The Mail Sack for this week was sullied with more impassioned demands for comment than our inbox for official media inquiries. Now just isn’t the time, friends. And this is certainly not the venue. There are some people at Bungie who are willing to share some personal details, however. Let’s talk to them about life in our studio…
David Aldridge, Engineering Architect
Joey Gibbs, Production Assistant
Jesse Hall, Associate Artist
Stephen Hodde, Senior Audio Designer
David Johnson, Engineer
Scott Kankelborg, Associate Test Engineer
Luke Ledwich, Test Engineer
Steve Lopez, IT Overlord
Alex Loret de Mola, Associate Engineer
John Shaffstall, Associate Engineer
John Stvan, Graphic Designer
Jason Sussman, Senior Artist
Scott Taylor, Associate Producer
Michael Williams, Senior Engineer
Let’s open the Sack.
HOOBLA 911 Other than the epic Rock Wall, what other cool activities do you partake in while not working on games?
Shredding on my bike and board. I love Stevens Pass.
Jesse Hall
Trips to the hospital count?
John Stvan
Internally: I'm part of the regular gathering of lunchtime Wizards and also run a game of Pathfinder about once a month.
Externally: I enjoy a good trip to the firing range (and playing Pathfinder).
Scott Kankelborg
Board games during the lunch hour. And not silly games like Monopoly or Parcheesi. Awesome games like Cosmic Encounters.
David Johnson
Trying to get into 1v1 platinum in StarCraft 2.
David Aldridge
The indoor soccer team is a good outlet with the Bungie folks.
Luke Ledwich
Photographing Dave Dunn in women’s cloths.
Jason Sussman
Muay Thai Kickboxing, going to the doctor.
Stephen Hodde
At work, I'm involved in some regular groups playing Risk Legacy, WizWars and Cosmic Encounters. On some evenings, we will play Pathfinder as well. Outside of work, I occasionally volunteer on a tall ship, and try to use my vacations to travel to other countries.
Michael Williams
Duardo Did anyone at Bungie suffer any side-effects from looking directly at the eclipse?
If by “suffer any side effects” you mean “took photographs”, the answer is “Yes!” Never ones to miss a notable starside event, a few Bungie guys actually crossed state lines to escape the omnipresent cloud clover that shields us from the daystar. Here is what one of them saw as the light left our world during its tango with the Moon.
Nephilim713 How does it feel to be out of the dark now?
You mean after the eclipse? It feels just fine. The sun was only gone for a minute or two. And we knew it would come back the whole time. During times like those, we find it reassuring to know that the darkness is temporary, and that all is happening according to a grand design – even if we don’t fully understand it.
coolmike699 What's the most clever way you can tell us that you won't be commenting on any leaks or rumors?
How did you like my answer to that last question? Clever enough for you? I have a very good friend (we go everywhere together) who observed how clever I was when we first met on a commercial airline flight. I can still remember him asking: “How’s that working out for you?”
Just so that you won’t accuse us of dodging every bullet in your guns…
Old Papa Rich Have you guys finished your new game presentation for E3?
Nope. We never started one, and we’re not going to be at E3 in any official capacity this year. Some of us will be there, lurking from booth to booth, but don’t expect any announcements.
Hylebos My question this week is to Alex Loret de Mola and John Shaffstall. In the 16th Mail Sack, they said that their favorite recreational activity at Bungie is Magic the Gathering. I was wondering what their favorite decks or cards were.
Calling people out by name now, eh? I think I might be able to conjure up those two lunchtime wizards to describe their favorite tricks.
My favorite card is the
Ink-Treader Nephilim, a highly entertaining card for casual multiplayer games (which is pretty much all that I play). As you may have guessed from my favorite card, my favorite decks are multicolored combo decks… of whatever color combo happens to fit my unlikely combo of the week. Currently my Ink-Treader Nephilim is in use as a draw engine for an extremely unlikely – yet satisfying - Coalition Victory win.
Alex Loret de Mola
When we’re not drafting, we play super-casual with mostly older cards from all of the sets.
Favorite cards:
Lightning Helix,
Sunforger,
Leatherback Baloth, and
Garruk Wildpseaker.
Favorite decks: Red/White Boros and Mono-Green Ramp Overrun.
