characters
Meet the Development Team
Jeff H
Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer
"Not to sound too cliché, but it truly is to make the best MMO ever. We are setting ourselves apart in so many different ways such as; RvR, Public Quests and the Tome of Knowledge (just to name a few). I have no doubt of our future success, it is just a matter of how massively successful WAR will be ;)"
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Destin Bales
Destin Bales, Content Director
"Being surrounded by "candy" but rarely having time to "eat" it is the quintessential game industry experience."
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Greg Grimsby
Greg Grimsby, Art Director
"Art classes, exposure to cool artwork, and keeping yourself steeped in relevant imagery and media such as movies, fantasy paintings, comic books, etc. are all part of what helps an artist to be as creative and effective as possible."
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Colin Shannon
Colin Shannon, Lead Programmer
"As far back as memory serves I've been in front of a computer in one facet or another, either plugging away on simple games on an Apple II or learning how to program on the various PC platforms available from the early 1980's to present."
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Paul Barnett
Paul Barnett, Design Manager
"To mangle a famous quote: 'Fudge the game for the Intellectual Property, fund the Intellectual Property for the game and always make tasty fudge.' "
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Matt Daniels
Matt Daniels, Lead Writer
"I've always believed that good storytelling can be found in many mediums, and I've probably been influenced, consciously or otherwise, by numerous films, novels, comic books and other games. Heck, even some television commercials have well-rounded stories these days! There are lessons that can be taken from all of these about how to create and present a compelling story."
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Mark Davis
Mark Davis, Deputy Content Director
"I really like the Warhammer Dwarfs. I mean, what's not to like? They enjoy drinking beer, hording gold, and blowing things up!"
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Colin Hicks
Colin Hicks, Deputy Producer
"I think in a lot of cases MMOs take themselves a bit too seriously, and we definitely want to convey the sense of humor and irreverence that is inherent in all aspects of Warhammer. It's a game after all, and it should be fun!"
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Chris Ondrus
Chris Ondrus, Deputy Art Director
"When people ask me what I do for a living, I reply by saying, 'I make games for a living.' No matter whether I'm talking to a neighbor, my dentist or a complete stranger, the reply is always the same, 'That must be the coolest job! You mean you get paid to play and make games?'"
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Jason Dawdy
Jason Dawdy, Product Quality Manager
"I can often be found stalking the halls like the Grim Reaper, except instead of a Scythe I wield a stack of bug and gameplay issues."
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Maurice Nelson
Maurice Nelson, Lead Content Developer
"Mostly I review the design documents for an area with my team. Then assignments are passed out and everyone gets to work. Sometimes I burst into flames (with horns mind you) and stomp around while the developers scurry around trying to find out what they did wrong."
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Adam Gershowitz
Adam Gershowitz, Lead Character Artist
"It's WARHAMMER! Need I say more? Really, if you had to pick a fantasy (Or Sci Fi for that matter) setting for an online game Warhammer has to be one of the top picks."
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Jeff Skalski
Jeff Skalski, Deputy Art Director
My spouse unfortunately doesn't let me display my latest creations around the house since Pottery Barn doesn't carry them in their catalog. That's no big surprise since she won't let me keep my arcade cabinet in the kitchen anymore. Anyone up for some Samurai Showdown?
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Michael Phillipi
Michael Phillipi, Concept Artist
"If I'm rolling and things are going smoothly I can knock out 2 full color concepts in a day or a mess of B&W drawings depending on what the subject requires. This "going smoothly" I speak of, is a rare event because of the nature of the IP and our desire to make everything as true as possible to Warhammer... "
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Jeremy Dale
Jeremy Dale, Animation Lead
"To be honest, everything's an influence (ok, well, maybe not EVERYTHING). I play a lot of different kinds of games. Watch a lot of different kinds of movies. I watch a lot of animation. Some things are directly translatable, like some Animal Planet special that's got a great shot of buzzards fighting over a carcass. Some are more oblique, like the rhythm of some fight sequence or song."
