It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

The only place you'll ever hear the truth
User avatar
Mark
Introversion Staff
Introversion Staff
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed May 30, 2001 1:24 am
Contact:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Postby Mark » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:09 pm

It was New Year’s day yesterday, and through the throbbing I watched a classic film from the 80s that (in younger days) had me wearing my pants on the outside. The film tales the story of an alien (Duracell) rescued from the exploding planet of Krypton and sent to earth to fight for “Truth, Justice and the American Way”. When he arrives he writes for the Daily Planet by day and saves innocents by night.

Similarly to Superman, I too have led a double life, but the time has finally come, a decision has been made and now I’m a little bit scared. Depending on your perspective you either know me as the self appointed commander-in-chief at Introversion, or as the grey suited, mild mannered Civil Servant. Since leaving University, I have cheated. To give credit where due, Tom and Chris have always been full time at IV, dedicated to making great games and achieving commercial success, whilst I have hedged my bets: shuffling paper between the hours of 9-5 and running IV in whatever was left over. That has now changed, and as of the 1st Feb, I will be full time with the greatest software developer on the planet. This, like all great endeavours is at once both Frightening and Exciting.

I am always slightly embarrassed when asked to describe my role at IV. I say I am the boss, but that doesn’t really capture it. In no way are Chris or Tom subservient to me and (quite rightly) in no way do they do what I tell them if they are not in agreement. I do, however mediate between them. Chris has exceptional talent and passion when it comes to the art of video games. Tom spent his boyhood dreaming of running companies, building and selling them until he had amassed a multiplicity of fortunes. These two views have always required reconciliation, and right from the start I was negotiating the middle path to ensure that a. We were successful and b. That each of us were happy enough to stay just one more day. To this end I enjoyed a mutual trust from both of them and was often required to make the final decision when time was short and our discussions had failed to provide resolution.

This tension has actually been a source of great strength for Introversion, with such strong forces pulling in opposite directions, we have maintained a steady course that has led us to success beyond the most extreme of the drunken fantasies that we shared back in our student days. We have not become bogged down with creative in-decisiveness (despite Chris’ best efforts with Darwinia) nor have we been blinded by the dollar (although Tom did want to release DEFCON as a $1 mini-game) and we have constantly moved forward (although without the resistance of the other two, I would still have everyone working on Uplink 2).

Over the years the job has changed. I no longer just mediate between Tom and Chris, Johnny is now on the board and the whole top dynamic has changed. We have staff who need to be encouraged, developed and occasionally whipped. We are signing big deals with big companies and we must deliver. So now I’m scared. I’m coming on board full time and there is much work to be done. Will we be successful? What does success mean? Will I actually add value or will I be a source of constant meddling and needless interference? These are the questions that plague my dreams and while I know that the answer to the first question is “Yes”, the “How” remains to be seen….
User avatar
prophile
level5
level5
Posts: 1541
Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:17 pm
Location: Southampton, UK
Contact:

Postby prophile » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:32 pm

<Hi, whoever keeps editing my posts: STOP>

Another full time member of IV \o/
Last edited by prophile on Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:07 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Xocrates
level5
level5
Posts: 5262
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:34 pm

Postby Xocrates » Wed Jan 03, 2007 2:54 pm

wait...

Mark is actually Superman :shock:
Slinken
level2
level2
Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:58 am
Location: Gävle, Sweden

Postby Slinken » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:13 pm

Xocrates wrote:wait...

Mark is actually Superman :shock:

didnt you already know?
sirvoks
level3
level3
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue Dec 19, 2006 4:47 pm

Postby sirvoks » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:34 pm

Good for you, I guess. :)
User avatar
Xocrates
level5
level5
Posts: 5262
Joined: Wed Dec 13, 2006 11:34 pm

Postby Xocrates » Wed Jan 03, 2007 3:39 pm

Slinken wrote:
Xocrates wrote:wait...

Mark is actually Superman :shock:


didnt you already know?


Remember I haven't been around as long as you did.

I just discovered about Neothermic-santa-satan-chris-jesus-whatever recently
User avatar
Nutter
level3
level3
Posts: 324
Joined: Thu May 25, 2006 1:30 pm
Location: Denmark
Contact:

Postby Nutter » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:04 pm

Let me be the first to say congratulations Mark on the change to full time! For some reason I always thought you were it at IV, but I'm sure it will be a change for the better, if nothing else you won't have to be double tasking all the time :D
Darksun
level5
level5
Posts: 6461
Joined: Sat Dec 07, 2002 7:08 pm
Location: 127.0.0.1

Postby Darksun » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:27 pm

On your last day pushing paperclips, you have to stand up in the office, rip of your shirt revealing the Darwinia tshirt underneath and run out. And get someone to video it.

If you do it I will love you forever :D
User avatar
shinygerbil
level5
level5
Posts: 4667
Joined: Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:14 pm
Location: Out, finding my own food. Also, doing the shinyBonsai Manoeuvre(tm)
Contact:

Postby shinygerbil » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:38 pm

That would be awesome. :D

Good luck, and I hope you all reap the rewards for being such an excellent games company.
Here is my signature. Make of it what you will.
Image
AltDelete
level0
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:38 am

Postby AltDelete » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:45 pm

As a big fan of both Darwinia and Defcon, I would still love, more than anything else, Uplink 2 ^__^

Congratulations on the full-time position! Keep living the dream for those of us still in college / dead end IT Jobs (someday maybe I'll be like Mark...)
elDiablo
level5
level5
Posts: 3111
Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2002 12:23 pm
Location: London, UK

Postby elDiablo » Wed Jan 03, 2007 5:53 pm

Congrats on the full time workingnesses. Not that I knew you worked elsewhere 9-5, but meh...
We dont stop playing cos we get old... We get old cos we stop playing.
Montyphy
level5
level5
Posts: 6747
Joined: Tue Apr 19, 2005 2:28 pm
Location: Bristol, England

Postby Montyphy » Wed Jan 03, 2007 7:06 pm

"It was the best of times, it was the blorst of times"
Uplink help: Check out the Guide or FAQ.
Latest Uplink patch is v1.55.
User avatar
NeoThermic
Introversion Staff
Introversion Staff
Posts: 6256
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2002 10:55 am
Location: ::1
Contact:

Postby NeoThermic » Wed Jan 03, 2007 9:13 pm

Darksun wrote:On your last day pushing paperclips, you have to stand up in the office, rip of your shirt revealing the Darwinia tshirt underneath and run out. And get someone to video it.

If you do it I will love you forever :D


This is it. Hell, if you lack a DG shirt or someone to film it, I'll turn up to anywhere in the UK with one to make this happen :)

NeoThermic
User avatar
xander
level5
level5
Posts: 16869
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 11:41 pm
Location: Highland, CA, USA
Contact:

Postby xander » Wed Jan 03, 2007 10:06 pm

Montyphy wrote:"It was the best of times, it was the blorst of times"

What the hell kind of crap is that?! Damn monkeys!

Oh, and congrats on leaving the real world and joining IV fulltime ;)

xander
Rkiver
level5
level5
Posts: 6405
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2002 10:39 am
Location: Dublin, Ireland

Postby Rkiver » Thu Jan 04, 2007 12:24 am

Congratulations Mark on making what is obviously the correct, and only, choice.

With all of the original three working together there is nothing you cannot achieve, especially with the help of the now slightly larger team that is Introversion Software.

What can I say, I'm proud to have met you all during my life.
Uplink help: Read the FAQ

Return to “Introversion Blog”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests