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Meet the Team - John Layman

By Keith Cross on Apr 03, 2008

Cryptic Studios has posted an interview with John Layman, one of the Writers for Champions Online, where he talks about his work on Champions Online, his past experience, and more.

Today we get to talk with John Layman, the writer of Champions Online:

Q: What do you do as the Champions Online writer?
A: I come up with many, if not most, of the missions, as well as figuring out the big picture "overplots" for various neighborhood maps and the game's overall story. A lot of this involves coordinating with Jack Emmert and making sure the stories match his vision and his ideas, and talking things over with Steven Long at Hero Games to make sure that stories effectively utilize existing Champions lore whenever possible. I work with designers to get the missions into the game and provide them with villain and henchmen dialogue and mission-giver text and flavor. It's a job that provides a great deal of variety and opportunities to write in different tones and styles, a challenge which I enjoy.

Q: How long have you been working in the gaming industry, and what did you do before working on Champions Online?
A: I've been at Cryptic for about nine months now. Before that, I did freelance writing for games for about three years, but as a freelancer I was more on the periphery of the game industry than actually in it. I don't know the game industry like other people at Cryptic do, but get the sense that Cryptic is a very different environment than most game companies. As a comic book writer, I was able to sit on my couch in my underwear all day and type on my laptop. Sometimes I get into my cubicle at Cryptic and strip down to my underwear in order to work, and so far nobody has said a word.