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We have a new Lead Game Designer: Bill Trost

NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
From Linkedin:
After over six years at Amazon Games, working with several awesome teams on quite a few exciting projects, especially New World, it’s time for me to embark on a new adventure!

I’m happy to be able to say that I’m now the Lead Designer on Ashes of Creation at Intrepid Studios!

I’ve known Steven Sharif, the Creative Director on Ashes, for over seven years. We met as fellow gamers through mutual friends, and I vividly remember one of our early conversations where he laid out his detailed vision for this crazy ambitious MMO he wanted to build. I’ll admit, at the time I was skeptical.

But I watched with growing excitement as the team Steven has built at Intrepid Studios gained steam, blasted through my skepticism, and started to deliver on his vision! The beautiful, deep world, the gamer-first attitude, and the openness of the team were all things I wanted to be a part of and so when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it. It’s also an opportunity to get to work with several awesome folks who I’ve known and worked with before, when years ago we built another world, that is still thriving today. So, in many ways it feels like a homecoming.

Ashes is an ambitious game and there are tons of challenging problems to solve, but that is the fun part of game design. I can’t wait to be able to get lost in the world of Verra with all of you.

Here's what I've found about his career:
  • New World (Windows, 2021) - Additional Design
  • Landmark (Windows, 2016) - Additional Design
  • Defiance (Windows, 2013) - Creative Lead
  • Untold Legends: The Warrior's Code (PSP, 2006) - Lead Designer
  • Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade (PSP, 2005) - Lead Designer
  • EverQuest II (Windows, 2004) - Additional Game Design
  • EverQuest: The Scars of Velious (Windows, 2000) - Designed by
  • EverQuest: The Scars of Velious (Windows, 2000) - Lead Game Designer
  • EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark (Windows, 2000) - EverQuest designed by
  • EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark (Windows, 2000) - Lead World Builder/Game Designer
  • EverQuest (Windows, 1999) - Designed by
  • EverQuest (Windows, 1999) - Lead World Builder/Designer
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Comments

  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    Saw this on reddit and was just about to post it. Hope we get to meet him during the next stream.
  • NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    NiKr wrote: »
    Saw this on reddit and was just about to post it. Hope we get to meet him during the next stream.

    That would be really cool actually.
  • LinikerLiniker Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Congrats to Bill Trost for the job and Intrepid for the hire! I hope he has a long and good career at intrepid and takes good care of the project we all care so much about,

    I must admit, one of my biggest concerns with Ashes always has been the game changing direction due to the masses giving PVE / carebear feedback or new hires wanting to make a PvE themepark game instead of delivering the PvX experience we were promised - and with every new release like NW or TL, and crossplay PVE game announcements this concern increases, however,

    I feel like ever since Jeff left and we got more info on things like the open sea pvp, caravans, nodes ruins alongside with Steven's reassurance about PvP being a core part of the game, all this has been very exciting and gives me hope that they will deliver what we backed and not whatever is more popular or makes more money.

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    Recrutamento aberto - Nosso Site: Clique aqui
  • JustVineJustVine Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Thanks for the resume skim Nerror.

    Good luck Bill.
    Node coffers: Single Payer Capitalism in action
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Trost coming on board is probably the best news anyone wanting Ashes to be more than just another pure PvP MMO like L2, Archeage, BDO or Albion could have hoped for (and yes, as far as MMO's go, those games are pure PvP).

    He is quite literally the guy that made the MMO genre what it is - or what it was. He designed the original EQ - the game Blizzard developers saw and said to themselves "we should have a go at making one of these". A game that is getting close to being live for a quarter of a century.

    My hope is that Bill can keep Ashes PvP in tact as it is now (he wont be able to change that), but add to it the PvE meat that the game needs.
  • LudulluLudullu Member, Alpha Two
    He will also bring his NW experience. And considering that NW and Ashes were fairly similar in design at one point, I'd imagine that experience will be quite valuable to Intrepid.
  • pyrealpyreal Member, Warrior of Old, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    Hi Bill, I'm Ted.

    Do you want to go on an adventure, or would you like to play a game?
  • daveywaveydaveywavey Member, Alpha Two
    I wonder if they thought they could keep it a secret until the next livestream...

