Personal Heroes

I haven't touched this blog in years, but my recent acceptance into the Art Institute of Atlanta to pursue a BFA in Game Art and Design has motivated me to spin it back up. For my English 101 class, we were tasked with choosing a personal hero in the industry we've chosen to enter and writing a short, one-page essay. I couldn't think of anyone that stood out more. Below is the essay I'll be submitting:

                There are hundreds of influential people in the gaming industry, be they designers, writers, animators, programmers or executives. The gaming industry spans more than just video games, as well; many modern video games are influenced by analog rules, stories and formats that existed long before the modern medium of electronic gaming. Despite there being so many wonderful, brilliant and influential paragons of the gaming industry, one stands out to me: Chris Metzen.

                Chris Metzen was the Senior Vice President of Story and Franchise Development for Blizzard Entertainment. He joined the company in 1993; a time between when they were known as Silicon and Synapse and Chaos Studios. Metzen remained with the company until his retirement in 2016. During the years he worked at Blizzard, Metzen helped write and develop blockbuster franchises, such as Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo and Overwatch. His expertly spun tales and exceptionally fluid and immersive universes have an unparalleled ability to draw the player in. But this is not why he stands out to me.

                Chris Metzen does more than just write. His job is not one to sit upon an ivory tower and dictate the direction of the craft. He interacts with the community. He records voice lines for his own characters. He speaks with the clarity and passion of someone that has no deeper love than that of the art he creates. And he screams “For the Horde” with a fervor that can spark a fire in the most docile of hearts. The passion he instills into every word he speaks, every sketch he draws, every bit of lore he writes is an inspiration to me. And most importantly, he is humble. I have seen the tears in his eyes when he hears of how his creations have touched and helped people, how his words and stories have enabled countless people to grow, learn and heal. I am certainly no exception myself.

                Chris Metzen is a paragon of the gaming industry. A man who, in his youth, found a platform for his passion. He found a way to share his stories with the world, and those stories changed the world. He gave parts of himself away, and saw as those parts became love, community, respect and phenomena. Never once did he take it for granted. Never once did he allow the lure of celebrity and success to separate him from the community he loved; a community who loved him in return. For nearly twenty-three years he never failed to be an exemplar for what a truly wonderful, passionate and loving person can contribute to the industry of gaming and the world as a whole.

                Chris Metzen is an example I seek to emulate. He is one of my personal heroes, and I dream that one day I can achieve even a fraction of the success he has; if only as a way to be so fortunate as to meet him!

In my dream world, maybe he'll actually see this. I hope this (far too) short essay portrays just how much his work has impacted me. From my time in the military, my deployments, my injuries, my PTSD and my relationships, his stories have helped me get through all of it. I've made wonderful friends through Warcraft, I've had amazing experiences, and I've felt emotions that I'd thought had been too damaged by war and hardship to feel again. He's helped me heal, and I desperately hope that one day I'm able to give to the community even a sliver of the wonder and magic that Chris Metzen has given me.