John Shaffstall
SPRTN One One 7 How often do you like to take part of the community here on Bungie.net?
It really depends on which part of the community I am taking. There are some parts that I like to take every day. There are other parts that I only take when I am called in to break up a good fight.
Sven Nietzsche What personal project do you think caught the Employment Manager's eye when he/she was looking through your resume/portfolio? Could you tell us a little bit about your experience with it?
I was told that my images of the
Halo/Star Wars poster were something that caught my manager(s)'s eye(s). They were just something fun I wanted to do and wound up being a big part of my portfolio.
John Stvan
I'm going to cut across the grain here and admit that I don't do personal projects. Never have. I like to spend my spare time on activities that are as different as possible from my work challenges. I enjoy coding for work very much, but I can count the number of times in my life where I have coded for fun on one hand.
David Aldridge
A working game demo was definitely brought up the most in the interview.
Luke Ledwich
In one of my University networking classes, I ended up making a networked version of Connect Four. After the class was over, I kept working on it, adding graphics, a user interface, and a computer opponent. This project gave me a lot to talk about during my interview, and demonstrated an array of abilities.
Michael Williams
coolmike699 What's the strangest thing you've ever had to do in the name of making a game?
In my first game company job I spent my first 3 days moving furniture they had bought into their office. It was pink.
David Aldridge
Rescue a co-worker from a foam pit during a
PR event.
Luke Ledwich
As an audio designer, pretty much everything is strange. Yesterday I swung a jump rope in front of a microphone. I often find myself abusing fruit, also part of the job description.
Stephen Hodde
Speaking, yelling, and whispering "watermelon, watermelon, watermelon, watermelon..." over and over again.
Michael Williams
Photograph Dave Dunn in women’s cloths.
Jason Sussman
One Word: Leopard Stretch Pants.
John Stvan
That’s more than one word, John. Let’s try to get our facts straight when we have company. Thanks.
Assassin 11D7 When can I get a chance to get a free steak again?
Never. That ship sailed when Luke Smith decided to tackle other projects at Bungie. I hope you got yours, because that promise is the cargo of another community manager who has voyaged into deeper waters of development. You are stuck with me now, Sailor. There will be a chance to put a price on my head as well, but you’ll have to wait for that day.
SlashingArbiter In Josh Poley's Breaking In interview, he described an example of how Bungie cared for him when recovering from his surgery. Can you describe a special way Bungie has cared for you?
When I broke my face playing on the Bungie Softball Team, a lot of people told me that I looked much better.
John Stvan
It's a lot of little things. Birthday cards, Christmas gift packages, generous PTO, and awesome no-BS company policies. I think the biggest single example for me was the care package they sent me out of the blue after I was hired, which I think contained all the Bungie games, and a bunch of swag. That was the point where I first realized that this company would be something special.
David Aldridge
A special bottle of rum and a crate of timtams definitely touched a soft spot during Reach crunch.
Luke Ledwich
During ODST development, I ended up working a lot of long lonely hours to help get the firefight and campaign stats up and running. In the middle of my crunch, one of my managers pulled me aside, thanked me for working the long hours, and gave me a nice gift. This was on top of the regular Bungie crunch perks, and it really made me feel valued.
Michael Williams
ctjl96 Has there ever been a fist-fight at Bungie's place of residence? I'd like to see some Dave-on-Tom action.
Uhhh, that would be Dave who and Tom who? Your choice of words makes it sound like you don’t really want to see a fistfight. Let’s be honest with one another. This isn’t about violence. Is it?
Jose291 Which Avenger from the actual 2012 movie would you like to be?
Booster Gold. Maybe Blue Beetle, but the good chubby one is dead. DC FOREVER!
Scott Taylor
Tony Stark - He's an engineer!
Michael Williams
Stark. I already have the glowing chest.
John Stvan
Iron Man, no question. Really, if you think about the day to day life of being any of the others, it's not even a contest.
Hulk: wrestle against inner demon, try to avoid killing people, no useful/controllable powers.
Thor: deal with Asgardian politics, be a stranger in a strange land, no friends.
Captain America: be a role model.
Hawkeye, Black Widow: be generally weaker than all of your friends.
