Monetization & Systems Design

ACtivities

Live Game Management

Managed and effectively scaled the LOTRO game systems team to handle yearly expansions and live game content updates. Established processes that improved T-shaped expertise within the systems team that allowed for flexibility in planning, decreased risk in knowledge loss, and healthier career growth within the team. Encouraged documentation efforts to reduce dependency on tribal knowledge and improve training speed for new hires.

Agile Certification (Scrum Master)

Formally trained as a Scrum Master (and certified). Used kanban and agile tools (VersionOne, Hansoft) for several scrum teams during LOTRO live game development. Managed expansion, live game operations, and development for systems team.

F2P Business Conversion

Owned store and MTX feature development for Lord of the Ring Online’s F2P launch. Directed systems team to establish and maintain the store catalog and worked to improve monetization through fostering team innovation, which lead to the creation of Mithril Coins (service currency), Lootboxes, Quest Resets (Task System), and convenience purchases for Legendary Item progression.

Development Planning

Worked with the Design Director, Lead Content Manager, and Lead Game Engineer to build live game and expansion roadmaps for LOTRO. Established routine live game schedule and quarterly planning cycles for the system team, to track expected tasks for content updates and provide creative space for feature iteration/innovation amongst the team.

PAST WORK

Rise of Isengard

Through agile planning and capacity management, the systems team was directed through expansion development without significant crunch. The player base lauded the class reworks, Monster Play updates, and other systems changes brought about from this expansion. Through these efforts, players enjoyed building towards new class strategies in both PvE and PvP play.

New Player Accessibility

Analyzed available logging information from the game to create churn heat maps, which guided a new initiative to improve LOTRO’s funnel and new player conversion. Directed a small strike team to polish quest flow, starting area hub design, and reward cycle from levels 1-30, which moved the majority churn point from level 7 to level 24. Designed the quest tracker system, which aided players in finding quest NPCs and objectives.