Podcast appearances and mentions of Greg Zeschuk

In today's Daily Fix:Sony has revealed the lineup of new games coming to PlayStation Plus in March. Headlining the list is Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is a fairly new game, having dropped just a few months ago. The fourth Dragon Age game failed to hit EA's sales goals, so putting the game on PS Plus so soon is likely an attempt at recouping some cash. In other news, BioWare's co-founder put Microsoft on blast for some bad advice during the original Xbox era. It was Microsoft's suggestion that cult favorite RPG Jade Empire be released for the OG Xbox right at the end of its life, just a few months shy of the Xbox 360's debut. Dr. Greg Zeschuk is convinced Jade Empire could've been a hit for BioWare if the game was held for newer hardware. And finally, comic book writer Gail Simone has seen the canceled Wonder Woman game, and is singing its praises. Too bad we'll never get to see for ourselves.

Greg Zeschuk is the co-founder of Bioware. While a medical student at the University of Alberta he told his future wife that, if he could, he'd make video games for a living. After he graduated, the dream came true when, in 1995, he and two friends founded Bioware in his basement. The following year the trio released Shattered Steel and, two years after that, Baldur's Gate, which revolutionised the world of computer role-playing games. In the years that followed Bioware released a string of blockbuster hits, including Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. In 2007, just 12 years after its founding, the company was sold to Electronic Arts as part of a deal worth $860 million. In recent years, my guest started a brewing company, Blind Enthusiasm, and today runs two microbreweries and a restaurant in Edmunton, where he has spent most of his life. Be attitude for gains. https://plus.acast.com/s/my-perfect-console. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Alex and Aaron welcome the co-founder of Bioware, the makers of Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic. They revolutionized RPG games. Without Greg - there's no Starfield. We hear stories from Bioware's formative years, the ride that led to their acquisition by Electronic Arts, working with Bono (yes, that Bono), lessons on venture capital vs. private equity and some love for very difficult games - all on this week's podcast.Also, check out what Greg's been up to: https://blindenthusiasm.ca/Thank you for listening to our podcast all about videogames and the amazing people who bring them to life!Hosted by Alexander Seropian and Aaron MarroquinFind us at www.thefourthcurtain.comCome join the conversation at https://discord.gg/KWeGE4xHfeVideos available at https://www.youtube.com/@thefourthcurtainFollow us on twitter: @fourthcurtainFeaturing the music track Liberation by 505Please consider supporting the show by pre-registering for our Season Two Kickstarter at www.thefourthcurtain.com/kickstarter

With our 2022 Brewers Congress two months away, we thought it was the perfect time to revisit our 2021 keynote address.Greg Zeschuk knows a thing or two about running a team. During his latest visit to the UK in September just gone, we caught up with him again and discussed that before working in beer, the company he co-founded grew to employ 1500 at seven locations across the globe. Zeschuk was originally trained as a medical doctor, before starting the videogame company BioWare in 1995 in his hometown of Edmonton. BioWare created a number of successful games (Baldur's Gate, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) before being purchased by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. While a part of EA BioWare grew to employ over 1500 employees at seven studios across the world. Zeschuk left BioWare in 2012 and after a short hiatus started working in beer.  He went on to start The Beer Diaries, a YouTube channel focused on craft beer, and served as the first Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association in his home province. This led to Zeschuk starting a brewery in his hometown of Edmonton. To achieve his brewery goals Greg built two buildings – the award-winning Ritchie Market and the Monolith. The Ritchie Market is a multi-use building housing a brewery (Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company), a restaurant (Biera), a butcher, coffee shop, and a bakery. The Monolith was built as a barrel-focused brewery. Out of its Market brewery Blind Enthusiasm focuses on making lagers and runs a barrel-aging program. The Monolith was built to marry scientific method with tradition while making beer largely in wood. At the Monolith Blind Enthusiasm exclusively makes mixed fermentation and spontaneous beer.  And having worked in a variety of different professions across the world, Zeschuk says the key to heading up a team is to ensure you coach people rather than simply manage them, something he discusses in this latest episode.“You have to be a manager, a coach and a referee all in one. And there's probably a little bit of hope involved, too.” “It's important that the right people are in the right positions,” he explains. “And as your team grows, you need to remember that it helps for people to have frameworks to work within.” Zeschuk adds: “I've let people run with roles because I have full confidence in them making it their own. But at times, people are more comfortable with having clear guidance of what's expected of them. So it's key to communicate and discover what works best with that individual.” At its peak, Zeschuk was responsible for managing 600 people at EA BioWare and says having a good team around you is imperative. “When you grow, you need management structure that works for you. But there's no point it being too bloated because that can be disastrous,” he says. “You all need to work well together and, of course, there's a little bit of hope that everyone pulls in the same direction.” And while working in beer Zeschuk is now used to working with smaller teams, he says that doesn't mean there are fewer pressures or challenges. “Making video games was one thing and obviously delays happen. But the idea of telling a customer that we can't deliver their beer that week? he laughs.That's a whole different problem!”