David Aldridge
Who wouldn't want to be a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist? Who I ask you?
David Johnson
I read a Thor comic once in which the man himself had a great line vs. Tony Stark: "Let me show you the difference between a man in an iron suit and a god of thunder."
Joey Gibbs
Grab thy hammer and step lively, Joey. You have a whole squad of power-armored nerds who are descending upon you on plumes of fire.
Kr1egerdude Is failure always an option?
Yes. Always. Every day. We would even say that the threat of failure is a crucial ingredient of our creative process. You have to keep swimming, lest you drown. Jason Jones, as he has a habit of doing, said it best: "Bungie is like a shark. We have to keep moving to survive. We have to continually test ourselves, or we might as well be dolphins. Or manatees.”
Tookurdignity What World-Famous command did the first IBM PC Manual omit?
Is this one of those questions found in those pre-Internet PC games of yore where you have to look up the answer in the manual to make sure that your copy of the game was legit and not pirated? Hold on, I've got it around here somewhere... I... think...
David Johnson
I'm afraid I wasn't born yet. Ask me about obscure Apogee games in the early 90s instead.
David Aldridge
I don't know, but I'm pretty sure your handle is from a Puscifer lyric.
Stephen Hodde
It is hard to believe they chose to omit "Kneel before Zod!", but it happened!
Michael Williams
‘Dignity, I can relate to what you are feeling right now. I never know which question is going to result in a group-attack of unavoidable sarcasm. Wanna hold each other?
mister death Do you have a ritual (party) after a release of a game?
We normally sacrifice a virgin from the hills of Kirkland, but after the SWAT team incident, we've toned it down to drinking... a lot.
John Stvan
As a tester our post-release schedule is already laid out before us. Monitor the system 24/7 to ensure everything runs smoothly and make panicked calls to sleepy bosses at 3am when it doesn't.
Scott Kankelborg
My personal ritual is to buy some new toys and take some time off to enjoy them. After Halo: Reach shipped, the toys were a PS3 and Demon's Souls. The company has a ritual as well, but we can't talk about that with outsiders due to rule 19.
David Aldridge
Vegas.
Luke Ledwich
Mostly feasting on the flesh of the non-believers, mostly.
Stephen Hodde
My team likes to watch performance graphs and make wagers on the numbers they will hit, with fancy bottles of alcohol as prizes.
Michael Williams
mark117 mia2553 Would you rather ride a bike or drive to work?
No one here is going to win a bike by driving their car to work. This month, one lucky Bungie cyclist will claim victory in a
contest that we are running to observe National Bike Month.
CTN 0452 9 What is the funniest YouTube video you have seen this year?
Justin Bieber singing 'Baby' with Ludacris.
David Aldridge
Some dude redid the subtitles to a Hitler freak out in a movie. You guys ever see that before? I can't believe no one did that before.
John Stvan
Steve Lopez
Jason Sussman
Michael Williams
Nolas Hammer Were my previous Mail Sack questions strategically misplaced?
Yes. They were misplaced with the same level of strategery as was the Ark of the Covenant, all aircraft that have ever plotted a course through the Bermuda triangle, the City of Atlantis, and the Titanic. Actually, Hammer, I am firing blind here, as I have no recollection of any specific questions that you previously committed to the Sack.
Muzza777 As members of the gaming community and developers especially, how do you think gaming has changed your life and the world today?
Yes and yes. Thanks!
John Stvan
I became a video game developer instead of doing something else with my life. More importantly though, it brought me closer to a group of awesome people (not to mention a very special someone!) around the world who shared the same love of games as I.
David Johnson
I met my wife through a game (a text MUD in fact), so it has changed my life quite a lot! Nintendo, Apple, and Facebook have mainstreamed gaming in a tremendous rush in the last 5 years. Now a majority of people value virtual achievements. After growing up in an age where playing video games branded you as a nerd and social outcast, this brave new world astonishes me every day.
David Aldridge
I have always loved a good story, I think gaming has added a lot of good stories to the world. And I don’t just mean the epic hand delivered game stories, there are some multiplayer moments my friends and I will never forget.
