Kwill: I’m here with the one and only, the architect, the old man in the red vest with the yellow balloon: Bort. Please make yourself e-comfortable. Can I get you anything?
Bort: Maybe a Red Bull; I've been tired lately. Oh, and a new balloon. This one is getting a little flat.
Kwill: Let me begin by congratulating you on the success of GLB. When you were first developing the game, did you expect it to be this popular during the Beta version?
Bort: Thanks. No, we weren't expecting it to take off this big so fast. We figured we'd have a few thousand people playing by now, with maybe 1000 teams. We're very happy people are enjoying the game, though!
Kwill: Are there any definite numbers on how many people are currently playing?
Bort: We currently have about 150,000 user accounts. Obviously some of these are inactive, but there are between 60k and 90k unique individuals logging in every day from what I've seen, and those numbers are growing daily.
Kwill: How big do you think it could get? Do you think it could become anywhere as popular as Fantasy Football?
Bort: I don't know if we would ever be as big as fantasy football, but I guess you can't be pessimistic, so we'll just keep working on improving the game and trying our best to satisfy our customers and see where it takes us.
Kwill: Where did you get the idea for GLB? Do you play other MMORPGs?
Bort: I've had the idea for some sort of big football multiplayer game for a long time (like 10-15 years ago!), but never really figured out where to take it until I saw some of the other sports MMOs popping up (Cyberdunk, Hattrick, etc), and that gave me some inspiration to take it browser based. I've had a bunch of experience doing web based work for a while now, so it made sense as well. I've never really been into giant MMO's like WoW or Everquest, but I did play a lot of MUDs when I was a teenager.
Kwill: Without divulging too much, what do you do for a living? You know, other than spend my boosting money.
Bort: I've been doing web programming for the last 7 years. Before that I did tech support for a while, which sucked. All the while I was working on various game or website projects, most of which I never finished or launched.
Kwill: What do your coworkers think of GLB? Do any of them play?
Bort: DD and Thorn are both co-workers, and they play. Nobody else I've worked with has gotten into GLB, but they're not MMO guys. I've got some family members who are into it.
Kwill: I ask because my coworkers make fun of me when they catch me watching little circles run around catching a football. What do you have to say for yourself?
Bort: I made that, and a bunch of people are currently paying to watch those circles run around, so it can't be THAT dorky!
Kwill: As great as the game is, there are certainly some issues remaining. What do you personally feel are the top three biggest issues you want to tackle?
Bort: I plan to try to tackle the following 3 during the next offseason/season:
1) The various missing elements in the sim (penalties, random stats bugs, lame kickoff AI, 2pt conversions, etc)
2) Stuff for non-team owning players to do daily. We've got some ideas floating around that I think are pretty cool that address some other missing elements also.
3) More in depth offense tactics
Kwill: What’s an issue that you think can never be resolved?
Bort: Play calling will never be exactly how people want it, due to randomness factors, though I'll do the best I can with additional options. There's always going to be some situation where somebody will wish the sim had read their mind on 3rd and 4 with 2:47 remaining in the 3rd, etc. We're never going to please everybody, though, so we'll just do our best on making decisions that are good for the whole.
Kwill: I see a lot of comments about people wanting more tactics available to the coaches and coordinators. But there is obviously a limit to how much customization can, or should, be allowed. Where do you think the ceiling will be?
Bort: I know exactly what the ceiling will be, and I am currently working on it. You will basically get to program your own playcalling AI through a basic input->output system. So far it seems very flexible, and I think it will remove a lot of the mystery behind "why did it call that play?." You will all see it very soon on the defensive side of the ball, and then the offensive side will follow. There will still be some limitations, of course, so you can't run a fake punt every time, etc.
Kwill: Some people suspect that there are “hidden” stats to players. Some even go so far as to say that the talents of players are somewhat preordained. Is there any truth to any of that?
Bort: I am generally intentionally vague about stuff like that, because I think it's more fun to find out on your own and make conjecture about how you think the math works.
