One part cat-juggler, one part translator, three parts handyman. I’m responsible for keeping an eye on the progress of the project on a daily basis and helping folks from various departments get their problems solved. This is mostly because coders, artists, content devs and managers each speak a different, funky moon language and usually can’t keep track of what anyone else is saying or doing as a result. So I guess I’m like Esperanto, but more useful.
What is your background? Degree? How long have you been with Mythic? Have you worked anywhere else?
I’ve been with Mythic since the middle of 2001 – right before Dark Age of Camelot launched.
In school, I studied Political Science and Philosophy. I have a BA in the former and a minor
in the latter. If you need help with the Baron de Montesquieu’s trias politica, I’m your guy.
What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity?
I worked in various support and testing roles on DAoC and I was Associate Producer on Imperator.
Oh, and when I was in middle school, my friend Bill Gibbs and I wrote a text-based adventure game about Elvis.
What was your “welcome to the game industry” moment when it hit you that you were really making games for a
living?
Walking through a Major Retail Chain and seeing the box for Shrouded Isles on the shelf and realizing that -
somewhere inside that box - my name was written in very small print in a manual that nobody will ever read.
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What makes it perfect for an MMO? What cool things in
the Warhammer universe do you hope to bring to life?
Personally, I like getting to brag about it. Since I was pretty young, I’ve had a fair number of friends
who were HUGE Warhammer buffs. When I was in college, I had a roommate that was a hardcore player (his
White Dwarf collection was my first real introduction to Warhammer) and my boss on campus had an office
full of miniatures. The bragging rights that come from getting to work with such a high-profile property
are a nice bonus.
As for the Warhammer property itself, I don’t know that you could ask for a better place to start from when it comes to building a MMORPG. The world is so huge and the depth of the content that already exists (and has a proven track-record of being compelling and fun) is so significant that it sometimes feels like we’re cheating. It’s a world that has everything players enjoy – drama, history, epic scale, danger, humor, RP value, intellectual minutia, fart jokes – EVERYTHING.
My hope is that we can bring that scope of qualities to WAR. We want to make a game where – if you give us an hour of your time – you’ll laugh, you’ll get excited, you’ll feel a sense of dread, you’ll feel a sense of wonder.
Also, I can’t wait to play a Dark Elf. Warhammer’s Dark Elfs are THE class of character I’ve been waiting to play in an MMO for years.
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
If I had to pick a single army – as I mentioned before - it’d have to be Dark Elfs.
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
Six billion subscribers.
What are your key influences when making the game? Anything besides Warhammer?
To be honest, my biggest influences all come from within EA Mythic itself. A HUGE chunk of our team is made
up of people that have been with the studio since the Good Ol’ Days. They’ve been in the trenches, they’ve
seen what works and they know how to make great games. Have a conversation with Mark Jacobs about his
vision – not just for this project, but for games on the whole – and you’ll be willing to follow the man
into the jaws of Hell itself to see that vision come to life.
Beyond that, I mostly rely on personal experience. I tend to be a fairly picky person when it comes to games, so if I like something, I know that most people will like it too.
What is the biggest problem with current MMO’s you hope to fix with WAR?
Honestly? I want to make a MMORPG that I enjoy playing for more than a month. I’m a ruthlessly picky
player
and I’m extremely hard to please.
What are your favorite video/computer games of all time? What games are you playing right now? What game should
the reader be playing if he’s not?
The original Civilization is – in my opinion – the best PC game of all time. The sequels haven’t been bad, but there
was just something about the original that was perfectly balanced between accessibility and depth. At the moment,
I’m banging away at Oblivion, which is managing to keep my attention fairly well. I’m also playing Puzzle Pirates,
which I can’t speak highly enough about. It’s a simple concept, executed beautifully in a way that is engaging for
twenty minutes or a whole weekend (I’ve done my share of both). Also, it’s kid-friendly.
What music are you listening to right now?
I really liked The Hold Steady’s new album Boys and Girls in America. It’s like a really heavy Bruce Springsteen,
but drunk. If you want more of a guilty pleasure, Muse’s Black Holes and Revelations has its moments (but expect
to lose indy-rock street cred now that The Kids These Days seem to be enjoying them).
Is there a recent movie you’ve seen or book/comic you read that you’d recommend to others?
I’m woefully behind when it comes to watching movies. In fact, I think I only managed to see
documentaries in the theatre this summer. Who Killed the Electric Car was interesting. Al Gore’s An
Inconvenient Truth is probably necessary viewing if you want to be "with it" at any cocktail parties
for the rest of the year.
For light reading, Max Brooks’ World War Z is a fun bit of Romero-esque zombie-fiction-as-social-critique. If you’re looking for something heavier, Helen Thomas’ Watchdogs of Democracy is sure to depress and annoy you.
And for comics, read Warren Ellis’ Nextwave, Robert Kirkman’s Irredeemable Ant-Man, Grant Morrison’s and Paul Dini’s runs on Batman and Detective Comics (respectively) and save up for the Absolute Sandman hardcover that just came out.
Anything else you want to add?
I’d like to ask the Washington Redskins to stop losing so much. It’s ruining my vision of Joe Gibbs as
a messianic figure.
