These days, my job mostly consists of designing, balancing, and helping implement the various "number" systems in the game. I've gotten my hands dirty with all the careers and character system, the combat systems, and some portions of the item and monster systems. I also provide feedback on various high-level design concepts and generally take the first passes at balance for the characters in the game.
What is your background? College? Degree? Has 1st job out of school? 1st game industry job? How long have you been with Mythic?
After graduating high school (senior class of 68 people, small town represent!) I went on
to college at Northwest Missouri State University, the fighting Bearcats, and graduated with
a B.S. in Computer Science. This was just about the time DAoC was entering their open beta
period and so I spent some time playing with it over the summer while I was job hunting.
I noticed Mythic was hiring for their on-site customer service positions and like everyone
else I've always heard that C.S. is the way to get my foot in the door. I applied for one of
the positions, and one day I got a call and an interview. Of course, the job was for a
part-time low level position, but I figured something was better than nothing so I setup
the interview and arranged a one-way flight to D.C.
My flight was scheduled for
September 18th, 2001. Of course everyone knows what happened on 9/11, so there was
suddenly a serious shift in priorities across the country. I managed to be on one of
the first flights out of Denver (I was vacationing for the summer in Colorado), and flew
into BWI in Baltimore. Few days later, I was hired as a part-time server lead for
Dark Age of Camelot's launch.
What was your "welcome to the game industry" moment when it hit you that you were really
making games for a living?
My moment came during the Catacombs beta, when the first players were getting a look at
some of the dungeons that I was responsible for creating. Up until that point, most of my
work had been finishing off other people's designs. This was the first time players were
really getting a look at something that I was really involved with start to finish, something
I felt like I could really claim as "mine".
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've been a Warhammer fanatic for years so the very idea of playing in an MMO that
brings to life 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.
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
So many figs lay around my apartment. I've been playing Warhammer for about
12 - 13 years now, starting when I was in high school. My older brother got me
involved by letting me tag along with him to various gaming conventions, which is
where I first really experienced the game. Like all younger children in the family,
I wanted to do what he did, so I followed him around and played in the games he played.
At my first con there was a particular all-day event in which 10 players at a time
played a single hero in an attempt to rack up the most kills. When one person died,
the next person in line would be put into the game. Having never played before,
I managed to win the event, riding my little Tzeentch sorcerer to victory. I've
been hooked ever since. It's worth noting that every year previous and since that con
they gave away a sword as a prize to the winner, but that particular year, nada!
As for Warhammer armies, I maintain a Skaven, Empire, Chaos Mortals, Chaos Daemons, Beastman, and Dark Elves army, along with various other armies from all sorts of other games. This much pewter demands display, I have 2 bookshelves dedicated to my mini's in my apartment. It's a glorious display of unpainted glory!
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
Making a game I want to play. So many people in the industry seem to set out to make a
game that "people" want to play, and end up creating something that they themselves
don't enjoy. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to make a game fun, when you
are trying to make it fun for other people and not yourself. While I wouldn't ever
think that my definition of fun is the same as everyone else's, I think one of the
most important factors in making a game fun for everyone is making a game that you
enjoy working on and playing yourself.
What your key influences when making the game? Anything besides Warhammer?
I attempt to use all of my gaming history to make the best player experience.
From all the various MMOs, to standard RPGs, to old school text-only MUDs, to Pen
and Paper gaming, each aspect of gaming has something worthwhile to bring to WAR.
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?
Favorite Games: Tribes, Bard's Tale Series, Dark Omen, Fallout 1 and 2,
Wing Commander: Prophecy, and Civ 4; all for various and different reasons, but trust
me, all the reasons are good! These days, I spend a significant amount of time playing
Battlefield 2142, as well as Civ 4, and Vanguard, while I greatly look forward to
Quake Wars and Fallout 3.
Is there a recent movie you've seen or book/comic you read that you'd recommend to others?
Obviously everyone should go see Transformers if you haven't yet, Michael Bay aside,
it is a highly entertaining movie. Also in the same category, the latest Die Hard
movie was surprisingly entertaining, and a brilliant return to the glory of the original.
Leaping to the written word, if you haven't read George R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice
series, stop what you are doing and go buy them now. On top of that, check out
Jim Butcher's work, he's the author of the Dresden Files books (of Sci-Fi T.V. show fame)
as well as a good solid fantasy series called the Codex Alera.
Anything else you want to add?
I have to give my brother a shout-out (Hi Geoff!) because so many of my hobbies of my younger
years were shaped by him and they led me to pursue the job I have today. Now if he would
just stop bugging me for beta access...