    Anyway, good to have the spot filled. :)
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/


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  • daveywaveydaveywavey Member, Alpha Two
    Let's keep this as a Welcome Thread for our new and highly experienced Lead Designer, guys! :)
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/


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  • CawwCaww Member, Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    I saw the name in the post and immediately knew that I recognized the name but didn't remember why, but the EQ reference slammed me with "Oh yeah - excellent - this guy is gonna really add some talent to the game".

    I cut my teeth in EQ and have some of my fondest thoughts about late night, all day gaming in one of the first majors of its time.

    PS Thank you Mr. Trost for deciding to join AoC.
  • daveywaveydaveywavey Member, Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    *edited to clear, after the Vaknar Cavalry came to the rescue*
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/


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  • nanfoodlenanfoodle Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Welcome Bill Trost =-) Now this is something to get excited about. I was playing EQ since the OG days! Love your work!!!!!
  • AzheraeAzherae Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I will count on him to Build Trust and to make a game Built to Last.
    ♪ One Gummy Fish, two Gummy Fish, Red Gummy Fish, Blue Gummy Fish
  • FantmxFantmx Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Been following Bill since we started our Landmark show (and Theoryforge) back in 2014. This is an exciting hire!
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  • VaknarVaknar Member, Staff
    Liniker wrote: »
    Congrats to Bill Trost for the job and Intrepid for the hire! I hope he has a long and good career at intrepid and takes good care of the project we all care so much about

    🙌🙌🙌
    community_management.gif
  • AlmostDeadAlmostDead Member, Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    All the best for the Team! good luck Bill!
    But i think after the huge fails of Amazon especially in its ''Gaming Department'' saying that he worked a long time for it doesnt sound like a good thing to me.

    And saying he worked on New World makes it even worse the game was really ''flat'' in its RPG elements.
    Makes be a bit worried tbh.

    This feels very on-topic. Not sure why it would be removed other than censoring certain views.

    Anyway, regarding this point, people learn more from their failures than from their successes, so I'm hopeful.

    Overall I think it’s a super positive thing that they filled the role, and Steven has an outstanding track record in the people he hires. He’s very thoughtful and selective. Plus I think Steven will keep the game on track with his vision.

    Welcome Bill. Super excited for the game.
  • KaelinTVKaelinTV Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    Welcome Bill Trost! Glad to see you on the intrepid train. Hopefully can rub some more of the golden era of MMORPG's off on AoC =P.
  • JhorenJhoren Member
    Welcome aboard! :)
  • BaSkA_9x2BaSkA_9x2 Member, Alpha Two
    Vaknar wrote: »

    My comment wasn't off-topic and was also moved. I don't understand what's the point of editing topics/moving comments from discussions that are not created by staff, is it really necessary?

    I wanna say more, but I think I've said enough. Anyway, I will repost my comment and hopefully it won't be moved.

    I have no idea if Bill is good at developing games or not, but from his resume it seems he's worked on many awesome games, so that's good to see.

    I hope that he wasn't very involved with New World though. I don't expect him to talk shit about that game, but whoever made some of the design decisions for New World should stop making decisions. I'm not sure if saying you've worked on Amazon Games or New World should be something you're proud of.
    🎶Galo é Galo o resto é bosta🎶
  • WHIT3ROS3WHIT3ROS3 Member
    edited June 2023
    Congratulations to Bill Trost.
    BaSkA_9x2 wrote: »
    I'm not sure if saying you've worked on Amazon Games or New World should be something you're proud of.

    I certainly hope some of you don't operate in real life like you do online. Jesus, What a disgustingly rude thing to say. I would be hugely proud to have worked at one of the biggest studios in the world for one of the biggest companies in the world, to create a New IP MMO that has sold 20 million odd copies.
  • OkeydokeOkeydoke Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Welcome Bill Trost and congratulations. I look forward to seeing you on live stream soon, hearing about your experience a little and how you intend to apply it to AoC and it's vision.
  • I hope he learnt from the total failure of New World which was the worst large budget MMO of the 21st century…
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    BaSkA_9x2 wrote: »
    I hope that he wasn't very involved with New World though. I don't expect him to talk shit about that game, but whoever made some of the design decisions for New World should stop making decisions. I'm not sure if saying you've worked on Amazon Games or New World should be something you're proud of.
    It is quite possible to work on an unsuccessful or unpopular project and still be proud of the work you did.