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Brian Wheeler
Brian Wheeler, Designer
"Warhammer is its own world that is very harsh and combat oriented. That's not excluding magic either. Seeing the Fist of Gork slam down on the Empire would be...messy and wild to see! There are loads of imagery and depictions of battles that fit great in an MMO. Great terrains and battles fought with Hero's on both sides provide such a dramatic backdrop, how can you NOT make a game based off that? The animosity between all factions and the whole aspect of a world at war is what I want show in Warhammer Online. It's a war in a dynamic fantasy world that's harsh and brutal. Sure there are beautiful vistas and views to be seen, but I'm more interested in where the metal meets the meat!"
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Josh Drescher
Josh Drescher, Associate Producer
"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."
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Bruce M
Bruce Maclean, Content Lead
"My first real job out of college was as an Infantry Paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Fortunately, the premise of our game is that war is everywhere. This made the transition from my eight years of soldiering to working on this project natural and easy."
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Ellisa B
Ellisa Barr, Implementation Lead
"I read something in the Dwarf army book about how it takes a minimum of three to man a flame cannon. So I started thinking - what about those three Dwarfs? What's their story? What happens to them? - That's the kind of thing we're trying to bring to life."
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Peter L
Pete Lipman, Deputy Art Director- Environments
"My hope is that we make a game that causes you to forget about life for a while and simply have fun. I've always thought of games as an escape: a way to experience things above the ordinary. I want a player to enter our game world and be awestruck with the scale, scope, and detail to the world. I want the game to be a success because the world needs to know just how cool Warhammer and its history really are. It is a story worth telling and a story worth experiencing"
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Peter L
Amber Turner, Content Developer
"People around the world have been purchasing, painting and occasionally paying vast sums of money to cheerfully slaughter their rivals across a battlefield for twenty five years. If WAR can achieve a small part of that fanatic love, I feel we will have done our jobs well."
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ken S
Ken Shuck, Development Director
"My greatest dream is that all of the planets align and I create the mythical perfect project plan that delivers this game on schedule and it exceeds even the toughest fan's expectations. I lie in bed at night sometimes and think about this."
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K Neal
Kristen Neal, Software Engineer
"One of the things that I'm working on that I'm really excited about is the Tome of Knowledge. This is one of the features we really hope will differentiate WAR from other games out there. "
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Yvette Nash
Yvette Nash, International Producer
"I used to hate PvP combat until I played Camelot. We did a great job at making RvR so much fun in Camelot and Warhammer is going to take it to the next level."
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jeremiah Hennon
Jeremiah Hennon, Effects Artist
"Currently I'm painting a Wood Elf army. Painting the miniatures is a good way to do something artistic at home that doesn't involve sitting in front of a computer after you spend your entire day at work sitting in front of a computer."
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jMianowski
Jeff Mianowski, Lead Graphic Artist
"There's so much to draw from the Warhammer universe that visually there's not much need to look elsewhere; it's all about refining the ideas we have and trying to make the best art possible. When it comes to game art in particular, I'm always examining how other games have handled similar problems or systems that we have to deal with. It's always inspiring to look at how another game has done something really well then try to incorporate that technique or quality into our game."
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bMiller
Brian J. Miller, World Fixture Lead Artist
"Warhammer excels in every department of cool possible. It's gritty, it's exaggerated, and it will kick your ass. Personally, I would like to bring out the distinct differences between races as much as possible through their architecture. I think every race in Warhammer is completely different, more so than any other fantasy property out there, and everything from their buildings to their lamp posts should reflect that difference."
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Rob Hinkle
Rob Hinkle, Designer: Combat and Careers Team
"I've been a Warhammer fanatic for years, and so the very idea of playing in an MMO that reflects the world I've grown up with is excitement enough for me. Warhammer is the perfect setting for an MMO, it has just enough heroes that the concept isn't foreign to the world, but the setting isn't generated around a specific set of heroes that everyone wants to be. With so many races, people, places in the world, there is a ton of rich lore that will be perfect to take and expand upon, bringing the world to life for the players."
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kate Flack
Kate Flack, Deputy Content Director
"If I was going to recommend seven ways to prepare for WAR..."
