GWSIG Monthly Meeting Minutes/Meeting38

International Game Developers Association

Transcript of Wednesday, December 03, 2008 Meeting

Guests

• Aaron Scott
• brianshurtleff
• Chris
• CJ Kershner
• CoraySeifert
• Corvus
• Drew.McGee
• The englishman
• Jeff
• JessHartley
• JoeChan
• JohnEvans
• Kim
• Lauren
• Molly
• Rob
• Sande
• tobias_heussner
• TracySeamster
• wendy

Transcript begins at 5:00pm GMT.

The englishman: hi all glad you could make it. We've had a few apologies, but we'll hang on for a few minutes to give others a chance to join  :-D

The englishman: Which Chris is Chris?

Meebo Message: guest3997283 is now known as Jeff

CoraySeifert: (I may have to jump out at some point too)

Rob: Hello, hello.

Jeff: hola

Meebo Message: guest6572660 is now known as Kim

Kim: Hi!

The englishman: hola  :-)

The englishman: hi

Jeff: who went to Montreal and how was it?

Rob: I was about to dash out a half hour ago and get some coffee, but then I remembered the meeting and decided to wait it out and get coffee later.

Chris: Ummm... Chris Keeling

Meebo Message: guest1423601 is now known as Corvus

Chris: Sorry, I was afk for a miute there

brianshurtleff: has joined the room

The englishman: Thanks Chris

Corvus: happy early birthday, Chris

Molly: Anyone go to VGXpo in Philly?

Chris: Thanks Corvus  :-)

The englishman: Just waiting for Wendy then we'll start

Meebo Message: guest2500136 is now known as Lauren

The englishman: We'll start (when we start) with the website then move on

The englishman: If people can be thinking of GDC ideas in advance (we'll get there later) that would be great  :-)

CoraySeifert: Write Club + Pub = GDC Win

CoraySeifert:  :-)

Chris: Coray FTW!

Kim: I second that!

Meebo Message: guest2665407 is now known as tobias_heussner

tobias_heussner: Hello

Jeff: Pub=lots of craft beer

Chris: Welcome

The englishman: Mmmmm, not sure about the pub bit...writers are generally such a sober bunch...*cough* *cough*

Molly: I applied to volunteer at GDC this year.

The englishman: Welcome tobias

Rob: That combination worked in Austin...

Corvus: Awesome,Molly!

Molly: So, with any amount of luck... :: lots of crossed fingers ::

Meebo Message: guest5383050 is now known as JoeChan

The englishman: Any other thoughts on GDC, let's make that the start of the meeting

The englishman: Volunteers for Write club, ideas to run in Write Club?

Jeff: where will we meet while there?

Meebo Message: guest585624 is now known as wendy

guest585624: hello everyone

wendy: or rather, hello everyone

The englishman: Hiya Wendy...we've started with GDC

tobias_heussner: hi wendy

The englishman: And Write Club

Chris: I liked last year's implementation (I believe by Corvus) of GoogleMaps showing where everyone was staying and their contact info

Rob: hey wendy

Corvus: I'll volunteer to manage the contact info again

wendy: yay!

Meebo Message: guest2246114 is now known as Sande

Corvus: We can actually share Google maps more meaningfully now too

Sande: I can't follow the convo carefully. I'll just read at the end

The englishman: Great stuff Crovus, thanks for that

The englishman: gah, typo day Corvus

Rob: what do you mean exactly by "Write Club"?

The englishman: Okay...session content for Write Club...volunteers and suggestions?

CoraySeifert: i'll volunteer for whatever incarnation it shall become!

Kim: Maybe we can change it up a bit for Write Club. I just ran it for Future Play here in Toronto, which went well, but I was wondering if we could do something new. Maybe set the group up in teams and give them challenges.

Kim: Or do both - individual challenges and a group challenge.

The englishman: That's a start, thanks Kim

wendy: what do you think the group challenges will do that the individual challenges don't?

The englishman: Feedback from anyone who's been to WriteClub?

Jeff: make u play well with others

CoraySeifert: it was awesome. better than cats  :-)

wendy: (btw. Rob, Write Club is a game writing competition we held one year as a session at GDC and has been run every year since at FuturePlay by Kim.)

CoraySeifert: just needed beer to make it 10x more fun

Rob: ah, thanks

Kim: Hmm... I guess it would force the writers to collaborate.

Kim: And, yes, beer would help!  :-)

wendy: i guess if we're not locked in to the conference format and HAVE to finish it up in an hour, then we could do some team challenges. It just always seems to take ten times longer when writers try to work in a group.  :-)

The englishman: Team writing is important for a lot of games writing

CoraySeifert: this is true...would be great to have team dynamics be a core component

The englishman: Have you an idea for how the session could work...would you be happy to work with Coray on this one?

