BioWare Mythic Trolls Moa Dragon (But In A Good Way)
Those of you who followed the news pertaining to the Ultima Forever alpha test that many Ultima Dragons were party to may recall that Moa Dragon was very…vocal…in his dislike of the game. So much so, in fact, that he…kind of breached his NDA with Electronic Arts in discussing the various details about Ultima Forever that did not sit well with him.
Well, BioWare Mythic decided to give him a sporting chance. The studio has been sending out Ultima Forever cloth maps and tarot card sets to those who participated in the alpha test, Moa included. But before Moa’s map and cards were mailed out, Ultima franchise producer Jeff Skalski decided that the enclosed “thank you” letter needed a bit of a personal touch.
Because you see, Moa had earlier fretted to the RPG Codex community that he worried just what EA might send to his mailing address:
But I suspect they put scorpions in mine.
The result?
Yes, that is a scorpion.
And just to be sure that this was no accident, he even asked Jeff Skalski directly, on Twitter, about the image:
@taxalot I had fun drawing that. Yes, we do read the forums. 😉
— Jeff Skalski (@Jeff_Skalski) October 16, 2012
As noted in the title, this is very much trolling in the good way. In fact, it was a very brilliant — though probably spontaneous — piece of PR work by Skalski, and earned him some kudos from the RPG Codex crowd. And it’s a nice indication that the people at Mythic, even the guys at the top, make a conscious effort to take in the opinions of the Ultima fandom, wherever those opinions find expression.
That includes the Ultima Codex, by the way. So please, continue to express your thoughts and concerns about this new Ultima title. You have more of an audience than you think, and I mean that in the very best way.
Love it. 🙂 At least in the Bioware/Mythic department, things have indeed changed at EA. Sadly my childlike smile limit for the month was just exhausted by this parcel. Damn.
I find the timing rather incredible.
Consider: Moa posted his comment one day, got the package the next.
Moa, however, lives in Europe, and Mythic is in Virginia.
Jeff had to be On. The. Ball. to catch that comment, intercept Moa’s package in the office, draw the scorpion, and then get the thing sent overnight express. It was a gesture that was pulled off in a matter of hours, if that.
Why are you trying to take my smile away? j/k Maybe Moa had used the phrase (scorpions) in a previous comment, giving the team a few more days (or even weeks) to send the package? Perhaps his most recent comment wasn’t the impetus for the customized package.
It could have been staged (were both parties in collusion), laying convincing international astroturf. These days it’s all just gasoline on my paranoia. The sign of a truly brilliant con is when the laymen don’t realize they’re even a part of it yet (or ever). Like that line from The Usual Suspects about the Devil.
All that aside, the actual sketch of the scorpion is rather nice. The number of appendages are correct (eight) for an arachnid. Nice work there.
Indeed the timing is odd, and I have been probably overenthusiastic on the Codex (Having a fever does that to you).
As I pointed out later in the thread, I did make a small allusion to “hoping the adress was not for sending hitmen or a box of scorpions” when I replied to Mythic by mail. The drawing, in all likelyhood, does come from that.
Still, the tweet answer makes it all confusing : Skalski alludes to the forum, where as I didn’t except voicing suspicions (at the time, for wrong reasons) on the Codex that it was proof that Mythic was reading the thread.
I think there is evidence enough out there I am not in collusion with Mythic about that project 🙂 Rather, collision.
Cool, I was right about my supposition that a previous communication could have spawned the response. So my smile is back. Thanks Moa.
Hah! That is pretty damn cool. 🙂