MMO Lifecycle – scaling with team size Decouple Work Activities All Depts require programming support Art, QA, Design, Platform Services, Programming Fallout – accurately scheduling programming time is impossible Give each Dept the tools needed to operate autonomously Protect Yourself – Automate With independence comes responsibility Programmers are pulled in multiple directions by competing content provider requirements – give the content providers the tools they need to work autonomously

Decouple Examples: UI – scaleform + Flash Munger – content post processor NWN prototype editor Branched dev Stable branch (content providers) Mainline/Sandboxes (programmers)

Protect Yourself Plan Integration points (leave time!) Automated tests Over invest in tools! Data drive everything you can