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Player Services Interview With Rafter - 4/14/00

(by Sixxo)

We've all heard about player services in one form or another, but more specifically this December when we were asked for our input on what services we would like to see at the official World War Two Online forums. Well, almost four months later, I had a chance to sit down with Al "Rafter" Corey, Executive Producer of Playnet.com and the main voice behind player services, and talk one on one about the topic which will play a great role in our virtual World War Two Online lives.

Sixxo: First of all, thank you for agreeing to do this interview on player services on such short notice. It's good to know that you're as eager to dispense information as I, and the rest of the community, are to receiving it.

Rafter: No problem, I made mention of this topic before Christmas so I figured it was time we let you guys in on some detail.

Sixxo: What has been your role in creating the player services that Playnet will offer World War Two Online players and squads?

Rafter: I played a role on the team made up of Snail, Mo, Ramp, Hatch, Doc and others.

Sixxo: How do you feel about the player services you've come up with so far?

Rafter: Jazzed! This is more than anything I've seen to date, at least offered by a developer/publisher.

Sixxo: What has led you, and Playnet, to focus on player services? Like you've already stated, not many developers have bothered to focus on this aspect in their online communities -- what has encouraged you to deviate?

Rafter: Big question. The short answer is that our collective experience as developers and players has shown that player services are the most important aspect of building an online community- second only to having a kickass game and we've got that too!

Sixxo: Why do you think this aspect of online communities was pretty much ignored in the past?

Rafter: I'm not sure. Community services haven't been ignored in the past, they have just been a result of a purely player effort and have grown sometimes without the support of the developers. Some developers are beginning to focus more on community and other online services have grown out of neglect from developers.

Rafter: IOW, they exist just not with the help of the developer in many cases.

Sixxo: You mentioned player effort... Playnet, I assume, has heard of Warbirds.org and its' many services (including emails using customer player IDs, squadron mailing lists, and URL forwarding). Have you taken note of their efforts, and fi so, can we expect the same services officially from Playnet?

Rafter: Well as you know, many of the Rats came from the creators of WarBirds so obviously we are familiar with kfsone's work on WarBirds.org. The reason his efforts became so popular were due to the fact that those services weren't available elsewhere. You can count on some of the same things from us and more.

Sixxo: Well then, what other kinds of services do you have planned for us, the players, and how will we benefit from them?

Rafter: In addition to services like e-mail and virtual domains we are planning a complete web package for units/squadrons including e-mail lists, customizable web templates, private newsgroups and some other goodies Ramp is working on. Units in WWIIOL will find all the tools for creating and maintaining a website in our community. We also plan to leverage the game and client databases to provide tools for finding and organizing campaigns and missions. This is all in addition to our newspaper, World@War and our affiliate program.

Sixxo: Wow, looks like you guys have quite a lot worked out. Can you elaborate on what you've got planned for your newspaper, World@War?

Rafter: Sure. The newspaper will be available from the main page of the WWIIOL website and will contain dynamically created content, meaning the content may change each time you visit it. The content will come from statistically-based data from the game database as well as field reports and interviews from correspondents. As you also have heard, Geoff "DocDoom" Evans has been named Publisher and will be overseeing the staff as well as editing content and penning original bits. There will also be a dynamic map of available theaters.

Sixxo: Am I to assume that players will take the role of correspondents?

Rafter: Most definitely. Our community is best suited to report and submit content from the game.

Sixxo: Definitely a step in the right direction; a publication ran mostly by the community, for the community.

Rafter: Right. It will be top-notch, using some very cool and nifty web tools too!

Sixxo: A somewhat personal question... What is to be your favorite feature of the upcoming player services and why? Judging from what you've said so far, it looks like it might be difficult to decide. *grin*

Rafter: Well, that is sorta tough. We're creating a set of web templates for each branch of service for both Axis and Allied for those units who don't have a designer in the group along with some very cool scripts but I think if we can pull off World@War as it is written in the design document, that will be a red-letter day for our team.