I will say this: There's a ton of factors that go into a player's performance on the field, including the sim server's random number generator. Some players seem to get the luck of the roll more often in certain games, but that can often be attributed to morale and momentum.
Kwill: What do you think is the most underrated skill? That is, which important attribute do players most often neglect?
Bort: Confidence. I've seen plenty of players who have like 12 confidence but a ton of speed or agility or strength, etc. Then they get flattened, drop a fumble, and the rest of the game they suck as they try to shake it off. Don't underestimate in-game morale!
Kwill: Some teams will be dropping down a league this coming off season. Let me first say that I think this is a good idea. Each league seems to have at least one team that has either been gutted or neglected, and the players fall behind the pace of rest of the league. But some leagues have two, or as many as three or four teams who will struggle to compete next season. Is there any possibility for more than one team per league to drop?
Bort: We would like to encourage those teams to maybe work on improving their roster, which is why we're instituting the new chemistry changes. So no, we won't be moving extra teams unless they specifically ask to trade with somebody else in another region.
Kwill: So here’s the big question: when do you think the “final” version will be released?
Bort: No idea. I'll follow the Duke Nukem Forever mantra: "When it's done"
Kwill: So you check your email one day to find a message from EA in your inbox. $200,000 Would you sell GLB?
Bort: No way. It would have to truly be life changing money to make me even consider it (add more zeroes!), and I'd still want to have some sort of creative control or something. This thing has really been my life for the last 8 months, so it would be very hard to give it up to some corporate entity.
Kwill: Are there any other projects in the works? Possibly a Curling MMORPG?
Bort: We might look at doing a baseball game in the future once GLB is seriously rolling with all the features we want to add. We'll look a bit more closely if and when we reach that point.
Kwill: Before we wrap it up, can I have some free Flex Points?
Bort: You'll get some this offseason.
Kwill: Thank you so much for taking time out of your hectic schedule to talk with us.
Bort: No prob, gotta take a break here and there.
Bort: Maybe a Red Bull; I've been tired lately. Oh, and a new balloon. This one is getting a little flat.
Kwill: Let me begin by congratulating you on the success of GLB. When you were first developing the game, did you expect it to be this popular during the Beta version?
Bort: Thanks. No, we weren't expecting it to take off this big so fast. We figured we'd have a few thousand people playing by now, with maybe 1000 teams. We're very happy people are enjoying the game, though!
Kwill: Are there any definite numbers on how many people are currently playing?
Bort: We currently have about 150,000 user accounts. Obviously some of these are inactive, but there are between 60k and 90k unique individuals logging in every day from what I've seen, and those numbers are growing daily.
Kwill: How big do you think it could get? Do you think it could become anywhere as popular as Fantasy Football?
Bort: I don't know if we would ever be as big as fantasy football, but I guess you can't be pessimistic, so we'll just keep working on improving the game and trying our best to satisfy our customers and see where it takes us.
Kwill: Where did you get the idea for GLB? Do you play other MMORPGs?
Bort: I've had the idea for some sort of big football multiplayer game for a long time (like 10-15 years ago!), but never really figured out where to take it until I saw some of the other sports MMOs popping up (Cyberdunk, Hattrick, etc), and that gave me some inspiration to take it browser based. I've had a bunch of experience doing web based work for a while now, so it made sense as well. I've never really been into giant MMO's like WoW or Everquest, but I did play a lot of MUDs when I was a teenager.
Kwill: Without divulging too much, what do you do for a living? You know, other than spend my boosting money.
Bort: I've been doing web programming for the last 7 years. Before that I did tech support for a while, which sucked. All the while I was working on various game or website projects, most of which I never finished or launched.
Kwill: What do your coworkers think of GLB? Do any of them play?
Bort: DD and Thorn are both co-workers, and they play. Nobody else I've worked with has gotten into GLB, but they're not MMO guys. I've got some family members who are into it.
