It's been nearly a month since the Dungeons and Dragons Online launch of Mod 8 and the community has responded both positively and negatively. One of the major features that didn't quite make the live push was the highly anticipated Hirelings system which was previewed a few weeks later. We had the opportunity to sit down with Kate Paiz, the games' Executive Producer. During our lengthy conversation we discussed Hirelings, the Druid class, Mod 9 and the Shavarath storyline; which we talked about in great length, several times!

Tamat :  So Kate, congratulations on the fantastic launch of mod 8.
 
Kate :  Thank you.
 
Tamat : You’re welcome.  It seems like the team put in a lot of hard work and they definitely pulled it off. It’s been an overly successful and a fun edition that reaches out to a lot of the current and new players at the same time.
 
Kate :  Absolutely.  We’re very excited about it.  It has definitely been something we’ve been working on for a while.  And it’s always nice to see the fruition of stuff that’s been in planning and in the works – a hireling system, we’re still shaking the last bit of bugs out of, has been something we’ve been excited about for a very long time.  And certainly the new player experience and character generation are going really well and we’re very pleased about that.

Tamat :  Awesome.  So let’s talk about mod 8, since it’s new. What can you tell us?  Just give us a brief rundown on everything that’s been modified.

If you've been watching Project Lore, you've been on the edge of your seat as the guys have been making their way through The Oculus. I was given the opportunity to catch Brandon "Juggybox" Sato during one of his breaks to talk with him about Project Lore, Wrath of the Lich King and the mystique behind Juggybox. As promised in my interview with Alex Albrecht, I'll be continuing my interviews with the guys behind Project Lore in December.

Tamat : Brandon Sato. The man, the myth, the ... amplifier. Thanks for coming out to talk with us about Project Lore, and anything else we might end up talking about!

Brandon : Anytime, it’s great to be here.

Tamat : Now your character on the show is somewhat mysterious because of that fact that you’re represented by a speaker. What’s the deal with that?

Brandon : It’s a fun mechanic that we came up with at the start of the show. The concept of the show was not only to show the instance but also the interaction between the players, since that is one of the biggest parts of grouping and doing instances together. Naturally, it’s easier to get four guys in one room and on a rectangular screen at once than it is five, and the whole Juggybox came out of a necessity. Plus, it adds another little touch that we’ve grown to adore.

Surprise, surprise! I'm a Star Wars nerd. Having said that, when Star Wars: The Old Republic was announced last month, naturally, I flipped out. Of course deep down most gamers already knew it was coming. When the rumors started that Bioware was developing an MMO using their Lucas Arts license; it was pretty obvious at that point. Though that wasn't concrete enough to keep us from crossing our fingers. I mean, who wants to see an Indiana Jones MMO? The thought alone, scares me.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with Sean Dahlberg, Bioware Community Manager in charge of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Like me, he's a huge Star Wars fan and was eager to share everything he could about the game. During the interview we talked about the storyline, PvP and over sized lightsabers.

Tamat : Hey Sean. Thanks for putting away your lightsaber for long enough to talk with me about Star Wars: The Old Republic. How are things going over at BioWare?

Sean Dahlberg: Things are going great, especially now that we've revealed the game.

Tamat : Let's start off with some basic information about the games storyline? Can you give us an overview of what’s happening in The Old Republic?

Turbine is set to release the first expansion pack to Lord of the Rings Online, "Mines of Moria". Fans have been eagerly waiting for the time that they can set foot inside the once glorious Dwarven city. That time, is tomorrow morning! We couldn't be more excited here at Allakhazam. So much so, we decided to call Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer for LotRO on Friday to talk about it! During our interview with Jeff, we had the opportunity to talk about some of the changes that Mines of Moria will bring, in addition to some of the concerns that players have about the game in its current state.

Tamat : So Jeffrey, thank you so much for joining us today. I know the expansion launches right around the corner, so things must be going crazy over there.

Jeffrey : Yup, very, very busy in preparation. Good crazy, though.

Tamat : So Mines of Moria launches on Tuesday. Are you excited? Are there some additions you just can't wait for players to try out?

Jeffrey : Oh yeah, absolutely. And some of the stuff we've been talking about publicly for a little while now. First of all, we're just really excited to get people to be able to visit Moria. Just for people to actually see Moria and see what we've built and see their reaction to it. I know even in alpha and beta, just seeing people go in there the first time has been extremely gratifying. I think the place we've created in Moria is quite astounding and unusual in sort of its depth and the way it looks, the way it feels, and how big it is. I don't think people will feel they've had the same kind of experience in a game like this before, so I'm excited about that.

I’ve had the opportunity to conduct some fun interviews over the years but sitting down with Jeffrey “Tigole”  Kaplan felt like I was hanging out with an extremely knowledgeable gamer, not a big wig at a major studio. From the moment I met him he had this pleasant aura about him which made it extremely easy to talk about our previous lives as hardcore ‘EverQuesters’. Once upon a time Jeff was the GM of a guild that many of you reading have likely heard of, “Legacy of Steel”. He’s used his love and knowledge of gaming and the end result is World of Warcraft.

