Get To Know a Dev: Georg Zoeller

Every week, at least for the foreseeable future, we’ll be presenting you a new segment called “Get to Know a Dev” where we get all the developers you know and love to answer a few serious questions like, “Where is the best place to grab lunch?”

This week we get a chance to pick the brain of Georg Zoeller, Principal Lead Combat Designer, who we got to know a little bit about back in April in a “Bioware: A Day in a Life” thread on the Official Forums. Keep reading to find out why it may be touch and go during the first week of any new semester at the nearby Acadamy.

What are some of your favorite games of all time?

Civilization, The Ultima Series, Dwarf Fortress and Team Fortress 2. I play a mean Demoman in that game.

What other games have you worked on and how long have you been working on Star Wars: The Old Republic?

I’ve been with BioWare since 2003 (I was hired from the Neverwinter Nights forum community) and worked on the Neverwinter Nights Series, Jade Empire, the Mass Effect series and Dragon Age: Origins before relocating to BioWare Austin to work on The Old Republic.

Can you explain what you do for BioWare and what a typical day might be like?

My business Card says Principal Lead Combat Designer, which means I act as the ‘Product Owner’ for everything related to Combat and makes me responsible for requesting and organizing the assembly of all the individual components of the game (systems, art, animation, etc) that make the final combat experience based on the Game Director’s vision.

I also manage the Combat Design team which handles design and implementation of classes, combat balance for PvP and PvE, companions and all those hostiles you encounter in your travels through Star Wars: The Old Republic. A part of this job also involves collaboration with our Live team which handles game testing and analysis of tester feedback and metrics.

My typical day has been talked about before, and it doesn’t really exist – Each day is different and that is what makes game development special (and sometimes more little more stressful) compared other to professions.

What have you worked on specifically in SWTOR? When the game is released, where will we be able see your handiwork (in the game or out)?

Sadly, managing people and deliverables means I don’t get to do a lot of ‘hands on’ work in the game anymore these days, most of my job involves telling the designers to make things more awesome and allow them to handle most of the details .

Occasionally I find time to load up the editor and add something interesting to the game, such as Rocket launcher armed Jawas, deadly diseases or other surprises to keep players on their toes.

So far what is your favorite Advanced Class to play and why?

I’m the one guy in the building who is not allowed to have favorite classes or Advanced Classes as it is my job to make sure they are equally fun and viable.

Instead, I’ll tell you that I just finished a full playthrough of a Dark Side Consular Sage with specialization in the Balance tree and I’m now working on getting an Imperial Agent Sniper through the game.

I usually tend to play Light Side / Good characters in BioWare games, but I have to say I had a lot of fun playing the Dark Side Jedi. The writing team has created some truly amazing dark choices for the game that make for some very entertaining consequences and cinematics.

Can you share with us one of your favorite moments so far in playing SWTOR?

Combat-wise, I had some amazing open world PvP encounters on Hoth. The planet is so vast and it’s quite easy to actually get lost on it. That often leads to intense one on one fights with the enemies you find out there. It’s a refreshing change from the more group oriented warzone gameplay and nothing is more satisfying than force pushing an enemy over a 200ft cliff in a blizzard.

Story-wise, there’s some great ‘Holy… I can’t believe I just did this’ moments in various class stories that I’d rather not spoil for anyone.

People who work for game companies are famous for their desk creatures and other awesome decorations. Want to show off anything to the rest of the world?

I have nothing to show off, I fear. My desk is surrounded by a protective wall of 6 whiteboards and it has so many monitors that there’s no space for anything else on it.

Where’s the best place to grab lunch if you’re leaving the office?

We are located in the same building as a cooking academy which has a really nice restaurant. As long as you don’t go there in the first week after semester starts (e.g. after the class when they learn that more salt doesn’t mean more taste), it’s pretty good.