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All About Gryf, CRS Game Manager- 4/21/00

(by Sixxo)

Unless you were living under a rock, dead, or in jail (and if you're in jail, break out!), you've heard about Michael "Gryf" Weber being recently hired by Playnet to be the Game Manager for World War Two Online. Just like all of you, I said, "What the <censored by the Communications Decency Act> is a Game Manager?" Naturally I had to find out, so I went to the source - Gryf.

Sixxo: First of all, for those of us that don't know who you are, how about some background information on yourself?

Gryf: Hmmm, about me. Well I’m an army vet to start, so I’m a ground pounder from way back. Aviation has always been a hobby of mine though and I am a private pilot. In fact I am about 24 hours away from a degree in aviation science, so flying is certainly a love. One of my hobbies is building model ships and participating in actual combat with them. Real scale Balsa ships that have CO2 powered cannons on them and sink each other. I love people and socializing (ask anyone who has met me) and that has had a big impact on me tackling this job here. It seems all my experience, hobbies and education has made me a perfect fit for the Air, Land and Sea concept we are using with WWII Online.

Sixxo: How did you hear about World War Two Online?

Gryf: That’s a really tough question. Better put, when did I not think of WWII Online? Never. I have always thought since the day that I saw Air Warrior that there should be a complete combat simulation. I played Warbirds and wished for more than just Air Combat. When I was talking with the Playnet guys and said they need to have Tanks and ships and such they looked at me and said, "what you thought we were making just another flight sim?! We thought you knew us better than that." I guess that’s when I found out my dreams are gonna be realized and I HAD to be a part of it.

Sixxo: What solidified your decision to sign on with Playnet? More specifically, why World War Two Online? There has to have been a turning point where you went from "I'll think about it" to "Yes, I'll do it!"

Gryf: As far as I was concerned I was in for the ride since day one. I guess the real turn came when Snail called me and said, "I hear you’re moving to Dallas." The hook was set and it was all over for me. I look at it in two ways. One I can say I have found a job that suits my talents and interests. Two I can vindicate justify all the time I spent playing Warbirds to my wife. "See honey all those hours flying finally paid off."

Sixxo: Now, what exactly does a "Game Manager" do? In previous forays into the online gaming world, more specifically, massively multiplayer online roleplaying games, game managers (game masters or GMs are they were called) took it upon themselves to make sure everything in the world was running fine and that no player was having trouble with an in-game bug. Is this what you will be doing at Playnet, or is it something different?

Gryf: What you describe is a good start for things. I’m sure I’ll have WWII Online running nearly always so I can check it. But during the development time I will be getting intimate with all the details of the game. Right now I am doing work on the flight models with Hoof and Mo. Later I’ll be running the beta test and helping tweak the game. Then later when we have things running, I’ll be working the player side, helping with all the game items and building the community and player base.

This is a good place to provide you with a little look at how production, quality assurance and the game management will work. In general the players will provide me with data. I’ll collate and sort this to provide the QA and Production teams with specific items, be they bugs, suggestions, or tweaks. They in turn will look at, work on and resolve the issue and pass it back to me. I’ll review their changes and make sure it fits and the solution will work. If it doesn’t I’ll pass it back and ask them to try again. I guess you can call me the final guardian of quality control for WWII Online. It’s a pretty fantastic job that will give me a lot to learn and keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

Sixxo: How much of an impact do you think you will have on the already-robust World War Two Online community?

Gryf: Well I don’t really want to have any impact right off. I’d rather let the community warm up to me. Right now I keep an eye on the boards, see what’s going on and occasionally add a snippet. I imagine what will happen is I’ll end up as the community interface between the players and the company. If anything needs to be said or done, my email address will be displayed somewhere (buried in a tech manual hopefully) and you can contact me. Let’s not forget that a fair number of player services will be monitored by me and any problems or suggestions will come my way. In the end I hope to the "fixer" for the community. One who listens, advises and ultimately resolves any issues that crop up.

Sixxo: How do you hope to improve World War Two Online utilizing your position?

Gryf: Well that question is kinda loaded. I don’t think I CAN improve on WWII Online. What I can do it help the community to make it better. I’ll help set up events, provide feedback to the developers, solve problems… in general monitor this creation and nurture it so that it can reach it’s full potential. "Build it and they will come." Works for a start, but better heed "maintain it or they will leave" as well. My job is to keep all the players happy and the game rolling along. It’s a job I am looking forward to with great enthusiasm.

Sixxo: Where do you see World War Two Online in two years? How will it fit into the grand scheme of things?

Gryf: Two years? Well I see several different arenas open in two years. I see us having a serious blast and I see the Commanders for either side having a great time deciding on the overall efforts of 10,000+ players in the arena at any given hour. I mean major effort in just logistics and strategy.

As far as where it fits into the grand scheme of things I think it will be a beginning. There are a lot of companies who would love to do a massively multiplayer version of a game they have but claim it cannot be done. I see WWII Online breaking that mold. The technology we develop and the way we implement it will create a revolution in game playing. Right now we have games like Everquest and Warbirds and Asherons call. They are major league in the scale of players, but not in the scale of play. They all do the same thing, provide one aspect of a game and put it there. What WWII Online will do is energize all of the genres and show that everything can have an Air, Land, Sea component. Captain a ship or fly a dragon in a fantasy game. Provide for a full scale of combat in a Sci-Fri game. The sky’s the limit once developers are shown what can be done. Of Course Playnet will be out in front because we’ll be teaching the other companies what fun, complex games are all about.

Sixxo: Is it safe to say that we can look forward to the same level of service from you in World War Two Online as in Warbirds? The well-publicized training program, of which you are a four-year veteran, has been heralded by many and I read mention from you that this might very well carry over to World War Two Online. Is anything else going to make the jump?

Gryf: Well In Warbirds I did have my duties as a trainer, but those duties pale in comparison to the scope of what we will be doing in WWII Online. I mean we’ll have training as a way to get you up to speed and then we’ll have training that teaches you to command and will enable you to gain rank from it. The training options we’ll have in WWII Online will be more varied due to the structure we are using for the game. Actual training in equipment on one side, Germans train in German vehicles and so on. It’ll be a bit more focused and look to provide an end result. It’s something they are working on for Warbirds right now but have yet to implement. However the structure in Warbirds doesn’t allow you to implement the best solutions, the game just isn’t set up for that. We’re planning WWII Online with training in mind so we are not gonna skimp on that aspect in any way, shape or form.

Sixxo: Finally, any closing comments you would like to make?

Gryf: Besides commenting on that shabby rating on your rating page? [Editor’s Note: I am not… I mean, Sixxo is not affiliated in any way with the Rats Judgement page, thankfully] (Weasel doesn’t REALLY want in the beta anyway).

I’d also like everyone to know I am here to help. That’s the bottom line. My great joy is making sure everyone at the party is having fun (ask anyone who has been to the past two Warbirds convention). So keep it light, it is a game, relax and enjoy it.



Thanks to Michael "Gryf" Weber for taking time out of his busy day of blowing up plastic warships and talking to DocDoom at the watercooler to answer these questions, as well as the rest of Cornered Rat Software/Playnet for granting us the divine right to spend hours in front of our computers every day refreshing messageboards.