Resume / Project List - Stellar Effect Starr Long is a thirty year industry veteran (original) (raw)

Starr Long is a thirty year video game and technology industry veteran with deep roots in online gaming including the seminal Ultima Online (the longest running MMO of all time)

• Development history includes: PC / Mac / Linux Online, Enterprise Platform, Web Browser (Flash), iOS, Facebook and Android Product Development
• Twenty-five+ year career of making games
• Began career at legendary studio, Origin Systems.
• Director of Ultima Online, the longest running MMO in history. UO is often credited with creating the Massively Online Game industry and currently holds 8 Guinness World Records. In 2010, UO was inducted into the Online Game Developers Conference Hall of Fame, the first MMO to be so honored.
• In 2000 co-founded Destination Games and later that year it was acquired by NCsoft.
• In 2008 named one of the Top 20 Most Influential People in the Massively Multiplayer Online Industry by Beckett Massive Online Gamer Magazine.
• In 2009 joined The Walt Disney Company as an Executive Producer, expanding experience to Disney Parent App on Facebook, mini-games in Club Penguin, Club Penguin mobile, iOS apps (ranked in Top 5 Educational Games), and the Disney Connected Learning Platform.
• In 2013 joined Portalarium and led Shroud of the Avatar to be second highest crowdfunded video game to ever ship.
• In 2018 began working at The Acceleration Agency
• LinkedIn Profile

Executive Producer, The Acceleration Agency, Austin, TX (Aug 2018 – Present)

• Global User Experience and Technical Consulting
• Carnival Corporation Global Experience & Innovation
• Secret Cinema
• Universal Studios
• INVI Mindhealth

Strategic Advisor, Catnip Games, Austin, TX (2020 – Present)

Strategic Advisor, Evolved Games (2020 – 2022)

Executive Producer, Portalarium, Austin, TX (2013 – 2019)

• Management and Creative Direction of Shroud of the Avatar

Advisor / Lecturer, Denius-Sams Gaming Academy, Austin, TX (2014 – 2017)

• Advisory Board that helps determine curriculum
• Guest Lecturer on various subjects including budgeting, company culture, and product vision

Consultant, Stellar Effect, Austin, TX (2013 – Present)

• Video game consultation
• Clients have included Mattel and Disney

Consultant, Guidepoint Global (2010 – Present)

• Video game consultation

Executive Producer, The Walt Disney Company, Los Angeles, CA (2009 – 2013)

• Management and Design oversight for:
  • Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Pixie Hollow, and Toontown
  • Club Penguin Mobile
  • Disney Connected Learning Platform
  • Disney Parent App on Facebook
  • 5 Educational Games for iOS (All in Top 10 Educational Games simultaneously)
  • Cinderella: Shapes & Patterns (Top 5 Educational Game including #1 on iPad)
  • Cars: Numbers & Counting (Top 5 Educational Game including #2 on iPad)
  • Ariel: Numbers & Counting (Top 5 Educational Game including #2 on iPhone)
  • Toy Story: Letters & Sounds (Top 5 Educational Game including #1 on iPhone)
  • Fairies: Art (Top 10 Educational Game)
  • 2 unannounced virtual worlds
  • 8 Disney Connected Learning mini-games in Club Penguin: Pufflescape (#2 Most Popular Game in CP), Bits & Bolts, Jelly Bean Counters, and EPF Field Ops
• Responsible for 300 local staff (Art, Design, Engineering, Production)
• Coordination of 8 remote studios simultaneously in Austin, San Diego, Redmond, San Francisco, Quebec City, Kelowna (British Columbia), London, Prague
• Led conversion of entire Disney Online Studios (800+ staff) to Agile Methodology with synched sprints
• Served on Product Council that reviewed all Disney Interactive Projects

Consultant, Ridgetop Research (2009 – present)

• Consulting with investment clients on videogame industry topics

Producer, NCsoft Corporation / Destination Games, Austin, TX (2000 – 2008)

• Co-founder of Destination Games
• Created original Destination Games business plan and budget
• Facilitated and coordinated initial meetings with NCsoft Corporation for the purchase of Destination Games
• Supervising all areas of production for Tabula Rasa, including Art, Programming, Design, and QA
• Responsible for schedules, budget, headcount, recruiting, and media relations for Tabula Rasa
• Consulted with production teams for Lineage 1 & 2 (North America), City of Heroes, and Guild Wars
• Shipped Tabula Rasa in 2007

Consultant, Society of Industry Leaders (2005 – present)

• Consulting with investment clients on videogame industry topics

Board of Advisors Member, Ageia, Santa Clara, CA, (2003 – 2008)

• Member of Board of Advisors for Ageia Corporation, which manufactured physics hardware for the PC. Ageia was acquired by NVIDIA corporation in 2008

Contributor, Game Development Essentials (2003 – present)

• Ongoing contributor to and reviewer of the book series about game design, audio, localization, and project management.

