As those of you who play with me in the BZPRPG have probably noticed, I suddenly dropped out of activity last week. The reason for that is that I got the incredible opportunity to work at the Star Wars: The Old Republic booth at GamesCom in Cologne this year, via contacts I got from school.

We met the previous weekend for the initial briefing; and after clearing up all questions, we drove to Cologne on Tuesday, where we moved into the flats we would have during the week and to get our on-sit briefing at the booth.

Once we arrived, we met with the people from Bioware and EA, mostly from the community management-side, but also the live-producer and lead pvp-level designer. They are incredibly nice people all around and it was a good reminder, why I want to work in the industry. On Sunday, I also had the great pleasure of meeting some of the community-managers for Mass Effect, another bunch of awesome people.

On Wednesday we had the press-visitors at the booth and also the 501st legion. I have nothing but respect for these guys. It was hard enough working at the booth for 10 hours with short breaks, to the point where some of us got serious pain in the feet. But imagine that while wearing several pounds of plastic armour and in Darth Vaders case, a full-body leather suit and 10lb helmet. They were awesome as well and so much fun, providing lots of laughter for everybody involved.

Then on Thursday, the gates opened for the general public and madness ensued. We channeled people through the booth in 20-minute intervals, so they could try the game if they hadn't played it yet or to try the new exclusive warzone the BW guys presented there.

But aside from working at booth, we had some really cool parties in the evening, from a community meet'n'greet on thursday to the Sony-party on saturday.

All in all, it was just amazing and totally worth all the work. One of the best weeks and best teams ever!

So yeah, that's where I was. I have a project-management test coming up on wednesday, so I need to study for that. But I am back and will get active again asap!

May the force be with you!