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Mass Effect PC visits Warsaw, Poland By Chris Priestly 
I have said this before, and I'll say it again: I love my job. I realize that I have a pretty cushy life, getting to surf the Internet all day, play our great games still in development, and interact with our community in our forums all day. As an unexpected bonus, I was approached by our PR department to see if I would like to visit Warsaw Poland and show Mass Effect for the PC to the East European press. This event was being hosted by CD Projekt, the makers of The Witcher. Naturally, I jumped at the chance, and I, along with QA tester Jack Lamden, were Warsaw bound to show the game to a wide selection of press from such countries as Poland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and other East European locales. With packed bags, back-up discs of the game, and a back-up PC to run the game on (BioWare is nothing if not cautious when it comes to giving demonstrations) Jack and I flew off to Warsaw. Neither of us had ever been to Warsaw or Poland before and we did not know what to expect. Many of the younger people speak little English, but even those people who spoke none at all were friendly and understanding of my lack of Polish, and did the best they could to help me even though my father, a now retired linguistics professor, had prepared me with a few simple phrases to help us get around. I have to say that the people of Warsaw were among the friendliest and most understanding people I have met on any of my trips so far. 
While we were there Jack and I found some time to look around, and I must say Warsaw in the spring is a pleasant experience. During a tour of the city, we experienced many of the famous sites and locales. We visited Old Town, a section of Warsaw surrounded by a double city wall that was recreated after the war by volunteers to look like it had before the war. We also visited the statue to composer Frederick Chopin and the Palace on the Water. Because of the devastation during World War II, most of the buildings are fairly recent, and since they were built under the Soviet regime, they have a stark appearance. The most noticeable of this type of building sits in the center of Warsaw and is called the Palace of Art and Culture. World War II bares its mark on Warsaw. Two very sad but important memorials are a testament of its impact. Poland and Warsaw underwent great hardship during the Nazi occupation before and during World War II. Our first stop was the Museum of Polish Resistance. It is an amazing museum that remembers the people of Poland who fought back against the Nazis. It is a chilling reminder, but a marvelous museum full of information and artifacts leftover from the oppression. Our other stop was the Memorial to Heroes of Warsaw Ghetto, which remembers the people, mostly Jewish people, who died in the Warsaw ghetto. Again, it is a very somber place, but important so that we all remember and never let it happen again. 
We were not flown all the way across the globe just to get to look around Warsaw and eat the fine polish cooking, though. We had important work to do and that was to show off Mass Effect PC for the press. Normally, a press showing takes place in an office setting where a few members of the press show up, a demonstration is given, questions are answered, and then we head back to the hotel. This time, however, the good folks at CD Projekt (who BioWare have worked with in the past) went out of the way to turn a small press showing into a huge launch party with a showing of nearly 200 people! They booked us an entire floor of the local movie theater so we could show MEPC on the big screen with incredible surround sound. I had interview with MTV Russia, magazines, TV shows, and websites - all with the aid of a great translator. It was a fully catered the event with delicious food and Mass Effect themed drinks. They carried on the theme by bringing in beautiful hostesses, men dressed up in alien costumes, and fun, "futuristic events," such as robot fighting, Segway obstacle course racing, and laser tag. The press loved what they saw, everyone enjoyed the food, drinks, and party, and Jack and I had a wonderful evening surrounded by the fine folks from Eastern Europe. The event was a HUGE success for Bioware and CD Projekt. 
The next morning, after recovering (it seems Jack learned how to say "more vodka please" in Polish), we packed up our bags and began the trek back home to BioWare HQ. We got the opportunity to show off Mass Effect to the press, had a great time at the party, and experienced Warsaw. Before this trip, if someone had asked me if I'd ever wanted to visit Poland, I would have admitted it wasn't on my list of places to visit. However, now that I've been to Warsaw and met many of its wonderful people, I'd be happy to return anytime. To all of my new friends at CD Project, the assorted press, people I met, and all of the good folks of Warsaw, I say a very heartfelt Dziekuje! (Thank You!) You can check out more of our Warsaw visit pictures on Flickr here |
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