Rob: well I reckon I'd volunteer, despite not knowing what volunteers actually do or anything

Kim: Sure, though I don't know if I'm going to GDC yet. But I'm happy to work on it.

CoraySeifert: an offline email brainstorming session could probably yield some good results.

CoraySeifert: volunteers = elves

Rob: I'm just that enthusiastic

CoraySeifert: *santa elves, not D&D elves

wendy: I was a judge when we did it at GDC. I'd be happy to do that again.

The englishman: I've done some team things before, they're good as long as the teams aren't too big and there are plenty of volunteers to circulate and make sure people are working AS teams without someone trying to dominate everyone else

The englishman: So Rob is open to be experimented on?

Jeff: teams of four?

Rob: ummmm ... to a point I guess

The englishman: I'd say 3-4 no bigger would be best

Kim: Four seems like a good number.

Rob: this philosophy has been working with me and the gwsig so far

The englishman: So that's settled then...in this year's Write Club teams of 4 people will take it in turns to experiment on Rob?

The englishman: Any theme for this year?

CoraySeifert: sold!

wendy: I think the group can figure that out via email. I feel the need to move on to the next agenda item  :-)

tobias_heussner: sounds good

Rob: Ok

The englishman: website...any news Wendy?

The englishman: Corvus Kim and Rob...okay to continue this outside the meeting?

Kim: Yes.

wendy: well, the problem recently reported with the website has been fixed. I think the ISP did something.

Rob: sure

The englishman: Thank you for volunteering *polite applause!!* :0)

wendy: At any rate, it's fixed now.

Molly: Yay!

The englishman: Any more thoughts on the WIKI?

Meebo Message: guest7193975 is now known as Drew.McGee

Drew.McGee: Sorry for running late.

wendy: I'm told we'll be able to play around with an implementation of the new igda.org "soon"

wendy: which really means Corvus will get to play around with it, as he's the website guy right now  :-)

Rob: hey Drew

Corvus: yeah, the last pass was... incomplete

The englishman: Hey Drew  :-)

wendy: at any rate, progress seems to be being made on the website front, but nobody can see it yet.

Corvus: hopefully the next pass will result in my having something to talk about

Drew.McGee: Hello, one and all

CoraySeifert: gotta run...apologies for my best suggestion being "beer". Will catch up on the log when I get back. Good to see everyone!

The englishman: hurrah for progress...unseen or not

The englishman: see you Corvus

The englishman: and it was a great suggestion!

Corvus: Coray is leaving, not Corvus

wendy: any questions about the website?

The englishman: Rob...anything more on the Wiki?

Rob: The wiki update I have is that unfortunately I didn't make one of the updates we talked about at the last meeting, which was putting links to popular/interesting mailing list and forum threads.

The englishman: no problem...we'll keep that on the list, thanks for still having it on yours  :-)

Rob: Wendy said she sent me some links in email, but I did a diligent search of my gmail and I couldn't find them

The englishman: Wendy?

Rob: So I'm not sure whether I'm just blind or not, but it's still on my slate.

Rob: I was also thinking of taking some time to trawl around for interesting threads on my own and stick some links up.

wendy: maybe we need to talk about this one on one, rob. email me?

Rob: I shall do so

Drew.McGee: I couldn't help but hear the father from Peter Pan when Andy called for Wendy just now

The englishman: Unless there's any other thoughts I'd say we have looked at the website and the next point, forums as well ....Script and sample library ?

The englishman: I've always seen myself more as Captain Hook

Meebo Message: guest1692784 is now known as CJK

Rob: Drew Mc Smee

CJK: Much better. Hello world.

Drew.McGee:  :-(

The englishman: Okay....so which one of you jokers brought a clock with you?

Rob: aw

The englishman: So...thoughts on script ad sample library.....  ;-)

The englishman: (what's wrong with Smee?)

Drew.McGee: Yes, more, more samples

The englishman: you want more?

wendy: Hello CJK - is this Cheri? I was just writing you an email  :-)

Rob: I did some localization work on an Italian IF game once. I was thinking maybe that might make an interesting example

tobias_heussner: according the library. I'm working on some hopefully useful templates, which I can post soon

brianshurtleff: more would be nice in the sample library, yes

wendy: yes, I think localization examples would be great

CJK: No, I'm not Cheri. I work at Kaos with Coray.

tobias_heussner: maybe I can organize some samples too

wendy: I guess I'd better finish that email then...

Meebo Message: CJK is now known as CJ Kershner

Drew.McGee: Nothing is inherently wrong with Smee, it's just that my last name has always been maleable to every situation and conversation I find myself in.

Rob: (to Drew) oh, sorry about that

wendy: we've actually had a great response to getting samples for the upcoming book, and we should be able to add those to the library too (eventually)

brianshurtleff: excelent!