Kwill: I ask because my coworkers make fun of me when they catch me watching little circles run around catching a football. What do you have to say for yourself?
Bort: I made that, and a bunch of people are currently paying to watch those circles run around, so it can't be THAT dorky!
Kwill: As great as the game is, there are certainly some issues remaining. What do you personally feel are the top three biggest issues you want to tackle?
Bort: I plan to try to tackle the following 3 during the next offseason/season:
1) The various missing elements in the sim (penalties, random stats bugs, lame kickoff AI, 2pt conversions, etc)
2) Stuff for non-team owning players to do daily. We've got some ideas floating around that I think are pretty cool that address some other missing elements also.
3) More in depth offense tactics
Kwill: What’s an issue that you think can never be resolved?
Bort: Play calling will never be exactly how people want it, due to randomness factors, though I'll do the best I can with additional options. There's always going to be some situation where somebody will wish the sim had read their mind on 3rd and 4 with 2:47 remaining in the 3rd, etc. We're never going to please everybody, though, so we'll just do our best on making decisions that are good for the whole.
Kwill: I see a lot of comments about people wanting more tactics available to the coaches and coordinators. But there is obviously a limit to how much customization can, or should, be allowed. Where do you think the ceiling will be?
Bort: I know exactly what the ceiling will be, and I am currently working on it. You will basically get to program your own playcalling AI through a basic input->output system. So far it seems very flexible, and I think it will remove a lot of the mystery behind "why did it call that play?." You will all see it very soon on the defensive side of the ball, and then the offensive side will follow. There will still be some limitations, of course, so you can't run a fake punt every time, etc.
Kwill: Some people suspect that there are “hidden” stats to players. Some even go so far as to say that the talents of players are somewhat preordained. Is there any truth to any of that?
Bort: I am generally intentionally vague about stuff like that, because I think it's more fun to find out on your own and make conjecture about how you think the math works.
I will say this: There's a ton of factors that go into a player's performance on the field, including the sim server's random number generator. Some players seem to get the luck of the roll more often in certain games, but that can often be attributed to morale and momentum.Kwill: What do you think is the most underrated skill? That is, which important attribute do players most often neglect?
Bort: Confidence. I've seen plenty of players who have like 12 confidence but a ton of speed or agility or strength, etc. Then they get flattened, drop a fumble, and the rest of the game they suck as they try to shake it off. Don't underestimate in-game morale!
Kwill: Some teams will be dropping down a league this coming off season. Let me first say that I think this is a good idea. Each league seems to have at least one team that has either been gutted or neglected, and the players fall behind the pace of rest of the league. But some leagues have two, or as many as three or four teams who will struggle to compete next season. Is there any possibility for more than one team per league to drop?
Bort: We would like to encourage those teams to maybe work on improving their roster, which is why we're instituting the new chemistry changes. So no, we won't be moving extra teams unless they specifically ask to trade with somebody else in another region.
Kwill: So here’s the big question: when do you think the “final” version will be released?
Bort: No idea. I'll follow the Duke Nukem Forever mantra: "When it's done"
Kwill: So you check your email one day to find a message from EA in your inbox. $200,000 Would you sell GLB?
Bort: No way. It would have to truly be life changing money to make me even consider it (add more zeroes!), and I'd still want to have some sort of creative control or something. This thing has really been my life for the last 8 months, so it would be very hard to give it up to some corporate entity.
Kwill: Are there any other projects in the works? Possibly a Curling MMORPG?
Bort: We might look at doing a baseball game in the future once GLB is seriously rolling with all the features we want to add. We'll look a bit more closely if and when we reach that point.
Kwill: Before we wrap it up, can I have some free Flex Points?
Bort: You'll get some this offseason.
Kwill: Thank you so much for taking time out of your hectic schedule to talk with us.
Bort: No prob, gotta take a break here and there.
Last edited Jun 3, 2008 19:20:03
