After several days of revisions, reinstalling programs, and finding pretty pictures, I am please to present to you Part 2 of Jerich’s meeting with Marsh, which includes more in-depth details on the “Pioneers in Interactive Media” workshop. Read on:

Jerich Speaks with Marsh Lefler (Bebop) at the “Pioneers in Interactive Media” Workshop Part 2

This is a continuation from part I of this two part series. In the first post, I described some of the tidbits of information that Marsh gave me. Here, I write a narrative description of the event. I will highlight the most interesting parts in green, for those who don’t feel like reading the whole thing.

The Invitation

Thursday was a pretty busy work-day for me. Finals were drawing near to close and my students were coming in to make up last minute work. I am also a coach of our schools first Robotics Team and we are in the middle of the build season. That being said, I try to make a little time each day to log onto the Torchlight forum. That is when I noticed that Webbstre had PMed me. Basically Runic sent out the following tweet:

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Part 2 of Massively’s article on how to be an MMO Blogger is now out! As we mentioned yesterday, Runic Games’ very own Wonder Russell (The “Minister of Culture”) was included in the interview questions. Here s an interesting question with a nice story quoted from Wonder’s part:

From your professional standpoint, what are some of the key differences between bloggers and major MMO news sites?

Wonder Russell: I can only give my personal experience, and that is coming from a tiny company where most of the news contacts I have now had a “Who?!” reaction, or totally blew us off. Having that background, I really like maintaining good relationships with bloggers who, like us, believe in what they do and want to do it well. It’s kind of like the indie outlet for the indie company.

Right before launch, I took an early chance on Stephen Bray, a Scottish youtube blogger. Here is the email he sent me:

Hello friends,

I am an amateur computer game reviewer presently creating video reviews posted to YouTube. A friend and I are looking at setting up a real site some time next year, but that’s just something in the pipeline right now.

I would like to ask if you would be interested in providing me with a copy of your upcoming game Torchlight for review.

I appreciate that I am just some random guy and that video reviews on YouTube aren’t as prestigious as something like IGN or GameSpot, but I have close to a thousand subscribers and almost all of my reviews have many thousands of views (my World of Goo review has had over fifty thousand views), so I am quite capable of reaching a broad audience.

I appreciate that this may be an irregular request, but consider that the way people consume content is changing. I find a lot of people prefer to put their stock in the word of the independent man on the street, when the alternative is the corporate-owned profit-centric website.

Should you be interested in perusing my library of reviews, you can find them all here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/antisocialfatman

Thanks for taking the time to consider my request,

Stephen

That review has over 80,000 views on youtube (you can see it here) and it turned out to be one of the most detailed and interesting reviews we had.

On top of that, here is an excerpt of a note I got back from Stephen, that made a few of us a wee bit emotional:

“I’d like to thank you sincerely for sending me a press copy of Torchlight. I’ve asked a number of developers (most small/indie companies) for review copies of games, and not only are you the first to acquiesce, you’re the first to even respond. I really appreciate it.”

I’m so glad we sent him a copy. It was a risk (especially because we had the game on an FTP site!) but turned into an awesome opportunity.

For the full article, click here!

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Everyone’s favorite Art Director is the focus of this week’s Dev Blog. Let’s hop right into it:

Hey there, people.

I’m Jason Beck, the Art Director here at Runic. I’ve been with this group since Mythos and with a handful of these guys like Travis, Marsh, Greg, Brock, John, and Mike since our time together while I was pitching in on FATE. I’m originally from the Portland, OR area and saw my fair share of small to mid-sized studios try and flail before I relocated up to the Seattle area in 2001. I studied Fine Arts and Computer Animation and have had a pretty wide range of roles in the industry, from Character Artist and Animator, Level Designer, Modeler, Concept Artist, and a bundle of hybrid roles as a Lead and now an AD. It feels very strange being able to say it’s now Year 12 in the industry.

My day to day varies greatly. I strive for a nice split between management and production work, but the percentages have shifted on me as we grow. There are days where it resembles an Instant Messaging Crisis Hotline and there are others where I’m stomping around as a new monster idea with our animator. I love the variety of work, having a hand in building a creative environment, working with the best coders and gaming minds around, and doing my part to create new games and IP with the rest of the team.

Torchlight has been out as a digital download since the end of Oct. and the response has been amazing. Recently, the boxed version has been made available to many retailers, and we’re working on the final parts of our localized and regional versions as well. In parallel, we’re all hard at work on the next project and scribbling up ideas, painting beautiful concepts, and writing up a whole lotta backstory and lore as we expand and add to our IP.

One of the more difficult conversations I have with people I meet for the first time is discussing my work. After I’ve gone on and on about how I love what I do, the crazy bits of fun we have, how I basically am being paid to make monsters every day, and how I can’t imagine doing anything else I’m usually given that snarky response of “must be fun to play all day”. But while there is certainly a wealth of passion, creativity, and childlike zeal involved…there is also a tremendous amount of work, time, and commitment necessary… and this team is a tenacious band of the best of both sides of that coin. Wouldn’t wanna be anywhere else.

Welcome Jason!

