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Champions Online: Dev Blog: Something different at Cryptic

SzarkSzark News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
in News & Features Discussion

Cryptic's Jack Emmert has posted a new entry in the Cryptic dev blog detailing their new processes for ensuring a quality game experience, including shutting down development on Champions Online for two weeks to take an intensive look at a single zone.

Cryptic was founded way back in July 2000 and has developed and released two MMORPG products and we are currently working on three projects right now. Champions Online is the closest to release and has the largest team by far. But what's changed over the years? What have we learned from developing and maintaining City of Heroes?

I was inspired to write this short entry because we just got done with something internally that we'd never, never done before. We finished a zone and were just about to head into working on something new. But we felt that the zone needed some attention. Sure, QA had identified some bugs in it, but the zone did "work." But the one thing we weren't entirely sure about was whether the zone was fun.

So we shut down the Champions team for two weeks. And everyone played the game. Each person was required to play for at least an hour each day, and a goal for the whole team was set for at-home play hours. As a reward, if the team played for 600 total hours for the month of June, the company directors would hold a BBQ for them. As people played, we expected them to use an in-game tool to log bugs, comments, suggestions and criticisms.

Read more here.

Comments

  • severiusseverius Member UncommonPosts: 1,516

    This is the way development should be handled by all teams, I feel.  Make sure that the step you took is strong before trying to take another step.  Good job Cryptic.

    http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012

    image
  • SouvecSouvec Member UncommonPosts: 693

    Originally posted by severius
    This is the way development should be handled by all teams, I feel.  Make sure that the step you took is strong before trying to take another step.  Good job Cryptic.
    I agree completely. Make progress, test it and see what needs to be fixed then... let alone see if on your own time if the game is even fun to play. Seems to be the right attitude, hopefully it can continue moving forward as such.
  • xaldraxiusxaldraxius Member Posts: 1,249

    Champions is looking good. I like that the devs are taking the time to make sure the zones are polished and fun to play as well as being functional.


    Cryptic has learned from CoH, which itself was a great game, and are going the extra mile to make sure that this game is superior in every way. I'm excited, let me play it now!

  • CenthanCenthan Member Posts: 483


    So we shut down the Champions team for two weeks. And everyone played the game. Each person was required to play for at least an hour each day, and a goal for the whole team was set for at-home play hours. As a reward, if the team played for 600 total hours for the month of June, the company directors would hold a BBQ for them. As people played, we expected them to use an in-game tool to log bugs, comments, suggestions and criticisms.



     

    Wait wait wait...you had your team, stop working, play a game for 2 weeks, then held a BBQ for them?

    You slave drivers!

    PS - Are you hiring??

    Keep up the good work.  We're all out here hoping for a winner.

  • ShohadakuShohadaku Member Posts: 581

    This is one game I got my eye on.

    Good luck Cryptic.

     

    The one wish I have is that PVP is more integrated into the game and not shoved in the corner like City of Heroes. Atleast a PVP server or something. Maybe a flagging system kinda like SWG used to have.

    Flag yourself as a hero/villian and open yourself to PVP from other flagged players.

    image
    SHOHADAKU

  • Tabby_CatTabby_Cat Member Posts: 140

    It would be nice to see if this done by more companys.

  • streeastreea Member UncommonPosts: 654

    Did they get the BBQ? And more importantly... was it REAL BBQ or just grilling?

    Mmm... BBQ...

  • HexxeityHexxeity Member Posts: 848

    A first for Cryptic, and one of very few examples in the entire MMO genre, I would wager.

    Of all the MMOs I've played, I'd believe this had been done -- maybe -- for WoW.

    Most of the others were obviously NEVER played by the employees for "fun factor" prior to release.

  • ForcanForcan Member UncommonPosts: 700

    Mmmm.... BBQ....

     

    I really believe that the Cryptic team are doing great and that Champions Online will be a success when they use this methods of debugging and make all the developers on the projects play the game to see if it's fun and at the same time debug the issues.

     

    This is why next year when I graduate (GSP major in DeVry University) I will be sending in my resume for a job there...  Sounds like a great company to work for.

    Current MMO: FFXIV:ARR

    Past MMO: Way too many (P2P and F2P)

  • UnSubUnSub Member Posts: 252

    I've checked and Cryptic apparently are hiring.  :-)

    Also, apparently the team tested a combined total of 800+ hours, so they got the barbeque.

  • CrazybearCrazybear Member Posts: 20

     

    Targeting one "zone" leads me to think this is not a next generation MMO, right out of the gate. CoX game world is what blew the immersion factor (thus the game) for me... lots of little zones and much "zoning" is so last year.   I will reserve final judgment until the MMO is released, but I did not get the bubbly frolicking feeling most of the rest of you seem to have garnered. I was expecting something totally new here... I guess that might be my fault. 

     

    And if I hear another developer use “polish” or “polished”(like they coined the term), I'm going to hurl… status quo for any MMO release, now-days. 
  • uncusuncus Member UncommonPosts: 528

    The bubbly feeling is from Developers actually testing their game for the unprogramable - FUN.  By the time a game makes it to beta, it's too late - it has to be released, fun or not.  Nice to see a company that is taking a fun first [or second at least] approach.

    <p align=center><a target=_blank href=http://www.nodiatis.com/personality.htm><img border=0 src=http://www.nodiatis.com/pub/20.jpg></a></p>;

  • FlummoxedFlummoxed Member Posts: 591

    taking time to test is great but Mr. Cynical devils advocate observes:

    Why did they feel the need to bribe the developers to play their own game on their own time?  

    Isn't it fun enough to play without the incentive of a BBQ? 

    Will Cryptic include a BBQ certificate with the purchase of the game to motivate customers to play?

    And after the BBQ motivator what's next, a Hooters gift card?  Free passes to the bunny ranch?

    (and yeah yeah i know they work 12-16 grueling hours/day on the thing and it's an incentive reward to spend personal time on playing, but still)

     

     

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