Drew.McGee: (Rob) Np, It's irritainment at its finest.

The englishman: Hi CJK  :-D

Jeff: wendy, did you get a decent number of Amazon recommendations for the current book?

The englishman: Great to hear we have more samples offered up

wendy: actually, we only have 2 more reviews on Amazon after I begged for more

The englishman: If you know of anyone who can offer samples of any sort of games writing from scripts to advert copy to manuals please let them know

Jeff: ouch

wendy: so if you're still thinking about writing one - yes please!!

The englishman: Anyone here read the book who didn't work on it?

The englishman: Please...pop a review on Amazon!  :-)

tobias_heussner: I'll post an recommendation soon on the German Amazon

wendy: yay!

Rob: where are the samples going to go in the new book? is that an appendix or something?

wendy: yes, the samples go in an appendix

Drew.McGee: I'm reading it

The englishman: Thanks Tobias  :-)

The englishman: unless it gets to big and bursts

The englishman: too

Drew.McGee: But it takes me a while because I know your voices now and have to read with the correct intonations.

The englishman: That's sort of brought us on to the book, so let's cover other book news now...Wendy...update?  :-)

The englishman: lol  :-)

wendy: well, if all goes according to plan, we'll have book 3 available to buy at GDC in March

Jeff: yay

wendy: so if you're a contributor - don't hold things up!!

tobias_heussner: if there anything I can help with according the book, please let me know

The englishman: so get the reviews in on Book 2 soon....before we start pestering you for reviews on book 3  :-D

wendy: there has also been some talk of doing a book signing at GDC

The englishman: What are you missing for Book 3, just the signed agreements?

wendy: if anybody missed out on the fun of Book 3, I'm pretty sure a Book 4 will be coming up. We can't seem to keep our hands off these projects  :-)

Rob: huzzah

tobias_heussner: I'm up for it

wendy: we need signed agreements turned in, and in a week or so, we'll need a prompt response to the pdf proofs

Meebo Message: guest4222732 is now known as JohnEvans

The englishman: Great stuff...book 4 discussions lie ahead...

The englishman: In the meantime - Hiring Hall 2.0. : Writer facility.

The englishman: anyone?

wendy: Rob was involved in that...

Rob: The mailing list discussion sort of stopped a while back, and I haven't heard anything lately. although I think at the last meeting we kind of figured out that it was one of the things waiting for the new website roll-out in a way

The englishman: We're sort of in circling mode on a few things.

wendy: did you get enough feedback on the sample database you made, Rob?

The englishman: Let's continue on the Hiring Hall, but open up too. We made progress on the Quartley last meeting...does anyone know where progress is up to on that? Have you been contacted for interviews?

Rob: some of that was helpful. I guess people are sort of agreed on what they'd like it to be like, but since it's all theoretical I think actually implementing it in some practical way will cause more feedback to instantly happen

Molly: I contacted a bunch of people for the Initative Update for the Quarterly, but only heard back from a few.

The englishman: What are you short of Molly?

The englishman: What do you need?

wendy: did that long message make it through?

Molly: Educational outreach was a big one.

The englishman: which long message?

wendy: i guess that's no

wendy: erm. we may need to find a new editor for the Quarterly. I've had some conversations with Beth lately, and she's not sure she can continue with that volunteer job.

wendy: So if anyone is interested in adding "editor" to their resume (we pay in glory points, not dollars) and you're sure you can follow through (you don't want to face the wrath of Wendy) send me an email

The englishman: We had a set of suggestions for topics and possible interviewees on the last meeting minutes

Molly: Basically, if you made progress on an initiative, and you want all the Quarterly readers to know about it, email me.

The englishman: Molly, what is it you need for the Education outreach?

The englishman: Wendy, can you help Molly with that one?

The englishman: Increasing SIG visibility - any thoughts on extra initiatives to do this?

Meebo Message: guest924465 is now known as TracySeamster

wendy: yeah, Molly, drop me an email if you're stuck on something

Molly: Cool, thanks!

Rob: Hmm. I volunteered to be an assistant editor, but I think that's as far as I should go at this point.

wendy: has anyone been pitching articles to magazines out there?

TracySeamster: Articles about the SIG itself, or in general?

Rob: Unless there was nobody else in which case I'd figure out how to do it

The englishman: In general that mention the SIG, but articles on the SIG welcome

The englishman: Sorry Rob....'Unless there was nobody else in which case I'd figure out how to do it'???

TracySeamster: I need permission from our PR department before I can write anything external.  :-D

wendy: he's talking about the editor problem, which everyone else missed  :-)

Rob: sorry, I was lagging behind and stil talking about editing the quarterly

tobias_heussner: @Rob I may have some time to help you as assistant with the Quarterly

Molly: @Rob, me too.

The englishman: Thanks Rob...anyone willing to share with Rob or to take the role on?

