Mythic Quest

What is Mythic Quest?

Some may say it's just a video game.

When it first debuted, MQ was hailed as a masterpiece.

Now played in 20 different countries on six continents,

it's the biggest massive multiplayer role-playing game of all time.

But in such a fickle industry where fortunes can turn

and titans fall...

they must stay relevant.

And today, they find themselves on the precipice

of their most important event since launch.

Their first major expansion, Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet.

And it all falls on the shoulders of one man.

Creative Director Ian Grimm.

When I first created MQ, my intention wasn't to just build a game.

I wanted to build a world.

And Raven's Banquet is the next step into that world.

Of course, one person cannot do this alone.

It takes thousands of people to keep a world like this up and running.

People like Executive Producer David Brittlesbee...

Lead Engineer Poppy Li.

People like Brad Bakshi, Head of Monetization.

One thing MQ has that no other game can boast

is a Nebula Award-winning writer, C.W. Longbottom.

At your service.

But it all eventually must funnel through the vision of its creator.

And he dreams big.

When we think about cultural touchstones,

we think ET, Star Wars, Avatar,

and yet our industry dwarfs the traditional entertainment business.

So when we think about legends...

why not think, Mythic Quest?

True, indeed.

And when we think of visionary, world-building artists,

instead of just Spielberg, Lucas, and Cameron,

why not think...

Grimm?

I'm sorry, I gotta stop. What is this?

- It's a commercial for the game. - It's a commercial for you.

It's still going.

Oh, my God.

I think it's brilliant.

One new continent, over a thousand new playable items,

all built on the most robust code base in the history of MMOs.

I don't mean to toot my own horn here,

but my team and I have built something remarkable, so...

Raven's Banquet is ready to launch!

- All right! Incredible. - Thank you.

Absolutely stunning, Poppy. This expansion is going to blow them away.

But are we sure that we're finished?

I think it's finished. We've been on it for two years. It's perfect.

No, it's like we're almost there, we're almost perfect.

- Where did you get that? - I have my own.

Nobody remembers "almost perfect," do they?

It's like... This.

Okay, now what's this, Pop?

That's a shovel.

It's just a little MTX item I designed for myself.

The whole game's your vision. I thought that the...

Right, it's just that something's off about it.

Right? Like it's not entirely...

cool.

"Cool"? "Cool."

No, it is cool though,

because it provides an entirely new game mechanic: Digging.

The players can now literally change the landscape of the game.

- Pop, no one's gonna buy that. - If I may?

Maybe the shovel needs a backstory.

Who birthed this mysterious terra-spade?

The gods themselves?

Did they suckle at the bosom of Hera like babes at their mother's teat?

- That's pretty good. - Yeah, teats I can sell. Let's do that.

Let's not. Let's not do teats.

Accounting's on three, Marketing's on two,

Tech Support's on six,

and this... this is where the magic happens.

All the dev team heads are here and, well, I oversee it all.

Whoa. Is that your office?

No. No, it's not. That's Ian's. He's creative director.

Why's it so much higher than everyone else's?

No, it's not that much higher. It's an architectural anomaly, that's all.

And the most powerful person doesn't always have the biggest office, Jo.

In fact, I'm not the most powerful person at this company.

This whole studio is owned by a parent conglomerate in Montréal.

You know what?

You're gonna kinda learn about all this at the staff meeting in a few minutes.

Speaking of which, as my assistant,

I'm gonna need you to take copious notes because,

you see, the staff meeting is, well,

it's a crucial part of how this place runs, and I'm at the head of it all.

Is that the meeting you're talking about?

No. No, that can't be because they wouldn't do it without me.

Why are they all meeting without me?

But it's my thing. It's just my one thing. Don't leave. Meeting's not over.

Hey, guys? Are you having a staff meeting in here?

No, actually, we just finished up.

Who's this?

This is Jo. She's my new assistant. Jo, this is the team.

Hi.

Hello. Okay, well, if that's it...

Ian wants to change my shovel and delay the launch.

"Delay the launch"? No, Ian, on time and on budget, remember?

Poppy, what's the name of the first game you ever fell in love with?

- Contra. - New girl, go.

- Grand Theft Auto. - Brutal. I love it.

David?

I've always been partial to Ms. Pac-Man, but I don't see why that...