Sixxo: How big of an impact do you see World@War making in the World War Two Online community?

Rafter: Big. I think it will go along way to getting and keeping people involved. It will also help reinforce the importance of strategic planning. That with seeing you face in the paper if you storm a beach and perform above and beyond is more than enough to make it a success in my books. There will be info from each country and branch of service. There will be stats and profiles along with interviews and after action reports from units. Also expect field reports from correspondents and even some "Letters from Home". It will truly be part of the WWIIOL experience.

Sixxo: Do you think that Playnet's broad player services package for World War Two Online will encourage other online developers to focus more on what is most important to their success: the community?

Rafter: I'm not sure. This isn't rocket science but it comes from experience- something many developers don't have in the massively multiplayer industry. It's a matter of knowledge, will and resources in my opinion.

Sixxo: Can you give us an example of what an average player's World War Two Online experience might be like, starting from logging on to the internet, detailing what services they might encounter on their way to the game?

Rafter: Hmmm... (pulls out his flow chart of death)... Well first to playnet.com to check out the huge variety of game and entertainment-related news, reviews and so forth and checking their playnet and WWIIOL mail box. Next to the WWIIOL site where they check the strategic map for the status of the theater. They scan the headlines for news of interest, maybe skip directly to the branch of service page of their choice and then a final stop to see if their promotion has been posted. Then with a click they launch the WWIIOL client and enter the game.

Sixxo: Very interesting... can you elaborate further on this... "flow chart of death?" *wide grin*

Rafter: Sure. It ends with a line drawn between "Sixxo logs on" and "Error 404" *very wide grin*

Sixxo: Grr. Touché. Finally, there's been a lot of talk on squad creation, mainly due to the fact that World War Two Online is attracting players from my other games, such as Air Warrior 3, WarBirds, and Fighter Ace as examples off the top of my head. With this great influx of squads, there are bound to be duplicates (as we have already seen a few times). How is Playnet going to avoid such a problem?

Rafter: Hmm... avoidance... I'm familiar with that technique :) Well, it is going to a bit difficult to deal with that and certainly there are going to be conflicts. I'll let our Game Managers have that mess to sort out :)

Sixxo: Speaking of Game Managers, you'll be happy to know that "Gryf to be Game Manager at Playnet" is printed all over the London tabloids thanks to the HQ.

Rafter: Ya, I saw that LOL. Good detective work...errr...reprinting work. Gryf is a great addition to the team, no doubt

Sixxo: Does Gryf get to wear a red and gold robe, like the Ultima Online GMs?

Rafter: Get to? It's a job requirement although he prefers purple robes I hear :)

Sixxo: Those GMs were always dye freaks. What measures are being taken to prevent Gryf from selling Germany on eBay?

Rafter: None. eBay rocks- we've already sold Mo to keep our development team afloat.

Sixxo: None, eh. How much for France?

Rafter: I'll get back to you :)

Sixxo: Keep me in mind. I enjoy some good crusty cheese and wine.

Rafter: Will do.

Sixxo: Well, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule and proving to me, once and for all, that "player services" really _is_ a job. I'm sure the community will be happy when they read through this. Playnet really look like they've got some great services planned and I can't wait to see them.

Rafter: Well we hope to give you guys some cool tools and make the game even better.

Sixxo: Any closing comments you'd like to make? Any "shout-outs?" *smile*

Rafter: Sure. A shout out to the HQ staff including your newest contributor Brazos. I get a smile with my morning coffee. You guys are doing a great job helping with the education and entertainment of our happy bunch of players as we wait for the Beta. WTG!

Sixxo: *blush*   Thanks, your kind words are appreciated. Al "Rafter" Corey, everybody.

Rafter: <Raises his hand in snappy salute, poking himself in the eye>



Once again, many thanks to Al "Rafter" Corey for taking the time to do this interview, and the rest of Playnet/Cornered Rat for being such good sports and making the game that we all dream of playing.