The Gamer Sage

I am Michael Alves, a Brazilian Game Designer, and original autor of four released board games, having also co-developed some other projects.

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I co-founded Arcano Games with some amazing friends of mine, having acted as Associeate-Director, Game Developer and Game Designer.

I also act as Freelance Game Developer and Designer for Meeple BR Jogos, and i work on other small projects when opportunity arises.

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I am graduated as Bachalor in Social Sciences on UFScar - Universidade Federal de São Carlos, where i made my emphasis on Anthropology.

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In the area of education i had given talks and small courses about Game Design when i was invited, having being called to events from public entities as the Prefecture of Santos/SP, or the University of São Paulo (USP), on São Carlos Capus, where i had the honor to minister a mini-course of Game Design.

 

I also had the honor to be invited as a technical jury member for the regional instance of the Game Jam+ on the University of São Paulo, which i found pretty interesting, so in the future i belive i will be present on more Jams as part of the jury.

 

I am an avid gamer, having dedicated most of my life to gaming since i was a chield, always taking gaming very seriously. ( Yes, i admit, i am a "try hard" that hates to lose... judge me. =D )

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As a Gamer, i have a small list of achievements and facts that i like to see as my small collection of results from my time dedicated to gaming:

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- I have being DM'ing and playing RPG for more then 15 years, keeping multiple active tables playing every week on different systems.

- I did "Hardcore" raiding in most of World of Warcraft expansions, having completed end-game content both as a player and as a Raid Leader and Guild Leader. 

- I, once, reached Rank 1 Diamond on Starcraft II, ladder, season 1.

- I completed Inferno difficulty on D3 before the first "nerfs".

- I finished a couple seasons as Diamond on Overwatch (Tank).

- I acted as DCI Sanctioned Judge - Level 1, for Magic: The Gathering official events.

- I played MANY official events and tournaments of MTG, and i acted as a host of many more on the shop i owned in the past.

- I plyed my fair share of DOTA 1 and League of Legends.

- I Have dedicated many hundreds of hours to Diablo II, and years to Counter Strike 1.5/1.6.

- I role-played my entire play throes of Mass Effect, Dragon Age and The Witcher series.

- I am a fan of the Beat 'n Up genre since i was a kid, and i still play this style of games on Steam to this day.

- Somtimes i still play Rock N'Roll Racing and Road Rash. Love both.
- I am a big fan of the "Euro" style Board Games. I playd and i like most board game styles, but i have a soft spot for the building of "point machines" in games with a lesser focus on direct interaction. My favorite Board Game is Project Gaia.

- I don't like too much randomness in games, but strangely i love Arcadia Quest. /Shrug
- I never won a match of John's Company. =(  ( I blame my friends "Zang" and "Noob" for that...)
... and many more... =D
 

I study games, and i have a passion for playing and creating games. My goal is to use this website as a way to speak about my ideas about the many topics that are part of my world both as a gamer and and as a game designer.
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I don't believe i will always be right, or that other perspective could not also be valid, but i will defend my points till evidence can show my mistakes. I want to learn as much as i want to teach with this site, and i hope this will be a very interesting journey, filled with very different opinions and healthy discussions.