Massively

Jess Lebow asks, What's in a name?

Brooke Pilley — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Guides, MMO industry, Opinion

What's in a name? That's an interesting question. For some players, there's obviously not much in a name. For instance, how many VanHellsings, Grandalfs, or RougeKillas have you come across in your MMO travels? We're not quite sure if these people are trying to be clever, innocently paying homage to their favourite pop culture references, or simply don't care what others think.

For others, a lot of thought goes into a name. These players want to have unique, meaningful, and/or perhaps a wee bit pretentious names for their avatar. Maybe there's even a back story for how they got their name.

One thing is certain; developers usually put lots of thought into naming various cities, locations, and NPCs in their MMO worlds. Why? Jess Lebow, MMO storyteller for over a decade, believes players are smart and pay attention to detail. He also knows they're easily annoyed by things like too many consonants with too few vowels or oddly punctuated names. When naming one of the first cities in Guild Wars, he used a feature-based naming generation system that came up with Lagbourough for the city by a lake. This resulted in a few chuckles from testers and not-so-pleased programmers. That city name changed five times before releasing as Lion's Arch.

Jess Lebow asks, What's in a name? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 04 May 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jess Lebow interview

Akela Talamasca — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Guild Wars, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Interviews, MMO industry, Crafting, Quests

You may or may not be familiar with the name Jess Lebow, but if you've played Guild Wars or Pirates of the Burning Sea, you'll certainly know his work. As a writer, he's worn many hats in the games industry -- world designer, story creator, producer, content director -- but at the end of the day, his job remains the same: to tell a great story.

IGN has posted a recent interview with Lebow and asked some good questions about the role of story in an MMO, how he broke into the industry, and how the industry changes expectations of what constitutes good writing compared to the traditional novel. It's a good read, if a bit short, but if brevity is the soul of wit, then you'll find a lot to chew on in this article.

Jess Lebow interview originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively's chat with Jess Lebow of Carbine Studios

Michael Zenke — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Guild Wars, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Culture, MMO industry, Massively Interviews

You may not be familiar with Carbine Studios, the new home of games industry veteran Jess Lebow. That's not too surprising as Carbine is still in stealth mode, working furiously on a project that we couldn't touch on at all in a recent discussion with the company's Lead Quest Designer. Mr. Lebow has had a storied past in the industry, just the same, and our discussion touched on a number of different issues.

Join us as we quiz Jess Lebow on his work with Dungeons and Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast, reflect on his time sailing with Flying Lab, and look ahead to what the future of the industry might hold. Plus, for Guild Wars fans, a few insights into what the granddaddy of the setting thinks about how his offspring is doing nowadays.

Continue reading Massively's chat with Jess Lebow of Carbine Studios

Massively's chat with Jess Lebow of Carbine Studios originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 May 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments