Why We Do What We Do

Over ten years ago (god, has it really been that long?!?) I was part of a team called the Redeemed Assassins, creating a "total conversion" for Half-Life called "The Opera" . It wasn’t an easy time for anyone involved in the group; there was a lot of personal turmoils that made the completion of the game an impossible goal. And yet we persevered, making an intense sacrifice to finish the game we loved creating and after two years it was finally released. And, when it was released, some would argue that it wasn’t well received (we released at the same time that the 800lb gorilla that was CounterStrike was taking over all the servers) and the game died a quick death. On or about the same time I attended a convention where another individual was showing his game to t...