I've been privileged to get an interview with none other than Bob McCabe, writer for game developer BioWare.

 Ed. Note: When these questions were submitted the "gold" status of Neverwinter Nights was not yet known.

Where were you born and raised?

I was born in Virginia, in the NFL’s Washington Redskin country. :) My folks moved around a good bit, but I was mostly raised in South Jersey.

 What is your educational background?

 After graduating high school, I went to the local college to major in Computer Science. I had a good bit of fun with it for a couple of years until I met someone who was majoring in English. Talking to her made me realize that I was in the wrong field, and so I changed majors and transferred to a school with a better English department – The University of Tennessee. I got my degree in English (Writing) there, and was considering moving on to get a Master’s when I decided I’d rather pack it up for a shot at Edmonton and BioWare, Corp.

 Which writers had the greatest impact on you?

I always tell people how much I like Raymond Carver, and it’s because of his style that I appreciate him so much. He’s a minimalist who writes fairly objectively, leaving the readers with a whole lot of text to observe and then react to in their own way. To be honest, as much as I’ve read, I’ve probably been more affected by movies than anything else – especially the works of David Lynch, the Coen Brothers, Kar-wai Wong, Jim Jarmusch, and Darren Aronofsky (I’m forgetting some names).

 How did you come to work at BioWare and what are your responsibilities?

 Baldur’s Gate came out for the PC during my final year at Tennessee. Since classes were taking up very little of my time, I had a bit of free time to both play the game, and become active on the Baldur’s Gate message boards. Through the boards, I met up with Rob Bartel. Rob mentioned an opening for a writer, and suggested I try out for the part. A graduation and a bad resume (or two) later (not counting the ones I sent via e-mail that were infected with a virus), and I was hired on.

As for responsibilities, I am now working in the Quality Assurance department, after starting off as a technical writer, and then shifting into the Writing & Design department. Much of my skill set is in writing, and working in QA is giving me a chance to learn a lot about design (design is the art of making fun, balanced, functional games to go along with that snazzy new story and dialogue). I am enjoying every new experience I can get to learn anything that I can.

If you weren't working at your present job, what would you see yourself doing?

 Most of my education and practice has been with writing, so I would probably be doing something that would allow me to take advantage of that experience – maybe stay in the gaming industry, maybe writing for a gaming magazine, maybe editing novels for some publisher, maybe writing for the small stage? I can see myself going in many different directions, even far away from writing. I think I would be most excited about moving into a field as a photographer, but I have much to learn before that could become a possibility.

 When you were younger, what did you want to be when you "grew up"?

 This might sound strange, but from about five years of age on, I used to tell people that I wanted to move far up north to some place where it snowed a lot, and make video games. By high school I had forgotten about that goal, and by college I was planning on living in Los Angeles. It was only after I moved to Edmonton that my parents reminded me about my “dreams fulfilled”. I’m not so sure I like the snow quite as much as I once did. Or rather, I should say that there’s something about ten months of winter that is less than attractive. :)

 BioWare is famous for their story driven games. What is/are the development process(es) to create such high quality games.

 At the risk of sounding immodest, a whole lot of talented chefs – from every department – make quite the creative stew. Everyone here is tireless in trying to get things as right as they can be. When you look around and see a group like that, it inspires you to exceed your own potential; it feeds on itself really well. It also helps that we have such strong leadership through our fearless joint CEOs Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk, and James Ohlen – the director of the Writing & Design department. As for a process, I think we just absorb as much entertainment as we can – watching movies, playing games, reading books, and so forth. You need to breathe in before you can breathe out.

 All of BioWare is, and has been for quite some time, painfully busy with Neverwinter Nights. Are there plans for a big party when it is finally released?  

I was here for the “gold” announcements of Baldur’s Gate II, MDK II, and MDK II: Armageddon, and I remember hearing tell of a few parties for the development team that were pretty wild. We had some nice company-wide parties, too, but now that Neverwinter Nights, the first title that I was on the team for, is just about done, I’m anxious to find out what exactly these development team-only parties are like. Seriously though, it’s going to be nice, more than anything, just to relax a bit after working crunch hours for the past year or so. I have to remember how to shop for groceries and entertain myself after work now that BioWare isn’t doing the trick anymore. :)

 What do you do during your "down" time (what little of it you have)?

 Not surprisingly, I game a bit more often than I ever have in my pre-BioWare life (just bought Dungeon Siege and Morrowind, and I plan to buy Arcanum – to catch up on some of the big RPGs I’ve been too busy for), and I also enjoy spending time chatting with the community for Neverwinter Nights. Still, my idea of “down time” usually involves going outside, or doing something “artsy” like going to concerts or theatres (movies or plays), or spending some quiet time reading or writing or just listening to some good tunes. Aside from that, I play flag football (http://www.osfl.info/news.php) with a group of guys who either work for BioWare or know someone who works for BioWare. I also play a lot of basketball (again, with my BioWare co-workers). And my newest love is photography – something I have been practicing since I got my camera January 2002. I also serve the master – my kitty, Feyna. :)

Do you have any advice for those out there who want to emulate you and your career?

 Don’t be afraid to fail – especially if you are doing something that is your best, and that you are proud of; there’s always something you can learn.

 …

 Thanks for the interview, Twigster! And thanks for all of the great support from you and the rest of the BioWare community. Neverwinter Nights is going to be all the better from that support!

Thank-you for the time out of your busy schedule, Bob; very much appreciated!