“You have to be a manager, a coach and a referee all in one. And there's probably a little bit of hope involved, too.” Greg Zeschuk knows a thing or two about running a team. Because before working in beer, the company he co-founded grew to employ 1500 at seven locations across the globe. Zeschuk was originally trained as a medical doctor, before starting the videogame company BioWare in 1995 in his hometown of Edmonton. BioWare created a number of successful games (Baldur's Gate, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) before being purchased by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. While a part of EA BioWare grew to employ over 1500 employees at seven studios across the world. Zeschuk left BioWare in 2012 and after a short hiatus started working in beer.  He went on to start The Beer Diaries, a YouTube channel focused on craft beer, and served as the first Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association in his home province. This led to Zeschuk starting a brewery in his hometown of Edmonton. To achieve his brewery goals Greg built two buildings – the award-winning Ritchie Market and the Monolith. The Ritchie Market is a multi-use building housing a brewery (Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company), a restaurant (Biera), a butcher, coffee shop, and a bakery. The Monolith was built as a barrel-focused brewery. Out of its Market brewery Blind Enthusiasm focuses on making lagers and runs a barrel-aging program. The Monolith was built to marry scientific method with tradition while making beer largely in wood. At the Monolith Blind Enthusiasm exclusively makes mixed fermentation and spontaneous beer.  And having worked in a variety of different professions across the world, Zeschuk says the key to heading up a team is to ensure you coach people rather than simply manage them, something he discusses in this latest episode. “It's important that the right people are in the right positions,” he explains. “And as your team grows, you need to remember that it helps for people to have frameworks to work within.” Zeschuk adds: “I've let people run with roles because I have full confidence in them making it their own. But at times, people are more comfortable with having clear guidance of what's expected of them. So it's key to communicate and discover what works best with that individual.” At its peak, Zeschuk was responsible for managing 600 people at EA BioWare and says having a good team around you is imperative. “When you grow, you need management structure that works for you. But there's no point it being too bloated because that can be disastrous,” he says. “You all need to work well together and, of course, there's a little bit of hope that everyone pulls in the same direction.” And while working in beer Zeschuk is now used to working with smaller teams, he says that doesn't mean there are fewer pressures or challenges. “Making video games was one thing and obviously delays happen. But the idea of telling a customer that we can't deliver their beer that week? he laughs.That's a whole different problem!”

Pour ce nouvel épisode du Tomberry musical, premier dans ce nouveau format plus court, je reviens sur l'histoire de Bioware, depuis la rencontre de Greg Zeschuk et Raymond Muzyka sur les bancs de la fac de médecine, jusqu'à la sortie de Mass Effect 3, tout en gardant la trilogie du Commandant Shepard comme fil rouge. J'espère que cet épisode vous plaira. Retrouvez toutes les informations sur : tomberrymusical.fr

