User:Andrew McLeod

= About Me =

What do I do at ArenaNet?
I am a systems designer, working primarily on creatures. I help figure out what types of creatures that we want to have, set up skills and attributes, give them names, and do all the different little things that make one creature different from the next. As for the actual modeling work and animations, that's all done by our very skilled artists, and is far better than I could ever manage to do. I also work on various other design tasks, varying by what needs to be designed and how much time I have available.

What else have I done?
I initially started at ArenaNet fairly early on in the development of Factions. I was responsible for spawning the "base spawn" of most of the Explorable Areas, meaning that I placed the creatures that you will encounter in the areas if you don't take any quests. This also included placing signposts, setting up portals to correctly transfer you into the next area, and trying to make interesting boss encounters. After Factions was released, I moved over to the creature design position that I currently have.

My job at ArenaNet is my first job in the industry. Before getting my job here, I graduated from Montana State University with a degree in Computer Science, and spent several months in Quality Assurace at a local software developer in Bozeman, MT. I had been an Alpha Tester for Guild Wars for nearly a year, and apparently made enough of an impression during that time, that when ArenaNet was looking to hire additional designers, my resume made the "interview" pile.

Games
I play a lot of different games, typically preferring computer games over console games, as I prefer the control of mouse+keyboard over a controller. I also like to talk with friends over IM's and ventrilo while playing, which leads me to computer games. I typically prefer RPGs, but I do play other genres a lot. I typically go by the moniker "Freyas", or something similar.