Ten Ton Hammer Interviews
We go to the leaders of the industry, developers, players, (and just about anyone else that will talk to us!) to bring you the complete story on today's MMORPGs!
Here's what we've got for you to check out:
Interviews By Game:
(click the title to reveal the list of interviews)
- 2Moons
- 2Moons Q&A with Director Dave Perry - With the release of 2Moons into open beta, Ten Ton Hammer thought it would be appropriate to check up on the status of the game and how things are progressing over at Acclaim. To get our questions answered, we sent our inquiries to Dave Perry, founder of Shiny Entertainment and current game director of the 2Moons project, in hopes that he might be open to some of the tougher questions that have been circulating through the MMOG industry concerning his game. Not only has he answered all of our questions, but his responses are both honest and informative. Please enjoy the read! (8.14.07)
- 38
Studios
- Four
Leaders of 38 Studios Interviewed
- Have you ever been interested in learning the nitty-gritty details
behind the creative process of a development team? Do you wonder how
they accomplish their goals or learn to be passionate about their
games? At Comic-Con 2007, Cody "Micajah Bye had that sort of
opportunity when he interview four members of the 38 Studios team:
Brett Close, Mary Kirchoff, Chaz Sutherland, and Scott Cuthbertson.
Learn all about the inner workings of 38 Studios and more in the
interview! (7.31.07)
- An
Interview with R.A. Salvatore, 38 Studios Director of Creative Content
- (5.21.07)
- 9Dragons
- Age
of Conan
- ArchLord
- There
Can Be Only One - Codemasters' current localization project,
ArchLord, is possibly the freshest concept to come to the west from
Asia since Final Fantasy XI. We learn more about the game that's
already a smash hit in Korea from Codemasters' Tim Hodges, Community
Liaison Officer for ArchLord. - (7.24.06)
- Auto
Assault
- The
Chronicles of Spellborn
- City
of Villains / City of Heroes
- Colony
Studios
- Dark
Age of Camelot
- Camelot's
New Campaign: A Q&A with Producer Walt Yarbrough -
(2.7.07) - Walt Yarbrough, Dark Age of Camelot's veteran producer, has
plenty to say about the five year old game's new "Dragon's Revenge"
sprawling 6-month campaign, which will take the place of a DAoC retail
expansion in 2007. Follow along as we explore what this new Campaign
approach will mean to Camelot's RvR core gameplay, and watch what
happens when Ethec makes the mistake of bringing up the infamous
"Trials of Atlantis" expansion!
- Dark
and Light
- Darkfall
- Dofus
- Dreamlords
- Dungeons
& Dragons Online: Stormreach
- Dusktreaders
- EVE
Online
- EVE Online Stackless Python Upgrade Q&A
- (8.13.07) -
CCP Games issued a press release that announced their successful upgrade of Stackless Python and that this upgrade would increase the speed of the gameplay for EVE Online players. However, the staff at Ten Ton Hammer (we were in San Diego at the time) found the press release to be interesting, albeit a bit short for our tastes. We wanted to know more, what had actually occurred in this update and why was it necessary? What is Stackless Python? Does anyone else use it as a programming language besides CCP? These were our questions, and (thanks to Valerie Massey) we were able to send those questions to Kristján "porkbelly" Jónsson, Senior Software Engineer for CCP. After you read the Q&A, you'll know that Kristján knows his tech and all of his answers are both informative and honest.
- An
Interview with CCP's Magnus Bergsson Concerning Revelations II
- (6.11.07) -
To gain a glimpse into the content in EVE's upcoming expansion,
Revelations 2, Ten Ton Hammer phoned Magnus Bergsson, CMO of CCP, and
quizzed him on all the new refinements that are scheduled for the
update. Get comfortable, because Magnus willingly answered all of our
questions, which ranged from the recent Goonsquad debacle to the
upcoming enhancements to exploration.