Project Director/Producer, Origin Systems / Electronic Arts, Austin, TX, (1995 – 2000)

• Responsible for all areas of production including Art, Programming, and Design for Ultima Online, including schedules, budget, headcount, recruiting, and media relations
• Projects included Ultima IX: Ascension, Ultima Online, Ultima Online Live, Ultima Online 2

Quality Assurance Lead, Origin Systems / Electronic Arts, Austin, TX, (1992 – 1995)

• Responsible for all aspects of testing for products, including test plans and sign-off procedures
• Projects included Ultima VII: Part 2 Serpent Isle, Wing Commander III, Bioforge, System Shock, Ultima Underworld 2, Ultima VIII: Pagan, Wing Commander Armada, Privateer, Strike Commander, Ultima Runes of Virtue 2 (Gameboy), and Shadowcaster

Skills and Attributes

• Managing/Scheduling/Budgeting multi-million dollar projects with 300+ local staff
• Outsourcing of content: Art, Sound Effects, Engineering, Design, Development with up to 4 remote locations
• SCRUM and Agile project methodology (8+ years)
• Game Design (especially Massively Multi-Player Online) including writing and editing
• PC Online, Enterprise Platform, Database, Web Browser (Flash), iOS, Facebook, and Android Product Development
• Strategic Partnership Management (Apple, Google, Amazon, NVIDIA, Dell)
• Quality Assurance
• Media Relations and Public Speaking/Presenting
• Microsoft SharePoint, Project, and Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint)
• Keynote
• Live Theatre Stage Management and Set/Sound/Lighting design/implementation
• Live Music Lighting design and implementation

Education

• Louisiana State University, B.A. in Theatre

Projects

• Medallion Class Cruise Experience – Carnival Corporation
• Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues (Exec Producer) – Portalarium (PC, OSX, Linux)
• Cinderella: Shapes & Patterns (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Cars: Numbers & Counting (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Ariel: Numbers & Counting (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Toy Story: Letters (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Fairies: Art (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Fairies Fashion Boutique (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (iOS)
• Toontown (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (PC Online)
• Pirates of the Caribbean Online (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (PC Online)
• Pixie Hollow (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
• Disney Parent App (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Facebook)
• Club Penguin Learning Games (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
  • Pufflescape
  • Bits & Bolts
  • Jelly Bean Counters
  • 5 EPF Field Ops
• Virtual World 2 (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser, iOS, Android)
• Virtual World 1 (Exec Producer) – Disney Interactive Media Group (Browser)
• Disney Connected Learning Platform (Exec Producer) – Disney Corporate / DIMG (All platforms)
• Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa (Producer) – NCsoft (PC Online)
• Guild Wars (Consultant) – NCsoft (PC Online)
• City of Heroes (Consultant) – NCsoft (PC Online)
• Lineage 2 (Consultant for North America) – NCsoft (PC Online)
• Lineage (Consultant for North America) – NCsoft (PC Online)
• Ultima Online: The Second Age (Consultant) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC Online)
• Ultima Online (Director) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC Online)
• Ultima IX: Ascension (Associate Producer) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Bioforge (Quality Assurance Lead / Associate Producer) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Ultima VIII: Pagan (Quality Assurance Lead: French Version) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Metal Morph (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (SNES)
• Ultima Runes of Virtue II (QA Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (Game Boy/SNES)
• Wing Commander Armada (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Ultima Underworld 2 (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Ultima VII, Part Two: The Silver Seed (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Ultima VII, Part Two: Serpent Isle (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Pacific Strike (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Wing Commander Academy (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Wing Commander: Privateer (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)
• Strike Commander (Quality Assurance Tester) – Origin/Electronic Arts (PC)

Awards

• Game Developers Choice Online Awards Hall of Fame: Ultima Online 2010
• Top 20 Most Influential People in the Massively Multiplayer Online Industry 2008
• Manager of the Year 1999, ORIGIN Systems
• Most Valuable Player of the Year 1997, ORIGIN Systems
• Fireman of the Year 1994, ORIGIN Systems

Trade Shows and Affiliations

• International Game Developer’s Association
• Ridgetop Research
• Guidepoint Global
• Society of Industry Leaders
• Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences: Founding member, serving on panels for game design and online games for the annual AIAS awards since its founding
• Game Developers Conference: Given presentations on project management at 5 conferences.
• Game Developers Conference Europe: Featured speaker on project management
• Electronic Entertainment Exposition: Served on panels about online games at 4 expos
• Digital Hollywood: Served on panel about online games
• Consumer Electronics Show: Served on panel about online gaming
• Austin Game Developers Conference (now GDC Online): Featured speaker on project management
• South by Southwest Interactive: Served on panels about online gaming at two conferences
• Games Conference (Leipzig): Featured speaker on project management
• Produced By Conference: Served on panel about movies and videogame production
• Captivate Conference
• NAAEE
• Association of Professional Futurists
• Producers Guild

Favorite Games

• Diablo 2
• Rock Band 1 & 2
• Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City
• Starcraft 1 & 2
• Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar
• World of Warcraft
• Fallout 1, 3, and New Vegas
• Civilization Revolutions
• FTL
• Borderlands 1 & 2
• Hearthstone