Activision | Polygamer

Polygamer #120: Sabriel Mastin, D&D editor & Overwatch player

Posted on December 22, 2021 by Ken Gagne

After years as a Dungeons & Dragons player, Sabriel Mastin stepped behind the DM screen to run her own campaign. She immediately loved it, creating her own adventures in the world of Eberron. With that experience under her belt, she realized she could help other DMs with their own creations as well. She now offers her services as a D&D editor, offering developmental, line, and copyediting on modules and supplements. By day, Sabriel is a the head of social media and support for Overbuff, a stats-tracking website for Overwatch, the popular first-person shooter from Activision Blizzard.

In this podcast, Sabriel and I talk about the transition from player to DM; how easy it is to switch between editions of D&D; Sabriel’s sources of inspiration for her campaigns; how her group has adapted to gaming in a pandemic; the benefits of hiring an editor, and the cost of doing so; and how the Overwatch community has responded to the lawsuits and scandals around Activision Blizzard.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for a transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:50 — 71.7MB) | Embed

Continue reading →

Polygamer #68: Katie Hallahan of Phoenix Online Studios

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Katie Hallahan is the chief communications officer, co-founder, game designer, and public relations director for Phoenix Online Studios, a developer and publisher of point-and-click adventure games. The studio began in 2002 when Katie and her fellow directors set out to create an unofficial King’s Quest fan game, The Silver Lining, the fifth and final episode of which is releasing this year. Phoenix Online Studios has since partnered with legendary game designer Jane Jensen to release Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father 20th Anniversary Edition. In her spare time, Katie writes for 411mania.com, covering The Walking Dead.

In this interview, Katie and I discuss the many legal trials and tribulations involved in publishing The Silver Lining, and how the release of The Odd Gentlemen’s new episodic King’s Quest game affected the studio; how Phoenix Online Studios came to work with Jane Jensen; the transition from Torque to Unity game engines, and what this means for multi-platform releases; the studio’s experiments with publishing games by other developers, such as Quest for Infamy by Infamous Quests; and how to get into the games industry as a narrative designer. Finally, Katie and I talk about The Walking Dead universe of comics, games, and shows, whether we’re reaching peak zombie, and what the endgame is for a show based on a comic with no end.

Stream the audio edition of this interview below or from Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:01:34 — 29.0MB) | Embed

Polygamer #62: Sabriel Mastin of Overwatch & Overbuff

Posted on March 15, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Sabriel Mastin is the head of social media and support for Overbuff, a stats-tracking website for Overwatch, the popular first-person shooter from Warcraft developer Blizzard. When not competing in competitive multiplayer matches as Tracer or Ana, Sabriel is engaging with fans on Facebook and Twitter, congratulating them on their gameplay and helping them track their improvement using Overbuff. Sabriel is also a frequent panelist at PAX East, where she advocates for diversity and LGBT representation.

In this episode, Sabriel gives me a primer on Overwatch: what makes it different from other first-person shooters, the diversity of its cast of characters, how the community handles harassment, and how Overbuff fits into the equation. Overbuff is Sabriel’s first paid job in the gaming industry, and we discuss her dream to eventually find herself on-camera in the e-sports community. We then talk about Playing with Pride, the documentary by recent Polygamer alumnus Matt Baume for which Sabriel was interviewed, and the experience Matt related in which Sabriel shared something personal with on her PAX East 2016 panel.

Continue reading →

Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:55 — 26.5MB) | Embed