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. As promised, we did some reminiscing with John Tessin, one of the programmers working on EverQuest II. This guy has been working on EverQuest and EverQuest II for nearly nine years now. Wow!!!

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

John : I will have been working on EQ and EQII for 9 years this coming February.  Brad McQuaid hired me on the EQ2 team which, at that time, was being worked on as a joint dev project with the then Exodus dev team (Exodus being the code name for what eventually became SWG).

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'll be bringing you mini interviews from many of the people on the team who've struggled over the years to make EverQuest II the game that you love and play. Our first target is the game's Producer, Bruce Ferguson, who's been on the team (in one way or another) since the game launched in 2004.

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

Bruce : I'm not sure that I qualify for this, as I spent a couple of years away from the team, but I'll answer as much as I can. I started back in the late 50s..oh wait. Maybe not. I joined the EQII team about 18 months before we shipped, so that would have been spring of 2003. I had been a project manager on another project, so I jumped right in on working on schedules and task tracking. We were close to 80 or 90 people at the time, and there was a lot or random wrangling of miscellaneous stuff, and I helped out.  You'd be amazed at how much stuff that has only a relatively small relationship to actually making a game there is...and then there's all the stuff needed to be done to make the game too!

One of the things I enjoy about this industry, particularly in the MMO space, is the variety of different games available to try at any given time. While I'm not generally a fan of most F2P (Free-2-Play) games on a personal level, I've seen the audience that games like La Tale have and during my time within the game, I was bombarded with social interaction. We had the opportunity to sit down with Ross Parks, the Producer of La Tale a few weeks ago to talk about the title in it's released state.

Allakhazam : Before we get started here, congratulations on your successful launch of La Tale!

Ross : Thank you! We're excited about La Tale and the great response it's received so far, and glad for the opportunity to share some details about the game with your readers.

Allakhazam : Can you tell us a little bit about La Tale?

Do you like free games that require few system resources to run? How about cute games that you can play with your children or your weird friend Tom? I have the perfect game for you! Angels Online. I sat down with Eric Lin, one of the Product Managers over at IGG to talk about their Free to Play (F2P) title that recently released a new expansion titled "The Lost Atlantis".

Allakhazam : Hello! Thank you for sitting down with us to talk about Angels Online!

Eric : Thank you. I’m Eric, the Project Manager for Angels Online. It’s my pleasure to be sharing Angels Online with all your players.

Allakhazam : Can you just tell us a little bit about Angels Online?

Eric : Sure. Angels Online as developed by UserJoy Technology Corp, and it is an IGG published game that prides itself on its cute characters, rich storylines and tons of fancy items.

As a cute MMORPG, it continues to be popular with many teenager players. It offers players various professions and skills to choose from, meanwhile, lovely pets and rides in game are always very attractive. The complete quest system, the funny Totem Battle and Holy Battlefield offer players a shortcut to obtaining abundant reputation and experience. Angels Online also lights up player’s worlds with its cartoonish paintings.

Now that the latest EverQuest expansion, "Seeds of Destruction", is available for all; we'd like  to shine the light on an artist that's done so much to make Norrath so fun to look at. His name is Kevin Lydy and he's a Senior Artist at Sony Online Entertainment. Having worked on many of EverQuest's expansions (as far back as Omens of War), he has a profound understanding of the living, breathing world that we love to much. Below is a brief Q&A with Kevin; check it out!

When did you join the SOE family?
Technically I joined SOE sometime around 2000.  But I’d worked at SISA/SCEA for a number of years prior to that.  A couple of years before that I was working freelance and, along with my good friend Dok Whitson, created the original EverQuest logo.

Last week I had the opportunity to talk with EverQuest II's Producer, Bruce Ferguson, about all the different ways that EverQuest II has evolved over the years. With "The Shadow Odyssey " right around the corner, I found this to be a great topic to share with the community. In the Interview, Bruce shares his thoughts on class balance, tradeskills and how the team continues to keep the game fresh for players. Enjoy the interview and stay tuned for our exclusive expansion coverage, later in the week.

Allakhazam : Hey Bruce, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to sit down with us to talk about the Evolution of EverQuest II. I know everyone on the team is frantically putting the finishing touches on The Shadow Odyssey, so we appreciate it all the more.

