Skyrates is game design and development project I was part of during my graduate studies at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center.

In Skyrates, we experimented with sporadic play. A good way to think of your interaction with the game is much like checking your email. A few minutes here and there, spread throughout your entire day.

Skyrates is a free Flash MMO currently being played by a number of other players. At last count (of January 2008), there were 900 people in the air.

I was personally responsible for the Skill, Crew, and Tutorial systems, as well as dabbling with the rest of the client.

Additionally, one my great joys was working on the mythos and history of the world. What started as just insertions of flavor text for the various craft, moved on to adding ways for players to discover bits and pieces of the history of the world when they landed at a new place.

I also put together and ran overarching roleplay storylines featuring the players interacting with the NPCs in the world and helping make their own mark on the history of Skyrates.

Creating the game was a lot of fun. But making it a living, breathing, vibrant world was truly rewarding.