on the ashes of a great game that was snuffed out not because it wasn't turning a profit, but because it wasn't included in the company's direction.

Or so we're told. It's a classic case of ignoring the players and catering to the stock holders or board of directors who know very little about what the game really was. The success of The Phoenix Project isn't just another MMO added to the board of hundreds of others. This will be a game founded on the principles of what made City of Heroes great and taking it to the next level. This is a game about evolving and improving the MMO, not going with the status quo. The people building this game aren't doing this because it puts bread on the table or it'll turn a multi-million dollar profit.

Though I'm sure about 99.9% of us are hoping that when this launches we can quit our day jobs and get a steady paycheck working strictly for Missing Worlds Media. We're doing this because we are seriously and deeply invested in making a great game.

We're invested in making a home for gamers where all of us won't have to be afraid of corporate decisions that'll arbitrarily decide the game's lifespan, the livelihood of the studio and designers that made it, and the investments of the people who play it, are not necessary any more. People should be excited about it, because it's something worth being excited about. If The Phoenix Project becomes a success not only will we achieve re-establishing our home, but it will become a symbol of what people can become capable of in the face of hardship and imminent destruction. We show that there is life after death and fire can rise from ashes.

As for why people should trust us... I'm not going to tell people that they -should- trust us, only that they can. We're hard-working people. The majority of the people on this team I haven't met prior to this project, but we've chosen to put aside a lot of things and make sacrifices on a professional and personal level to work on this game. We're not just catering to the player base; a half a year ago we were part of the player base.

10. Give me one random, or interesting fact about yourself.
 
Unlike the great majority of artists I've met who have great tragedies surrounding their epic quests to arthood and their parents condescending stares and outright verbal (and sometimes physical) disapproval, my parents encouraged me to go into the field of art, despite my wanting to go into architecture. when you first started playing.