Bruce : It's honestly a pleasure. We certainly enjoy the support we get from you guys, and it seems like many of our players do as well!

Allakhazam : It’s been nearly four years since EverQuest II launched. The game has changed a lot. What are some of the most important changes or evolutions to EverQuest II in your mind?

If you're an MMO enthusiast -- which you likely are considering your current choice of reading material, chances are you've heard of a game in development called "Star Trek Online". Though the game has changed hands a few times over the years, it certainly looks that it's on the right track and in the right place. We had the chance to find that out first hand when we spoke to Executive Producer, Craig Zinkievich.

During the interview we manged to get Craig to divulge information about Tricorders, The Prime Directive and we even got his "solution" for the Kobayashi Maru. If you're a Star Trek fan or looking forward to the game, our Interview is a MUST read.

Tamat: Thank you for agreeing to talk with us about Star Trek Online Craig! Let's start with a question that the community would really like to know. Are there any plans to include the Borg as a playable faction in future expansions?

Craig : We’ve thought about it. There are some daunting design problems, one of which would be how to deal with Borg PCs being part of the Collective. That being said, we’ve had some creative and cool conversations about what it might be like to play as the Borg – so maybe there will be something in the future!

Tamat: Most MMO's include a "loot reward" system in which the player upgrades their character with currency and items obtained from defeated monsters.  However, Federation captains aren't known for their graverobbing, so how does STO handle this?

Allakhazam Editor-in-Chief Andrew "Tamat" Beegle had the opportunity at BlizzCon to speak exclusively with the cast of the hit webisode sitcom “The Guild,” which follows the lives of the group’s members both online and off.

Before you read any further, head on over to www.watchtheguild.com and watch an episode or two (or go crazy and watch all 10) of season one. That way, you’ll truly understand the cast’s excitement for season two, which, according to creator Felicia Day, is scheduled to launch in mid-November.

Are you all caught up? Good. Andrew spoke with Felicia Day (Codex, healer), Vincent Caso (Bladezz, rogue/thief), Robin Thorsen (Clara, mage), and Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo, warlock) about the upcoming season, their impressions of BlizzCon and their other projects, all while discovering that the cast has a great sense of humor.

The video of the interview can be found after the jump.

Once apon a time in a place and time not so far away; Pirates got popular. Really popular. So much so that holidays like "Talk Like a Pirate Day" were born. It's no suprise that there have been a number of Pirate themed MMORPG's popping up in the last couple of years. Pirates of the Burning Sea, Pirates of the Caribbean and now, "Voyage Century". While VC isn't a new game by any means; it does remain one of the only Free-to-Play Pirate themed MMO's on the market.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Bill Lian, one of the Product Managers working on the title. In the interview we drank some rum, talked about Pirate Ships, and the unique Sea Battle System in Voyage Century. Enjoy!

Allakhazam : Thank you for dropping anchor to talk with us about Voyage Century. Would you care for some Rum?!?

Bill : Yes, please. Allakhazam is a wonderful wharf to Voyage Century and all other online games. I must drink to my heart's content this time.

Allakhazam : Please tell us a bit about Voyage Century.

Bill : Voyage Century is a free 3D nautical MMORPG from IGG that prides itself on its real world geography, historical design, and eye-catching graphics. Players are able to travel around the 5 continents and 7 oceans freely, and take part in both land battles and sea battles. There are tons of things for players to have fun with, such as guild battles, port battles, refining, fun-filled quests and events, and so on. If your guild owns a city, you can not only earn fortune and glory easily but also can use some functions to expel strangers to establish a kingdom that only belongs to your guild.

Recently we were given the opportunity to sit down with Nicole "Awen" Hamlett, Community Manager for Jumpgate Evolution to talk about the games past, present and future. During the Interview we touched on PvP, the differences between the three playable nations as well as the ins & outs of character progression.

Allakhazam: Hello Nicole! Thank you for sitting down with us to talk about Jumpgate Evolution. The game looks absolutely amazing!

Nicole Hamlett: Thank you! The team is working very hard to ensure that not only does it look gorgeous, but that it also functions well. I'm glad that you like what you see so far. I definitely can't wait for all of you to get into the game and see more.

Allakhazam: Jumpgate has long been an innovator for space-themed MMOs. Can you give us some background information about the franchise?