Writing in the Game Industry Q&A with Rowland Cox.

• Do writers get plugged in after the fact and is this a reflection of university programs?
• Talent is phenomenal
• Have to be aware of increasing complexity.
• Skills are almost a given … you need to have an adaptive nature. The tools you are using now are not going to be the same in 10 years time.
• You need to be able to work in a group, coordinate with engineers.
• Close working with designers and writers, they share writing tasks.
• Be able to tell people what you have in mind for what you are working with, development.
• Deliver what you are thinking about, complexity.
• “I need to have a good, broad, understanding of how everything gets made” to work as a writer in the game industry.
• Designers – can coax genius out of the coders.
• There is a job for people who want to make the code secure. Certified Ethical hackers needed.
• The old guard of engineers have an excellent understanding about security.
• Working with other platforms and securing them is a vital part of the game design process. Integrity is important.
• “If you want to do games design, you should be studying for game design.”
• It’s never been easier to build video games, you should create your own video games and publish them yourself to get out there.
• Q: How do you construct a narrative for a player created character that is previously unknown for you? Not just creating a PC that is a quest receptacle, a real protagonist.
• Hard to deal with when there are many quests being written.
• Intertextual relationship in a game like World of Warcraft – where not a lot of thought has been given to quests from an RPG level, they are just something to move you around. There is instead a lot of content created by players
• “You guys are literally 50% of the content … your random interactions are better than the best quest.”
• Go out and enjoy the meta experience outside of the game as well. This is part of it as well.
• “There are quest writers … that pour their heart into some of the quest lines.” But some people will just skip through them.
• Q: Is it easier to make good games with the new technology available now?
• Sanbox tools allow you to do a lot, a simple and easy to use timeline.
• The problem with older games is that they have a higher barrier to entry.
• Antiquated UIs can cause problems.
• New games have very intuitive user interfaces.
• The idea of having a manual for a game now is so strange.
• But new design tools can be costly because it is cutting edge.
• But the revolution in mobile games allow us to bring back that spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity. Don’t look down on those mobile games.
• Mobile is now getting increasingly complex, like games from decades ago, but look far better.
• The barrier for entry is much lower.
• Q: A Community Director, what does that role do and how does it relate to the game writers?
• To be in charge of the front of the house.
• A link to the development team from and to the community.
• Work closely with marketing and PR, integral to pitches.
• ‘People come and troll you on forums not because they hate you but because their love of the game is almost pathological.’
• “Social media is a great magnifier of negativity, as well as positivity. “
• There are some fans that just are crazy excited about the game and create tons of content around the game and “those are the people you wake up every day to work with.”
• Looking at the original artwork, from before digital art.
• Q: Using games as a marketing tool?
• Free helps, especially if it is free without microtransactions.
• Build a website that you own.
• Have a social media person to distribute to your communications channels.
• You need an interesting story to tell.
• Q: In film there is a set format, is there a set format for writing for games?
• Some designers just write up a whole pile of paper.
• Every studio has their own methodology.
• There’s definitely some things you need to include, which is very dependent on tools and your engineers.
• If you’re putting together a portfolio?
• Appreciate that your ideas will go through a sausage machine.
• Write vignettes and paper prototypes.
• Get used to pitching a game, single quest, character and character arc.
• Self publish your own stuff! It’s never been easier.
• Paper prototyping! Bring it to an interview, attach to your resume. Show it off!
• Getting your foot in the door is hard.
• It’s tough to go straight into design, it happens, but you may have to intern.
• Paper prototyping
• How everything works
• SWOT
• What things will occur how it will work with tools.
• What is going to happen and how it is going to happen within the context of the game and available tools.
• ‘How your wall of text translates into a working game. ‘
• Work with a company that you want to work with – decide on what type of company you like to work with because you’re spending all your time with them.
• “Don’t get disheartened if your first job is not in computer games. There are lots of skills to learn.”
• Q: What if you want to run your own game company?
• Be good with money and people.
• Start off small.
• Work on other entrepreneurial projects first.
• Find good partners.
• You don’t necessarily need to use a bank.
• You don’t need a lot of money to write an app you can publish.
• Sniffing out people you can rely on.  – Important.
• It’s ok to care!
• “I’ve had some of the best gaming experiences in the past 5 years.”
• Even mobile games are excellent.
• “Games are amazing.”
• “You go from games with the gameplay … from the first generation … focused on a single gag … “
• “You’ll be able to go to the pub [in real life] and do NPC quests there.”
• Miss the tactile sensations.
• The digital content gets embraced.
• The manual as an augmented reality.

END of SESSION.