The Passion of the Fanboy

So the jury has come back (the jury being the People Who Are Important) and the first reports on my CCG are Good. They dig the idea/concept, and are wanting to talk further. This is excellent! I am, as I?ve said before and will again, very excited.

Needless to say I?ll try to keep you guys informed of the latest, all updates complete with the most frustrating and generic language possible. I wish there was more I could say, but I cannot.

I think at the end of the day it comes down to this: Star Chamber has been far better to me than I ever hoped. Through the people I?ve worked with, met, and played with, I?ve become more ingrained in the day-to-day processes of making an online game tick than I ever thought possible (and you thought I was going to say ?I?ve become a better person,? didn?t ya?).

There is a lot to be said for passion, and I?ve lamented on this briefly regarding being an Amateur and having passion, I don?t think I ever got to really explain the payoff. And the payoff is the best part.

As of today, I?ve been working with Nayantara (makers of Star Chamber) for almost 10 months (since around April 2004). Now this isn?t an anniversary or anything, I?m just throwing this information out there. I?ve been playing Star Chamber, ie ?Actively participating in the community,? for the past year or so (since around December 2003). In that time I have?

• Started a fansite
• Produced a dozen or more articles on said fansite (most written by myself)
• Began an online business
• Sold the online business
• Left the fansite to work for Nayantara
• Written an article a week for almost 10 months (sometimes more)
• Helped develop two sets (my official title for Rebellions was ?Game Development?)
• Created a huge Magic expansion from scratch (with lots of help via Michael Marshall)
• Created my own CCG from scratch (with playtesting/gameplay help via Michael Marshall)
• With contacts made from Star Chamer I presented my CCG to a video game development company
• I have signed an Non-Disclosure Agreement and are proceeding with exciting and progressive game design talk.

So all in all, the passion is what got me to this point. It is that passion, that undying flame, that provides a reward after so much giving. There were plenty of times I thought ?You know, this is a shitload of work. What am I doing this for?? (The online store in particular brought up a lot of these questions) Even as I threw words on the screen as quick as they came to me so I could get another Turn 6 article up on starchamber.net, sometimes I wondered if I could keep doing this and for how long.

But that?s the strange thing about working your way in to an industry or profession via passion: When you are tested on something, or you test yourself, you find that you?ve already proven to yourself that you can stick to something and make it work. Through this tenacity comes knowledge and patience. Would there be any way I could?ve completed an entire Magic set if I hadn?t the steadfastness I learned after months of running a Star Chamber fansite, literally hundreds of hours of working on the store, and the lessons in my long-running Community Management efforts? No way in hell. Looking back, I?m grateful for the struggle, and I?m grateful for the opportunities that now present themselves as a result.

Passion can bring rewards that only few see, and it is a strange beast. One that must be tamed one (usually) painful moment at a time.

I like how R.E.M put it: Sweetness Follows. I couldn?t agree more.