Means.. You've been an amazing game director. It hasn't been said enough. You have many, many fans here in AO. Your only flaw is that you've set the bar too high and it has taken so long to realize your ultimate goals. Anyone with a moderate amount of foresight should be able to appreciate all of the work you've done for us.. You've put your passion into AO and it shows. {Ignore} anyone who says otherwise IMHO.
How successful do you think your time as GM has been, in regards to the active playerbase, loss of a server & the like...Do you feel you're doing a good job & do you think the current levels of players is a sign of how well you're really doing?
From the general tone of the question I'm pretty certain how I think you would judge my time. As the longest sitting Game Director the product has ever had, by far, I do think about this quite often. I am a different case as well in that I am the only person who has ever been charged with fulfilling the Game Director and Producer roles for the product at the same time. Trying to do both of these roles at the same time I would judge as a failure as on many different occasions having to focus on both resulted in one role suffering from lack of attention...there being only so many hours in a 12 hour day. I don't feel that merging the German dimension was a failure of any kind as there had been complaints about population on that server for years before we actually took action to do something about it...though I do understand that people generally see ANY server merge as a negative sign. I'm proud we did what was necessary for the enjoyment of our German players despite how it would possibly be received by anyone else. We have survived more significant unforeseeable disasters than I could possibly mention here during the past three years. I am also sure that the MMORPG market has never been as competitive as it is now..yet the Game itself has remained well ahead of projections. Many MMORPGs have been released in recent years and vanished into thin air. I think we have done a great deal with what we have had to work with but until the engine + rebalance is complete I don't think it can be judged favourably. What I am certain of is that I have done my absolute best during this time and given my heart and soul to this project over the last 8 years. Few of the "big" dreams I'd had for my time in this position have managed to be completed during the past few years but yet we have been more than inhumanly busy the entire time...and not to be unclear on this at all I am extremely proud of what the team has managed to accomplish. I'd like to hope on the day that I move on I will be fondly remembered for the good I've done and the progress we've made...but based on past cases I imagine that is far too much to ask. I am incredibly grateful for the amazing interaction I have had with all of you for the last 8 years...good and bad. I still think Anarchy Online is one of the best games available..and still after 10 years really offers up something truly unique and special to gamers out there who have what it takes