Just got off the phone setting up the interview, and I needed to tell someone. Facebook doesn't work, because I don't need my current employer to hear the news just yet. So you guys get it instead.

For those that aren't aware, I've been studying game develeopment - game design, specifically - for the past four years, as well as building a fairly decent personal portfolio of projects. I graduated a couple months ago, and have been looking for work. The job market in the game industry is abysmal for a newbie at the best of times, so I haven't had much luck breaking into the industry proper.

A few weeks ago I did land a job at a small start-up, created by a couple of MBA grads from Harvard Business School (and I'm all proud of myself and whatnot, because I'm the first game designer from my year to actually get a design position, as opposed to QA). They're working on casual games in the social space - facebook, currently, with eyes on iPhone and a standalone website - where people do real-life fitness activities and log them into the game as a form of input. Very interesting stuff, but kinda peripheral to the core game industry, where I of course dream of ending up.

So I'm definitely hoping that Turbine works out. Turbine, for those who don't know, are the developers behind Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and Lord of the Rings online. I am interviewing for a content designer position for DDO - I'd be designing dungeons layouts and quests lines, basically.

So for now it's time for a crash course in DDO, which I've only ever played a little bit of.

Sidenote: Turbine has pioneered the free-to-play MMO business model in large-scale MMOs. Dungeons and Dragons online and LOTR online both started out as subscription-based MMOs, then switched over. So they're free for anyone interested in playing them.