The following is from my talk with Jeff Kaplan on Wednesday night at the official Blizzard Wrath of the Lich King Launch event in Anaheim, California. Special thanks go out to Humphrey Cheung from TGdaily.com for the pictures and to Blizzard PR for sneaking me inside Fry’s.

Allakhazam : Hey Jeff, thank you so much for agreeing to talk with us tonight. We know there is a lot going on so we appreciate your time.

Jeff : Well I really appreciate being here and I'm a huge fan of Allakhazam so it's my pleasure.

Allakhazam : Thank you! So what were some of the major challenges you had developing Wrath of the Lich King?

This week we're celebrating EverQuest II's fourth Birthday here at Allakhazam and as our present to the community  we're bringing you mini interviews from many of the individuals on the team who've struggled over the years to make EverQuest II the game that you love and play. One of my favorite parts about EverQuest II has always been the art style; I'm a sucker for realism in games. Bill Yeatts, the Art Director for EverQuest II has been working on the game for over four years to help bring that to the table.

Allakhazam : How long have you been working on EverQuest II and how did you get started?

Bill : I have been working on EQII for a little more than 4 years total. (I took a break to work on Untold Legends Dark Kingdom in 2006 though.)

Allakhazam : Over the years, is there a particular change that you’ve seen made to EverQuest II that stands out against the rest?

This week we're celebrating EverQuest II's fourth Birthday here at Allakhazam and as our present to the community we're bringing you mini interviews from many of the individuals on the team who've struggled over the years to make EverQuest II the game that you love and play. Today we had a chat with Joy Parkes, the Voice-Over Coordinator for EverQuest II.

Allakhazam : How long have you been working on EverQuest II and how did you get started?

Joy : I joined the team in March 2004. I was hired as a copy editor to edit the 1,000s of lines of dialog that were implemented in the game. I can’t believe it’s been more than four years! After working for a year as copy editor I transitioned into voice-over coordinator for SOE. Currently I still manage VO for EQII but I’m also a project manager for the SOE Audio Group.

Allakhazam : Over the years, is there a particular change that you’ve seen made to EverQuest II that stands out against the rest?

Joy : I’ve seen lots of changes over the years but one thing that remains consistent is the dedication of the team. I work on multiple projects at SOE and I always look forward to collaborating with the EQII designers and producers.

This week we're celebrating EverQuest II's fourth Birthday here at Allakhazam and as our present to the community we're bringing you mini interviews from many of the individuals on the team who've struggled over the years to make EverQuest II the game that you love and play. Today we zerged none other than Noel "Ilucide" Walling, who has been around for as long as I can remember. In fact, you might recognize the name "Ilucide" from certain in-game items! He's currently the Design Supervisor for EverQuest II and unfortunately our talk with him was short, sweet, and to the point! As you can imagine, he's busy polishing The Shadow Odyssey. Enjoy!

Allakhazam : How long have you been working on EverQuest II and how did you get started?

Noel : I was brought over to the EQII team from customer service five years ago, almost to the day. I’d been an avid EQ player since its launch, and really felt I could bring a lot to the table for its successor.

Allakhazam : Over the years, is there a particular change that you’ve seen made to EverQuest II that stands out against the rest?

Screen Savers. Diggnation. Totally Rad Show. Project Lore? Alex Albrecht has been in the entertainment business for quite some time but his newest project, a niche World of Warcraft show for the web, is likely the most interesting. At least it is for us! The Project was setup to bring five guys, four camera men and one World, of Warcraft, together to create the best multimedia MMORPG game guides. Project Lore successfully captivates their audience on a weekly basis with their awesome chemistry, entertaining rapport, and coming together to show the progress of a group of level 70 players who love beer and pizza and loathe Fel Orcs.

In the coming weeks I'll be sitting down with all five of the guys to talk about their characters, opinions and lives, in and outside the World of Warcraft. Enjoy the interview and if you haven't already been watching, make sure to visit the Project Lore website to see what you've been missing!

Tamat : Thanks for taking a break from your busy life to sit down and talk with us about your latest show “Project Lore”. How is everything going?

Alex :  No problem! Glad to do it.  Everything’s going great.  We’ve been blown away by the response to the show and to the site.

This week we're celebrating EverQuest II's fourth Birthday here at Allakhazam and as our present to the  community we're bringing you mini interviews from many of the individuals on the team who've struggled over the years to make EverQuest II the game that you love and play. We had the opportunity to hear from the lovely Vanessa "Eovania" Barrera, one of Sony Online Entertainments International Community Relations Representatives. Vanessa's been the beating heart of the German community since 2005 and if you've been to a Fan Faire you've likely seen her in the flesh, running around, pretending to work. Whoops, that cat's out of the bag! :P

Allakhazam : How long have you been working on EverQuest II and how did you get started?

Vanessa : I have been in the EQ2 Community team since March 2005.

I was hired by Steve  “Moorgard” Danuser and worked with Ryan “Blackguard” Shwayder. I'm sure a lot of you folks remember those two. They were looking for a German native speaker to take care of the EQ2 German community. A friend of mine told me about the opportunity; she was the EQ2 French Community Rep at the time.

Allakhazam : Over the years, is there a particular change that you’ve seen made to EverQuest II that stands out against the rest?