Greetings, beautiful party people of the world wide webbernets. As some of you may be aware, I was part of the team that helped to launch Star Wars: The Old Republic way back in 2011. I still take great pride in the work I did at BioWare, and it fills my heart with joy to know that the game is now making impressive money, but after the 2012 layoffs I didn’t touch the game for a very long time. However, after yesterday’s announcement I found myself “going home,” so to speak…
If you aren’t aware of what I’m referring to, yesterday BioWare formally announced their next expansion for SWTOR: Shadow of Revan. The upcoming update (say that three times fast) will bump the level cap to 60, include a complete overhaul of the game’s skills system, and center around the story of the famed Jedi-turned-Sith-turned-Jedi-turned-Psychotic, Revan.
“But wait,” you may be saying. “I played SWTOR. How in the hell is Revan still alive!?”
I have absolutely no idea, and that’s why I’m so excited. Shadow of Revan represents the first chunk of SWTOR content to come out since I left the company that I know practically nothing about. That impending mystery, perhaps, will finally allow me to enjoy the game as just a player, as opposed to somebody who looks at every aspect of the game and can recall the meeting that a feature was decided, or a company-wide playtest of a particular Flashpoint, or the chaos that came with filming video for the Operation: Eternity Vault trailer that had six guys playing 13 characters in a room that was hotter than the rivers of Mustafar.
It’s a problem that I also have with Firefall, and it’s something that I know a fair number of other developers also experience. In fact, I think you’d be surprised by just how many game developers don’t play the games they worked on after they push it out the door. It speaks nothing to the quality of the game, of course – it’s simple burnout. I, for instance, went into BioWare with a deep love and appreciation for Star Wars and the Expanded Universe.
Three years later – and eighteen-plus months away from BioWare and SWTOR – I still can’t bring myself to watch the movies again. I still love Star Wars, but I can’t stomach looking at the damn thing anymore. This isn’t an uncommon occurrence, by the way – I know individuals who worked on Madden at EA Tiburon who now hate the NFL. There are others out there who don’t even play video games, in any way, because of their work in the game industry. It’s not because they don’t love games – many of these people have been involved in making and selling games far longer than you or I have been alive – but they’re burned out on them.
It’s easy to hit burnout in the game industry. You spend ten, twelve, fourteen hours a day, for at least five days a week, staring at the same video game for two, three, four-plus years. In many instances, this is the developer’s third, fourth, fifth rodeo. When you go home at the end of the day the last thing on the whole of this Earth that you want to do is stare at another video game for two or three more hours. Not when you have movies to catch up on, or books to read, or television to watch, or friends to go downtown with, or family to stay home with.
You also never lose that critical eye. I know a number of developers who are simply incapable of extracting enjoyment from most games – not because they’re not fun, but because they’re looking at everything with an analytical eye. They’re looking at other games to see how they may be able to improve their own title, or trying to understand the appeal to a game that is beloved by the world, but they can only see as “the dumbest damn thing I have ever played.” I remember an afternoon in Austin when I was out for a cigarette break and saw one of SWTOR’s high-level producers sitting on one of our benches reading a book. This was a couple of days after Skyrim was released, so I was curious as to why they – of all people – weren’t at their PCs slaying dragons.
“Meh,” he said, never looking up from his book. “I’m outside, I’m not staring at a screen, and it’s quiet.”
That kinda says it all.
Yet, with the announcement of Shadow of Revan, I can feel the fire being lit again. It’s a small fire, perhaps only a few flames being fed by some dried leaves and the occasional twig, but it’s still there. I actually find myself caring about Star Wars again, and I’m actually interested in the story being told. Real Talk: Revan is far more interesting of a protagonist/antagonist than anyone the prequel films gave us, and stands up there with the likes of Darth Bane, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and Darth Vader. There was a fair amount of debate internally regarding Revan’s initial appearance in SWTOR, and if you were one of the many, many… many… people who were left underwhelmed by his initial appearance, give Shadow of Revan your attention. Knowing Charles (Boyd, the Lead Writer of SWTOR and scribe of the Trooper storyline), many of you will be very pleased with what the future holds.
As for me? I’m going to go say hi to Imperial Agent Trevelyn – whom I unceremoniously abandoned on Tatooine a very long time ago. If memory still serves me, I believe we’re late to a meeting with an old man…