Great Expectations
Georgenius: "All good - but do you 'like' it?"
Callice: "Like it ? pfft... who could possibly like this ? Im sure you meant do you love it ? Im sorry i still have to say no... I totally adore it, and will marry it if i get the option to!"
Georgenius: "Dude, this makes me incredibly happy. You've been so excited for so long, I honestly, personally, did not want to let *you*, Callice, down."
This is part of a PM conversation I had with one of our earliest players, Callice, when we first let some of you lovely, lovely people into our little game via the Beta.
Tell anyone you meet that there's a Football MMO in development and instantly an image will form in their mind of what a Football MMO should be like. It happened to me and everyone I spoke to about the game. It more than likely happened to you too.
Through his posts on our 'test' forums over a year ago, you could tell that Callice, along with a few others, was passionate about the idea of our game. You could almost hear the cogs turning in his mind as he imagined the kind of game he wanted to see. The kind of game we'd all like to see.
In many ways, Callice is all of us. He had great expectations, and If we could please him, we stood a good chance of potentially pleasing thousands of people.
So while I honestly, personally, did not want to let Callice down, and was very nervous when he got to play his first game online, really he stood as a metaphor for the whole community.
And what a community we have! Along with Callice, others such as Hagenees, Tompi, Troyster, MJHales, Blindgrave and over 100 other people are part of the first team, Evolution FS, made around the Football Superstars universe. These guys have supported us since we first announced the game, over a year ago!
Plectrum, our community manager, was forged out of this early interaction with people, you know, outside of FS Towers. His enthusiasm and ideas around the game got him a job with us, one that he carries out with aplomb, panache, and a plethora of entertaining posts!
Big Bubbs has started a radio show, and has a whole FSRSports brand going on. Doghouse has stopped the press with FSMania, an online newspaper. Aikatears is making her own internet TV Channel based on the game.
There are others, of course, and plenty of teams springing up too. We've certainly fired up your imaginations, and we haven't even launched yet! There's still much work to be done this side of the fence!
Great expectations indeed!
Our creative director, Steve Marshall, is always saying that this is your game, the community's game.
And he's spot on. This isn't about being the biggest, brightest or "baddest" game in town, although we'd love to be there one day. This is about seeing a shared dream come true, however corny that sounds. Trying to meet your expectations, however great they may be, is a blast. Your support has been phenomenal. Know it is known, seen and greatly appreciated.
