AP: What do you do in relation to LOTRO?

That's a good question. My official title is Design Director, though my day to day activities typically revolve around meetings, specs, and deliberating the ins and outs of how each system in our game gets designed.

AP: What was the first MMORPG you ever played?

Well, I played a lot of MUDS in College, but the very first MMORPG I ever played was Ultima Online.

AP: What about MMORPGs do you enjoy?

In my opinion, the best thing about MMORPGs are the social connections. Make no mistake, gameplay is a must, but if you stripped the social aspect out of an MMP, I don't have confidence that you'd enjoy what was left...

AP: Do you enjoy playing online games or working on them more?

Hrm, good question. I suppose it would depend on which part of the building process I'm working on. Building games is a labor of love, but as anyone with pets or children can attest, there are occasions where you wish "Calgon would take you away". So, to go further, I enjoy working on elements like combat equations, but placing trees? Not so much.

AP: What made you decide to work in the gaming genre?

Well, I've been gaming since I was 8 (that's tabletop, not Coleco Action). I still remember playing my first game of D&D with my brother and sister, and knowing more about the rules than them. My Intellivision was probably the main reason I stayed home and out of trouble, so I figured I should share that wealth with the intrepid youth of tomorrow.

AP: How did you get your first break into the gaming field?

Well, that's a funny thing. I actually have my degree in Biology, with a specialization in Cellular and Molecular Biology. I was working in my field, when a friend of mine that worked at Turbine told me that I should apply for a content position over there. I played a LOT of Asheron's Call, and was pretty well versed in how the game worked. Considering that if I didn't do it, I'd always have regrets, I cobbled together a resume, and here I am.

AP: What's the best part of the LOTRO effort for you?

I love the people I work with. I'd say that's a company wide feeling, in truth. I enjoy the atmosphere, and really, how can you look down on any place where people argue over who would win in a fight between the Balrog and the D&D Pit Fiend?

AP: What's the most difficult part of the LOTRO effort for you?

Trying to figure out how to make a quality game with limited resources. Every day we get closer to shipping, and every day, decisions have to be made. Having the perspective to make the right decision is hard. Having the courage to admit you made the wrong decision is harder. Ironically, having the ability to forgive another person for making the wrong call is probably the hardest, though.

There are so many ideas that are born out of both our IP, and our own desires to innovate within the genre. It's very difficult to know which risks to take, how to analyze those risks in a constructive manner, and to move on while learning from them.

AP: What's the hardest part, in your opinion, for balancing the Tolkien lore against the idea of what is good for gameplay?

Hrm, that's a very good question. I'd say that the hardest part of capturing the lore has been communicating the dual sense of virtue, and mortality. Gameplay is typically there because you have an obvious goal, you just need to figure out how to achieve it. Virtue and Mortality, however, are never so clear cut. Fortunately, our content does communicate both of those elements to the player, but it's a fine line between pedantic and the profound. That line is different for each person that will play our game, and our goal is to make sure our game captures the essence of the books, so it is a fine line...

AP: What aspect of LOTRO do you think makes it different from all the other games on the market?

The world and the characters. That is Bag end. That is Elrond. A feature can be emulated (or innovative), but it can ultimately be replicated by another game. The atmosphere of Tolkien? Not so much.

AP: What previous experiences do you feel influence your contribution to LOTRO and how?

I worked on D&D (that "other" project that Turbine is working on) for some time, in addition to spending many sleepless nights working on Asheron's Call (AC1) and Asheron's Call 2 (AC2). I would say that AC1 gave me the knowledge to not over complicate things. AC2 gave me the perspective to be critical, but honest of my work. D&D gave me the understanding that it's all about the user experience, regardless of how "cool" you think things could be if people just listened... ;)

AP: In your opinion, does game content or player run content contribute more to feelings of "immersion" in the gaming world? (i.e. what the developers design for players to do, or what players invent for themselves to do)

In my opinion, immersion is the act necessary for an in game community to form. As a result, you need certain elements of gameplay for people to share an activity before you typically get in game, player sponsored events. Additionally, there are all sorts of activities that players enact that hurt the "atmosphere" of a game, but contribute to the feeling of the game as a place. Albeit, it's a place where you might not like your neighbors, if they are doing/saying something that you don't agree with.

So, to answer your question; Yes.

AP: How old were you the first time you read anything by Tolkien?

I think I was 8. I'm pretty tall now, but I remember having an easy time reaching it on the lower part of the bookshelf.

AP: How many times have your read The Hobbit and The LOTR books?

Enough times to know that we have our work cut out for us.

AP: What's your favorite thing about Tolkien's works?

Their depth. There's a sense of history in Tolkien's works that just feels genuine.

AP: Describe a "normal day at the office" for you.

Hrm. Well, I typically roll into the office like a rockstar, feeling pretty good. Then the dance of razors begins, where people begin sending me mail/asking me questions that each take slight cuts out of my soul. By the time I leave, my eyes are empty and soulless, and I have a rictus like cast to my mouth.

AP: How many working and non-working computers do you have at home?

Two, now. I bagged up all the Franken parts I had laying around and mailed them off to my father (who seems to either be secreting them away, or in fact feeds off of old outdated equipment as a form of sustenance for his aged form). I have a slammin' laptop that is more than capable of throwing down when necessary, in terms of its gaming adequacies.

AP: If you plan on playing LOTRO, which race will your first character be? Why?

If I plan?!? What sort of question is that? Anyhow, I'll probably be a human. They are the future, you know.

AP: If you plan on playing the game, what will be the first thing you want to do with your character?

Hrm. Well, I guess the first thing I will do is file some suggestions away for our next team meeting, critiquing my experience. I'm pretty critical in general, and if it's something I worked on/have sway over, I'm even more so.

AP: What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you in an online game?

I used to have a really funny story about one of the people I worked with on AC1, but I think it was eclipsed by the absurdity of a carefully orchestrated group fight during which I was playing the warrior type, and my healer type dropped link just after I engaged our target. It's either that, or the time in college where I watched a person fraud another player in a MUD, using the emote commands. You had to be there to get the true humor, since it's all in the setup...