Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, the much anticipated third generation MMORPG developed by Sigil Games Online, is fast approaching release. The Safehouse was lucky enough to get a few moments of Leon Pryor's (aka L-Train) busy schedule to answer a few questions. Leon is a Program Manager for Studio ZR, the division of Microsoft Game Studios that handles RPG and MMORPG titles.
The Safehouse: For the layman gamer, what is involved being a Game Producer/Program Manager?
Leon Pryor: Another term for Program Manager (which is a Microsoft title) is a Producer. I am the primary point of contact between Sigil and Microsoft. To borrow a military term—I am “running point” on the project for Microsoft. Basically I make sure Microsoft and Sigil communicate effectively, I provide Sigil with useful Microsoft technologies, I coordinate feedback, and I work with our local test team.
SH: What do you feel is the best part of your career? The worst?
LP: Building some of the first online services on the Internet and seeing them succeed and grow, anytime a project ships, and being a part of the original Xbox launch are some of my career high points. For the worst—I’d say canceling a project or seeing a game not succeed in the market place. It’s never fun to see your hard work go to waste.
SH: How did you fall in to this crazy trade? Was it by design or circumstance?
LP: A little of both actually—I was introduced to Microsoft by a good friend in college. After the introduction I spent 3 summers working as an intern and I was also an on-campus student consultant for the company. I had some reservations about moving to the Pacific Northwest on a full-time basis. (I’m from Ohio.) My recruiter asked me what it would take to get me out here full time; I told her I wanted to work on games … that was 7 years ago.
SH: What advice would you give to a budding young game developer/producer looking to break into the business?
LP: Donald Trump wrote that you should find a way to make money off of your passions—that’s why he owns so many golf courses. I think the same idea applies to games. The first step is to recognize gaming as a serious industry and not just a hobby. Critically evaluate the games you play. Read as many books as you can on game development. If you have the opportunity to take classes or get a degree in the field you should. If you are technically minded, download the source code to older games from Source Forge and learn from them. Participate in the mod community—basically do everything you can to gain a bit of practical experience. This will make landing that job all the easier because you will have some amount of experience and expertise beyond your general desire to participate in the industry.
SH: You are in a unique bleeding-edge position with Microsoft in working with both Windows and Xbox gaming platforms. Do you have a preference of platforms? If so, what about the platform appeals to you most?
LP: Well I could answer this question from two perspectives: as a gamer and as a developer. I would say I really enjoy both platforms for different reasons. From a development perspective, it’s nice to work on an Xbox game because you only have to tune the game’s performance for a single set of hardware and you’re done. The customer experience on a console also can’t be beat. You plug in a disk and you’re done: no drivers, no config files, no system tests. That said, PCs are also nice because they are always getting more powerful and can support much higher resolutions. And the keyboard and mouse just can’t be beat as a universal controller. I am also really excited because the Windows team is hard at work making Windows a more accessible gaming environment.
As a gamer I really enjoy both platforms equally. It really comes down to the software for me. I love my consoles for sports and fighting games. I love my PC for MMPs and strategy games. I end up playing FPS and online games on both platforms equally.
SH: How was the transition for you moving into the Sigil partnership?
LP: It’s been great. It was clear in the beginning that I shared a common set of desires and goals with Sigil. There was a lot of parallel thought in terms of what the next generation of massively multiplayer games required.
SH: The Sigil staff has a "unique" history in unveiling their projects. The whole cryptic release of the title and first few informational snippets of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes comes to mind. Is the rollout marketing of Vanguard going to be more traditional, or can we expect a few surprises along the way?
LP: Well I’m not the marketing guy, but our marketing team works very closely with Sigil to make sure that the game is effectively represented. I wouldn’t be shocked if we have a few cool surprises.
SH: Without spilling any of the sacred Secret Sauce™ (of course no one would fault you if you did), what aspect of Vanguard are you, as a gamer, most excited about? For example: class structure, combat mechanics, quest system, etc.
LP: Pilotable ships and spell combat. As for ships, I am an explorer and I really enjoy seeing new places and new inhabitants. Being able to have complete freedom to explore the vast world of Telon is really exciting. As for spell combat, I am excited to see magic users get some much needed attention in terms of combat mechanics. The ability to counter spells combined with some of the cooler caster classes is really exciting stuff.
SH: Outside of your recent work with Sigil, what other game titles have you worked on?
LP: Lots actually. The most significant titles are Asheron’s Call I & II, Ultracorps, Fighter Ace II, NFL Fever, Age of Empires I & II, Motocross Madness II, MechWarrior 4, Combat Flight Simulator, Dungeon Siege, and several versions of the Internet(MSN) Gaming Zone.
SH: The MMORPG genre has begun to evolve at a fevered pitch. What do you foresee as an integral part of being a successful long-standing game of the next generation?
LP: I think that the next long-standing game needs to appeal to the customer’s desire to work together to accomplish great things. Killing the Sleeper in EQ and defending the final Shard during the Shadow War of Asheron’s Call are examples of players coming together to accomplish difficult goals. These accomplishments mean a lot to the player and become the social glue that keeps people playing together for months and sometimes years.
SH: Of the past and current MMORPGs, which have you enjoyed playing the most? What was your favorite aspect of this game?
LP: This is a tough question. Asheron’s Call is probably my all time favorite—partly because I worked very hard to ship the game and also because it was my first 3D MUD.
In recent years, I really enjoyed Final Fantasy XI—I really liked their job system, which allowed you to try different character classes without loosing your identity. At the high levels, I really enjoyed their combat system; they have the best implementation of a Paladin that I have ever seen.
Recently City of Heroes and World of Warcraft were both fun to play and brought a lot to the table in terms of usability, animation, and audio.
SH: And finally, what every good rogue wants to know—pancakes or waffles? (Pie... feh!)
LP: Clearly pancakes—but wheat pancakes made with egg whites and Myoplex protein powder so I don’t violate my diet 
Thanks for the information Leon... now back to the salt mines with ya!
