In celebration of EverQuest's 12th anniversary, members of the press had the opportunity to attend a roundtable interview with Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley, Assistant Lead Designer Alan VanCouvering and Associate Producer Harvey Burgess. Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff participated on behalf of ZAM, and it certainly turned out to be an interesting discussion.

We talked about a wide variety of topics, ranging from the history of EverQuest to the game's community. The team also fielded a series of questions on the progression servers, and Smedley gave us some hints on what we can expect to see in EverQuest Next.

You'll find a transcript of all of the team's answers sorted by topic after the jump. Happy anniversary, EverQuest!

When I walked into the main entrance of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center to begin my PAX East adventure, the first thing I saw was a huge banner hanging from the ceiling with the now famous phrase, “We're not in Azeroth anymore.” Despite not having a booth, Rift definitely had a presence at the convention.

Trion Worlds hosted a party on Friday night to mingle with fans, and I had the opportunity to speak with Trion Worlds CCO and Rift Executive Producer Scott Hartsman the next day about a wide variety of topics, ranging from account security and server transfers to future updates and balancing souls. Check out what he had to say after the jump!

At PAX East I had a chance to sit down with Fred Howard, the vice president of marketing for Wizard101, who was excited to talk about the new Wintertusk zone that's coming to the game. Players will get to explore a whole new zone, new quests, new spells and much more. Read on to see what Howard has to say about the future of Wizard101.

When BBC Worldwide announced a couple weeks ago that it had partned with Three Rings to create a Doctor Who MMO, our curiosity was instantly piqued. Editor-in-Chief Darryl Gangloff wanted to get some more details, and the Game Developers Conference provided him with the perfect opportunity to discuss the game with Robert Nashak, executive vice president of digital entertainment at BBC Worldwide.

Nashak explains why they decided to make Doctor Who: Worlds in Time a free-to-play browser game and mentions that the MMO will focus more on solving puzzles than on combat. While he emphasizes that the game will contain elements of the franchise's entire history, he also confirms that their focus is on series 5 of the television show.

Keep reading after the jump for the full interview!

During our time at the Game Developers Conference, we had the opportunity to swing by the Trion Worlds studio in Redwood City, CA and speak with Senior Community Manager Cindy "Abigale" Bowens about the recent launch of Rift. We talked about the responsibilties of the community team, and Bowens hinted that an MVP program may be coming to the official forums in the future. She also suggests that a large Fan Faire-style event may be held for Rift fans someday if there's enough interest from the community.

Keep reading after the jump for our interview with Cindy Bowens. Also, be sure to check out our interview with Producer Adam Gershowitz from the same visit to the studio.

Curt Schilling, Todd McFarlane, R. A. Salvatore, Ken Rolston

With a dream team consisting of three-time World Series champion Curt Schilling, Spawn creator and artistic visionary Todd McFarlane, best-selling author R. A. Salvatore, and the talented and experienced game designer Ken Rolston, it's hard to imagine a game that wouldn't be epic. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an upcoming single-player action RPG coming from 38 Studios and is the first game set in the Amalur universe. More content will be coming from the new property, including an MMO codenamed Copernicus.

Schilling is a man who is not used to losing. The team is all in to create a setting that will be strong, consistent and fun as hell. Schilling says, "We're going out with a new IP. No one's ever heard of us before, but everyone knows these guys. So we've got a preexisting audience that will check into Reckoning at some point. That's all I can ask. I want you to look at the game. If you don't stick around and play, that's on us. That's a gamble and that's a risk I'm willing to take."

I recently visited Big Huge Games' Maryland studio and attended a panel with this impressive team. Read on to see how Schilling took his idea and reached out to some of the leading visionaries in their fields to bring Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning to life. Also, be sure to check out our first look at the game's demo.

During our time at the Game Developers Conference, we had the opportunity to swing by the Trion Worlds studio in Redwood City, CA and speak with Producer Adam Gershowitz and Senior Community Manager Cindy "Abigale" Bowens about the recent launch of Rift.

To kick things off, Editor-in-Chief Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff talked with Gershowitz about Rift's smooth launch, the process of adding new servers, team members playing the game during work (hey, wouldn't you?), and the fact that experience from rifts is getting a boost. He also hinted that players can expect to see all sorts of new content added in the first couple months of updates.

Keep reading after the jump for the full interview with Adam Gershowitz, and check back with ZAM tomorrow for our interview with Cindy Bowens!

After I fought my way through TERA's Smuggler's Hideout instance at the Game Developers Conference, I had the opportunity to sit down with Senior Producer Brian Knox to talk briefly about the demo, the game's recent launch in Korea and his thoughts on the North American release. It appears that once the upcoming community play event is held in early spring, players can expect to see some more consistency from En Masse Entertainment in terms of further community and beta events.

Keep reading after the jump for the full interview, and be sure to check out our look at the GDC demo for details on enemy AI, the user interface, combat and big ass monsters.

Members of the ZAM team are currently at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, and Editor-in-Chief Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff was lucky enough to get the chance to sit down with Final Fantasy XIV Producer/Director Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida and Global Online Producer Sage Sundi to talk about the future of the game.

We discussed various topics, such as the upcoming official forums, the team's plans for new quests, when you can expect to see some battle system changes (as well as a new high-end dungeon), and how you'll earn class-specific armor. Yoshi-P also explains how he hopes to bring both old and new players back into the game. Keep reading after the jump for the full interview!

You can discuss the interview in the ZAM FFXIV forum.

Perfect World International's Genesis expansion launches today, March 2, and brings all sorts of changes to the game, such as new classes, a new race, guild bases and more. We got the chance to sit down with Product Manager Clifton Chu to talk about the expansion's features, so keep reading after the jump to learn why this is a new beginning for old and new players alike.