The englishman: Hey great...didn't even need to bring out the SIG's big volunteer stick

The englishman: Thanks Molly and Tobias

The englishman: Can the 3 of you talk after this

The englishman: any ??? please let us know

The englishman: And Rob....don't take too much on  ;-)

The englishman: Finally....any other business which includes...thoughts on the above...suggestions for things we should be doing and a chance for people to ring bells and tell us what they are doing themselves.

tobias_heussner: @Rob: I have another meeting in 10 minutes, but feel free to email me according the Quarterly

wendy: has left the room

brianshurtleff: There was mention of a Book 4 above. How theoretical is that at this time? I remember hearing what the first 3 books were about, but not a 4th...

Rob: (to tobias) ok

Kim: Wendy, regarding the magazine articles, I've been asked to contribute to "Canadian Screenwriter," the Writers Guild of Canada magazine, and I'll be writing an article about ARGs for their upcoming issue.

The englishman: THe 4th is totally hypothetical

TracySeamster: Looks like Wendy disco'd

Rob: she bugged out

The englishman: we'll let things cool for a bit on the book then start thinking again next year

The englishman: give people time to recover  :-)

Rob: I squeaked into the 3rd book as an author at the last minute

The englishman: Hey, that's great Kim!

Rob: which I am quite pleased about

The englishman: Nice Rob...what did you write about?

Rob: interactive fiction

The englishman: cool

Kim: Thanks, Andy.

tobias_heussner: nice

The englishman: The 3rd book will come out next year

The englishman: hopefully in time for GDC

Jeff: do most people here go to GDC?

Meebo Message: guest2714614 is now known as JessHartley

JessHartley: I'm sorry to ask the newb question, but how do I change my nick?

tobias_heussner: I'd like to, but it looks like that I can only be at the Austin one

JessHartley: *chuckles* Never mind.  :-)

Rob: I'm planning on it

TracySeamster: I'm hoping to get to Austin next year if I don't go to San Francisco.

CoraySeifert: has left the room

Rob: right-click on your name in the user list at the right, and it gives you the option to change it

brianshurtleff: Im finally going to GDC this year, so, hope the book is done by then.  :-)

Meebo Message: guest2402733 is now known as Aaron Scott

Rob: it's shooting to the publishers in a matter of days

The englishman: Sadly can't make GDC...Think I'll be over this side of the pond...work depending

Molly: I volunteered. So we'll see.

The englishman: Cross fingers Molly  :-)

brianshurtleff: I volunteered as well

brianshurtleff: well, applied to

Corvus: Good to hear, Brian!

JessHartley: I've never been to a GDC, since my work's been all in the pen-and-paper field thus far.

Kim: I'm hoping to get to GDC. It depends if I get funding for my project or not.

The englishman: Ah....almost forgot....some time in the New year there will be a joint IGDA:Writers Guild of Great Britain event on games writing

brianshurtleff: of course, I applied to last year, and didn't get in. Here's to hoping this year. I've volunteered at AGDC and another conference so I don't see why not.

The englishman: details will follow...but it's most likely to be a panel event in London

Jeff: nice

Rob: ooh I'd like to go to that...

Kim: That's great, Andy. Did you organise that?

Jeff: i need to go london

Rob: if only I were rich and/or famous

The englishman: folloewd by beer

Jeff: oh yes beer!

The englishman: You'd be welcome Jeff  :-)

Rob: proper english beer? wha?

The englishman: apparently it's needed for Writers things...Corvus suggested it

Molly: I like english beer.

The englishman: Any other business? Anyone anyone?

TracySeamster: You had us all at Beer  :-)

Rob: ok, I need to run

Corvus: Coray suggested it, actually

Rob: thanks for chairing the meeting Andy... nice job

Jeff: yeah keep us updated on when in the new year

Corvus: Not that I'm adverse to the idea

Kim: Meebo needs a beer emoticon!

The englishman: aH, APOLOGIES Corvus and Coray

Chris: This meeting went unusually smoothly!  ;-)

The englishman: Thanks Rob

The englishman: Thanks for coming everyone

TracySeamster: Aloha!

TracySeamster: Aloha!

Corvus: adios

Rob: has left the room

Corvus: has left the room

Jeff: cya

TracySeamster: has left the room

Chris: Ciao

The englishman: Please keep posting on the mailing list

Jeff: has left the room

tobias_heussner: thanks andy

Kim: Bye

Molly: Bye.

The englishman: see you all soon

Chris: has left the room

JohnEvans: has left the room

Molly: has left the room

tobias_heussner: Merry christmas and happy new year to everyone

brianshurtleff: Goodbye.

brianshurtleff: has left the room

The englishman: you too tobias

tobias_heussner: in case we don't see again this year

End of transcript, 5:56pm GMT.