by John Stvan AKA Halcylon
Edited by Vince Scalabrino

Much like the fabled unicorn, Achronos is elusive, majestic, and beautiful.  Well, we assume he’s beautiful.  Regardless, the Shot in the Dark crew managed to track down this mythical man and cornered him.  He agreed to grant us three wishes.  The first two were wasted on Lucas’s wish to have Spider Man’s super powers and Vince’s wish to have Codemaster’s “Overlord” become a reality.  With Spider Lucas out the window and The Dark Lord Vince safely within his evil tower, the rest of the crew were left to have their final wish granted: that Achronos answer a battery of questions.  The following is a relatively exact representation of what ensued.

Shots in the Dark: You are tagged as the Bungie.net Overlord.  A coveted name, to be sure.  What is your role on Bungie.net and for Bungie itself?

Achronos: I am one of the two Web Development Engineers who are responsible for bungie.net.  This entails designing and writing systems such as the Account, Security, and Content systems.  I also work on the web systems that interface with Halo 2 and 3, most recently the file share and screenshot web front-ends.  I also manage the moderators for Bungie.net, as well as act as a forum presence on Bungie.net to supplement the efforts of Frankie, Brian, and Luke as our community representatives.

SitD: How long have you been a part of Bungie?  Did you get involved with Bungie.net at the same time?

A: I’ve been working at Bungie since January of 2001.  The first thing I worked on was creating a support knowledge base for Bungie’s pre-Halo games when we still supported them (this was quite recently after Microsoft acquired Bungie).  That was just a warm-up, though – I was really hired to remake Bungie.net from a Myth-focused site into a Halo-themed one. 

SitD: Can you tell us a bit about life before Bungie?  Have you worked on any games that we might have heard of before?

A: Before Bungie, I was a senior at Virginia Tech who had just learned that he had accidentally completed all the required credits for his degree a semester before he expected.  As I was going to graduate in December, I was planning on hiding in graduate school as none of the other places I had fired my résumé off to were really interesting.

SitD: What inspired you to work for Bungie? What made you say “Yeah this is the place I want to be”?

A: Well, I had heard of Halo, and knew of Bungie’s previous games, and had sent my resume to them as part of my “crap, I need to find a job after I leave college, and that’s going to be sooner than I thought” binge.   I figured that I love playing games, and if I’m going to work for the rest of my adult life, it should be doing something I love.  How many people can say the same thing that they do for a living is something that they find fun?

SitD: In your time with Bungie, you’ve seen the company single-handedly expedite the evolution of the gaming industry, with Halo 3 breaking all previous sales records for launch sales at $170 million.  What do you see as Bungie’s greatest contributions to the gaming world, on and offline?

A: Well, the sales are one measure of success, but there are other franchises that do really well too.  I think the key factor that makes Halo stand out, and Bungie games in general, is the community that forms around our games.  A big part of this is just the quality of the games in general, but a lot of it also has to do with empowering the community.  Things like the 7th Column fanclubs for getting local groups together for lan parties (or the bungie.net group system in general), the user created content tools in Halo 3, or even the party system in Halo 2 and 3, and the “virtual couch” it represents.  Even matchmaking itself – once considered a rather radical departure from the standard PC centric server browser, now looked upon as an example that other games should follow. 

SitD: Bungie have kind of become the “poster boys” of Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox Live.  That has to be some pressure!  Does it ever get to you?  If so, what do you do to unwind and de-stress?

A: Well, I ban people.  That’s very stress releasing.  Also, criticizing the quality of a troll post can be a fun exercise.  In all seriousness, though – that kind of external pressure is never really a big deal.  Nobody is more critical of our own stuff than we are.  External pressure doesn’t really play into it.

SitD: Enters man with monkey suit, jetpack, and ten gallon foam hat.

A: Since you bring it up – please make sure you don’t call me the Webmaster.  I do NOT walk around in a gorilla suit, jetpack, or the foam hat.  I’m not him, and no, I don’t know where he is now.

SitD: How did the split from Microsoft affect the Bungie Staff?

A: Business as usual, although my paychecks and insurance have new names on them.  My reaction is mostly one of interest in the future – we own our destiny, quite literally.  Before, we were just a cog in the machine of Microsoft.  They were and remain great people to work with, but there is something to be said about being in direct control of your own future.

