What Goes Around…

Working for EverQuest II was really an interesting time for me. I’d never lived in California before and San Diego is as far down I-5 from Seattle as California gets. I drove my little car (not-so-fondly known as Old Paint) 1,300 miles with my cat and some houseplants.

A day or so after I started my job, Steve “Saavedra” Kramer started at SOE as well. We often talked about old school games as we’d both worked at other game companies, whereas a number of our coworkers had never worked anywhere else in games but SOE. We shared our war stories and often found ourselves working late at night, two little devs in an otherwise quiet building.

Some of my very fondest memories include listening to Steve pontificate from his office beside mine and Moorgard’s. His voice would get louder as he warmed up to his subject matter, which would incite his office mates to get louder as well. Sometimes Moorgard would leap from his chair to dash next door, interjecting his own commentary and observations into whatever Steve was saying.

Not long after I moved back to Seattle to work on The Agency, Steve moved onto the project, too. He’s a part of our PvP team, leading the charge of what makes for cool and interesting gameplay.

He’s also killed me more times than I care to think of during our PvP playtests. =/

Last week, our office space was reorganized and I find myself sitting kitty-corner from Steve once more! This time, there is no drywall between us. If we wanted to, we could stare at each other from our respective desks. It’s kind of funny how a couple of years and 1,300 miles later, we’re so close again.