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Tell us a bit about yourself. Who are you and what do you do in the EQ2 team?
My name is Lindsay or Morgan depending on who you ask. I'm mostly responsible for quests, though I have been lately learning more about population and dungeon design. I'm also a part of the lore team and am responsible for much of the recent web lore people have been seeing.
What was your first encounter with the world of EQ2?
I played it at release and leveled up a Fury for a couple of months. I fell off of it, though, and started playing again when I joined the team. I was really excited by all the improvement I saw in the game when I came back.
How long have you been working with the EQ2 team?
I started in June 2007, the day after I finished my last final at University of California, San Diego. Previous to that, I had been working on the game Vanguard as part of the diplomacy team, while trying to finish my degree in Creative Writing.
How did you break into the gaming industry?
The Vanguard team was looking for someone who could edit but had enough gaming history they might also be capable of creating content. A friend of mine recommended me as a capable writer and avid gamer, and they liked me enough to give me a shot. Editing ended up falling by the wayside as the demand for diplomacy content grew too great, so I ended up about 95% designer, 5% editor.
Tell us about some challenges you faced while working on EQ2. How did you overcome them?
I have no previous experience with scripting, so when I was first given a task that required it, I went into the database to look at some sample scripting and was hit with a feeling like I had been asked to write a paper in a language I'd never even seen before. Fortunately, I got some pointers from some of the more experienced designers so I had a foundation of understanding to work from and from there on out it was a matter of "building my vocabulary". I can't say I've mastered it, but I can usually take what I know and tweak it to do what I need to do, and when that fails, there are plenty of experienced people to help.
You have been in the process of writing some fabulous EQ2 lore. What is your role as one of the lore people? What does a "lore developer" do?
Primarily, my role is to put a lot of what we collectively figure out to paper. Some of what you are and will be seeing from me is coming straight out of my head and some of the rest of it is taking the ideas that one of the other members of the team involved with lore (primarily Jeremy "Jindrack" Gess and Tony "Vhalen" Garcia) and giving it a narrative flow. Because I am new, even if something is more my own, I work constantly with those two to make sure it's consistent with game lore. I've also been active in the general brain dump for Expansion 5, which involves a lot of throwing out an idea and having it molded by a few different people until it's something that will work. This expansion is very much story oriented, so I have been excited to be a part of it.
How hard is it to adhere to Lore when you're making an MMO? Where does the team draw the line between staying true to the lore and making a balanced, fun game with mechanics that work?
I think one of the reasons you find that fantasy is the dominant MMO genre is exactly that it is easy to justify some of those fun mechanics with interesting lore. Trying to make something that is interesting and fun and scienfictically accurate in a science fiction game would be a lot more difficult. Having "magic" in the game, as well as the idea of alternate planes of reality, allows us a lot of room to be creative. You'll find stories do often get altered in implementation when a great idea doesn't become such a great reality. Maybe it's too grandious or will be too laborious for the player to get through, and then you have to "kill your darlings". It's true of any writing that you often have to cut parts that are great in and of themselves but don't fit the work as a whole.
What is your favorite lore story that you've been involved with or some that you yourself have written?
Either the recent web lore story "Escape from Guk" or the tome quest iksar love story "Orthiss and Kirkata". Nurgg and Kaltuk completely endeared themselves to me by the end of "Escape from Guk", and you know when characters have that affect on you that you've done something right. "Orthiss and Kirkata" surprised me because I am notoriously longwinded, but with that story, I managed to write something short and concise that still had an emotional impact.
Do you have a favorite NPC ingame? This interviewer has to know… what's their story and what's endeared them to you?
I'm not sure that I have a favorite. Like most people, the story of the Everlings really intrigues me. I have an odd love of the cauldron in the Nektropos castle tradeskill instance, too. I can't say why it endeared itself to me so much, but it was really quirky, and quirkiness gets my attention.
What have you been playing lately?
Our game, mostly. Other than that, vocals and a bit of drumming for Rockband, and alternating Children of Mana with Phantom Hourglass on DS.
When you're not creating content and assisting in the development process for EQII, what do you like to do?
I write (or try to) my own stories -- novels, short stories, and scripts for comics/graphic novels mostly -- and read a lot. I consume a lot of media -- movies, music, video games, etc. I also travel, trying to get somewhere outside of the US at least once every year/year and a half, mostly on a shoestring but I've seen a lot of the world and plan to see much more. Anything that gets me out and active and social, whether it be a group trip to a winery, or going dancing, or playing board games until the wee hours. I'm also a foodie and enjoy cooking for anyone who is willing to eat vegetarian.
Lightning Round!
Pirates, Ninjas or Robots?
Ninjas!
Mountains, the city or the beach?
The city. London, specifically. I'd be lost without access to any of the three though.
Cake or death?
I'll take Adolf's vegetarian plate!