Continuing with our interviews with the cast of Project Lore, we sat down with none other than Joshua "Lylelovett" Brentano, the super tank. During the interview we talked about a number of topics ranging from his main project working in television to a possible decline in World of Warcraft.

Tamat : Hey Joshua, thanks for joining me today to talk about Project Lore, Wrath of the Lich King and, Tanks!

Joshua : WoW WotLK FTW!

Tamat : So, a lot of people don't know this but you're actually the Executive Producer on G4's hit TV show "Attack of the Show". How are you able to balance your time between AOTS and Project Lore?

Joshua :  Brute force.  I try to devote a couple evenings a week and a good half-day on the weekend to WoW.  I would love to have a little more time to spend on the game, but lately it hasn't been happening.  It's especially frustrating now, over the holidays, as I'm often out of town and it gives the guys in PL a chance to get ahead of me. Except for Juggynaut, it's like his job to play WoW!

Tamat : What do your co-workers at G4 think of your side project?

Joshua : They dig it.  Although most of them probably get enough of me during the day that I wouldn't fault them if they need a break and don't want to spend another 30 minutes with me at night watching PL. *laughs *

Tamat : Did you ever think about producing a show similar to Project Lore before Alex started playing around with the idea?

Joshua : Not really.  Although Alex and I hosted SWGack, a Star Wars Galaxies podcast, as well as a DDO podcast. But ultimately, my regular job as EP of "Attack of the Show" is a big commitment in my life, so at the time Alex was creating PL, all my creative energy was going into AOTS.  I wasn't thinking about other projects.  So it's nice to have an "extra-curricular" job where I just get to play and have a good time, rather than worrying about the backend.

Tamat : Now you're the beefy Tank on the Project Lore team. How do you feel about the Tank balancing that happened in WotLK?
 
Joshua : First of all, I LOVE tanking.  I've tried other specs and I just don't dig them.  DPS is fun enough; and casting is cool since you get to stay out of the fray; but at the end of the day, I LOVE being in the mess and being the meat shield.  It's very satisfying to be the one that is responsible for letting the rest of the group do their jobs. 

As far as the "tank balancing" goes, I'm fine with it.  I guess I don't feel like it really took anything away from my tanking experience, and I haven't noticed any lack of groups needing tanks for instances.  And since I don't really feel the need to "multi-class", if it makes the experience better for others, I'm fine with it.

Tamat : Any chance you'll switch to a Death Knight on a permanent basis?
 
Joshua : Nope.

Tamat : Why not? Not a fan?

Joshua : Part of it goes back to being committed to one character.  When I'm playing with the guild, or friends, I like the feeling that I've always been Lylelovett, the Prot Warrior. When we reminisce about the raids we've run, I like the knowledge that it's always been one character.  Running multiple characters sort of destroys my own "lore".

Another reason is that I don't like playing characters that everyone else plays.  I've always felt that my character was somewhat unique in that there are fewer Prot Warriors than other class builds.  You just don't often run into them.

And finally, time.  If I'm going to be Wow-ing, I'd rather continue to build up my Prot Warrior than work on another character.

Tamat : Some argue that WoW is going to peak and begin to decline on a noticeable scale after the buzz of WotLK has dissipated. What do you think?

Joshua : I think that it certainly COULD decline, which is why it is imperative for Blizzard to continue to innovate and release new content.  Do I THINK it will decline?  Hard to say.  The fan base is so huge, the game could easily lose players and it wouldn't affect the gaming experience too much; to a point, obviously.  My worry is that WotLK hasn't added enough content.  Ten new levels and a handful of dungeons isn't really enough to hold people's undivided attention for more than 6 months to a year.

Tamat : If you could have one thing added to the game -- what would that be?

Joshua :  Prestige classes, like D&D. Have players work toward a specific set of requirements to transform their class into something bigger/specialized.  I would love to have to tweak my stats and go through a series of quests to, perhaps, evolve my tank into some kind of new tank/warrior class.

Tamat : Thanks for chatting with us Joshua; we're looking forward to seeing you kick some ass in Wrath of the Lich King!

Joshua : I don't do the ass-kicking; I stand there while others try to kick mine.

Andrew "Tamat" Beegle
Editor-in-Chief
Allakhazam.com