A few words from Oscar Garza
Text: Santtu “Japsu” Pajukanta
Tämä teksti on saatavilla myös suomeksi.
At last year’s Tracon V we saw Marketing Lead Oscar Garza from CCP Games as a Guest of Honor. We contacted him a while ago and asked how he’s doing.
Brewing something “EPIC”
The hottest topic in EVE Online is the incoming Incarna expansion that will, for the first time, let the players walk about in their characters without a spaceship around them.
– We have very high hopes for Incarna as it will change the way people understand EVE Online. We think there will be an influx of casual gamers that won’t feel the pressure from combat and PvP and instead have a great-looking sci-fi experience to hang out in.
Garza remains very quiet about other projects at CCP, such as the console shooter DUST 514 that takes place in the EVE Online universe. He does proclaim that there’s something “EPIC” brewing at CCP, though. And even if only half of the long term vision presented at EVE Fanfest a few week ago should come into reality, that won’t be a long way from “EPIC”!
More high-quality EVE fan program
At Tracon V we had several lectures related to EVE Online. Garza gave his GoH speech about the effect of CCP on White Wolf, the well-known RPG publisher CCP recently acquired. He also took part in a lively panel debate about railroading versus sandboxes, and sat down for a Q&A session with Aapo from our team. In addition to Garza’s talks, Atte Salmi gave a thorough overview of all aspects of EVE Online and in another talk delved deeper in the intricacies of player alliance politics, a feat many regard as the very essence of EVE Online. Garza praised Salmi’s expertise on the matter:
– We did get to chat on the way out of the politics lecture that I was able to sit in on. Atte understands the game on a very high level and will only get better at making presentations on our behalf.
Garza encourages the Finnish community to make more EVE Online related program. He would especially like to see current event news from the major alliances and how things are developing.
“Finland is a beautiful country and I would like to return some day”
Garza enjoyed his stay in Finland and at Tracon V.
– I had a great time in Tampere. The hotel was remarkable and the event was well run. I would have to say the most memorable part of my trip would be the phenomenal people I got to meet. Mikko [Lammi], Tero [Vyyryläinen], Matthijs [Holter] and especially Eevi [Korhonen] were a pleasure to be around. Finland is a beautiful country and I would like to return some day.
To us Finnish hobbyists he sends the following greetings:
– Support your local game makers and indie developers. They keep the landscape rich and exciting.
Perhaps, in the months to come, we’ll also hear more from the other Guest of Honor from last year – the Norwegian indie RPG designer Matthijs Holter. Garza and Holter represent the beginning of the line of Guests of Honor at Tracon, but definitively not the end. In a month or two we might have some very exciting news on that front, so stay tuned!
