Sabriel Mastin | 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

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Side Quest #2: Wonder Woman with Sabriel Mastin

Posted on June 7, 2017 by Ken Gagne

Wonder Woman has exploded across the silver screen, breaking all records: the first major female superhero film; the first major superhero film directed by a woman; the second $100M-budget film with a female director; and the biggest opening weekend ever for a woman-directed film. Starring Gal Gadot as Diana Prince and Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Wonder Woman is a box-office blockbuster, a fantastic film, and a milestone for feminists.

In this episode of Polygamer, I reunite with Sabriel Mastin, with whom I previously reviewed Star Trek Beyond. In the first, spoiler-free half of the podcast, we share our history with the DC universe and the ways in which this film diverges from DC’s theatrical track record; Wonder Woman‘s casting and the interplay between the two heroes; the temporal anomaly of the World War I setting and how it compares to Captain America’s WWII; visual decisions such as the color saturation and battle choreography; and the practicality of Wonder Woman’s armor.

The second half of the podcast, starting at 36:23, is reserved for those who have seen Wonder Woman — tune in to hear plot details, big reveals, and more!

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.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 59:18 — 28.0MB) | 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.

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

Side Quest #1: Star Trek Beyond with Sabriel Mastin

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Ken Gagne

Star Trek Beyond has hit theaters, and it’s astounding. Featuring a script that balances character development with jaw-dropping action from a diverse cast that includes the villain Krall, the alien heroine Jaylah, and respectful nods to Star Trek Enterprise and The Original Series, this third film in the franchise’s rebooted ‘Kelvin’ universe corrects all the missteps in its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness.

It may not be a video game, but this movie needs a dedicated podcast episode — so Polygamer alumna Sabriel Mastin and I are co-opting the show this week for a bonus “Side Quest”. We discuss what co-scriptwriters Simon Pegg and Doug Jung got right in this film, whether Beyond passes the Bechdel–Wallace test, what we wore to opening night, the appearance of saucer separation on a TOS-era starship, our favorite scenes (including one that led Ken to disrupt an entire theater), what scientific developments led to the creation of Starbase Yorktown, what happened to Krall in the Prime universe, and what era and timeline the new CBS show, Star Trek Discovery, will be set in.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:03:28 — 29.9MB) | Embed

Polygamer #21: Sabriel Mastin, indie game reviewer & Let’s Player

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Sabriel Mastin is a prolific game reviewer and YouTube personality, having produced content for such sites as Indie Haven and Indie Gamer Chick. She has attended both PAX East and PAX South and is a regular guest at events in the Minneapolis area, only a short drive from her native Fargo. And, if all that weren’t enough, Sabriel is also a former roller-derby athlete, having torn up the local circuit with her unique brand of hell on wheels.

In this episode, Sabriel and Ken talk about how to break into games writing and whether it’s fair to expect a volunteer to write for free; what equipment goes into an amateur audio/video studio; strategies for Twitter networking and hashtagging; the moral objections to attending Penny Arcade Expo; the local gaming scene in Fargo, North Dakota; and teaching yourself HTML and CSS.

Download 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.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:04:24 — 30.3MB) | Embed