I entered that contest Bioware was having.  Did you hear about that?  The one where you write a dialogue centered module using their tools, and maybe they give you a job writing their actual games?  Invigorating!  There are plenty of challenges where gamers are exhorted to produce their finest maps and so forth, their finest software - tasks so removed from my own experience as to be mythical trials.  

If you entered a piece into this contest, I do feel a little bad.  They might not even get to yours because they may still be writhing on the floor, overwhelmed by the torrent of pleasure sprayed by my own epic product:  The Black Barn of Horesion.  Something happened in that  charred stable a hundred years ago - and within it neighs a waiting doom.

What Bioware is doing here is highly unorthodox, if not out and out unprecedented.  Stories occupy a debased strata of development priorities already, and the execution of those stories clings for dear life on a rung far below, foot very close to the black crust that has hardened over a cauldron of burning magma.  They have other shit to worry about, I don't blame them.  All the same, it was interesting to see a company move in this way, fishing for authors right out of the community. 

Many people were curious about the revelations of one Mr. Smith we posted recently, revelations authorized only for agents whose sec-prot threshhold is Delta or higher.  His seismic expose rocked  the very foundations of the thing that we are talking about.  I cast my net again recently, and came up with this tasty little cracker:

[Begin Message]

Wanna know about marketing, ask a Marketer. Here's a couple nifty bits for ya:
1) I have in my possession a marketing plan for NBA LIVE 2004 (don't ask how I got it...  ). This marketing plan actually refers to "Hiring viral specialists to advocate NBA Live online via chat rooms targeting gaming fan sites" and "Placing offensive, defensive and PR shills into common gaming chat arenas." It goes on to outline a full page of tactics for said "Guerilla Online Marketing for Core Gamers."

2) I actually hired a company called Hype Council (http://www.hypecouncil.com). These guys do a TON of gaming related stuff -- I actually wouldn't be surprised if it's the company referred to in your news post. Their technique is quite insidious. Let's say they were hired to pump up PA (not like you need the buzz, but whatever...). Using one of the hundreds of shill accounts they have across the net, they post a new thread that says something like "hey guys, I've been looking for some new web comics to read. Anybody have any recommendations?" This is non-threatening, and gets the community engaged. They then wait a couple days and post again, this time with "Well, I asked some friends and they suggested I check out Penny Arcade <insert link>. I thought it was pretty funny, although I didn't like all the cuss words. What do you guys think?" Again, seeking engagement, they now have stealthily inserted the client's link, thereby encouraging trial. It's all very measurable and very effective. You should see the monthly reports you get from these guys: everything is detailed. Spooky.

It's all very insidious and, I'm sure, widespread. So much so that I don't trust anything I read. Unless it's a board where I "know" the posters, I always assume everyone on the board is a shill.

[End Somewhat Terrifying Message]

I fully expect to check under my bed, and find there scurrying the manifold agents of my enemy.

(CW)TB out.

howling above the moon

I’ve been working on a lot of different projects recently. Finally I think its okay to give you a look at a couple of them. In order to view these hot sneak peeks you will of course need to join our Penny Arcade Supreme™ service. This is a program I’ve designed to reward our very special fans with exclusive content. Unlike other similar services ours has no subscription fee and requires no passwords. PA Supreme content will simply be displayed right here on the front page along with our regular updates.

So first up is the cover for the new Brady Games Online World of Warcraft strategy guide.

 

This new guide will actually come in the form of a large three ring binder. The idea is that you can download content from Brady and then stick it in your binder. Honestly I think this is a much better system for dishing out strategy content for an MMO. WOW is constantly evolving and this is a great way to keep the guide up to date.

I designed the Binder cover in such a way that you can make either side the “front” If you play Alliance you can hold it one way...

 

And if you play horde you can flip it around and make that the front.

 

I collaborated with the amazing Joe Pekar again on this project. I really love the way he colors my stuff.

Our first book “Attack of the Bacon Robots” is still just a month old but Tycho and I actually just wrapped up book 2. Here is a look at the cover of our second book “Epic Legends of the Magic Sword Kings”. This book will collect all the comics from our third year along with some of the news posts.

 

Those of you familiar with the Elemenstor Saga should recognize the Cerulean Citadel as well as Mount Wor.

The work being done over on the Elemenstor Wiki is really incredible. We gave people the basic timeline and some high level ideas for how the universe functioned. We gave them elemental wizards and ambulatory furniture, that sort of thing. We told people to fill in the rest of the world. What the community has done with it since is absolutely mind blowing. If you haven’t been over there recently I highly recommend it. Some of my personal favorite entries are the ones detailing “furnies” (people who dress up as furniture) and the Wizbits television series. They even have a fucking theme song for the cartoon!

Anyway we decided to draw on those epic themes for our second book. I’ve drawn Gabe as King Ronard and Tycho as Zonard. Once again this piece was expertly colored by Joe Pekar.

-Gabe out

If you see a copy of Attack of the Bacon Robots out there in the wild, it's one of the last books left in the first printing.  Dark Horse has completely sold through the initial thirty thousand books in the last two weeks, and as a result have begun ordering a second edition based on my careful edits of the original holy text.  I want to be excited about it, but honestly I'm just breathing a sigh of relief.

I've been really worried about this stupid thing, because after our last experience I had come to believe that the medium of books itself was haunted in some way.  It was all I could do not to beg you to rush out and buy it, in some common way that utilized the dark triumvirate.  This foul alliance consists of bold text, caps lock, and their cruel regent:   the reviled blinky tag.

(CW)TB