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we return to our series on Baldur's Gate with an interview with James Ohlen, who was lead designer on the title. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Podcast breakdown: 0:50 Interview 52:50 Break 53:21 Outro Issues covered: starting a comic book store at 19 right before the market crashed, the origin of Minsc, starting at BioWare, building an IP bible as a way to start, working the killer hours and becoming the lead designer, putting in the 25000 hours, getting lucky and selling millions of copies, the impossibility of faking love, the choice between real-time and turn-based leading to pause-and-play, being delayed by Diablo, having contributions from everyone for design, sharing credit, feeling of playing D&D more important than perfect translation, balancing being easy due to so many party members, feeling smart, finding patterns in your party, relying on save and load, random numbers, the team testing the game, using characters from the binder, finding the voice for Minsc, writers taking ownership of voice, the passing of a player, bringing in characters from more players, growing the Sword Coast, staying away from the main space others were used, the perks of working for Wizards, four types of player, learning to respect player types, the end of a game being less tested, fighting the "dumbing down" due to overplay, engaging with the community, Karzak the Half-Orc and Gromnir and criticism, incorporating another player's character in to some coming work, caring so much for the license, being able to put infinite hours in. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, Neverwinter Nights, Jade Empire, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Arcanum Worlds, Odyssey of the Dragon Lords, Wizards of the Coast, Kevin Martens, Image Comics, Magic: The Gathering, Cameron Tofer, Augustine Yip, Warcraft, Doom, Dungeons & Dragons, Shattered Steel, Scott Grieg, Malcolm Gladwell, Fallout, Civilization, Gold Box (series), TSR, Interplay/Black Isle, Chris Avellone, Chris Parker, Feargus Urquhart, Blizzard, Diablo, David Brevik, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Michael Backus, Chris King, Lukas Kristjanson, Gary Gygax, Ross Gardner, Dean Anderson, Icewind Dale, Trent Oster, Beamdog, Richard Bartle, David Gaider, Drew Karpyshyn, LucasArts, Starfighter, Mark Garcia, Sands of Tim/Brett-e Davis, Hitman 3, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura, Troika, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers. Next time: More Prince of Persia! Twitch: brettdouville or timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Welcome to Dev Game Club, where this week we begin a new series about Baldur's Gate, the 1998 CRPG from BioWare that revitalized the genre. We situate the game in time, talk about BioWare as a company, and then turn to a lot of Dungeons & Dragons nerdery. Dev Game Club looks at classic video games and plays through them over several episodes, providing commentary. Sections played: Through Chapter 1 Issues covered: explaining Brett's intro, flashbacks, 1998: a great year in games, the setting, 2nd edition AD&D, founding BioWare and "the doctors," different flavors of CRPGs, how the backgrounds hold up, feeling like your way through an explorable world, talking a little bit about methodical combat, hiding some of the complexity of combat scheduling, the varieties of turn-based combat, how they might have gotten to the combat, how we're using combat, scripted AI characters, the (new?) tutorial, THAC0 explained, table-driven combat and war-games, discussing the difficulty levels in this and the other games, having to reload, statistical difficulty vs statistical gentleness, player expectations in early D&D modules, leaning more towards role-playing, BioWare and dialogue/ethics systems, mixing in other genre elements, evolving towards loyalty quests, feeling like the tabletop, having all the text, party members not meshing, changing perspective, being banned from Candlekeep, classic characters, death of a dad figure, reinforcing the main quest, building up a party, multi-classing vs two classes, potential party members, kicking party members out for roleplaying reasons, letting characters die, characters not interacting well, including VO, VO and character, needing to gather a party before venturing forth, playing evil characters, the affect of game-making on mood, animating the deaths of children, abstraction and craft, having to deliver, project rhythms, sense of flow, playing "right" vs efficiently, incentivizing the player, intrinsic vs extrinsic rewards, achievements as a psychological motivator. Games, people, and influences mentioned or discussed: Planescape: Torment, Dungeons & Dragons, LoZ: Ocarina of Time, BioWare, Shattered Steel, Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid, Grim Fandango, Resident Evil 2, Starcraft, Unreal, Thief: The Dark Project, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, Xenogears, Tales from the Sword Coast, Icewind Dale (series), Forgotten Realms, Wizards of the Coast, TSR, Magic: the Gathering, Hasbro, Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, EA, Mass Effect (series), Dragon Age (series), Diablo, Blizzard, Fallout (series), Black Isle, Obsidian Entertainment, inXile Entertainment, David Brevik, Temple of Elemental Evil, GDC, GURPS, Shadowrun, Storyteller, Call of Cthulhu, Dark Souls, Cyberpunk 2077, "etcetera,etcetera," Sam, Lani Lum, Nintendo, Tomb Raider, Bethesda Game Studios, Pete Hines, Starfighter (series), Republic Commando, Soren Johnson, Michael, Halo, The Witness, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Chris Hecker, Christian Bale, Hitman, Kirk Hamilton, Aaron Evers, Mark Garcia. Next time: Through Chapter 3 Errata: Apparently, Shattered Steel was *not* a Windows 95 title. We regret the error. Twitch: brettdouville/timlongojr, instagram:timlongojr, Twitter: @timlongojr and @devgameclub DevGameClub@gmail.com

Day 2 of Canada Week, Greg is joined by Greg Zeschuk, Owner of Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company. Originally trained as a medical doctor, Greg started the videogame company BioWare in 1995 in his hometown of Edmonton. BioWare created a number of successful games (Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) before being purchased by Electronic Arts (EA) in 2007. Greg left BioWare in 2012 to start working in beer. Greg started The Beer Diaries, a YouTube channel focused on craft beer, and served as the first Executive Director of the Alberta Small Brewers Association. This led to Greg starting a brewery in his home town of Edmonton. Greg built two buildings - the award-winning Ritchie Market, housing a brewery (Blind Enthusiasm Brewing Company) and restaurant (Biera), and a second stand-alone brewery, the Monolith. Out of its Market brewery Blind Enthusiasm creates lagers and wheat ales and runs an extensive barrel-aging program. The Monolith was built to marry scientific method with tradition and it's dedicated to making exclusively mixed fermentation and spontaneous beer.

