GDC Austin 2009: Highlights From Day Three

Author: by Staff

Following first and second-day highlights, the third day of GDC Austin 2009 included major online keynotes and lectures, alongside Writing, Indie and other summits. We think it's important to leave a lasting record of what these speakers have to say, and tell those who can't be present about some of the useful advice and stats that they have. So we are continuing to write up the sessions for Gamasutra (part of Think Services, as is GDC Austin), and here are some of the highlights from Day 3: Insomniac Games' 10 Commandments Of Community "Insomniac Games community director Ryan Schneider knows there are a lot of beers out there. "For us, when people go into the pub, we want to look for the Insomniac brand of beer," he said. "... We want them buying Insomniac brand beer and telling their friends about it." An Inside Look At The Universe Of Warcraft "Thursday morning's GDC Austin keynote was met with a large crowd as Blizzard Entertainment's J. Allen Brack and Frank Pearce took the stage to offer a detailed look into the inner workings of the genre-dominating World of Warcraft." Thinking Inside The Box -- Writing For Franchises "Coming from a studio best known for their extensive work on the Tom Clancy games, Red Storm Entertainment's Jay Posey had a wealth of knowledge to share in his GDC Austin 2009 Game Writer's Summit lecture about writing for franchise game titles." Gaia Online's Three Lessons For Free-To-Play Success "At GDC Austin on Thursday, Dave Georgeson, senior producer for Gaia Interactive's free-to-play casual MMO zOMG, said there are three keys to a successful online game: Make it fun for everyone, get users to want to buy, and make it easy for users to buy." The Power Of EVE Online's Council Of Stellar Management "At GDC Austin, CCP's Petur Johannes Oskarsson discussed EVE Online, the company's complex MMO with a passionate player base all coexisting on a single server, and the government that has arisen in the game to address player concerns." The Old Republic And The Challenges Of Big Teams "BioWare Austin technical director Bill Dalton delivered a look at how interdependencies can lead to problems in development on games -- with the studio's Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO as a perfectly complex test case."