    An example that readily comes to mind are some of the actors in the Rings of Power series. The series is shit. However, some of the acting is superb. Dont blame the actors for the shit work the writers did. Same with the last few seasons of Game of Thrones - the acting and effects were great, it was only the script that let everyone down.

    New World had a lot of good things going for it. There were just a few decisions made that ruined it. Thise decisions though, they were only made by a handful of people - everyone else that worked on the game probably has reason to be proud of their work.
  • NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited June 2023
    I think New World is one of the biggest reasons Intrepid changed the gathering system from the old system where you couldn't chop every tree and rock, to the current one where you can. Players loved that about NW. I didn't like NW either, but it was for a handful of reasons, not because every aspect of the game was garbage.

    My point is, unless Bill was the secret architect behind all the bad choices they made with NW, including rushing it to release a year too early, don't blame him for the failure it was at launch. And even if he did make a mistake in NW somehow, let's hope he learned from it. If we find out what it hypothetically is, we can give him some crap about it to make sure he does learn from it, without being mean about it. :smile: Because that helps no one.
  • Nerror wrote: »
    I think New World is one of the biggest reasons Intrepid changed the gathering system from the old system where you couldn't chop every tree and rock, to the current one where you can. Players loved that about NW. I didn't like NW either, but it was for a handful of reasons, not because every aspect of the game was garbage.

    My point is, unless Bill was the secret architect behind all the bad choices they made with NW, including rushing it to release a year too early, don't blame him for the failure it was at launch. And even if he did make a mistake in NW somehow, let's hope he learned from it. If we find out what it hypothetically is, we can give him some crap about it to make sure he does learn from it, without being mean about it. :smile: Because that helps no one.

    Yeah gathering was (is?) a very good thing in NW and we must admit that they did a good job. The graphics are also nice.

    Pity that all the rest was crap : Crafting system, bad economy, PvP, PvE, balance, gameplay, cheat, bots, artificial boring progression etc etc etc...

    In my opinion, Intrepid is doing a mistake with this choice of implemeting gear accoring to level. I don't like the gear which become crap because your gained levels.

    According to me gear should be usable according to stat points.
  • Mag7spyMag7spy Member, Alpha Two
    I prefer the higher level you are the better the gear.
    Myosotys wrote: »
    Nerror wrote: »
    I think New World is one of the biggest reasons Intrepid changed the gathering system from the old system where you couldn't chop every tree and rock, to the current one where you can. Players loved that about NW. I didn't like NW either, but it was for a handful of reasons, not because every aspect of the game was garbage.

    My point is, unless Bill was the secret architect behind all the bad choices they made with NW, including rushing it to release a year too early, don't blame him for the failure it was at launch. And even if he did make a mistake in NW somehow, let's hope he learned from it. If we find out what it hypothetically is, we can give him some crap about it to make sure he does learn from it, without being mean about it. :smile: Because that helps no one.

    Yeah gathering was (is?) a very good thing in NW and we must admit that they did a good job. The graphics are also nice.

    Pity that all the rest was crap : Crafting system, bad economy, PvP, PvE, balance, gameplay, cheat, bots, artificial boring progression etc etc etc...

    In my opinion, Intrepid is doing a mistake with this choice of implemeting gear accoring to level. I don't like the gear which become crap because your gained levels.

    According to me gear should be usable according to stat points.

    I prefer the higher level you are the better the gear. Either way if you are doing it by stat there will still be artificial level on gear progression. Unless you remove all vertical gear progression which that is just boring.
  • daveywaveydaveywavey Member, Alpha Two
    Wow, there's a lot of Debbie Downers in this thread! I was expecting a much happier one! Hahaha :D
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/


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  • NerrorNerror Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    daveywavey wrote: »
    Wow, there's a lot of Debbie Downers in this thread! I was expecting a much happier one! Hahaha :D

    Well, people like to hate on NW :wink: Guilt by association I guess..

    EQ was successful, but do any of you know the PSP games? The two Untold Legends ones. I never owned a PSP.
  • Purple Polo PlayerPurple Polo Player Member, Alpha Two
    Interesting resume. I hope he leaves the bureaucracy and politics of Amazon Games with them. I hope Mr. Toast is a bit disgruntled by his experience with them. He would have great motivation to show gamers what New World could have been.
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