Annie VanderMeer explained

Annie VanderMeer
Birth Place:United States
Birth Name:Annie VanderMeer
Other Names:Annie Carlson, Annie VanderMeer Carlson, Anne VanderMeer, Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda
Known For:
Guild Wars 2
Destiny
Dead State
Astroneer
Unpacking
Website:https://www.annievandermeer.com/
Occupation:Game designer, writer

Annie VanderMeer (also credited as Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda, Annie Carlson, Annie VanderMeer Carlson, and Anne VanderMeer) is an American video game designer specializing in role-playing video games, best known for her narrative work on 2021's Unpacking and her design work on the 2012's Guild Wars 2.

Early life and education

Annie VanderMeer attended Macalester College and earned an Honors B.A. in English in 2003,[1] writing about science fiction and fantasy in contemporary American literature.

Career

After the discovery that there were limited opportunities to study and teach English/gaming in graduate school,[2] VanderMeer (then Annie Carlson) started work at Papaya Studio in the summer of 2004,[3] where she worked on Taxi Driver, a video game "sequel" to the film of the same name.

Soon after Taxi Driver was cancelled,[4] VanderMeer joined Obsidian Entertainment in January 2006, beginning work on "Project New Jersey" (a rumored unreleased role-playing video game[5]). When it was cancelled, VanderMeer joined the Neverwinter Nights 2 team, where she worked on handling the in-game items,[6] then as a writing assistant on Alpha Protocol, working with creative lead Brian Mitsoda, where she was credited with helping create some of the characters.[7] While working on Alpha Protocol, VanderMeer assisted with additional design for the first expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2, Mask of the Betrayer.[8] In early 2008, she was moved onto the second expansion for Neverwinter Nights 2, Storm of Zehir as a designer and lead writer. She also assisted with work on the cancelled Aliens RPG[9] before she left the company in October 2008 to move to Seattle.

In 2009, VanderMeer joined ArenaNet as a game designer, first working on the personal story for Guild Wars 2 before moving on to the Living Story team, working in particular on the updates "Lost Shores" and "Flame & Frost".[10] [11] From 2013 to 2014, VanderMeer worked as a game designer at Bungie on Destiny[12] before becoming a full time member of DoubleBear Productions, from April 2014 to January 2018, where she worked as a writer and designer on their first title, Dead State, and as the project lead on their second, PANIC at Multiverse High!.[13] In January 2018 she joined at System Era Softworks as a content designer on Astroneer,[14] shipping the game and multiple updates before her departure in October 2019.

In September 2019, she founded the Tiamat Collective[15] - a collection of freelancers across multiple disciplines available for hire on upcoming creative projects - and released their first game, The Passenger, in January 2020 on itch.io.[16] She also contributed narrative design to the indie game Unpacking (videogame), for which she would go on to win Best Narrative (along with Wren Brier and Tim Dawson) at the BAFTA Games Awards in April 2022.[17] [18] Shortly thereafter, in December 2019, VanderMeer rejoined ArenaNet as a senior game designer for Guild Wars 2,[19] first on their Living World Season "The Icebrood Saga," and later on their third expansion, End of Dragons.[20] She left ArenaNet in April 2022 and went on to freelance work, becoming a Narrative Lead at Digimancy Entertainment in August 2022.[21]

VanderMeer has contributed as a fiction writer to multiple projects at Fantasy Flight Games, including Legend of the Five Rings, The Investigators of Arkham Horror (a fiction collection based on their Arkham Horror franchise),[22] the Twilight Imperium,[23] and Legacy of Dragonholt, a narrative adventure game set in the Runebound universe.[24]

