Reflections on Pirate Festival 2009

TelltaleGames

Arrrrr, matey! I be writin' this here blog because I've been up to my eyeballs in pirates lately and my therapist says it's probably better to write about it than to continue attempting to make my co-workers walk the plank of my cubicle.

Writing for Monkey Island is a lot of fun, but it's also a lot of work. Imagining yourself in that fantastic (if a bit twisted) pirate world full of sword fights, ship battles, and boisterous bearded buccaneers is exciting, yet it doesn't always come so naturally. It's easy to lose momentum when you spend 8-10 hours a day writing these adventures at a desk in an office building. So when I found out that good old fashioned pirates (not the modern automatic-weapon carrying kind) were invading Northern California this past weekend, I had to make an appearance and give my inspiration a good kick in the fundament!

For those who have never been to a Pirate Festival, it's a lot like a renaissance festival, only with a lot more spitting and parrots. I have to admit, the event was a lot more inspirational than I expected. One of the things that surprised me was how experiencing this spectacle reminded me of how I felt the first time I played The Secret of Monkey Island™. I was suddenly in this world outside of my own, filled with larger than life characters! Brightly colored costumes, fearsome make up, unruly cheers while they toasted their spoils and growling threats at each other at sword point! The interesting thing was that even though all of the "pirates" were engaged in activities that clearly did not include me, I somehow always felt like I was being invited to participate in an unspoken way. I suppose that is the nature of the event, knowing psychologically that this entire world is set up for my personal entertainment. It's the same way with Monkey Island. You want to go exploring and meet up with interesting people and feel like you are being invited into that world, however strange it may be.

I am so pleased that I attended the event. Watching pirate movies in a small window on a computer monitor is one thing, but actually getting out into a living pirate world is something far superior. The experience of being on the water, feeling the boom of cannon fire, smelling the stink of Rum, having the opportunity to actually interact with these men of low moral fiber as they shout insults at you is something that I will be working hard to reflect in our game. I left the festival with that youthful feeling of wonderment restored. As pushed my way out through the crowd avoiding the foul breath of the pirate wearing a necklace of alligator skulls and bashfully eyeing the buxom ladies in laced up corsets, I had only one thought in my mind: I wanna be a pirate!