Interview: Cynthia Freese of Alchemic Dream

We had the opportunity to chat with Cynthia Freese, responsible for Business Relations over at MMOG management provider Alchemic Dream. Among the client list are games such as Lord of the Rings Online, Fury and Second Life.

The MMO Gamer: For our readers, could you please introduce yourself and tell us what you do at Alchemic Dream?

Cynthia Freese: I am Cynthia Freese and I am currently the new kid on the block, I recently joined the Alchemic Dream team to handle all Business Relations activities. My day-to-day tasks generally revolve around following up with current and prospective clients to make sure we have the best possible understanding of the present opportunities and future trends that we can help them scale into. By building and maintaining such close-knit relationships, we ensure our role throughout the life of their massively multiplayer online game software product proceed smoothly.

Like any good relationship, the foundation is all about good communication, and that’s the role I am fostering between Alchemic Dreams and our clients.

The MMO Gamer: Alchemic Dream has been mentioned in the same sentence as several MMOGs; ArchLord, Dark and Light, Lord of the Rings Online and Second Life to mention a few, but AD has not developed any of these. What does AD do?

Cynthia Freese: Alchemic Dream is mentioned alongside these games because in many ways we are partnering with them in making their games possible. At Alchemic Dream we offer online game developers and publishers a variety of services from customer support, community management, localization, game mastering, and content creation. It would be safe to say a lot of what we do is time-intensive and complex work. So, when these companies are taking advantage of our services, we allow them to dedicate more of their attention to creating great games, while we handle these important but demanding tasks.

The MMO Gamer: How many people work at AD and where are you based?

Cynthia Freese: Alchemic Dream currently has about 150 employees; the company is based in Canada and we all work out of a decentralized “virtual office”. I, myself, reside in the Seattle, Washington area.

The MMO Gamer: What is the market climate for outsourcing aspects of MMOG management? Do you think it will become more common?

Cynthia Freese: The outsourcing market for MMO is quite similar to the middleware market for rendering engines a few years ago — which is to say it’s booming and will continue growing. As online games become more complex and more demanding on a company, it’s becoming an easier choice for the directors to show flexibility and outsource for various components of their online game project rather than have to bring in new staff. Outsourcing is often seen with smaller, independent companies, who find it easier to look outside than inside for the solutions for these development needs they face.

The MMO Gamer: What do you see as the strongest benefits of this practice for MMOG developers/publishers?

Cynthia Freese: Cost, focus and experience are the first things that come to mind. The cost of delaying to hire and bring on untested new staff can be a risk, not to mention the salaries themselves. Speaking of Alchemic Dreams specifically, we also bring focus in our respective disciplines and the experience to carry out the work needed to be done as soon as the ink dries on the agreement with the client. Companies find that outsourcing these services is not only efficient but very cost effective and it allows them to focus on what they do best, which is making games.

The MMO Gamer: And what would you consider some of the drawbacks to be for the same people?

Cynthia Freese: I’d have to say it would be lack of communication, especially for the community management. It’s one issue I attempt to facilitate in my role, between management on our side and the company we’re working with. On the ground, Alchemic Dream solves that particular problem by having a service delivery manager working in most of the development studios.

The MMO Gamer: Could you tell us about some of the titles AD is currently working and in what capacity?

Cynthia Freese: At Alchemic Dream we have a lengthy list of online game titles we support in various capacities. A large share of the work we do with clients relates to customer support and localizations of forms, websites, and games, but of course, the scope of what we are able to offer extends well beyond that.

Fury, developed by Auran, is one of the twelve titles Alchemic Dream is handling, covering the game’s support and localization needs. We’re also covering the support, news localization, and events for Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeon and Dragons Online for the European market. For those who want to see the entire list of games Alchemic Dreams supports, the list and more can be seen at http://www.playmmo.com.

The MMO Gamer: What upcoming games will AD be working on?

Cynthia Freese: Alchemic Dreams is going to be handling the localization for the European end of Pirates of the Burning Sea, developed by Seattle-based Flying Labs Software. This MMO game’s got a lot of positive buzz behind it, so we’re definitely happy to be associated with this company and this game. Also just confirmed is our working with Gamelocus’ Call of the Kings.

There are a number of other exciting projects in the works we’d love to share with you, but can’t just yet.

The MMO Gamer: Is your commitment open ended? Can you or a client company part ways at any time, or are you involved for the full life cycle of the game? Or do you use a renewable time based contract?

Cynthia Freese: We see ourselves as partners with our clients and are willing to match their requirements in terms of scale and duration. We do prefer long term agreements which allows us to better serve the developers and he customers. The kinds of contracts we sign reflect this thinking. Some projects last a short time, while others are long-term and ongoing. Whether we’re needed for a couple months or ten years, Alchemic Dream is ready, willing and able to fully dedicate our resources to our clients and their customers. We try to make this process as flexible and as easy as we can for the developers.

The MMO Gamer: As a finishing question, is there anything you think we may have missed that you’d like to tell our readers?

Cynthia Freese: I want to thank you for taking the time to interview me about Alchemic Dream. Outsourcing is not often focused on, but it’s becoming a critical part of the online game development process. As such, the business is growing, to the point where the supply of talent is outpaced by demand. Alchemic Dream is always looking for fresh, motivated, detail-oriented talent. The link for current job openings is http://www.alchemicdream.net/jobs.php.