I like horror. A lot. In certain circumstances, this is great. But when I end up animatedly babbling on about the awesome brain squeezing scene in City of the Living Dead or the time the dude ate that revolting bowl of custard in Dead Alive, I occasionally get the impression that some people aren’t really there in the moment with me.
The first movie I actually remember seeing was Night of the Living Dead. I sat at a friend’s house and watched it, absorbing every detail – from the basement trowel scene to the human barbecue truck shot – with terrified fascination. I thought it was freaking awesome, and I wanted more.
I was four years old.
One of my favorite childhood memories is my family’s weekly trip to a huge indoor/outdoor farmer’s market – a kitchy old place called Q-Mart. While my parents were shopping for groceries, I’d run to the newsstand and immediately dig up the newest reprinted issue of Tales From the Crypt (and The Vault of Horror when they had them). I’d sit on the ground reading as quickly as I could and would use my allowance to pick up one issue at a time.
I’m a card carrying member of the Zombie Research Society, participate in zombie walks, horror conventions, and am an enthusiastic evangelist and attendee of the yearly haunt at Knott’s Scary Farm.
If you’ve ever used a hefty chunk of your paycheck on horror movies, comics, or action figures, watched Cannibal Holocaust while chowing down on a bowl of Spaghetti-O’s, or tried to make sure all of your friends have seen at least one Fulci or Bava film, we’re a lot alike.
As much as I live for horror, it’s not my only obsession. I’m also a gamer. Not a console gamer or a PC gamer – I’m an everything gamer. I’ve been playing console games since the Atari days, and PC games since the days of floppies. I used to play Quake and Unreal Tournament competitively, and get more than my share of grief for chronically playing almost every MMO out there. I own every current console (and still have my older ones, too). I play games on my phone, keep my DS on my nightstand, organize TCG gaming nights, and spend weekends immersed in marathon board game sessions.
I could go on about this stuff forever. Horror and games are my two favorite things.
So when Jeff asked me to join the Undead Labs team as a producer, it was like that scene from The Sound of Music. Except instead of being Julie Andrews skipping through flowery fields, I’m charging Serious Sam style into a rolling horde of zombies, wildly waving a gory chainsaw over my head.
Work on an online zombie survival game with a team of people I already know, respect and trust? Um, are you kidding me? I had to be a part of it. Had to. I accepted the position on the spot. I knew that I belonged at Undead Labs, and I’m definitely not one to punch a gift camel in the head.
I got my first break five years ago, fresh off of a retail job selling games. After surviving an intense interview with the company founders and senior designers at ArenaNet, I joined Systems Design to help document and communicate design to the growing Guild Wars team. Before long, I took charge of the creation and management of a huge internal wiki that was used heavily for development.
The success of this project led to me being placed in charge of working with the community to start up the Official Guild Wars Wiki. And that’s where I learned how awesome it is to work side-by-side with players. Everyone knows that the internet has its share of trolls and douchebags, but it turns out that there are also a staggering number of smart, passionate people willing to dedicate themselves to making the community a better place.
With the public wiki well in hand, I took on more and more challenges over the years: managing the company’s web presence and external content, community management, and even helping to plan the activities for events like gamescom, NYCC, and PAX. It’s been a crazy ride and I feel incredibly lucky. I came into my field as a fan and was given the opportunity to work on everything from design and production to marketing, web, and community.
And in every new role I took on, I saw the same thing: communication is the key to success. That’s true both within and outside of a team. For any game, the developers should be in touch with the players, with communication working as a two-way street. But it’s even more important in a persistent world, where players are creating their own virtual lives within the game. When you put that much of yourself (whether that’s time, energy, creativity or more) into an experience, you should expect to have your passion supported by its creators.
And that brings me back to Undead Labs. When Phinney and Jeff talked to me about their ambitions for this game, I realized that the position they were offering me wasn’t just the role of a company spokesperson. This was a chance to create something bigger. To actually dive in and work with fans to build a true community – a collaboration both inside and outside the game. This is the perfect game to do just that. We’re creating a world plunged into uncertainty, where you fight tooth-and-nail alongside fellow survivors to shape your experience and carve out your place amidst the chaos. This is what makes me especially excited.
We’ve got one hell of a fun journey ahead of us, and I’m looking forward to accompanying you guys for the ride.
Emily
[Be sure to read Jeff’s introduction to Emily for even more Emily goodness…]