Red 5 Studios – Red Herring or Ready to Roll?

So there I was, at GenCon. My colleague Nicole Hamlett (MPOGD.com) had an interview with Red5, and she invited me to go along.

COOL, thinks I, because all we know so far is that they've been recruiting all sorts of talent (programmers and artists, not belly dancers and ventriloquists, you yobbos). No word had come out about any projects they have in the works, and I figured this would be my lucky day!

Not.

We show up at the suite and are warmly welcomed by Dave "Stormfront" Williams (Game Designer) and Ed "Meneldir" Stark (Designer). Even better, I think, real devs and not just marketing people! I am going to get a great story out of this.

Not.

For the next half hour, we were entertained by their affable, easygoing manner and tales of recruitment adventures, descriptions of the Red 5 studios themselves, and waiting for the game announcement, which was surely forthcoming.

Not.

I am toying with the idea of activating the Nicole's secretly embedded chip, the one that turns her into the Soviet agent "Svetlana", who definitely has ways of making you talk, but I decide against it. I might need her later in order to get into Warhammer Beta.

Ok, so what DO we know about Red5? They are based in Orange County (think heat and insane cost of living in the People's Republic of California), and they have a secret. We will all have to wait a while longer.

Dave did say that what they are working on would accommodate both the highly social and solo player. More and more, people are looking for the opportunity to enjoy a "massively single-player game". One where you can, but are not forced to, group with others. If they can pull this off with a game that is also FUN, I am so there.
Shhh, don't tell Wren.

Ed continued that they wanted to incorporate all the best elements of a tabletop RPG game, without any of the boring parts, beyond what was currently available. They want players to be able to do as they do in a very creative D&D game, by making the choices outside of the box. This is only possible if the Game Master (or in this case, technical and gameplay elements) allow for it.

The mysterious game will have some form of guild within it, which will feel like another character you play, changing and growing commensurate with the effort that is put into the organization by its members. Every time you improve your character, you will affect not only your own standing, but that of your guild, and ultimately, your server.

Although not expressed, the implication is that different servers may evolve along different paths. A bold, exciting and dangerous concept. I want to be on the server that does not suck.

Red5's express desire is to avoid the 70's RPG mentality that currently infuses many MMOGs available on today's market (as well as more still in development). Dave said they wanted to change the status quo, where no matter what you do, nothing ever changes. "You can go to the tower and rescue the princess", he said, "and then five minutes later, she'd be back up there again. You never get to be a real hero."

Red5 plans to offer players multiple gates of progress. Ed explained, "Unlike games where there are live events with pre-determined conclusions, we want there to be winners and losers, real consequences that would permanently change the world, enabling long-term goals."

Dave summed it up with, "We want to see epic changes on a worldwide scale".

Dang. Sign me up for beta.

On that note, it was revealed that the game is still at least 2 years off from being announced, and 5 years from release.

Ed and Dave were much more forthcoming with information about Red5 itself. It is well known that the company was founded by some of the World of Warcraft team at the beginning of 2006. In fact, they lifted a lot of the leads from WoW, including the Project Lead, Art Director and the Designer for most of the levels.

Since then, Red5 has continued seeking out the best and brightest without having to resort to poaching in the field. What they've ended up with, as Ed put it, is "ludicrous amounts of talent."

The interesting thing is, there seems to be a distinct lack of ego at Red5. Dave dismissed himself as a lesser luminary, which caused Ed to roll his eyes, while Ed played down his own role in the team. Apparently this sort of thing carries on up the line, to the point that when the Lead concept artist could not concentrate on his work on the open floor, the Producer gave up his office for the guy, saying he wanted to be in closer touch with his designers.

The chief benefit to this lack of ego is, according to these chaps, enabling the team to be open to ideas outside of their disciplines and areas of expertise. "There is a lot of crossover in ideas" said Dave, "from everyone in the company." Suddenly I wished I'd been hired on as a janitor there. I have ideas too!

By the same token, there is quite a gauntlet to be run when one is considered for the team. Dave had to go through 7 interviews, while even an administrative assistant may have 3.

The work that went into assembling Red 5 included an innovative "Golden Ticket" program, orchestrated entirely within the company. After coming up with a list of the top 100 minds in the industry, save those whose hiring would be considered "poaching", Red5 sent each a mysterious, multi-layered package, at the heart of which was a golden ticket, and an iPod. Never mind how they got 100 iPods before they were available to the public – they were used to deliver a message from Red 5's CEO, inviting the ticket holders to an all-expense paid trip to the studios, to discuss a future with the company.

All I want to know is…. Where's mine?
Hehehe. All I can say is, I look forward to the day that Red5 has a product for us to look at.

Bring it!