END RANT

“I did a little interview with Kill Ten Rats to talk about the title build recently. I liked doing the interview and having the chance to explain in a little more detail, the process of putting together parts of that build but I’ve got to say that the couple of comments suggesting that I was “demoted” to or “stuck” on the Guild Wars Live Team have irked me just a bit. I very much consider this job to have been a rare opportunity for me to do exactly what I had daydreamed about doing for years and not only that, but truly grow as a designer and as a team leader. I eagerly sought this position from the moment I first heard about it and there is nothing that I would rather be doing. It’s a dream job. Hard work, no doubt, but as far as I am concerned there isn’t anything cooler or more fun than this. AND I actually get paid for it. So, don’t you guys ever think that I don’t want to be right where I am, or that I was in any way forced into it. Say what you will about the work I have done, or disagree with my decisions, but please don’t say I was demoted. Makes me sad /pout.”

As for whether or not it is a good career move, consider that governor of a state is generally considered a better stepping stone to the US presidency than being a US senator or congressman. Does no one remember the election that just ended a month ago where one of the major points raised against Obama over and over since the primaries was his lack of executive experience, that he was never a governor or even a mayor? He did still win, but then his opponent lacked the same.

So yes, this is going to look plenty good on her resume, not that I think she’ll need to be updating it anytime soon. You really think Anet is going to let Linsey go when GW1 does finally close up? There are always more projects.

Also, swizzle stix, your analogy is pretty extreme. A more fair analogy might be she was part of the design team for Toyota’s fuel cell and hybrid cars, which would be the next big thing, and then moved to be in charge of the Camry line. It may not be as glamorous, but she has a lot more responsibility (and power to help or harm Guild Wars).

• verb reduce to a lower rank or less senior position.

so she goes from little known GW/GW2 programmer to a position where every GW player is looking at her, kicking, screaming, demanding things. Either that’s an intricate form of torture, or not a demotion at all.

GW is also not dead, it’s a game that still sells more copies per quarter than the average 360 title in their lifetime. Again, do you hand over responsibility for such a franchise to a demoted, possibly disgruntled, programmer? Hell no, because once GW2 hits you have a realistic chance of turning the new GW2 players into buyers of GW1. After all, no monthly fees, no excuse not to play the back catalog. This is where Linsey comes in, giving the game more and more polish. Just look at the changes she made so far, those are not there to please the grindcore. She is putting GW on its best behavior so new people get a more attractive product upon purchase; not upon hour 5001.