Spec Ops, AAA free-to-play, PR sessions added to GDC Europe

GDC Europe 2012's already substantial roster of presentations continues to grow with three newly-announced sessions.

The first two new talks hail from the game design track. Joerg Friedrich, lead level designer on Yager's Spec Ops: The Line, will chat about eliciting emotional response from players in a talke called "Making the Player Feel Bad - Breaking Rules of Player Choice for Emotional Impact".

Former Total War designer Jan van der Crabben will also give a talk, this time about how to bring AAA values and skills to free-to-play development. "AAA goes F2P: Same Skills, Different Mindset" will explore how and why he made the jump from the Creative Assemblies to Imperion publisher Travian games.

In a completely different vein, former CCP PR director Valerie Massey will talk about how to cope with disasters. "DEFCON: A Basic Guide to Public Relations Crisis Management" will cover the inevitable marketing snarls which can hammer a game's reputation, and how to steer things back to normal.

GDC Europe runs August 13-15 alongside gamescom in Cologne.