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Mike F
Michael Finnigan, Content Developer
"The thing about Warhammer is, there is no black and white, good and evil. There are only shades of grey. Sure, the Empire was forged by Sigmar ages ago and currently stands against the tide of Chaos but, is the Empire really "good?" Translating that gritty world of grey versus grey is what intrigues me the most."
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Gabe A
Gabe Amatangelo, Designer
Warhammer is "the fantasy genre with soul."
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Lucus H
Lucas Hardi, UI Designer
"It took me a long time to fully appreciate all that Warhammer has to offer. Initially I was skeptical about working on a licensed game, but Warhammer is a gaming license at heart, which has made the transition to an MMO a natural one. In addition, you'd be hard pressed to find a more bottomless mine of great ideas. Warhammer's 25 year existence has grown some really wonderful worlds, characters, and stories, all designed to work well in a game."
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John F
Jon Farinelli, Quality Assurance Supervisor
"The coolest thing about Warhammer is the fighting of course! I hope that we can bring the hatred that the races have for each other to light. I would like for our players to become so immersed in the conflict that everyday events stir memories of battles."
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Georgia N
Georgia Nelson, Software Engineer
"MMOs are nothing without the players. It is my belief that if players are able to effectively communicate, then the MMO will thrive. The Community Systems team is really striving to create the functionality needed to make a living, breathing community in our game."
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Mike F
Mike Franchina, Concept Artist
"Whereas another person might spend their days at work thinking about how best they can expedite an order or shipment, I spend many hours thinking how best to mutate a zealot's face into the most painful and disturbing configuration possible."
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Ellie C
Ellie Crawley, QA Team Lead
"We hope to bring the player-on-player action to the forefront. Too many games lack good or even fair competition against other players. We are doing our best to make that part shine above all others!"
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Kevin Boehm
Kevin Boehm, Lead Artist
"I think one thing that sets WAR apart from other games is the level in which players can affect and change the state of the world. In WAR, fighting your enemies and beating them in RvR will allow different things to happen through out the world, such as cities becoming vulnerable to attack. You can then go and take over that city and wreak major havoc."
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Mike Stone
Mike Stone, Development Manager
"We are taking RVR to a new level and I know the fans will enjoy it."
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Nate Levy
Nate Levy, Combat & Career Designer
"My hope is that even my friends who haven't liked other PvP games so far will love WAR's RvR!"
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Bob Mull
Bob Mull, Director of Community
"Depending on the game, being a guild leader can be anywhere from reasonably decent to an exercise in frustration. Guild officers put in a lot of hours organizing and managing to keep their guilds alive. This is a real labor of love, but it can account for a lot of a guild officer's time. Guilds are the core social mechanism for a MMO and are crucial to a strong vibrant community. Therefore, it stands to reason that guild leaders should have a good suite of tools to do their job and make their lives easier."
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Carrie Gouskos
Carrie Gouskos, Associate Producer
"I hope to bring everything that is the spirit of the tabletop game to life. Because I think it's all about the same things, the community aspect, and getting together, and fighting against other people, and dressing up your character the way you want, and making fart jokes."
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James Nichols
James Nichols, Community Coordinator
"My main goal for the game is to see WAR mirror the table-top game in that it's a full hobby experience. Players will engage themselves in our world for years to come interacting with each other, questing for glory, and customizing their characters with the plethora of options we provide."
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Brian Audette
Brian J. Audette, Sr. Content Developer
"Warhammer is the Heavy Metal of the fantasy genre, I mean ... what's not to like? Warhammer works great as an MMO setting simply because there's so much to draw from in the IP. The tone of the setting lends itself to the kind of brutal, exciting experiences that are a blast to play. These are also the kinds of things my team and I look forward to bringing to life in the game."
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Corrie Treadway
Corrie Treadway, Senior Content Developer
"MMO's are always expanding their worlds, and since we've only tackled a small portion of Warhammer so far, there's plenty more to add. With so many different sides, angles, and armies to choose from, the potential for creativity is enormous which gives us a great opportunity to take an established IP and still make something original."
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Chris Behrens
Chris Behrens, Content Designer
"My hope is that players truly get into Warhammer, not just as players, but as someone who is participating in a battle that will determine the fate of the world. I also hope that when players log on, they're looking forward to bashin' dem stunties or crushing the last of their ancient kin, immersing themselves in the world we have created and enjoying every minute of it."
