[kupoartist]

To be honest, and as far as I know, writers don't get in on the whole game design thing. The only example of that kind I can think of, is Marc Laidlaw. He wrote a few obscure Sci-Fi novels and was approached by Valve Software who needed to make a decent storyline for Half-Life (having a story in an FPS back then was a major selling point). I'd say that's an isolated case though, because games ideas are often brainstormed and only a handful of games actually have rich storylines when you think about it. Whats more, I imagine that it's kind of essential for a storyline designer to have some kind of secondary function on a dev team - Storyline is sort of an initial thing. If the game takes 5 years to make (a la' Half-Life 2) the storyline guy is going to be sitting around a lot.

Hmm... Come to think of it, I don't think you get a "Storyline Guy" anyway. You get lead designers and such - someone, who like a Movie director, oversees every part of the development of a game, bossing around everyone so that the game meets their vision.

Also, Journalism and writing game storylines probably don't mix because of NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements). Developers usually want good control over how the press covers their games, so having someone from the outside is kind of a no-no. Still, Games journalism is probably a far easier way into the industry. Have you ever talked to Harry about it?

So yeah, that's you lot really. If you're not a designer or a coder, there really aren't a lot of positions to fill, and they're mostly "big" jobs that would be very hard to get into to. As Epic Game's Cliff B puts it (https://www.cliffyb.com/rants/how-to-get-hired.shtml)
"Few people are ever just hired as Game Designers. They usually work, bite and claw their way to that position."

As for me personally, if I had a job in the industry, i'd want to be a journo or a Level Designer. I've got some really neat ideas for levels, but it's really hard to learn all the design tools and i'll probably never make it... that said though, anyone who is thinking about the gaming industry is best advised to become involved in the Mod community surrounding PC games. Some of the best mods result in the teams behind them getting hired.