Articles - Inside Anarchy Online #12
Today I was going to release a completely different IAO, however with the recent news of Silirrion leaving his position as Game Director, I had to write this one instead.Today I was going to release a completely different IAO, however with the recent news of Silirrion leaving his position as Game Director, I had to write this one instead.
Back in 2003 I joined AO Vault as a staff member and worked side by side with Craig "Silirrion" Morrison who was AOV's Site Manager. Together we worked for about 2 years before Funcom was wise enough to snatch him as Community guru.
During my time together with him at AOV, I learned a lot from this man. Patience is one of them. At that point in time I was an AO enthusiast and practically wanted to strangle the devs and a few ARK members (Events Team). Craig's cool head stopped me from writing more than a few negative editorials which weren't too constructive.
I also learned to be a bit more organized and realized that a single person can do a lot, but a team can do much more with good communication and even more when you include the community to give you a hand.
To be honest I joined AOV because Sil had originally written an in-character story about the Battle of Athens (which was later on copied over into AOV, you can check it out here. Then I was looking for the author to thank him for doing it, and by sheer coincidence (if I remember right) he told me he had written it during one of our conversations before I joined AOV, and that was the main reason why I accepted. I was impressed by his passion for the game.
As Community Manager, Silirrion (in my eyes) practically rebuilt the bridge between the AO Community and Funcom by listening to players and making sure our concerns were heard and answered.
In February 2007, the best news an Anarchy Online gamer could hear was given. Sil became Game Director, and then, there was light... ok, maybe I exaggerate a bit, but for many, it was as if one of our friends got a promotion and we were going to get some sort of free goodies out of it.
It wasn't too far from the truth. With a slew of fixes (some bugs being as old as the game itself), new content, new features, revamping old Rubi-Ka and the Shadowlands as well as re-introducing new concepts (booster packs like notum wars) the game was greatly improved.
In the past year and a half the game entered a new era, I dare say even it's golden era by acknowledging problems and errors, prioritizing and taking action.
Since the beta days of 2001, AO has had it's share of troubles (every MMO has them) and even though every Game Director since it's release tried in their own way to get it to a certain level of quality, most did not fully succeeded to say the least.
Silirrion has earned my respect and friendship (even though we haven't talked in ages), because he has the heart of a gamer and the vision of a game designer which took AO and brought it to the point it's now.
I will say without a doubt that Age of Conan's gain, is certainly our loss. I can't say anything negative about "Means" (I do love the furniture though), but he has pretty big shoes to fill. I do think that Sil's support for the new GD is a good sign of things to come and that AO is likely to continue improving.
However, I don't know how to say this with words. Man, you were the reason I stayed with AO and my love for the game reignited recently with all the changes and the upcoming engine overhaul.
This one goes to you Sil, good luck in your new position and thanks for all your great work for the AO Community.
Last updated on 12.07.2011 by Khuri
Article written by Windguaerd
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Article written by Windguaerd
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