Everybody has that game that they fell in love with because they make an impact.

Those games were somebody's legacy.

This is my legacy.

- Our legacy. - Our legacy. Whatever.

It's not my legacy.

We have a couple more days until code lock, right?

So just let me noodle. Just let me noodle on this one little thing.

- Just let me noodle. Let me noodle. - You used the word again.

You used the "noodle" word. When you use the noodle word, I start to get worried.

David, I promise you I will not ask you to push the expansion.

I like her. She's gonna do all right. Meeting adjourned?

- Meeting adjourned. Yeah. - Great.

Man, they're having another meeting without us? Such bullshit.

Why don't they want our opinions? We only play this game 24 hours a day.

I know, isn't it great?

Yeah, it's great, but it's just like

we're worth so much more than just logging bugs all day, you know?

Come on, Rachel. We've only been working here for like six months.

Yeah, but, I mean, you just have so many great ideas.

- I feel like they should hear them. - I do?

Yeah. There was one you had the other day.

It was, like, about increasing the hill trolls' kick radius.

You have a really good memory.

Thank you.

Your ideas are just really good. So are you.

Need my shit.

You should probably get back to work, because, you know,

they track our eyeballs.

Sure, sure. Yeah. That's a good idea.

Yeah, take that, you little bitch.

This is the best job I've ever had.

Yeah.

Brad, I need your help. I wanna leak the shovel to Polygon.

And then when all the critics love it, which they will,

they'll write about it, and then Ian won't be able to change it.

Very Machiavellian. I'm impressed.

Well, you know, I'm always thinking three steps ahead.

What, "three steps ahead"? Hey, that's a lot of steps.

- Yeah, I'll go you one step... - Don't get any closer.

Sorry. I'm gonna tweak the haptic feedback so that when you hit the...

I don't really care about any of that. All right, I'm in on your plot, okay?

But if you want people to like your shovel, forget the critics.

There's only one person you need to appeal to.

Yeah.

Not...

- Pootie Shoe? - Pootie Shoe.

- Pootie, Pootie, Pootie... Shoe. - Shoe.

Hey, guys! This is Pootie Shoe.

Wanna say hello to all my Pootie-cuties and my Pootie-dudies,

and of course all of my LGBTQ Pootie-fruities.

- I hate Pootie Shoe. - Yeah, he's a real piece of shit.

But he's a piece of shit with over ten million followers,

so if he likes your shovel, you're good to go.

Yeah, yeah, but he's a 14-year-old boy.

Do you think he's really gonna understand the subtle nuances?

Fourteen-year-olds these days are much more savvy than you think.

- Your shovel's incredible, right? - Yeah, absolutely.

- Then Pootie's your man. - Can you wrap it up?

Mom, what the fuck? I'm streaming, Mom.

Okay, well, can't you just pause it or...

No, I can't pause it. It's in front of ten million fucking people right now.

- All right then. - Get out. Scram!

- Boy. - Get the fuck out!

You're trying to act important in front of all your friends. I get it. Okay.

Hi, sorry about that. That was not chill.

My mom can be a little bit frustrating sometimes,

but overall, she's a great employee, and she is a great mom as well.

Dig, dig, dig, dig. Do you get my point?

The shovel's just kinda boring, but there is something here.

What do you think about...

It's not quite right, is it, David?

I feel like maybe I wanna try a couple stabby motions as well.

Yeah. Yeah, that's great.

I'm loving all this.

You noodling and everything.

Quick thing. I'm worried about the time.

David, I'm moving as fast as I can.

It's not my fault these watermelons don't explode like real heads.

I can get you real heads.

Not human.

- That's commitment. - Jo, please don't get him heads.

Human or otherwise. What are you even doing out there?

- I'm assisting Ian. - You're my assistant. Assist me.

- David, what's going on? - Unbelievable.

What is happening?

My assistant is emasculating me in front of the entire team,

- that's what's happening. - No, no, I mean in... You know what?

- Ian. - Hey, Poppy!

- What are you doing? - Good news.

I have turned the shovel into a weapon, so now it's a dual-purpose.

This is something that people are gonna buy. Check this out.

It's not quite right, but I'm close.

I just, I'm not sure if it's like a... if it should be a...

Maybe it's an uppercut motion?