Russ,
I believe I can demonstrably do the job, as I have already been performing many of those duties as Co-host of
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast since May of 2010. The quality of my work in both covering and analyzing
Pathfinder products and in interviewing Paizo’s business, creative staff and its freelance writers has been recognized by the ENnie judges who recently nominated
Chronicles for an ENnie. As you know, many of the members of ENWorld evidently agreed with the judges’ opinion and we received a Silver ENnie award a little over two weeks ago at Gencon Indy for “best podcast”.
Host of Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast
The most recent episode of the podcast -- and one which focuses on Pathfinder and other RPG "news" was released today. You can find it
here.
As the principal interviewer for
Chronicles, I already have an existing relationship with Paizo staff and many writers in the Werecabbages freelancer guild. In that regard, expanding that ongoing awareness to more fully report here on ENWorld concerning all forthcoming releases in the
Pathfinder and GameMastery brands is a natural progression of my work on the podcast and capitalizes on those existing relationships. In short: it’s a natural fit.
Contacts in the Industry
Oddly enough, despite my obvious preference for
Pathfinder, I have maintained a healthy respect and admiration for Paizo’s competitors at Wizards of the Coast. At the past Gencon, I spent Thursday night drinking with several of the Werecabbages, won an ENnie for our Pathfinder podcast on Friday evening, and yet -- somehow – I found myself on Saturday night bending elbows at a bar and swapping war stories with Mike Mearls, Rodney Thompson, and Steve Baldman. I promised I wouldn’t recount the details of what was said in confidence to me on either night over (far too many) drinks – and I keep my promises. Nevertheless, having the trust of creative staff among the best people in the business at both Paizo and Wizards of the Coast on how their particular brand of sausage is made is essential to understanding and reporting on the hobby games business. (I’ll chalk up the resulting hangovers as an “occupational hazard” and leave it at that.)
My Professional Background
Being a correspondent was once something I considered as a full-time professional occupation. After being the editor of my high school newspaper, I initially enrolled in Canada’s leading Journalism program at Carleton University in 1982. After two years, I found the study of journalism failed to engage me and my interests drifted. Ultimately, I settled upon a profession which was a hybrid of my passion for asking pointed questions and a love of complex rule systems: I became a lawyer.
I have been a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada (the bar of Ontario) since 1995 and my current practice is principally focused on commercial litigation as well as franchising, licensing, copyright and trade-mark law. As a lawyer, my ability to communicate effectively in writing is absolutely essential to my craft.
Writing Samples on ENWorld
While submitting legal writing samples are certain to bore you to death, I would point you instead to a sample of threads and posts here on ENWorld over the years:
Modules, it turns out, Apparently DO Sell
Top 5 RPGs - 2nd Quarter, 2011
Coolest. Gaming Set-up. Evar.
Spring Attack, Reach and AoO
Gencon and Paizocon Attendance: Coverage of Paizo's Seminars
I am a regular attendee at Gencon – where you and I have met briefly over the years. More importantly, with respect to covering seminars and panels presented by Paizo, I already do exactly that in connection with
Chronicles. Literally
thousands of ENWorlders have downloaded our coverage of Paizo’s seminars presented at Gencon 2010, Paizo’s full seminar track at PaizoCon 2011, and our coverage of Paizo’s seminars and my personal interview with Erik Mona at Gencon 2011 as well.
Writing Style and Approach
I have been a gamer since 1978 and like most gamers of my vintage, I have played and enjoyed a vast number of systems over the course of years.
Pathfinder is currently my system of choice. I both play and GM in several
Pathfinder campaigns with an established group that I have known and gamed with for decades. I also game remotely with my podcast co-hosts across North America. In addition, I am a local organizer for Pathfinder Society in the Toronto area and have acted as a GM for Pathfinder Society at the past two Gencons.
When reporting on a game system and its product line, a correspondent needs to address the concerns and interests of long-time gamers who have a deep understanding and strong familiarity with the topic. At the same time, it is absolutely essential to be able to also address the topic from the view of a new player who has only a passing familiarity with the game system. Meeting and gaming with a variety of new players of differing ages and experience every week is what I have come to appreciate most about being a GM for Pathfinder Society.
While I am as nostalgic as anyone concerning my gaming experiences thirty years ago, I don’t believe that we can ever go back. Instead, I am content to use Pathfinder Society as my opportunity to see that fresh gaming experience through the eyes of new players at my table, many of whom are bright and shiny-eyed, untarnished (and perhaps,
unjaded) by the passing decades. I firmly believe that in order to keep this hobby alive, we must pass on our knowledge and experience to a new generation of gamers; however, just as importantly, we have to listen to what new gamers want and what they have to say, too. The future of RPGs lies in new products and new ways of gaming; the future does not lie in the past, however much that future may be shaped by it.
Past and Ongoing Interest in the Business of Games
Lastly, I should add that I have experience with -- and I remain involved in -- the business side of gaming as well as its creative aspects as the business side of hobby games has always interested me. As a lawyer, I have represented several companies in the hobby games channel over the years and I have acted for those companies in licensing their games with many of the largest licensors in this business, including Lucasfilm Limited.
In or about 2002, I became a community organizer in BioWare’s
Neverwinter Nights community and ultimately became the project lead of the largest mod team involved in creating content for that game.
Ultimately, BioWare contracted me to provide almost all of their new art, music and sound content for their premium module program for the franchise. In addition, I was the producer of
Wyvern Crown of Cormyr, BioWare’s last published expansion for
Neverwinter Nights. It was exciting as a fan to contribute to the canon of the Forgotten Realms and my love for D&D was reaffirmed by that whole experience. More importantly, during my design work on
Wyvern Crown, I had a chance to briefly work with Gary Gygax in creating a computerized version of his jousting rules that appeared in the original
Chainmail. That experience was the highlight of that project and I will treasure that interaction always - as I am sure you also would understand.
Several of my teammates went on to become full-time employees of BioWare and I became the General Manager of roXidy Games. RoXidy went on to work with CD Projekt on
The Witcher and it remains active in developing games for both social media and apps for the iPad/iPhone.
Other Links
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast on the D20 Radio Forums
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZmL_HFCJrs"]Wyvern Crown of Cormyr[/ame]
- Youtube