This week we sit down with Head Brewer of Blind Enthusiasm's Monolith, Doug Checknita. At only 27 years old Doug is a highly accomplished brewer despite being a relatively new player in the industry, and his work at Blind Enthusiasm's huge, menacing Monolith brewing facility is unique not just for Alberta, but for the entire continent. Doug grew up in a DIY household full of “doers.” With a third birthday present of a bucket of nails, a bucket of scrap wood, and a set of real tools Doug would soon develop a desire to work hard and make things himself. His heavy appetite for hard work led to diving into Alberta’s craft beer industry in two places at once: Craft Beer Market, where he would have the opportunity to meet people in the industry, and Brew Brothers, where he would get his foot in the door as a brewer. At the time the Old’s College brewing course was still yet to be, and Doug made the drive down while they were still under construction to voice his interest in joining the program. After joining the program Doug would have the opportunity to move to Quebec for a brewing internship, and he jumped on the opportunity. Despite not speaking any French, he says is was the best decision of his life. His work with Blind Enthusiasm would start with a misunderstanding. Arriving to meet with owner Greg Zeschuk for what he thought was just a chat over beers, a touch hungover and clad in a metal band t-shirt from the show the night before, Doug would discover it was in fact a job interview. After putting everything on the table about the beer he wanted to make, Doug and Greg would set out on a years-long journey of Doug always asking for me, which led to Blind Enthusiasm as we know it today: A brewery and restaurant in Edmonton’s Ritchie Market, and the massive 3-story concrete brewing facility aptly called The Monolith. letsmeetforabeer.comalbertabeerfestivals.com Blind Enthusiasm

This week we sit down with Head Brewer of Blind Enthusiasm's Monolith, Doug Checknita. At only 27 years old Doug is a highly accomplished brewer despite being a relatively new player in the industry, and his work at Blind Enthusiasm's huge, menacing Monolith brewing facility is unique not just for Alberta, but for the entire continent.Doug grew up in a DIY household full of “doers.” With a third birthday present of a bucket of nails, a bucket of scrap wood, and a set of real tools Doug would soon develop a desire to work hard and make things himself. His heavy appetite for hard work led to diving into Alberta's craft beer industry in two places at once: Craft Beer Market, where he would have the opportunity to meet people in the industry, and Brew Brothers, where he would get his foot in the door as a brewer.At the time the Old's College brewing course was still yet to be, and Doug made the drive down while they were still under construction to voice his interest in joining the program. After joining the program Doug would have the opportunity to move to Quebec for a brewing internship, and he jumped on the opportunity. Despite not speaking any French, he says is was the best decision of his life.His work with Blind Enthusiasm would start with a misunderstanding. Arriving to meet with owner Greg Zeschuk for what he thought was just a chat over beers, a touch hungover and clad in a metal band t-shirt from the show the night before, Doug would discover it was in fact a job interview. After putting everything on the table about the beer he wanted to make, Doug and Greg would set out on a years-long journey of Doug always asking for me, which led to Blind Enthusiasm as we know it today: A brewery and restaurant in Edmonton's Ritchie Market, and the massive 3-story concrete brewing facility aptly called The Monolith.letsmeetforabeer.comalbertabeerfestivals.comBlind Enthusiasm

This week we hang out with Greg Zeschuk and Mike Mann from the Beer Diaries. In this session we discuss how Greg and Mike met, their backgrounds, how the Beer Diaries came into existence, and of course beer!  Follow them on Twitter @BeerDiariesTV and watch their episodes here.    Also talked about: Bioware, Star Wars, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Whip In, ABGB, Cananda, UT, Mars, Geoff Marslett Austin High, Brewed documentary, World Beer Diaries, AskMen, GABF

This week, Scott and Vic once again welcome a celebrity guest into their dank bunker. Yes, it’s none other than Dr. Greg Zeschuk, who represents 50-percent of the legendary “BioWare Doctors.” Greg, along with his partner Ray Muzyka, made some of the greatest games this industry has ever known including the Baldur’s Gate series, the … Continue reading "Episode 22: Butt-kickin’ for Goodness!"

