Story Teller / Game writer

Overview
FarSides is a new online game studio, producing casual multiplayer games that seek to blur the lines between reality and fiction. We are currently developing a story-driven adventure game, played on the Web (see below for more details).

We are looking for a story writer to design the overall game storyline and context, as well as writing individual mission scenarios and story elements provided to the player through the game.

The game
The game is an adventure that takes place on the web - the real web being the playground of the game. It takes place in the present.

The players progressively unfold a story, that will require the players to collaborate to move it forward. It also takes place on the whole Web - players will play by browsing and performing actions on any webpage (like http://www.simsidekick.com/ ). The game can be seen as a mix of alternate reality games ( http://bit.ly/a0KoeJ ) and story-driven simulation games (like Castaway Stories http://bit.ly/bEgaAM ). See http://bit.ly/d2TQxv, http://bit.ly/dCDUtL and http://bit.ly/cnT2ZO for more details. A good inspiration is the Catfish movie, too: see the trailer http://bit.ly/dsHNyx imagining that the player is one of the characters. And for the interface of the game, have a look at the promotional website Catfish makers made: http://www.iamrogue.com/catfish/main.html.

A large part of the context still has to be decided (you will have to come up with it ;p), but the current placeholder for the storyline draws its inspiration from the Gaia theory. During the first minutes of the game, the player is contacted by someone on the web, who catches his attention by revealing strange events that happen on the internet and implying that some conspiracy could be at work, related to our environment and the future of our planet. The player will accomplish tasks on the web, gaining the trust of the organization for whom his contact works, which will open the path for more elaborate tasks and the discovery of a plot that involves Gaia, environmental factions, and its ramifications on the internet.

Gaia's theory will be used the following way in our game : Earth is alive, a sentient being, and is trying to get rid of the disturbing parasites that have started infesting her - us. Global warming, tsunamis, etc. are only the first signs of regulatory systems that are meant to put an end to the human era. However, she's also seeking other means to end the trouble we are causing, and send us signs both in "real life" and on the Web.

The game is still on an early stage of development and conception - it's thus a unique opportunity to help shaping it!

The studio
FarSides is an independent studio, that creates and operates casual multi-player games, for an adult target. Our games are open source ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_source ), and we apply the open source philosophy and methods to the video game genre. For example, all the discussions take place within the community, on a public mailing-list. We also use a decentralized model - which basically means that we work over the Internet, telecommuting from different places around the globe.

See http://community.hackit.cx/wiki/Company_manifesto and http://community.hackit.cx/wiki/Social_Contract for more details.

Key responsibilities

 * Create the overall context for the game story, according to the game positioning and the gameplay mechanisms
 * Write individual mission scenarios and dialogues, working closely with the game design and development teams for gameplay requirements
 * Follow the mailing-list and the forum discussions, interact with the community to provide answers and encourage participation.
 * Integrate comments from the game design team and project contributors
 * Analyze and integrate feedback on the storyline from the community, based on:
 * Mailing-list, forums, chat, fan sites, social networks;
 * Quantitative data based on players actions inside and outside the game.
 * Collaborate with the art team to develop consistent characters
 * Create and maintain documentation on the storyline and NPC character information. Work collaboratively with community members to improve it, keeping an open mindset that allows to integrate suggestions from contributors.
 * Write, edit and post content to the game blog.
 * Contribute ideas to grow and support the game community with in-game events and other initiatives, both online and “in real life”.
 * Maintain an in-depth knowledge of the game genre and theme, as well as the pop culture of the audience.

Profile and qualifications

 * Excellent writing skills, including story pitch and major beats, scenarios, characters and dialogues. Excellent written communication skills, including blog and forums posts, articles.
 * A technical profile is not required, but you have an affinity with innovative uses of the web, with mixing reality and fiction, and with exploring social and political issues on a casual level
 * Experience with working with online communities, though not necessarily professionally - you must know how online communities work
 * Passionate about casual online games and offline casual titles
 * A previous experience in writing for video games would be ideal, but we will consider applications from candidates who have strong profile in the other areas.
 * Fluent in English, strong proofreading and editing skills, perfect grammar and spelling. Great attention to detail.
 * High level of flexibility with regard to change of direction or rewrites.
 * Ability to work collaboratively through online medium (mailing-list, forums), with gamedesign, art and development teams, as well as contributors and community members.
 * Able to work with high autonomy - telecommuting requires a strong sense of self-discipline, proactiveness and taking responsibility for deadlines
 * High flexibility and no "author complex" - ability to see the game story through the community's eye and identify the parts that capture the players' imagination, to focus on what makes them tick.
 * Ability and confidence in working publicly and discussing issues openly on a public forum/mailing-list - participation to an open source project requires a high sense of transparency
 * Good knowledge of online communication tools - experience writing collaboratively on a wiki a plus.
 * Solid understanding of both local and global pop culture of the target audience.
 * Display a positive, professional attitude with strong work ethics.

How to apply

 * Being open source, the application process is a bit atypical - it is held transparently on the project mailing-list, which is public and includes contributors and community members.
 * To submit your application, please follow the following steps:
 * Carefully read the current job description and study the provided links (you don't need to read the whole website - just the documents mentioned in this job description). You will likely have a lot of questions in the process - take note of them to be able to ask them later on.
 * Subscribe to the mailing-list by entering your email and name on this form: http://community.hackit.cx/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/bar . Click on the confirmation link you will receive by email. (Warning: the mailing-list can have a lot of trafic on some days - you'll be a bit spammed!)
 * Send an email to [mailto:bar@hackit.cx bar@hackit.cx] to present yourself, with your resume and salary history/requirement attached. Your email will arrive on the project public mailing-list, so don't be too formal! Instead of writing a cover letter, introduce yourself in the body of the message, and quickly explain what draws you to the project. This message should be personal - no copy &amp; paste! This is also the place to include your first batch of questions about the job, the game and the company.
 * You will then get replies to your email from project members, including answers to your questions. Use the opportunity and keep the discussion alive, to try to get an accurate picture of the project. You will also receive emails about other on-going discussions from the mailing-list - don't hesitate to read them and reply there too, comment and ideas are welcomed!
 * Using the information you have got from the discussions and the game description, write and submit the sample work described below, before September 5th.
 * Discussions about the submitted sample works will happen on the mailing-list - you will thus be able to follow the recrutment process there. In any case, if you have any question, don't hesitate to ask!
 * Sample work required:
 * A short pitch for the game story, including a 50 words summary
 * A summary of a mission scenario, with a sample dialogue

Employment status

 * Freelance contract mission

Contact information

 * Contact name: David Blanchard
 * Email: [mailto:bar@hackit.cx bar@hackit.cx] (public mailing list of the project)

Places to post the ad

 * http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?displayHome=
 * http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/forum.asp?forum_id=8
 * http://www.writerscafe.org/advertise/
 * http://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/101_bidclick
 * http://www.cavewriters.com/content/content.aspx?id=14
 * http://www.writewords.org.uk/jobs/
 * http://sfbay.craigslist.org/wri/
 * http://www.gumtree.com/london/editorial-writing-jobs_1042_1.html
 * http://gamasutra.com/jobs/
 * http://emploi.afjv.com/index.php &amp; http://canada.afjv.com/index.php
 * http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/OnlineGamesJobs/
 * http://jobs.insidenetwork.com/jobboard.php
 * http://www.gamesindustry.biz/jobs/?search=6687