Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Interview
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IGN: WAR is only the latest game in a career spanning multiple decades for you. Before came Dark Age of Camelot, which was preceded by many others. With so much experience in the field of game design, what was it that initially drew you to the genre of the online role-playing game?
Mark Jacobs: Well, I was interested in computer games in college and even the very early online multiplayer games. I also played the progenitor of Zork, and when I saw the first MUD, I was hooked. And when I got pissed off at the company who made the world's second MUD (which was commercial), I decided to channel my frustration into making my own MUD, competing with them and hopefully putting them out of business. From that, Aradath (my MUD) was born in the mid-80s, and from there it became Dragon's Gate when I put it up on Genie. I've been making online games ever since.
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IGN: When it comes to fantasy MMORPGs, there's a perception within the gaming community that it's the same players getting into all these games. While that's true of some, it can't be the case for all. So in that sense, do you believe the release of Blizzard's Wrath of the Lich King expansion threatens your player base? If so, to what degree? Or is WAR, with its focus on realm versus realm combat over large scale player versus environment confrontations, something entirely different and a draw for a specific kind of player?
Mark Jacobs: WoW is the most successful MMORPG of all time and so we suspect that WotLK will of course have some effect on our subscriber base. We'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind not to expect that. On the other hand, we are in this for the long haul and once people burn through WotLK content, we expect them to begin looking for new challenges and new games. We look forward to that time very much.