Star Wars The Old Republic prepping for more server mergers! This week Gary Gannon, Larry Everett, and Justin Lowe break down the latest SWTOR news including the latest server merger announcement, future content and how it will impact story, and chat bubbles...will Larry ever get his glorious chat bubbles? Join The Republic live every Monday at 6PDT on GAMEBREAKER.TV

Dragon Age Podcast Episode 19 - An Unofficial Capacity In this episode Dave and Mike hang out with guest host, Victor Wachter, and talk about RTS games, comics, TV, and more. In the news we cover an interview with BioWare founders, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, and the latest Dragon Age II preview coverage. This week's Mega Mod of the Moment is Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth - Act I. If you enjoy our show, you can show your support by reviewing us on iTunes, posting on our BSN General Discussion Thread, or leaving a comment here in the Dragon Age Podcast Official Forums. Also, if you feel so inclined, feel free to join our BSN Social Group, our Steam Group, our Xfire Club, or follow us on twitter. You can listen to the podcast here: There's supposed to be something here. Do you have flash installed? You won't be able to see this without flash. swfobject.embedSWF("http://dragonagepodcast.com/modules/swftools/shared/1pixelout/player.swf", "swfobject2-id-159117637014", "290", "24", "7", "", { "playerID": "159117637014", "autostart": "no", "loop": "no", "soundFile": "http://dragonagepodcast.com/sites/default/files/dapodcast_ep19_anunofficialcapacity.mp3" }, { "swliveconnect": "default", "play": "false", "loop": "false", "menu": "false", "quality": "autohigh", "scale": "showall", "align": "l", "salign": "tl", "wmode": "opaque", "bgcolor": "#FFFFFF", "version": "7", "allowfullscreen": "true", "allowscriptaccess": "sameDomain", "base": "http://dragonagepodcast.com/sites/default/files/", "src": "http://dragonagepodcast.com/modules/swftools/shared/1pixelout/player.swf", "height": 24, "width": 290 }, { "id": "swf159117637014" }); Add us to your favorite feed reader: http://feeds.feedburner.com/DragonAgePodcast Add us to iTunes If you want to download the file, just click below. Or you can right-click-Save As... dapodcast_ep19_anunofficialcapacity.mp3 Links Rapid-Fire Interview with the Doctors! Kotaku - Don't Worry, Dragon Age II Is For You, Too PC Gamer - Dragon Age 2 preview: the Hero of Kirwall Xbox360Achievements.org - Product Manager, Randall Bishop Talks class, Sex and Weapons. Age of Empires III Batman: Arkham Asylum The Walking Dead The Geekbox Neverwinter Nights Podcast VO Auditions for BG2Redux Dark Times: The Confederacy of Malkuth - Download Mirror

Dr. Greg Zeschuk joins Jeremy Parish, Bitmob's Jason Wilson, and at1UP's Travis Williams to talk about the history of his company: A plucky little start-up called BioWare.

Dr. Greg Zeschuk joins Jeremy Parish, Bitmob's Jason Wilson, and at1UP's Travis Williams to talk about the history of his company: A plucky little start-up called BioWare.

Dr. Greg Zeschuk joins Jeremy Parish, Bitmob's Jason Wilson, and at1UP's Travis Williams to talk about the history of his company: A plucky little start-up called BioWare.

Dr. Greg Zeschuk joins Jeremy Parish, Bitmob's Jason Wilson, and at1UP's Travis Williams to talk about the history of his company: A plucky little start-up called BioWare.

Listen UP's Game Developers Conference 2009 Specials continue with Bioware's Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk joining John and Garnett to talk about Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, and their experiences building rpgs. After that David Jaffe comes on to talk about the gaming press and the balance they hope to hit on his next game project. And then James Stevenson and Ryan Schneider from Insomniac Games shed a little light on the newly announced Ratchet and Clank game and get into the evolution of community design in shooters.

Listen UP's Game Developers Conference 2009 Specials continue with Bioware's Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk joining John and Garnett to talk about Dragon Age, Mass Effect 2, and their experiences building rpgs. After that David Jaffe comes on to talk about the gaming press and the balance they hope to hit on his next game project. And then James Stevenson and Ryan Schneider from Insomniac Games shed a little light on the newly announced Ratchet and Clank game and get into the evolution of community design in shooters.