Luke Ledwich
We know from psychological research that gaming can satisfy short-term emotional needs and this is no small accomplishment. I grew up in social isolation, so gaming became significant to me. The worlds I inhabited, the imagination, the stories, were friends that enriched my life experience. Games can make sad people happy- that's pretty amazing. We now see a whole community of people virtually crossing the globe that would otherwise be isolated due to physical disability. That may seem trite to some people, but that kind of communication being so readily available continues to move me. It's a beautiful thing.
Stephen Hodde
I think that games have made us think of storytelling in a new way. In games, more than most other mediums, the player is a participant in telling the story. I like to think that this reminds people that they can be the creators of other stories in their lives.
Michael Williams
WestCoastRonin What is one piece of advice for someone trying to break into the video game industry?
Why ask for one piece of advice when you can have dozens of pieces of advice? Every week, another cast member in our really big show steps to the front of the stage to share the story of how they survived our audition.
You can collect them all. I already have a writer of outlandish fiction all queued up and ready to sing for you next week.
Geegs30 What's your favorite place in the studio?
I really like the stress room. I've put a lot of blood (literally), sweat, and tears into building that room up to its current glory. In a nutshell: It's a room full of consoles and PCs, all constantly repeating tests over and over again on each little piece of content to ensure all remains stable. It's also a sinister death trap waiting to consume an unfortunate victim - occasionally Burnaroos will be doing testing on the HVAC system and the pressure between the Gauntlet and the stress room is great enough that you can't actually open the doors to get out for a minute or two.
Scott Kankelborg
The kitchen. Conversely, it's also the most dangerous place in the studio. Even more so than the climbing wall!
David Johnson
The mezzanine on the third floor where you can look down on the entire development floor and admire the might of our horde.
David Aldridge
Other peoples’ pods I haven't visited in a while. There is always something interesting on the desks and screens.
Luke Ledwich
The recording booth is freakin sweet.
Stephen Hodde
During the wintertime, I really like sitting next to the fireplace at lunch or on a break. Soaking up the warmth and staring at the flames helps clear my mind and gets me ready to attack my next problem.
Michael Williams
In DeeJ's arms.
John Stvan
You trying to antagonize me? Our fans ask these questions because they sincerely want to know about life in our studio, John. Please try to be more sincere in answering them.
SonOfTheShire How many people were killed in Halo matchmaking before you guys relinquished control?
More people than have lived on this planet. Ever. It was a
bloodbath, friends. Thank you all for playing.
Khirna If the video game industry were to crumble overnight, what industry would you try to work in next?
Biotech, astronomy or physics research, or anywhere they need huge computing power. Working to find cures would be satisfying I bet.
Steve Lopez
I'd probably stay in software development of some sort, but if there were no video games, I'd certainly have the free time to work on that novel I've always wanted to pursue.
David Johnson
Gold farming.
David Aldridge
I would probably return to a previous career, Butchery or Robotics.
Luke Ledwich
I fancy myself a statesman.
Stephen Hodde
I'd try to find a project management job at an aerospace firm like Virgin Galactic and make spaceships.
Joey Gibbs
I'd look at the social networking industry. They are doing a lot of interesting things right now, and it ties in well with the stats, fileshare, and rating work I've done in the past.
Michael Williams
Being Awesome.
John Stvan
That’s not an answer, John. There is no “Being Awesome” Industry. That’s two strikes. You have one more chance to take this seriously.
Malfar Name a lesson that you learned the hard way.
Don't break the build. Or else.
David Johnson
All-in-one Shampoo+Conditioner products are a lie. One of these things is fundamentally a solvent, and the other is an oil. Putting them together simply does not work. I was cursed by dandruff for years before I figured that out.
David Aldridge
I am not a good soccer goalie.
Luke Ledwich
I once asked Dan Miller what he was thinking about.
Jason Sussman
Don't ask to see Ling-Ling unless you are ready to see Ling-Ling.
Michael Williams
Being Awesome.
John Stvan
That’s it! You’ve worked my last nerve, Mister. Want to learn a lesson the hard way? You’re banned from the Sack. Get out of my sight, before I figure out how to revoke the miracle of your gold text on the Bungie forum.
(deep breath)
Next week is a whole new week, Bungie Community. In observance of Memorial Day, we will be back with a whole new chance to keep in touch with each other. Well, some of us will be back. Others of us just never learn.