Words with Terry Spier
Hey everyone,
Here is the seventh edition of my #WordsWithBaun Q&A this time with the incredible Terry Spier (@The_Spier)! He is the Creative Director at Ubisoft Red Storm working on our beloved The Division game!
I am truly honored to have him participate and I hope you guys enjoy his answers as much as I did!
What sports or hobbies do you enjoy?
Spier — I collect skulls. I also like bass guitars and have several that I enjoy playing on a regular basis. I run a 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons campaign and have a lot of fun trying to decimate my players in devious ways. I used to play a fair amount of basketball and Ultimate Frisbee, but those days have long since passed. I still like watching professional sports on television. Last but never EVER least, video games are a huge hobby of mine. So huge, in fact, that I made my career out of it.
What is your favorite part about being a Creative Director? Least favorite?
S — Without a doubt my favorite part of this job is inspiring the team and helping them succeed. There is tremendous talent on The Division team here at RSE and across the ocean at Massive, Annecy and Reflections and it brings me tremendous joy to see us all prosper. Least favorite part of being a CD? Ain’t nothing bad about this job, friends, as long as you can handle the pressure, have skin like old leather and don’t flinch when someone throws a punch.
What kind of training/education did you receive to become a Creative Director?
S — My University major was psychology, with a minor in philosophy. I wanted to understand people. However, my formal education ended prematurely when I decided to dive headlong into a personal journey around the country. When my wanderlust was over I knew video games were for me, so I started on the ground floor of a company and the rest is history. The full story is too long to tell here but after multiple studios, seemingly every design job there is and almost 20 years, here I am.
Who in the game industry inspires you/stands out to you the most? Why?
S — To be perfectly honest, I have never been one to focus on a single person when being inspired by a video game. The creation of amazing experiences always requires greatness beyond one person, no matter how brilliant that one person might be. I don’t like to heap praise on a single soul when I know hundreds more are responsible for what I just played.
Now that being said, I am inspired by Blizzard. As an outsider looking in to that organization, they appear to have leaders that allow their content creators the time to make mistakes, time to fix mistakes and time to learn from it all. All that learning costs a lot of money, but they have the collateral to allow for it. That is quite rare, and I salute them.
What is your personal favorite game of all time? Why?
S — I dread this question. In fact, I answered this question last because it’s such a hard one for me to answer! So many good games! I could write a novel on the topic. So instead I will change the question — “Terry, what are some games that have had an impact on you as a game player and a game creator?” In no particular order:
- The Legend of Zelda. It was one of my first true gaming journeys. The music, the paper map that came with the game, the game design, … shit even the gold cartridge. The scale of the game was mind blowing to me. Magic.
- Diablo. This game combined my love of RNG loot with my love of darker themes. I’ll never forget grinding mobs for my Godly Full Plate Mail of the Whale.
- Everquest. Well hello MMORPG’s, it’s very nice to meet you! My, aren’t you just enchanting! Would you care to dance?
- Doom II. PVP and Hell. How perfectly divine.
- Quake. PVP in full real-time 3D. The speed and frenzy of it all. The gibs. And that fucking quad damage sound, holy shit.
What are you most proud of when it comes to The Division as a whole?
S — The collaboration across the responsible studios. Most fans already know that we are a team that works at different studios in different countries with an ocean between us. That means cultural differences, time zone differences, language differences and all sorts of other things that could have defeated us. We didn’t let any of that get in our way. We pushed through the hard times because we knew we had something special with The Division. The team worked together through thick and thin to create a game that broke records and brought millions of players together!
What do you wish the average player of The Division knew from your perspective?
S — Hey, video games! It’s the perfect job! Games are fun to make and you can get rich! Developers get to make all the decision, right? Well, not so fast partner. Hold your horses just a bit. Games are a huge business and sometimes a cut-throat one. I’d like the average gamer — not just Division gamers — to know that. There are often many hidden factors behind some of the decisions that are made in your favorite games. Those decisions have many stakeholders that might surprise you — marketing, business, tech, and economy just to name a few — it’s not just ‘design’ folks. Those design folks cannot always do what they want because of many reasons. I guess you could sum all that up by saying ‘jobs are hard duh’ but our industry is often perceived as a bunch of adults who never grew up creating whatever they want and that just isn’t the case. Wow, that was depressing. You asked, though.
What is something on your bucket list you would like to do in the next year?
S — I’d love to buy a Corvette. A 1963 Stingray coupe with a split rear window and the original 327 cu inch V8 sitting under the hood. Candy apple red with red leather interior. Yeah, I’d like to do that. Let’s make that happen.
What is your favorite non-work/game related thing to do?
S — Non-work and non-games? What else is there? Games permeate my life, whether it be tabletop games or video games or sports games or card games or any other types of games! Hmm, well, I love music and movies. So, either go to the movies or listen to/play music!
What is your favorite place to eat? What is your favorite item there?
S — I’m a pretty strict eater, so I don’t eat out often. I prefer to cook at home. But that is a boring answer, so how about we change the question again? Yay! “Terry, when you’re not being super boring where do you like to go out to eat and what do you get?” In no particular order –
- Casual Street Food in Malmo, Sweden — I love their burgers and shakes.
- Mexican food in California — I love tacos and burritos and cheese and sour cream and tortillas and salsa and chips and you get the idea.
- Kilwins — Ice cream and chocolate and fudge. Ssssssssssuuuuuugggggaaarrrr.
And last, you are faced with 2 AmperCampers… how do you figure out which one is the evil clone?
S — Man, these are some hard questions! Evil clones are no joke! But wait a moment… wouldn’t the world be better with 2 AMPERCAMPERS in it? Twice the handsome, twice the charisma, twice the gamer! I think YES! And let’s be honest with ourselves — If Ampy was cloned and the new one tried to be evil, the original Ampy would be like, “Hey man, you can’t be evil, it goes against the AMPY code! So stop trying to be evil and come play some video games with me!” And then the clone Ampy would be all, “Dude, you’re right. My bad. First round is on me. Let’s DIVIDE!”
I want to thank Terry and everyone else who has and will be participating in this exciting project. I have really enjoyed this so far and we have even more coming in the future.
If you haven’t checked out the new 1.8 patch for The Division I highly encourage it! It’s a blast and there are some cool things to check out. Until next time!