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Ahmad Zabarah
Ahmad Zabarah, Strike Team Lead
"I feel too many MMO's these days do not do a good job of bringing the world to life. You enter a town, and everyone is just standing there! I hope to change this. You should enter a town, and see NPCs walking around, repairing artillery, reporting to their offices, or sitting down taking a break. Refugees from the war might be running by you, seeking the safety of the guards."
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Gary Astleford
Gary Astleford, Content Developer
"My ultimate hope is that when folks sit down and play the Elf pairing, either as a Dark Elf or as a High Elf, that the island of Ulthuan comes to life for them, and that the cultures of the two opposing factions, locked in a civil war that has lasted thousands of years, are as real as any in our own world."
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Russell Chamier
Russell Chamier, Lead RvR Artist
"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."
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Jyun
Joanna Yun, Software Engineer
"I'm a bit of a nerd, so my hopes and goals for the game are simply to lay down the foundation for a proper framework and support for my future ideal online game. (As a hint: it would involve cognitive science advancing quite a bit so cables are no longer the medium through which we connect ourselves and computers are no longer the nodes on such a network.)"
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James Casey
James Casey, Content Design Lead
"I also enjoy humor in my games, whether it's direct or indirect, and I think that I'm influenced by games or other media that are able to infuse comedy with their central themes, and I hope that we were able to do that to a small degree in what we accomplished."
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Andy Belford
Andy Belford, Community Coordinator
"I've always loved fantasy. Let me repeat that...I LOVE fantasy. I tend to lose myself in fantasy novels and movies. When I first started playing MMORPG's the immersive nature is really what hooked me."
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Lori Hyrup
Lori Hyrup, Creative Producer
"Early on, we made small venue, online-only games. That means that they never appeared on shelves in the stores, and as such, not a lot of people knew who we were. When we first launched Dark Age of Camelot, and I saw rows of our boxes lining the shelves of Best Buy, I had a "Pinocchio" moment where I thought, 'At last, we're a real game company.'"
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Stuart Zissu
Stuart Zissu, Development Manager
"I am actually most proud of the whole Mythic team. All of us worked hard to put together a game that people wanted to play... Many times we moved not only offices but responsibilities and teams as well, and each time the project kept moving forward with the momentum of a juggernaut... It's amazing how adaptable and talented Mythic employees are."
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Rob Dibiano
Rob Dibiano, Director of Customer Support
"Customer Service is a great way for anyone to get their foot in the door in the gaming industry and we recruit only people with a strong passion for gaming and the desire to become one of the key players who make games for a living. With each new hire, I get to experience the excitement and hope that comes along with being a part of Mythic."
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Darrin Hyrup
Darrin Hyrup, Senior Director of Operations
"Early on I told myself I never wanted a career with computers since I didn't want to spoil my hobby. As such, in college my plan was to become a corporate attorney. Luckily, before I lost myself down that dark path, I eventually determined that being a lawyer was nowhere near as fun as making games, so I changed my mind and decided to embrace computers (and games) as a career."
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Crystal Ferguson
Crystal Ferguson, Quality Assurance Analyst
"When I opened the first book I was lent, I knew immediately why this was perfect for an MMO. It is a never-ending war, and one heck of an epic story. It just has such a beautiful history! Fantastic lore, great races, interesting characters, kick butt ladies with swords... who wouldn't want that in a game??"
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Craig Turner
Craig Turner, Development Manager
"Warhammer is such a brutal, no-holds-barred, dark and bleak world where everyone/everything wants to take your lunch, eat it in front of you, and then kill you. For a game that has such a huge focus on Realm vs. Realm combat, you couldn’t ask for a better backdrop."
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JD Wiker
JD Wiker, Game Designer/Content Developer
"I've been a big fan of Warhammer for years--since I started running a Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay campaign back in the mid-80s. And I played Warhammer 40,000 up through the late 90s. It's just such a richly-detailed world that it's hard not to get one's imagination fired up just reading the background material."
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