SitD: Are there any hard feelings on either side?

A: As has been stated before in other places – it wasn’t like that.  They’re still our publisher, after all, and that relationship is very strong.

SitD: How will Bungie handle the upcoming Halo Wars, being that you’re not directly involved?

A: Play it with enthusiasm?  It is very much Ensemble’s game.   They don’t need us to tell them how to make an RTS – they’re quite accomplished in that regard.  I’m personally looking forward to playing a more complete version of the game than the prototype I was last able to play a while ago. 

SitD: You can has pre-betas?!?!?!  Without too much detail, how does it look and feel?

A: I can’t really comment – it was a while ago.  People who are interested in it should go check out Ensemble’s site and follow their updates.

SitD: Does Bungie have affiliate relationships with any gaming groups (Major League Gaming or any groups like it)?

A: Well, we just announced a partnership with MLG – there’s an official MLG playlist coming in the next few weeks. 

Regarding Halo: CE, Halo 2, and Halo 3:

SitD: Being the “Overlord”, what responsibilities were put upon you before, during, and after the launch of Halo 3?

A: Well, in the run up to Halo 3, we had two priorities for Bungie.net.  First, we re-skinned the site.  I had to spend the necessary time implementing the necessary backend changes to accommodate the new design.  While this was going on, we had to prepare for Halo 3.  This included supporting the alpha, beta, and final releases.  While I mostly worked on the infrastructure stuff for Bungie.net (performance and stability on systems like account, security, and content systems), the other web dev, Chris Gossett, did a lot of the work on getting stats for Halo 3 working.  My primary role directly related to Halo 3 ended up being the File Share and Screenshot sections.

During the launch of Halo 3, the hard work really began – the web team (Chris, myself, and some of the developers who worked on game), we had to keep things up and running.  Every problem gets magnified when you have to scale it to a few million people. 

Now, we’ve fallen into a mostly-monthly update cycle, making general improvements and feature additions to the site, while also doing groundwork for future projects and support new DLC maps.  We aim to continue this monthly update schedule, although experience has taught us it will slow down as we ramp up work on future projects.  However, we’re trying to still keep a monthly update schedule anyway, even if we have to scale back some of the months to be a little leaner than others.  So far, this is working well.

SitD: How closely does Bungie keep its story arcs to itself?  Do you get to view material before it becomes part of the games?

A: During prototyping, we see summary information, but generally the actual story/script is worked on by the story/writing guys and the creative leads of a project.  Eventually, they solicit feedback from the rest of the team, but those are usually on the details, not the big concepts (although there are exceptions – things like what to do about the Arbiter in Halo 3 was opened up to feedback early, and that was definitely a “big ticket” type choice).
 
SitD: With the end of the Halo Series, do you expect there to be a decrease or increase in online memberships, as far as Bungie.net is concerned?

A: Well, Bungie.net hasn’t ever really decreased in membership, it mostly just plateaus between games.  We haven’t hit that point in Halo 3, as people are still really engaged with the game and all of the DLC.  Also, the fact that Forge, films, and screenshots exist and that you need to be on Bungie.net to utilize much of the sharing features of the game keeps people invested.  Given that, I don’t know if we will hit that, depending on the length of time we keep adding DLC for Halo 3 as well as whenever we decide to let you know about our next project. It is entirely conceivable that we just keep going up, and not have a lull. 

SitD: Were you guys (Bungie) hiding certain meanings within your games? For instance, some biblical references to the Flood and the Ark, as in: Noah’s Ark, or any of the assorted other religious references?

A: The story of Halo is influenced by many sources.  Like any good fiction, you are left with lots of things to discuss after you’re finished with the story.  Answering every little question would actually be bad – it would make the universe seem much smaller, and not let your imagination fill in the blanks.  That’s where a lot of the fun comes from!

SitD: Is there any hope in the future of the Map Packs to see the Original Halo: CE maps?  (Sidewinder, Boarding Action, Etc.)

A: Enjoy Avalanche in April.

SitD: I can only assume that you take into account some of the ideas and concerns posted on the forums.  If no, then what is the best way for a gamer to make sure his objection or support of chosen material is heard?

