What was I thinking?!

I've been debating for a while what the first topic of my blog should be, not for lack of ideas, but because there are so many things I do want to talk about. It took a news snippet on CNN to finally convince me to get off my lazy bum (well not really since I had to sit to do this), and finally set up my blog and start writing.

They were talking about AoC, WoW and Warhammer. Somehow, Ultima Online managed to get a nod. It was funny to read the UO forums and realize players had a reaction similar to mine when they viewed the footage: "Argh!! Of all the things from UO they could have shown, they presented the oldest, least exciting stuff!! Dangit! Oh well, at least it's some exposure". From there, another thought crossed my mind, a question I've been asked so many times before I joined the UO team and even more so now that I have: Why UO?

Why indeed!!

Lets see here...

Left a good job where I was working on a next gen game? Check
Passed on teaching game design to aspiring new designers? Check
Left family and friends just to be lonely in this foreign land? Check
Moved to an overpriced new city where I feel out of place? Check
Working on an old game with dated graphics and code? Check
Making less money because of the cost of living here? *mumbles*

So what the heck was I thinking?

I could go on a long explanation of why, but I will simply give an analogy.

Remember "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"... Jessica, the bombshell married to the clumsy, goofy rabbit. She could have any toon (and probably most men too!) that she could possibly want. But nuh uh, she wants the rabbit. Why? Because HE makes her laugh, not the rich dude, not the "omg you make me drool" sexy guy, just the plain silly little rabbit.

I've worked on next gen games. They're cool with their bad ass graphics. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It was a cool job. And when that job would be over, I would start another job on another cool game, with kick ass graphics, that I didn't overly care about either.

So what was I thinking?

That working on a game you love beats working on one you don't.
That it's awesome to actually look forward to Monday mornings.
That UO doesn't make me laugh but it sure as hell makes me smile.