Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! The drinks were free-flowing at Flying Lab Software's party at the Experience Music Project last Wednesday evening. Counting down to the January 22nd launch, it was a light hearted and intimate affair for only 200 of Flying Lab's closest employees, friends and family - and us scurrrrvy members of the prrress!
Yes, pirate jokes flew as we lined up like good pirates for our grog, and dinner. Oh yes, Pirates ate salad! I'll have you know that Arrrrugula was a staple in Pirate meals! Not to mention the Arrrrtichokes and for the more blood thirsty among us, slabs of rare beef. For the hoity, prim and prissy naval officers, there was proper tea while privateers and we free-traders ran laissez-faire between the Caesar salad and buttered rolls, trading love-fruit (or the tomato) for - wait… is that common wine? Arrr mateys! Who's got the best looking dessert? Wot? Just three cherries, I gots four!
As music from Pirates of the Burning Sea played in the background and a reel of in-game movies ran on the big screen, employees of Flying Lab and well-wishers mingled and talked, hobnobbed and traded tales. Producer John Tynes told the crowd of the trip of Pirates of the Burning Sea.
"It's been five years," he told us, "and it has been [freaking] awesome."
He also told us how his fantastically cool parents shaped his future. Having taken him to Disney World when he was a kid - took him out of school in October - and his most lasting memory of that trip was of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. He saved all his pocket money and spent it on - you guessed it. A pirate gun! It was his most treasured toy in the years to come and one which he proudly brandished for us to see.
Then he had a very special award to give out, to their most quotable staff member. In a pre-planned presentation, he called on various staff members who shouted out one quote after another:
After the laughter died down they called up camera shy Mission Designer Valerie Miller to receive a great looking Pirates of the Burning Sea messenger bag as the winner of the Flying Lab Quote File.
Tools Designer Rick Saada, who has been with them since the beginning and believed in Pirates of the Burning Sea enough to invest his time, money and career in Flying Lab software was asked to speak next. He jumped up on stage and told us of the strange journey of how he became involved with such a motley crew. It was five and a half years ago, he told us. He was going through a tough time in his life and the one truly bright spot was that he really loved working for Flying Lab. But Flying Lab was also going through a bit of a tough time and there was talk of folding.
"I thought, 'No, you can't do that! This is my lifeline!' And they asked, 'Well, want to become a partner?'"
The rest is history. He was proud to tell us that the staff, premises and budget had increased more than five fold, but the game? There was now a "hellalot" more than ten times the game. Before he could step away, Rick found himself honored with his very own saber and John quipped that there went his bonus and $7K in profits!
It was a short and upbeat presentation before we were urged to party, enjoy the galleries of the EMP, participate in the scavenger hunt or get some dessert and more grog. It was dark, there were flashing lights. My photographer couldn't make it, so here are the best shots I could get of the evening. Enjoy.
The former head of developer relations for the Stratics Network, Carolyn Koh has years of experience covering the MMORPG genre. Carolyn first started playing games such as Pong & Moon Buggy on the 8086, and arcade games like Ms. PacMan, Centipede, Red Baron and Joust before graduating to text muds through University computers and Doom on the LAN in the Engineering department after office hours. She claims she didn't frag the guys. Carolyn enjoys reviewing casual games and children's games for us. She also maintains a staff blog commenting on the emails crossing her desk that touch on the gaming industry in one form or another.
