Shipping Number 3

We just locked down the art assets for Guild Wars: Nightfall. The third installment of Guild Wars. I guess we have 2 million people playing our game now. I've been working here almost 3 years now. I'm getting tired of working on the humps and bumps of these levels. The best comparison I can give to someone who doesn't know how computer game worlds are made is this: Imagine that you have a big bed sheet laid flat on the ground. Now imagine that you have to make it look like a world by placing wadded up newspaper under it to create mountains, canyons, and oceans. But you can't ever have sheer cliffs or overhangs. Then, you take model trees, houses, rocks and other props and place them on top of the sheet. Well that's what I do all day. I feel like I'm haven't had more than a handful of chances to actually exercise my creative potential here. I've considered trying to move over the creature modeling department, but it looks like there won't be an opening over there for a while. Plus I would have to learn new software, which is apparently 9 times harder for me to do than it is for everyone around me.

ArenaNet has been very, very good to me. The first year I was here was so difficult for me (What with the wife stealing the car, going to jail, getting a divorce, not caring for the kids, etc.) and it really showed in my job. My bosses were really understanding and I pulled through it by the grace of God and the kindness of those God placed around me.

It looks like one of my best friends from Michigan will be getting a job at Suckerpunch, a game company right across the street from where my wife works. My other good friends, Bart and Ramey work there too. So it's going to be neat to be able to hang with my old buddies again.

I want to get my own sculpting business going so I can work from home, and be able to live in a cheaper area than Bellevue. Right now, to live in a house that we could afford we would have to move at least an hour from work. I'm not willing to sacrifice 2 hours a day with my wife and kids just to live in a house. People are more important than comfortable living.

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