New Game Design Team member here, though I have been on the communinity forums for quite a few years now.
Outside Thrive, I have played and play tested a variety of games, from RPGs to strategy games (mainly of the Paradox GSG variety). I have also relentlessly picked apart their game design on their forums I also worked on some mods, a few of which I actually managed to not leave unfinished! From small number tweaks with large impacts, to a small expansion.
On the “science” side I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology, a sort of blend of (industrial) chemistry and (micro-)biology. I have also worked as a high school chemistry teacher.
Looking forward to working with you all! And feel free to tag me anywhere you need an additional pair of eyes on.
Glad to see you on the team! Your feedback on the forums was always insightful and showed that you have an understanding of game design principles.
As I’ve mentioned before, there’s always a lot to juggle on the design team. One thing I’d encourage you to do for now is to reply freely to any discussions on the development forums, even if they’re a bit older. Focusing on concepts for the current stage is typically the most beneficial, but because you’re new, I’d like to see you flex your perspective. Any resulting discussions will help both the existing concept and will help you understand more intuitively what Thrive is and isn’t. You already have a good feel for that I say, but obviously, it can always improve.
I think if you just keep doing what you were doing on the community forums, you’ll very smoothly integrate here. If you have any questions related to design, I’m the team lead, so ask freely. There are multiple active programmers as well, so if you want to learn more about the code itself, they’re always willing to give information.