This is a hard post for me to make and no doubt people will analyse and deconstruct it to the nth degree. There are no hidden meanings, you don't need to read between the lines or extrapolate from my actual words. What you read here is how it is and I'm going to try and be as plain and forthright as it's possible to be.
There are quite a few changes happening in Goa at the moment related to our expansion and some of these are happening within the English GM team. Xalin is leaving this week to take up a position with another company and we wish him well with that. I will be leaving to be the community manager for WAR. My last day on the DAoC project will be this Wednesday.
I appreciate that many people might assume that bodes badly for DAoC and that we are abandoning a sinking ship but I want to assure you that is not the case. A lot of experienced and valuable people are still looking after DAoC. Taryx will remain, and we have just today hired a new DAoC English GM who will no doubt introduce himself to you as soon as he's settled in. All your ingame problems and RightNow queries will continue to be answered just as fast as they always have (within 24hrs and mostly sooner before the resident comedians pick up on that). All in all I'm confident that the game and the community are being left in very good hands. The staff staying to look after DAoC are passionate about the game and will work hard for you. You may also have noted the job advert in the last Friday News as well.
One thing will change and that is there will be less direct contact through forums such as this one. That doesn't mean that we are cutting ourselves off from the community though. You will still be able to talk directly to a GM on the server or to ask general questions, make comments etc through RightNow and the team will continue to monitor forums even if they don't post. That part of the job was something I did because I personally felt that it was important to be active within the community and it was something I actually enjoyed despite the unbelievable levels of personal abuse it attracted. The new team aren't willing to put themselves through that wringer at the moment and I can't say I entirely blame them. In time someone may step up to don the fireproof suit and specially thickened skin. Make their time here worthwhile and you will be rewarded for it.
Other things aren't slated to change very much from your point of view as our customers. The technical teams who are dealing with the game, the servers and issues such as the low population servers are staying in place so work on that and the regular patch schedule won't be interrupted. The same general staffing levels will be maintained overall so there will be no reduction in service or our commitment to the game.
For myself I had always imagined that when the time came for me to move on, I'd make a long and indulgent post where I'd hark back on my favourite memories and thank a bunch of people for all their help over the years. That doesn't seem appropriate at present and so I'm just going to say that it's been a privilege to do this job for the last three years and I wish all of you the very best in this game or wherever you are at present. If you show up in WAR then I hope you'll enjoy that as much as I'll enjoy working with you all. Finally I want to make a special mention of thanks to all our E&Es past and present. Every single one of you made my job easier even when you didn't agree with what I was saying. Even those of you who parted ways with us did a good job to the end and I want to thank you for that.
Goodbye and my best wishes to you all.
There are quite a few changes happening in Goa at the moment related to our expansion and some of these are happening within the English GM team. Xalin is leaving this week to take up a position with another company and we wish him well with that. I will be leaving to be the community manager for WAR. My last day on the DAoC project will be this Wednesday.
I appreciate that many people might assume that bodes badly for DAoC and that we are abandoning a sinking ship but I want to assure you that is not the case. A lot of experienced and valuable people are still looking after DAoC. Taryx will remain, and we have just today hired a new DAoC English GM who will no doubt introduce himself to you as soon as he's settled in. All your ingame problems and RightNow queries will continue to be answered just as fast as they always have (within 24hrs and mostly sooner before the resident comedians pick up on that). All in all I'm confident that the game and the community are being left in very good hands. The staff staying to look after DAoC are passionate about the game and will work hard for you. You may also have noted the job advert in the last Friday News as well.
One thing will change and that is there will be less direct contact through forums such as this one. That doesn't mean that we are cutting ourselves off from the community though. You will still be able to talk directly to a GM on the server or to ask general questions, make comments etc through RightNow and the team will continue to monitor forums even if they don't post. That part of the job was something I did because I personally felt that it was important to be active within the community and it was something I actually enjoyed despite the unbelievable levels of personal abuse it attracted. The new team aren't willing to put themselves through that wringer at the moment and I can't say I entirely blame them. In time someone may step up to don the fireproof suit and specially thickened skin. Make their time here worthwhile and you will be rewarded for it.
Other things aren't slated to change very much from your point of view as our customers. The technical teams who are dealing with the game, the servers and issues such as the low population servers are staying in place so work on that and the regular patch schedule won't be interrupted. The same general staffing levels will be maintained overall so there will be no reduction in service or our commitment to the game.
For myself I had always imagined that when the time came for me to move on, I'd make a long and indulgent post where I'd hark back on my favourite memories and thank a bunch of people for all their help over the years. That doesn't seem appropriate at present and so I'm just going to say that it's been a privilege to do this job for the last three years and I wish all of you the very best in this game or wherever you are at present. If you show up in WAR then I hope you'll enjoy that as much as I'll enjoy working with you all. Finally I want to make a special mention of thanks to all our E&Es past and present. Every single one of you made my job easier even when you didn't agree with what I was saying. Even those of you who parted ways with us did a good job to the end and I want to thank you for that.
Goodbye and my best wishes to you all.
