Greg Street
Encyclopedia
Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street is an American
video game designer, currently employed by Blizzard Entertainment
as Lead Systems Designer on the award-winning MMORPG
World of Warcraft
. Street is also known by his screen name
"Ghostcrawler" on the World of Warcraft message boards. Prior to being employed by Blizzard, Street worked as a marine biologist, eventually moving into the game design field. He also worked with Ensemble Studios
on the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games, during which period he was also known by the screen name "Deathshrimp".
in 1991 with Bachelor of Arts
degrees in Biology and Philosophy, later earning a PhD
in marine science. Between 1996 and 1998, Street worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina
. Street has said his work was only enjoyable to him "for the first several years or so…As I moved up the ranks, however, I was spending more and more of my time writing grant proposals, filling out paperwork and playing departmental politics." Street found that his profession involved "a lot of doing the same thing over and over again."
Ensemble Studios, the team behind the real-time strategy series Age of Empires, employed Street as a designer in 1998. With no education or experience in the game industry, Street suspects he was accepted due to his "writing and teaching experience, historical breadth, personal hygiene, gudd speling [sic], creativity, [and] my talent at capturing live alligators", as well as the user-created scenario for Age of Empires he submitted with his application, which later appeared in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
. Street helped develop every Age of Empires game from Rise of Rome on, until his departure from the company. At first he designed in-game scenarios and maps, and later graduated to being the team's lead designer.
Street was hired by Blizzard Entertainment in February 2008, and is currently the lead systems designer on the MMORPG World of Warcraft. On the World of Warcraft message boards, he is known by his user name "Ghostcrawler". Street works in a similar capacity with Blizzard as he did with Ensemble as a designer. "Game designers are not artists or programmers, but we use the tools developed by the programmers and the assets created by the artists to get content into the game. Programmers make the game run, artists make it beautiful, but it is the designer's job to make it fun." Street became well-known in the World of Warcraft community during the public beta test for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
, during which he was frequently communicating with beta testers on the message boards. He is often on the message boards announcing changes to the game or discussing them with players. Because "game balance is one of the most controversial aspects of any multiplayer game... I benefit from being able to engage the community directly." Street enjoys particular popularity as "Ghostcrawler" on the popular World of Warcraft fan site MMO-Champion, although there is frequent critique.
In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
, a rare crab named "Ghostcrawler" was added to the game, in reference to Street's screen name on the World of Warcraft message boards, as well as the avatar
depicting a crab he uses.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
video game designer, currently employed by Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded on February 8, 1991 under the name Silicon & Synapse by three graduates of UCLA, Michael Morhaime, Allen Adham and Frank Pearce and currently owned by French company Activision Blizzard...
as Lead Systems Designer on the award-winning MMORPG
MMORPG
Massively multiplayer online role-playing game is a genre of role-playing video games in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual game world....
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
. Street is also known by his screen name
User (computing)
A user is an agent, either a human agent or software agent, who uses a computer or network service. A user often has a user account and is identified by a username , screen name , nickname , or handle, which is derived from the identical Citizen's Band radio term.Users are...
"Ghostcrawler" on the World of Warcraft message boards. Prior to being employed by Blizzard, Street worked as a marine biologist, eventually moving into the game design field. He also worked with Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios
Ensemble Studios was a video game developer initially established in 1995 as an independent company, but was owned by Microsoft from 2001 to 2009, when it was officially disbanded. Ensemble developed many real-time strategy games, including the Age of Empires game series, Age of Mythology, and Halo...
on the Age of Empires series of real-time strategy games, during which period he was also known by the screen name "Deathshrimp".
Career
Street graduated from McDaniel CollegeMcDaniel College
McDaniel College is a private four-year liberal arts college in Westminster, Maryland, located 30 miles northwest of Baltimore. The college also has a satellite campus located in Budapest, Hungary. Until July 2002, it was known as Western Maryland College...
in 1991 with Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degrees in Biology and Philosophy, later earning a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in marine science. Between 1996 and 1998, Street worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina
University of South Carolina
The University of South Carolina is a public, co-educational research university located in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, with 7 surrounding satellite campuses. Its historic campus covers over in downtown Columbia not far from the South Carolina State House...
. Street has said his work was only enjoyable to him "for the first several years or so…As I moved up the ranks, however, I was spending more and more of my time writing grant proposals, filling out paperwork and playing departmental politics." Street found that his profession involved "a lot of doing the same thing over and over again."
Ensemble Studios, the team behind the real-time strategy series Age of Empires, employed Street as a designer in 1998. With no education or experience in the game industry, Street suspects he was accepted due to his "writing and teaching experience, historical breadth, personal hygiene, gudd speling [sic], creativity, [and] my talent at capturing live alligators", as well as the user-created scenario for Age of Empires he submitted with his application, which later appeared in Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome
Age of Empires: The Rise of Rome Expansion is a history-based real-time strategy game in the Age of Empires series. It is based on the rise of the Roman Empire, and adds the Roman Empire and three other playable civilizations to Age of Empires....
. Street helped develop every Age of Empires game from Rise of Rome on, until his departure from the company. At first he designed in-game scenarios and maps, and later graduated to being the team's lead designer.
Street was hired by Blizzard Entertainment in February 2008, and is currently the lead systems designer on the MMORPG World of Warcraft. On the World of Warcraft message boards, he is known by his user name "Ghostcrawler". Street works in a similar capacity with Blizzard as he did with Ensemble as a designer. "Game designers are not artists or programmers, but we use the tools developed by the programmers and the assets created by the artists to get content into the game. Programmers make the game run, artists make it beautiful, but it is the designer's job to make it fun." Street became well-known in the World of Warcraft community during the public beta test for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, often referred to as WotLK, WLK or Wrath, is the second expansion set for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, following The Burning Crusade...
, during which he was frequently communicating with beta testers on the message boards. He is often on the message boards announcing changes to the game or discussing them with players. Because "game balance is one of the most controversial aspects of any multiplayer game... I benefit from being able to engage the community directly." Street enjoys particular popularity as "Ghostcrawler" on the popular World of Warcraft fan site MMO-Champion, although there is frequent critique.
In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the third expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, following the last expansion Wrath of the Lich King. It was officially announced at BlizzCon on August 21, 2009, although dataminers and researchers discovered details...
, a rare crab named "Ghostcrawler" was added to the game, in reference to Street's screen name on the World of Warcraft message boards, as well as the avatar
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
depicting a crab he uses.