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Austrian publisher JoWood has taken charge of off-line retail distribution of the single player Torchlight, which means all of our wanting European visitors will finally have the chance to buy the game in a physical store. Here is a copy of the press release, via Blue’s News:

TORCHLIGHT THE NEW HACK’N'SLASH CREATED BY DIABLO DEVELOPERS – BOXED VERSION TO HIT STORE SHELVES IN MARCH!

JoWooD takes over offline distribution of Runic Games’ Torchlight

Vienna, Austria, February 4th 2010; The Austrian publisher JoWooD Entertainment has obtained the rights to distribute Runic games’ brand-new Hack and Slash game “Torchlight”, adding another triple-A brand to JoWooD’s distribution titles in the first quarter of 2010. The publisher takes over all Marketing and PR, as well as sales agendas for Torchlight. The game will be available in retail stores by end of March – as demanded by many fans who still prefer to own a physical copy of games they buy.

Torchlight and Runic Games:
Torchlight was developed by Runic Games. The studio consists of the former Diablo creators Max and Erich Schaefer and several more famous representatives of the international game dev scene. So far the game has received average ratings of well over 80% worldwide, as well as several awards, and the game ’s sales curve has been rising continuously.

Albert Seidl, CEO JoWooD Group, explains:„JoWooD Entertainment will utilize its highly effective distribution network to optimally position the game in stores all over Europe (excluding France and Benelux). The enormous amount of publicity this title has generated in the media so far, as well as the product’s indubitable top quality, makes us certain that this title has huge potential” and adds “We are enthusiastic to be able to cooperate with Runic Games on this project and are looking forward to a highly successful release.”

Title: Torchlight
Platform: PC
Genre: Hack and Slash, Action RPG
Release: March 23rd, 2010
UVP: 19,99€
Territories: Europe (excluding France + Benelux) plus Russia and former CIS

About JoWooD Entertainment AG
JoWooD Entertainment AG (ATXPrime: JWD) is listed in the Prime Market segment of the Vienna stock exchange. JoWooD is a publisher of computer and videogames, releasing international acclaimed, high-quality entertainment software for all existing and upcoming gaming systems.
JoWooD Entertainment also offers distribution services for third party developers/publishers over its global distribution network.
Visit http://corporate.jowood.com for more information.

About DreamCatcher Inc.
DreamCatcher Inc. is a leading worldwide publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment software. DreamCatcher Interactive is owned by JoWooD Entertainment AG, an Austrian based video game publisher traded on the Vienna stock ex change.
Established in 1996, the company markets its products under two popular labels: DreamCatcher Games, featuring the critically-acclaimed, bestselling game Painkiller; and The Adventure Company, the number one brand for PC adventure game sales worldwide including award winning titles such as Syberia and Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None.
DreamCatcher products include titles for Windows® as well as leading hardware platforms – the Xbox 360™, PlayStation® 3, Nintendo DS™ and Wii™.

Hear that, European fans? Go tell your friends about Torchlight right now!

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Massively has the first of a two-part article up about Blogging in regards to MMOs. They contacted several Public Relations/Community Manager type people from various companies for their thoughts on the matter, and our own Minister of Culture Wonder Russell is one of the people who were interviewed! Here are a couple clips as to what she had to say:

What are some things a blogger can do to further promote a relationship with your company?

Wonder Russell: Check back in when the review goes live. Ask to stay on the PR list so you’ll be in the loop when developments are announced. Get on board with Twitter. Have a great idea for a contest or article? Pitch it! These relationships are really about the dialogue.

What are some things a blogger can do to harm a relationship with your company?

Wonder Russell: If a blogger doesn’t take what they do seriously and don’t actually care about the culture of gaming, the gaming community, writing quality in-depth reviews (no writing the review after only a few hours of play), it’s going to show. That reflects badly on us, and well, we aren’t gonna be super happy to give you a free game next time! There are other obvious things I can think of, like using a blog to grandstand or trash talk other companies. That’s never happened to us, but I’d guess it’s a pretty common concern among game developers/publishers – we’d like to trust you and know we made the right decision.

You can check out part 1 of the full article right here.

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Yesterday’s launch of the new patch also happened to coincide with the launch of four members of Runic into the air and towards “The Middle Kingdom.” If my riddles confuse you, let me clue you in with a copy of the latest post from the official Torchlight site:

And they’re off!

Members of Runic Games are en route to China today, spending 10 days in Beijing and Shanghai visiting our partners.

This is Technical Artist Adam Perin’s first trip to China which inspires a lot of glee around the office – Adam is the most notoriously finicky eater we have ever met. Subsisting primarily on mac ‘n’ cheese, fries, and cheap beer, it’s only a matter of time before he dies of scurvy.

Eating in China would be a cuisine adventure for anyone, but for Adam it’s more like truth or dare. We’re daring him to challenge the boundaries of his consumption habits – maybe by a nanometer or so. Here are Adam’s thoughts on the matter:

We want you to add your opinion! Check out the poll on our forums to vote for what you think Adam should eat!

Check back often, we’ll keep you updated with photos from the trip. Bon Voyage, boys!

But the fun doesn’t end there!

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