1. What is it you do on a daily basis?
I'm in charge of all art regarding (non-city) RvR: Keeps, Fortresses, Scenarios, Siege Engines, Battlefield Objectives, and the RvR Lake terrain. If you kill other players on or near it, I was involved with it. The specifics of my day are sure to bore, but my favorite part thus far has been prototyping the keeps we are putting into the RvR lakes. I don't get the opportunity to actually produce as much as I would like. All the other scheduling, feedback, inter-team dependencies, etc. pretty much dominate my time.
2. What is your background? College? Degree? How long have you been with Mythic?
I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia. While I was there, I was mentored by an excellent artist who now works with Epic in North Carolina. Later on, he told me about the opening at Mythic from a former colleague (It's a small art world). I'm now in my seventh year at Mythic.
3. What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity?
I was the lead artist on the last few Camelot titles; prior to that I was a fixture artist starting with Shrouded Isles.
4. What was your "welcome to the game industry" moment when it hit you that you were really making games for a living?
This question seems to imply an awe-inspiring epiphany/realization that, "Wow, this is the greatest job ever and I have it." I don't get why people think that. Everyone knows the greatest job in the world is 'trust fund baby yacht rocker'. Or maybe the guy who oils up the Swedish models for the latest beach calendar shoot. We have no Swedish models, nor yachts, at this job.
5. 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?
I like that Warhammer is rich in lore. Its origins are focused on the armies, the figures. Up until recently there wasn't a whole lot of information available that described the visuals of the world itself. People thought we just made up the Inevitable City when we first announced it; the point being that there was next to nothing on (in this case) Chaos' actual living space for most of the Warhammer world. We have created a lot of architecture, landscape, and other world space to take in and explore by extrapolating the look from the armies. It's an interesting process. Chaos is severe, imposing, spiky, eyebally. The eye of Tzeentch sees all (well, maybe just "most"). Dwarfs have a height complex; their architecture is immense. Elf towers, on both sides, are tall and lean. Dark Elves? Maybe they like blades a little too much; you see it all over the figures. Empire is my favorite; old, corroded, top-heavy, poorly maintained. It's full of overgrowth, plaster chips, iron crosses, broken stone, sagging sewers, but also lofty cathedrals and citadels. It's so undeniably Germanic, and full of flavor, character, and history.
6. Do you collect Warhammer figures?
I don't collect the figures. One particular facet of my personality is I hate amassing stuff, tchotchkes, whatnot. I routinely throw out unused or old items. My entire DvD collection is gifts from other people, for instance. Most people around here consider it heresy. I'm going to the Wednesday meetings to get help.
7. What are your hopes/goals for the game?
On a local level: that people enjoy the RvR world space. On a larger scale, I'm sure I'm saying the same thing all my colleagues are saying: that it's successful. This question makes me feel dirty.
8. What your key influences when making the game? Anything besides Warhammer?
Clearly nothing is a bigger influence than the original IP that Games Worskhop created. But if you look a little deeper (ok maybe not so deep), most of the armies are based on real world counterparts. If you approach the material from the same, "let's twist up a real-world culture into something warhammery", you can glean material from all over just by knowing a little world history.
9. What is the biggest problem with current MMO's you hope to fix with WAR?
I plead the fifth, please.
10. 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?
Of all time? Can't say. Psychonauts is rockstar quality though. I also like(d) Deus Ex, Full Throttle, Burnout (am I the only one who likes the DJ?), Knights of the Old Republic a.k.a. anything from BioWare, Jedi Outcast/Academy (no better saber dueling game out there). Sands of Time is also superlative. Assassin's Creed has striking vistas and cityscapes. I'll leave out the countless online stuff.
11. What music are you listening to right now?
"Tattoo of your Name" by Vast.
12. Is there a recent movie you've seen or book/comic you read that you'd recommend to others?
I'm very thinly read. Most of the books I own are filled with pictures of naked people and arrows with Latin words on them.
