Who Is This Guy?
Let me start with this: I am NOT a “Dev” despite the focus of this blog…. At least not as most gamers think of the term. I’m not a professional game developer, designer, game programmer, or artist.
My field crosses paths with game developers- rather often of late- and I’ve had to learn a bit about the industry, but if game designers are akin to a major record label artist, I’m a weekend garage-band player. A hobbyist with a day job.
I AM a programmer, but in a field often called “courseware development.” We make ‘net-deliverable learning material for a number of clients, including the government. Some are basic web apps; some are rather interactive games in Flash; and one of the more interesting future trends has us using gaming engines. Hence, my interest in game development.
Who am I kidding? My interest in games is well beyond that.
I’m a gamer. I’ve been playing console games since Atari 2600, played roleplaying games from the Basic D&D boxed set, through the Advanced system, Second Edition, Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Battletech, Mechwarrior, Shadowrun, Deadlands, GURPS, Twilight 2000, Traveller, Traveller 2300, Starfleet Battles, Warhammer, and more… I, like many, made my own rules, my own campaign settings, my own worlds. In fact, most of my time in gaming has been spent on my own content or building amalgamations of practically anything in the industry. Why wouldn’t gaming interest me?
So… who am I?
Name: Charles York, also known over my life as Chad, Chas, Charlie, and Chuck. Why all the aliases? Well, the friend that to this day swears I’m a “Chuck” once told me, “You’re not a Chad. Chads are clean-shaven preps with polo shirts and tennis rackets. You’re a Chuck.” I’ve given up convincing her otherwise. She’s probably right. My Dad’s “Chuck,” though.
Carreer: Over my life, I’ve been an Army Combat Engineer (Airborne), a teacher-counselor at a Wilderness Camp for juvenile deliquents, a community college instructor, a “web solutions specialist,” a “systems integrator” (a fancy way of saying I manage to butt in to everyone else’s specialties on most projects), and troubleshooter. It’s really a strange twist of fate for someone with a BA in Criminology/Prelaw… but you go where fate takes you and make sure you’re prepared for what opportunities may arise. Next year I could be a llama rancher or a game developer, depending on how things go.
If you were in the 37th Engineers (combat)(airborne) in Fort Bragg 90-93, or the 2nd Engineers, Camp Castle Korea in 94, yes, I’m “that York.” Drop me a line. I’ve been out over a decade now, and its due time for all those “in ten years, we’ll laugh about…” moments. If you remeber “Chief Chad” from Ohiopyle fondly, drop a line… if you have less favorable memories… you’ve got the wrong guy. If you’re a former student from CCACC, tell me where life’s taken you.
Life: Between all my flights of fancy, I managed to find my soul mate and love of my life, and together we have four kids of the 4-legged variety. She calls them “kids in fur coats.” I prefer to think of them as “kids that won’t give me college bills.” Other people call them cats.
Jenn’s a gamer and a comic fan too, so I’m lucky enough to blend ”online time” with ”quality time” …and budget debates regarding game/comic purchases aren’t always with me on the defensive side of the debate.
In that “other space,” I’ve been an elven ranger, a ham-fisted Halasian, a clone war veteran, a cantina musician, an alchemist with a nervous twitch, and more spandex-clad heroes and heroines (not to mention villains and villain-esses) than I care to count. City of Heroes has brought my altaholism to a new extreme… and once the disease is recognized by the APA, I’m going after their arses, I swear!
Currently, you can find me as a regular on City of Heroes or City of Villains (global @chasearcanum) and bouncing between various other games, checking out their good points, their bad points; their innovations and their bugs. Feel free to drop a line.