VR1 Crossroads (PC)

QA Tester & Writer/Designer 1999-2002

VR1 Crossroads was one of the last and most sophisticated original Multi-User Dungeons, a text-based role-playing game set in two worlds, a conspiracy-laced secret city and a fantastical dreamworld. Crossroads had environmental audio and a graphical interface, but its most appealing feature was the setting constructed by game design legend Keith Baker, creator of the Eberron setting for Dungeons & Dragons and the card game Gloom.

I was so fortunate to have Keith as my first lead designer. He taught me how inventiveness and lateral thinking can solve game design problems, as well as how story and game mechanics can inherently support each other, resulting in something greater than the sum of those two parts.

• Wrote “faction fiction”—passages of in-voice story that explained each game faction and their secrets.

• Fleshed out conversation options with dozens of NPCs throughout the game world.

• Conceived, wrote, and placed artifacts that connected the city and dreamworld.

• Helped manage the game’s beta test.