Blog

Will Brinkman

We’re all on our way to Orlando! Darkmoon Faire time! I’m literally in the air as I write this. I am probably flying over your home as I write these words. You all look like ants. It’s enough to make a person feel… such power… where’s my magnifying glass?

Isn’t it great that a lunatic like me can find a home professionally? The game industry provides a great home for oddballs like myself. And working at a game company isn’t what you imagine—it’s that and more. Sorry to tease, but it’s the truth. Whenever one of us has a spare moment away from our core duties, we’re helping R&D with the development of this game and others. Get paid to play games-- I don't know how it happened, but it did. We all come from different backgrounds; some have extensive high-level tournament experience and others are playing their first TCG. While we leave the formal cooking to our R&D chefs, they like to get an idea of how we all respond to the meals they serve.

Lately we’ve been lending a hand with design on TOP SECRET (sorry Val Kilmer fans, not a game based on the 1980s film of the same name), we’re helping out every Friday from 2 PM to 6 PM playing games. Sometimes we’re checking out the latest in 15^th century German agrarian games—nothing says fun like playing the role of an impoverished subsistence farmer barely fending off starvation with no hope for upward social mobility—and other times we come back home to our flagship product: the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, like checking out Menagerie for the first time. That’s set 16, for those of you who didn’t read Scotty G’s piece last month.

We’ve been crazy busy getting Assault on Icecrown Citadel out the door, as well as preparing for conventions like PAX and the GAMA Trade Show. Even as we spin around like Tasmanian Devils, we sat down a spell to celebrate the Worldbreaker release. Better late than never!

I won’t spend too much time telling you about how R&D once again ran roughshod over we wordsmiths, artists, and community managers. I think I’m just going to start calling them Cobra Kai; they always sweep the leg. Instead, enjoy a sneak peak of a sponsorship we’re lining up. All the biggest stars have them. Gatorade commercials, Wheaties boxes, Viagra race car, etc... What do our pros use to refuel their bodies and mind?

Food and battles-- the gamer's two favorite pasttimes. If only someone were to mix the two...

Yasai Japanese Grill! See you next week.