What is your Real Name?

Tony Tyson

What is your official title/position?

Producer / Technical Director - Star Wars Galaxies

How long have you been working on SWG?

Over 5 years

Where were you born and raised?

Born in New York but grew up in South Florida.

Were you a huge Star Wars fan when you were a kid? Who was your favorite character?

Yes. Yoda.

How did you get your start on the Star Wars Galaxies team?

In the summer of 2002, I finally gave in to the lure of the game industry and got a job at Origin where I worked on Ultima X Odyssey. Having grown up playing the old Ultima games, it was an amazing opportunity.  When the summer of 2004 rolled around, the studio closed before we could finish the game, but it was a great learning experience and I can say I had the opportunity to create worlds. After that, I landed a job with SOE. I started as a programmer working on game engine tools. I wrote an NPC editor and a quest editor. Eventually, I moved on to Star Wars Galaxies full time.

What new ideas are you bringing to the position of SWG Producer?

The two philosophies that have stuck with me throughout my years as a software developer are empowerment and independent contribution. I believe developers and players should feel they are empowered to make a difference in this game. On the development side, these philosophies are essential to job satisfaction and quality work. Each developer has their own way to get things done. It is important to respect that. A manager should tell you what needs to get done, not how to do it.

Please outline some of the challenges you are taking on in your new position.

Having been the Technical Director for a few years now, I like to think I have managing the live game down pretty well. Although I still get hit with new surprises like tracking down a server issue during a Fan Faire panel. The biggest challenge so far has been scheduling all the work and making sure everything is ready on time.

What are you most excited about in the next year for SWG?

Chronicles and GCW.

Do you play SWG yourself? Tell us a bit about your character.

I like playing a Bounty Hunter on Test Center. My character's name is Teesquared which is also my forum handle. If you see me on Test Center, say hello and tell me what you think about SWG.

Why do you like that profession?

Bounty Hunter was an early profession to get expertise. A player helped me setup my expertise tree and toolbar. He also gave me some tips on how to use the specials. I've stuck with that profession ever since.

What is it you like to do while in-game? (PvE, PvP, exploring, etc)?

I like both PvE and PvP. Ever since the Restuss event, I've been hanging out there a lot. I'll go into the city to fight some of the NPCs hoping that players will be around to keep it interesting. I like to watch people on Test Center experiment with the most recent changes we've made, and I get a lot of good feedback in spatial chat.

Do you solo or play with others, why?

I usually end up with others. Interacting with other players is always interesting. Sometimes they just need help finishing an objective. If they know I'm a developer, they like to show me things in the game like issues or features.

Other than working on the game, what keeps you playing (or what is your favorite thing about the game)?

My favorite thing is watching how the game keeps evolving. There is always a chance that a classic old feature or a cool new feature will show up in a chapter or update.

What do you like to do in your spare time, if you have any?

Outside of family time, movies, and video games, I really enjoy playing board games and pen and paper games. My recent favorites are Settlers of Catan, Talisman, Cave Troll, Gloom, and Cosmic Encounter. I get together with my friends for D&D one night a week too.

 

To our players: thank you for playing this great game we work on.

And thanks, Dotanuki, for the intro this week his office is two doors down from mine so we will continue to use his vast Star Warsknowledge. We'll make sure he approves of the Death Troopers update as well.

Having worked on SWG for over five years now, I have seen it evolve so much. I cannot tell you how much of an honor it is to be the producer on this great product. I will do my best to continue to improve the game. And now on to the fun stuff

Update 12 Engineering Trader
As many of you know, we have extended Update 12 to include some very important new features. Much of this was driven by your input on this update.

These features include changes to the Engineering Trader expertise and profession wheel, the introduction of cybernetic hands and a new cybernetic point system, and the continuation of the legacy quest line to connect it to the Meatlump theme park.

Update 13 Star Wars Chronicles
Loche just got back from SOE Block Party where he got a chance to demo Chronicles. We got some really great feedback. The team is making good progress on this update as well. There are some challenges ahead but so far the system is looking like it will be a great addition to the game that all of you will be able to enjoy.

The two big areas we are still finalizing the details on are cost and reward. How much should it cost to create a quest? What are the rewards you'll get from completing a quest and for others completing your quests? These questions are critical to the balance of this system. We'll keep working on the details and let you know when things are finalized.

Since we delayed Update 12 some, we have decided to include the Death Troopers prologue in this update. This is also why the updates have been re-numbered

Update 14 Death Troopers
Progress is moving along nicely. We continue to get in some eerie new assets and the SWG specific storyline is creeping along. Keep contributing to GPD threads like [Gamplay Focus] Braiiinnnnnstorming GU14-15 . You have some great ideas and we enjoy reading them.

Update 15 Galactic Civil War
One of the most asked questions from Fan Faire 2009 was: Will each profession have a specific contribution to the GCW? The team has put a lot of thought into this question. It's still very early in the development cycle but we do have some very good ideas on the table. We're looking at the GCW like a game of chess.

 

Chess is all about thinking ahead, using the pieces on the table to the best of their abilities, making sacrifices, and setting up the winning move. In chess, all the pieces play a role and, in the GCW, each profession will play a specific and key role in the strategy as well.

See you in game,

Teesquared

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