Undercity Interviews - Drew Karpyshyn

Começámos com uma interessante entrevista com Mark Newbold da Lightsabre.co.uk, depois tivemos o privilégio de conversar com o Membro Honorário John Ostrander, e depois foi a vez de entrevistar Steve Sansweet outro nosso Membro Honorário.

Seguramente, uma das entrevistas mais antecipadas por nós, conseguimos agora conversar com Drew Karpyshyn, conhecido argumentista de jogos de sucesso como Mass Effect e o "nosso" Knights of the Old Republic.
Drew é também um talentoso autor literário com um best seller, "Darth Bane: Path of Destruction" e a sua sequela, recentemente editada "Darth Bane: Rule of Two".

A Fan Force Portugal conversou sobre a vida e evolução da carreira, bem como alguns pontos interessantes sobre a história de Star Wars em que Drew esteve envolvido.
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No doubt, one of our most antecipated interviews, we managed to talk with Drew Karpyshyn, known plot writer of acclaimed games like Mass Effect and "our" Knights of the Old Republic.
Drew is also a talented novel writer with a best seller, "Darth Bane: Path of Destruction" and its recently edited sequel "Darth Bane: Rule of Two".

Fan Force Portugal talked about the life and career evolution, as well as other interesting Star Wars plot lines in wich Drew was involved.

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Fan Force Portugal - It's been some time since you dressed as Jawa during Halloweens. How do you feel Star Wars changed your life?

Drew Karpyshyn - Star Wars was one of the first movies I remember seeing, and it showed me the power of imagination and fantasy. I think it really helped me to develop my creative side, which led me to become a writer. And then I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to write professionally in the Star Wars universe, with the KOTOR game and my Darth Bane novels.

FFPT- Is it true you didn't believe your friend when he told you Vader was Luke's father?

DK - I was only nine or ten when Empire came out, and I didn't get to see it right away. As a child, I couldn't imagine someone as evil as Darth Vader being the father of a hero like Luke until I saw it with my own eyes.

FFPT - Knights of the Old Republic was, and still is, a milestone in LucasArts games. How was it to be able to participate in the best Star Wars game story ever written?

DK - I'm grateful to both BioWare and LucasArts for the chance to work on KOTOR, because we had an amazing team and it turned out to be such a great game. I still get people telling me how much they loved the story and characters from KOTOR, and it's great to know I was part of something that had such an impact on so many people.

FFPT - Did you predict KotOR would be so successful? Was there any particular sign you had a great project building up?

DK - About six months before we finished the game we had all the basics in place: the story was done, the art was all there, the combat was in. And even then you could tell it was a great game. I remember telling my wife that I had a feeling this was going to be REALLY big. Happily my prediction came true.

FFPT - About Revan. Did you get inspiration on any real life person to develop such a rich character?

DK - Actually, it's the opposite. Revan is interesting, because on one level he (or she) is such an undefined and fluid character. We tried to keep details of Revan vague and ambiguous so people could fill in the details with their own personality as they played the game.

FFPT - We loved Revan's message recorded on the Holocon in "Path of Destruction". From that specific recording, we're led to believe Darth Revan was the true mentor of Bane's Rule of Two. This of course was introduced by you, since previous stories involving Bane never touched Revan. What made you create this development?

DK- I was looking for a way to connect my current Star Wars project (Path of Destruction) with my previous Star Wars work. This seemed like a logical way to do it, and it fit the theme of the Sith passing knowledge down from the darkness of their past. (And, though Revan gave the Rule of Two to Darth Bane, Revan really learned and developed it through studying the history of other Sith Lords who came before.)

FFPT - Since a third game is allegedly under development we're not asking where Revan is, after the two games. But where would you like him to be in the story line?

DK - Sorry, I can't say anything about unannounced Bioware projects.

FFPT - Do you follow the KotOR comics? What do you think about them?
DK - I haven't read them. Unfortunately, between my work at BioWare, my novels and my golf I have very little time to spend reading, playing games or doing other pass times I used to enjoy.

FFPT - About Path of Destruction, Can you explain us the development of Dessel?

DK - I wanted to show how a normal person could develop into the kind of monster Darth Bane is usually perceived as. To do this, I took someone who wasn't overly evil, but showed the kind of circumstances and life events that might slowly carry him down that path.

FFPT - Rule of Two was your second Star Wars novel. We felt Path Of Destruction was too dependant on the "Jedi Vs Sith" graphic novel. How freely could you develop Bane in this second novel?

DK - With Rule of Two I still had to respect one existing work - the Bane of the Sith short story showing how he got infested with orbalisks. But other than that one event, I was free to do just about anything I wanted. (Although if I got too crazy, my editors would have reigned me in.)

FFPT - There's an interesting phrase you use in your recent StarWars.com interview when you say "The dark side is a philosophy that celebrates the power of the individual, which on its own isn't necessarily bad." From your words, can one assume you are sympathetic of the Sith ways? Some say, Path of Destruction and now Rule of Two are the darkest novels of Star Wars.

DK - I like to play devil's advocate. If someone says "black", I usually want to argue "white" because I don't believe there are simple answers to anything - it all depends on which side of the fence you sit on. However, the novels do show what happens when the Sith take their philosophy to extremes: the result is violent and unpleasant. That's true for almost anything - extremism causes pain and suffering. People need to be more reasonable and understanding in general.

FFPT - Do you believe Darth Bane is the Sith'ari?

DK - I believe he could be the Sith'ari, but the great thing about a prophecy like that is that it can be applied to multiple individuals over and over. Cycles tend to repeat, and the "one" always comes around again.

FFPT - We feel you're a proven novelist and game writer with an impeccable sheet with successes like "Baldur's Gate", "Neverwinter Nights", "KotOR" and the big success, "Mass Effect". Is this the career you chased or is there still a goal to be reached?

DK - I'm very happy with all the success I've had, but that doesn't mean I don't still have goals. I'd like to see some of my screenplays be made into movies someday, and I have my own original novels (not Star Wars or Mass Effect) that I hope to get published soon. I just need to find some free time to work on them.

FFPT - What would you like to say to your many Portuguese fans and members of Fan Force Portugal, knowing some of us are actually fan fiction writers ourselves?

DK - First, thanks for all the support. Without great fans, Star Wars wouldn't exist and I wouldn't be where I am today. Second, be proud of your love for Star Wars. Some people are afraid to show they are SW fans, but there are millions and millions of us out there! And third... Embrace the dark side!

Exclusive - Fanforce Portugal, January 2008