Panels and interviews

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2023-03-06 . Game for Anything - News . 2024-01-26 . en-US.
  2. Web site: Jul 12, 2010. "Annie Mitsoda's (nee Carlson's) Zombie Baby" interview on RPG Codex. live. RPG Codex. 2010-07-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20100724055947/http://rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=207. 24 July 2010.
  3. Web site: MobyGames Developer Profile - Annie Carlson . . July 31, 2009 . 2009-07-31 . 2008-10-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081014005213/http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,251762/ . dead .
  4. Web site: Majesco Sees Red, Titles Dead. Adams. David. 2006-01-19. IGN. en-US. 2018-04-16.
  5. Web site: Dev Profile Q&A: Kevin Saunders, Lead Designer on NWN2: MotB . Warcry Network . Themis Media . 2007-05-30 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081207030250/http://www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/devprofiles/4784-Neverwinter-Nights-2-Dev-Profile-Q-A-Kevin-Saunders-NWN2-Lead-Designer . 2008-12-07 .
  6. Web site: CareerStreet - Macalester College Career Development Newsletter . . October 4, 2006 . 2009-07-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081012054225/http://www.macalester.edu/cdc/careerstreet/20062007/cs20061004.pdf . October 12, 2008 .
  7. Web site: RPG Vault: Alpha Protocol Interview . . November 14, 2008 . 2009-07-31 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090212044758/http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/930/930117p1.html . February 12, 2009 .
  8. Web site: An evening with Annie Carlson . Iron Tower Studio . March 6, 2009. 2009-07-31.
  9. Web site: "GameStar: Annie Mitsoda: "I'm a game omnivore" . Dec 7, 2011 . 2011-12-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120603022428/http://gamestar.ru/article/1823.html . 2012-06-03 .
  10. Web site: Twitch . 25 December 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140828003552/http://www.twitch.tv/guildwars2/b/382695073 . 28 August 2014 .
  11. Web site: "What's In A Name? Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda on Naming Tyria" blog post on the Guild Wars 2 blog . . May 23, 2012 . 2012-02-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120525195926/http://www.arena.net/blog/whats-in-a-name-annie-vandermeer-mitsoda-on-naming-tyria . May 25, 2012 .
  12. Web site: News > International Mail Sack of Mystery - Bungie. Bungie. 25 December 2014.
  13. Web site: PANIC at Multiverse High! (Steam page). 13 June 2017.
  14. Web site: @astroneergame on Twitter. 30 January 2018.
  15. Web site: Welcome to the Tiamat Collective. 11 December 2019.
  16. Web site: The Passenger by Tiamat Collective. 10 October 2022.
  17. Web site: BAFTA Games Awards 2022. .
  18. Web site: UNPACKING - NARRATIVE . BAFTA . 3 March 2022 .
  19. Web site: Annie VanderMeer's LinkedIn. 11 December 2019.
  20. Web site: Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda's LinkendIn. 25 March 2012.
  21. Web site: Digimancy Entertainment's Twitter. 10 October 2022.
  22. Web site: The Investigators of Arkham Horror. 11 September 2017.
  23. Web site: Fantasy Flight Games. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition: Twilight Codex Volume II: Affinity. live. 2021-06-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20210407150333/https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgames.com/filer_public/fc/c2/fcc2f4d3-8817-4936-a371-1417327fa5fa/ti_codex_2_rules_compressed.pdf . 2021-04-07 .
  24. Web site: Legacy of Dragonholt Rulebook. 18 February 2018.
  25. Web site: Obsidian Entertainment and Neverwinter Nights 2 Appearing at PAX. 25 March 2012.
  26. Web site: PAX 2008: Women in the game industry . . Aug 30, 2008. 2009-08-04.
  27. Web site: RPG writers spill their secrets. Maxwell McGee. GameSpot. 25 December 2014.
  28. Web site: From Tabletop to Digital: Crafting Stronger Interactive Narratives. Guidebook. 2015-12-08.
  29. Web site: Be So Good They Can't Ignore You: Tales of Successful Indies. Guidebook. 2015-12-08.
  30. Web site: CLASSIC RPGs FOREVER!. Guidebook. 2015-12-08.
  31. Web site: Pax Panels 2015: Classic CRPGs . YouTube. 2015-12-08.
  32. Web site: Surviving Success: How to Handle a Winning Kickstarter. Guidebook. 2015-12-08.
  33. Web site: Choose Your Own Adventure: Women in Video Game Writing . . 2017-06-13.
  34. Web site: Schedule: PAX West - Seattle, WA - Sept 1-4 - "Real Feels: Crafting Meaningful Relationships in Games" . 2017-09-11 . 2021-03-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210305230703/https://west.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/real-feels-crafting-meaningful-relationships-in-games . dead .
  35. Web site: Schedule: PAX West - Seattle, WA - Sept 1-4 - "That's It, That's the Joke: Humor, Games, and Humorous Games" . 2017-09-11 . 2019-05-12 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190512233233/http://west.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/thats-it-thats-the-joke-humor-games-and-humorous-games . dead .
  36. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20180901043700/http://west.paxsite.com/schedule/panel/i-see-what-you-did-there-environmental-storytelling-go . I See What You Did There: Environmental Storytelling GO! . 2018-09-01. 10 October 2022.
  37. Web site: Annie VanderMeer - YouTube. 2021-06-16. www.youtube.com.

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