A: We do read the forums.  The first thing people need to do is to NOT send us game ideas.  We can’t look at them.  Lawyers don’t like it.  We’d rather make our own game ideas anyway.  Furthermore, forum feedback and suggestions about existing games or announced upcoming games is great, but only as long as you go into it understanding we probably won’t comment on your feedback. 

SitD: If you could go back and redesign just one thing inside of a game you helped to create, what would it be and why?

A: Well, that would be a big list.  I’ll just keep it to web-related things.  One thing I would definitely change is make it so you can rate user content inside the game.  People don’t rate stuff on Bungie.net very much because most of the content you have to download to your box, play it, and then go back to Bungie.net and rate it… at which time it may not be where you found it the first time.  Actually scratch that, I’d just want to figure out how to allow people to better find good user created content.  That is a really hard problem, especially if you want to do it in the game. 

SitD: We asked the Shots in the Dark fans what they would want to know more about, but as Halo players, they are only interested in one thing: Recon…
As tired as this topic is, it never seems to die.  You’ve done a great thing creating a reward for outstanding members and people contributing.  Will we see more armor or other rewards for outstanding contributions be delivered to the community, going forward?

A: Recon is the only “reward” armor there.  Tournaments and such will provide increased opportunities to get it, but I doubt we’d go through the effort of a new permutation just to not give it to most people.

SitD: You were recently on vacation, of sorts.  Care to share how that went?
A: My marriage at the Seattle Aquarium on Feb 29th went very well.  Everyone had a great time.  I still have to go on my honeymoon, but that will probably come in the spring.

SitD: Ya-taaaa!  Congratulations!
A: Thanks.  Anybody in the Seattle area looking to hold an event should consider the Aquarium – they rule.

Getting a Job in Game Development

SitD: People have been applying like crazy for the chance to “Get hired.  Get the Fire.”  Any insight into what Bungie is actually looking for in employees?

A: Really smart people who know their stuff.  Don’t just send resumes, send a portfolio, show us what you can do.  If you’re an artist, send art.  If you’re a programmer, show us what you’ve coded.  A good portfolio makes you stand out among the pile of form letters that were just mass spammed to potential employers.

SitD: Moreover, would you have any advice to folks considering moving into a career in the game industry?

A: Build your portfolio.  If you’re an artist, make lots of art.  If you’re a programmer, write lots of good code.  Finish your projects.  Get involved in the PC modding community – you’ll likely learn a lot. 

SitD: What kind of games to you play, Achronos?

A: I am ironically not a big fan of shooters – Halo is actually one of the first series of shooters I’ve really enjoyed.  I usually prefer RPGs (both the Japanese kind and the American variety), adventure games, RTS, and turn based strategy (Civilization, Master of Orion, Galactic Civilizations). But I play lots of other things too… the only genres I really don’t play are sports games and rhythm/music games (like Guitar Hero… mostly just because I suck at rhythm games).

SitD: The “White Guy” syndrome afflicts many of us.  Civilization IV has to be one of those games that never gets boring, I can never stop my lust for world domination!

A: Civ4 is great, but really, my true live is space 4X games.  I have lost much of my life playing Master of Orion 2.  I was crushed when I played Master of Orion 3… anybody who tried it will know why.  Galactic Civilizations 2 and its expansions helped renew my appreciation in the genre.  And Sins of a Solar Empire is a very fresh take on that kind of game – I encourage people to try it.  I hear the latest patch really adds to the game in the AI department. 

SitD: Are you a decent Halo player?  It’s OK to be confident.  Hell, brag if you want to. 

A: Back in the Halo:CE days, I was one of the better players in Bungie because I played regularly with a crew in Microsoft (we took over the conference rooms in building 116 at least once a week).  I never really got the hang of Halo 2, and didn’t play it that much, although when I did play, my rusty skills did transfer over fairly well.  I enjoy Halo 3 much more than 2, but the only problem is that I now live in a location with MUCH crappier internet than before.  It is prone to spikes of massive lag and I never get host (before, with Halo 2, I was ALWAYS host because I was on a REALLY fast DSL line when I lived in an urban area).  I have to check my network perf every time before I get online to make sure it isn’t a “slow day”… and that just is annoying.  FiOS can’t come soon enough.  I’ve been considering switching to DSL in the short term, even though it will be a bit slower, it will likely be much more consistent.

