The final product represented in screenshots and captured gameplay is representative of an entire team's work. As a content designer, I was responsible for crafting gameplay, stories, and settings. I worked with writers, encounter designers, sound designers, FX artists and more to flesh out that content and fit it in with the rest of the design department's works on the expansive MMO.
Quarantine Serk
One of the object areas I developed was Quarantine Serk -a small town devastated by a new plague.
Duties Included:
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Creating design documents and seeking lead approval
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Drafting level design and quest flow
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Developing narrative, quests, and flavor text
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Coordinating with encounter design, world building, and writers
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Implementing gameplay, quests, and scripted events
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Making sure quest area fit with overall zone story and tone
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Hooking up breadcrumbing system
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Making sure quests worked for grouped players & shared step and step progression as outlined in company best practices
Adusa-Daro Assassin Hunting
In the Rivenspire zone, I conceptualized the character Adusa-daro, a recurring character for the zone. Adusa-Daro takes an active role in the zone's story and is present in a number of quests throughout the zone. I helped plan and implement a series of quests that has the player working with Adusa-daro to root out and eliminate assassins and threats to other important NPCs.
Duties Included:
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Providing choices in dialogue and gameplay that'd affect the quest and narrative flow
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Making sure quest givers were in conspicuous locations to draw player attention and guide their progress
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Drafting design documents and keeping them up-to-date
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Scripting quests, set-pieces, and events
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Implemented quests-specific NPCs
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Providing characterization for Adusa-Daro through dialogue, flavor text, animations, and in-game behavior
Encounter Design
Before I designed characters, stories, and gameplay I designed encounters. The task required being familiar with the existing level design, quest flow, and setting. I then used enemy placement taking into consideration combat difficulty and the variety of possible playstyles. At Pariah Abbey there are two paths the player can follow to their objective, a long way with several easier encounters or the short route with fewer but more difficult battles. I used emotes, position, and pathing to help convey enemy character and enforce the setting, such as in Vanne Farm where the supernatural posturing and ritualistic stances helped portray the idea of a cult summoning demonic help.
Encounter Design to me is more than providing combat or breadcrumbing. Encounter Design should be able to tell just as much of a visual story as the level design itself, and the two should work together with the narrative to help flesh out and build up the game world. There are places I did encounter design for like Stonechewer Goblin Camp where I used staging of the enemies to help portray how these creatures existed in the world. Harder enemy group guards their camp entrances, with only a few wandering goblins on the path between campsites. Fireside the goblins either rest or fight with one another leaving the player to guess if the conflict is for sport or over an argument. In Norvulk Ruins dremora (demons of the ESO world) start to recover and honor their home. In Oldgate soldiers recover from a devastating battle.
