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.

Tamat : Unfortunately that means the speculation that you’re a tiny person playing from within the speaker is false.
 
Brandon :  It is. Initially, we looked into getting a shrink ray to make that happen, but it ended up being a little too expensive.
 
Tamat : Does that mean you might eventually show up, in the flesh?
 
Brandon : Well, I may make a cameo in the future, but right now the mystique of the Juggybox is too much fun to play with.

Tamat : You're such a tease! Now, I understand that you play a few different classes. Which one is your favorite?

Brandon : Shaman, by far. My first character was a troll shaman that I barely managed to get to level 60 literally days before the Burning Crusade came out. I got the expansion and leveled to 61, then decided to try the Alliance side of things with a Draenei. The starting area for Draenei drew me in and I eventually rolled a shaman. I’ve always had tons of alts, but I always come back to my shaman. There’s something about it; I just love the class.

Tamat : You’re obviously a hardcore MMO gamer having played titles as far back as Ultima Online and EverQuest. Out of all the MMORPG’s which one holds a special place in your nostalgic heart?

Brandon : As far as online gaming, I don’t know if anything will ever touch the experiences I had in Ultima Online. It was the first MMO that I ever played, and I played it for a long, long time. There are so many memories I have. I started out lost as an innocent newbie, and ended up owning a house, doing some Role Playing, starting guild wars, the list goes on and on. The experience was really what you made of it. By playing for such a long time, I was able to see a ton of different aspects of MMOs and how they’ve changed over time. In fact, the first time I ever heard about WoW was while chatting in UO. Just talking about it makes me want to log in to see if any of my old friends are still playing.

Tamat : Let’s talk Death Knights. What are your feelings on the class? Any chance you’ll actively play one for Project Lore?

Brandon : Well, as I’ve said, I have a ton of alts. Thanks to the Recruit a friend XP bonus, I have nine characters over level 55, so starting a DK won’t be a problem, but sticking to it may. I played through the starter quests that we saw on the Ten Days of Knight series on my own, and they are spectacular. I would definitely recommend running through them even if you aren’t planning on getting the character to 80 just for the experience. My feelings on the class are a little mixed. It is exciting to have an entire new class, I just hope the world doesn’t become overrun with Death Knights. Of course, that may be in part because I’d like to keep my melee DPS raid spot on Juggy!

Tamat : In the same vein, what’s your favorite thing about Wrath of the Lich King thus far?

Brandon : Oh, man. It is really hard to say what the best part of the expansion is. The quests so far have been great. They are doing a lot of new things with the vehicles and twisting things up to make it more interesting. Leveling up by doing all new quests is so much fun, and that first time seeing all of the new landscapes and instances is unforgettable.  My favorite instance that I’ve run so far is probably the Old Kingdom or the Oculus.

Tamat : We’ll we certainly look forward to the possibility of seeing you on the show in the near future. Thank you for logging off for long enough to chat with us!

Brandon : Well, I don’t know about seeing, but you’ll definitely be hearing me! It was great talking with you.