Personal Writing and Meetings

So, have I ever mentioned that I really, REALLY, do not like bars? I really don't like the atmosphere, the food, the drinks, etc. I would much rather prefer to go out elsewhere, but that seems to be another topic for discussion. Anyhow, what inspired this sudden rant? Well, I have a group meeting today at some point in time at a local bar to discuss work for the project we're working on. Now, I may not be too keen on the amount of work that gets done in a bar setting, but I am pretty sure that the amount of work that will get done will amount to something between 0 and 1, on a 100 point scale of how productive this meeting could be.

So, the obvious question to this is: So, why don't you just not go? I mean, you don't have to, right?

Well, that depends. As far as group dynamics and team building are considered, some of these types of meetings are great for bonding a team together better. Aside, they could possibly be productive, even though the chances are slim. Furthermore, when you're someone who tries to keep everyone on track, managing different aspects of the project, it's usually a bad idea to not be where your comrades in arms are.

Now, aside from my previous rant, there is also the second and less important issue: I have no money! None! No money whatsoever. So, as this can be seen, I am not going to get anything out of this trip aside maybe some group bonding time, but even that is doubtful.

So, now with that topic aside, we can talk about better things.

I have begun to work on my story series again (or series of short stories to be a better example). I have currently finished the first 2 of what will be close to a 20 story work, at least for what would be the first overarching story in the series. While I have more written on it (another 5 short stories I have worked on before), the majority of those will be redone as I work slowly onwards, re-writing them to suit my new style. I may start publishing them at some point to my website, though I will probably be keeping them close and under my eyes only until I have something worth publishing. That may include publishing them in some way that reduces the amount of negative capability in the whole series (meaning I may just publish the whole thing at once, lol).

Anyhow, we'll see how all of this goes.

Starting School (Again): Final Quarter for SE and Entering the Game Industry

So, I have finally started up classes again completely. Finishing up the last quarter for my BS in Software Engineering. Likewise, I'm also taking two graduate level courses in the Game Design and Development master's sequence, seeing as I am technically enrolled (but do not officially enter until this Winter).

Thinking over the summer, I came to realize that I should be applying to game companies because the overall experience I could get in industry would completely outweigh what I would get out of the masters. This is mainly due to the experience based nature of the industry, as well as the fact that, other than some minor skills I could pick up in the masters, what the masters would really do for me is build my portfolio (something I would get automatically working in the industry). Hence, I have applied to these places:

1. ArenaNet (#1 Choice, makers of Guild Wars, etc)
2. Bethesda Softworks (#2 choice, makers of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout 3)
3. Blizzard (#3 choice, makers of Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, and World of Warcraft)
4. Turbine (makers of Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online)
5. Microsoft (Halo and XBox games division)

So, for all of those, I'm hoping to actually possibly hear something positive back. Because of the nature for most of these jobs, I probably won't begin to hear anything serious for another month, giving me two months to my proposed availability date.

So, that's it for now. Hopefully, between now and then, Senior Project won't eat me alive.