PCGamer has a cool interview with Chris Metzen where he describes the parts of his young life in the 80s that shaped his imagination and inspiration to create massive worlds.

Everything from The Transformers, GI Joe, X-Men, TSR, Dragons & Dungeons, and other TV franchises. It’s the same era I grew up in. It was magical.

PCGamer: What initially drew you to writing about games, of all things – especially since you started back when technology was still pretty limited?

Metzen: When I was a kid, I was a huge GI Joe and Transformers fan. I remember the name Flint Dille flashing across the screen and wondering who that was. What a trip that life would lead me on a course where I’d get to meet him – let alone become good friends with him. But I grew up in the ’80s, and we had a hundred flavors. Where commerce meets young minds, right? It was the craziest time post-Star Wars, because all these action figure companies realized they could be putting 22-minute commercials on TV, and all these executives didn’t give a damn what it is, so long as it made their product look cool.