SitD: Oh, so when we complain about lag, it’s not acceptable… I get it.

A: You know, a lot of people complain to me about lag.  I ask them if they’re browsing the Internet while playing.  I’ve heard both “No, but my brother was” and “No, but my brother was running bittorrent”. I’ve also heard that our “servers” are laggy… even though we’re not running any server that host games on them.
Lag can sometimes be hard to find the cause of, but most of the time, a little common sense can go a long way.  For example – most residential broadband is not capable of running Halo 3 (especially larger 8 player an above games) and doing heavy internet surfing, let along running BitTorrent, at the same time.  Another quick tip – games require both download and upload bandwidth.  A 6 megabit download speed isn’t going to seem very fast in a Big Team Battle game if you’re averaging a 256K/s upload rate or less when you’re playing Halo 3.  Moral of the story – if you plan on heavy gaming, get Internet service that doesn’t assume all you’re doing is browsing the web, if at all possible.

SitD: What are your favorite map and/or game types? (Territories, right?)

A: Shotgun Assault, No Shields in Halo:CE on Wizard holds a special place in my heart.  More generally, I prefer larger objective (mostly CTF multi-flag) games.  Not because I can’t play the smaller slayer games, but I have fond memories of 4 hour long 16 player LAN games where each side has had 2 caps on the board for 3 and half hours until finally we pull out a win.  Even if you lose that game, it was still epic.  You may notice that I spend most of my time when playing matchmaking in Big Team Battle… that’s why. Lately, though, I’ve had to avoid it, because of my fore-mentioned internet crappiness at home.

Let’s Get Personal

We like to get to know each person we interview.  Here, we will do a short, rapid shot segment to further explore the genius that is Achronos.

SitD: What’s the weather like today in Kirkland?  Is it true what everyone says about Washington weather being depressing?

A: Cloudly and raining.  Basically winter in the Puget Sound. The weather isn’t all that depressing, you just have to get used to the fact that “winter” usually means grey and rainy.  The spring, summer, and early fall are really nice – even when it is hot, it usually isn’t humid.

SitD: Are you righty or lefty?

A: Righty.

SitD: Do you snore? 

A: Ask my wife. :-)

SitD: Do you play any games that aren’t FPS’?  If so, which ones?

A: Right now, I’m switching around between Lost Odyssey (way more fun than FFXII, by the way, I don’t care what people say about FFXII, it was boring and had a crappy story), Smash Bros. Brawl, Civilization IV, and Sins of a Solar Empire.  My next purchase will likely be GTAIV, although I may look for something new in the meantime.

SitD: Is that avatar a self portrait?

A: It is a picture of me, but I didn’t make it.  Lorraine McLees did.

SitD: Blue Cheese or Ranch?

A: On a salad, neither – I prefer Italian or balsamic vinagrette.  As a dip, ranch.

SitD: Football or Futból?

A: If I’m watching the game, it should be Football.  If I’m playing the game, it should be futból.

SitD: Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts?

A: As I don’t drink coffee, I prefer Dunkin Donuts since I can get donuts there.

SitD: Master Chief or Arbiter?

A: The Chief.

SitD: Mac or PC?

A: A PC.

SitD: Now that we know the intimacies that are Achronos, we will part with a final question.  What, overall, do you feel is the best thing about the Halo Universe, Bungie.net, or anything revolving around your creation, other than the drinking contests you have with Yoozel?

A: By far, the community itself.  Halo wouldn’t be the same without the fans.  Not just because they buy the game.  No, it is because they invest in the game – playing it, discussing it, making stuff with it, even before we had tools to gather films and such, you guys were making trick videos and such.  I still remember Warthog Jump. It is amazing how far we’ve come from that.

SitD: Well said, Achronos.  Thanks for your time!  We over at Shots in the Dark and Shotgun Reviews really appreciate it!  We will, of course, look for you and your teammates during online play to make sure you get an extra t-bag from us!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 28th, 2008 at 9:18 am and is filed under Gaming, Video or Otherwise, Interview, John Stvan, Shots in the Dark. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.