- OGDC
'07 - An EVE Online Interview with Peter Gollan - (5.17.07) -
In his last interview of OGDC '07, Cody "Micajah" Bye met up with CCP's
North American Marketing Director, Peter Gollan, to discuss the future
of EVE and if CCP has hired all 100 new employees yet. Micajah has
penned their candid conversation into an article for you to enjoy!
- GDC
2007: An Interview with Magnus Bergsson - (2.7.07) - What's
next for EVE? That was the question we presented to Magnus Bersson, CMO
of CCP Games. On Tuesday of GDC 2007, we had an opportunity to sit with
Magnus and conduct a very candid and honest interview with him. Our
questions ranged from the status of Vista/DirectX 10 integration to the
current GM scandal situation. His answers are extensive, knowledgable,
and provide some intriguing answers to questions that many of us were
stewing over.
- Everquest
- New
Life for an Old Favorite: EQLive Producer Chris Lena on the Progression
Servers - (8.14.06) - In case your one of the ten MMORPG
enthusiasts that hasn't heard, SOE opened two "Progression Servers"
which give players a chance to experience the original EverQuest.
Guilds "progress" the game through each of its seven expansions by
completing in-game objectives. A number of the Ten Ton Hammer staff
have since returned to revel in the nostalgia, so we thought we'd see
if anyone at SOE would answer a few questions we had about the origin
of the Progression Server idea and where it goes from here. Producer
Chris Lena was kind enough to oblige.
- EverQuest
II
- Fallen
Earth
- Firefly
- Fury
- FusionFall
- A FusionFall Interview with Grigon Entertainment CEO Byung-Kyu Cho and Cartoon Network VP Paul Condolora - When Atlanta-based Cartoon Network New Media was shopping around for a developer to produce an MMOG named FusionFall based on, well, their entire cable network, to market not only in the US but around the world, they looked to CEO B.K. Cho and Seoul-based developer Grigon Entertainment (makers of the cartoony, casual F2P MMOG Seal Online). Why would Cartoon Network skip over North American developers more familiar with their properties? Why would Grigon pass on the sure thing of developing domestic MMOGs for the ravenous Korean crowd and team with a company a half a world away? Learn why Paul Condolora of Cartoon Network and B.K. Cho of Grigon Entertainment feel that going global wasn't just the most cost-effective strategy to develop FusionFall, but oddly enough, the right creative fit too.
- (8.16.07)
- An
Interview with Chris Waldron, Executive Producer of FusionFall at
Comic-Con '07 - With their announcement of a children's based
MMOG nearing completion, the Cartoon Network put itself in a prime
position to usurp the title of children's MMOG from every other
contender. To discover more about the game, Garrett Fuller caught ahold
of Chris Waldron at Comic-Con 2007 to get the latest scoop. Read all
about it here! - (7.27.07)
- Gods
of Desire
- Gods
& Heroes
- Guild
Wars
- Hero's
Journey
- Horizons:
Empire of Istaria
- Irth
Online
- Jumpgate
Evolution
- LEGO
MMO
- Lord
of the Rings Online
- Marvel
Universe Online
- Pirates
of the Burning Sea
- An
Interview with Gavin Irby, Mission Designer for Pirates of the Burning
Sea at Comic-Con '07 - Everyone wants to be a hero,
especially those individuals who play MMOGs during their free time. The
developers behind Pirates of the Burning Sea were acutely aware of that
fact and they gave the job of turning players into heroes to one man,
Gavin Irby. As the sole mission designer for the RP story-arc, Gavin
has created over 70 story-driven missions for players to complete, and
we had an opportunity to chat with him at the 2007 Comic-Con. Enjoy the
interview! (7.30.07)
- An
E3 2007 Interview with the Devs from PotBS - (7.13.07)
- Grab
Steel! - Kevin Maginn Explores the Art of Swashbuckling in this Ten Ton
Hammer Q&A - (5.17.07)
- Boarding
Actions and Much More! - An OGDC 07 Video Interview with John Scott
Tynes - (5.17.07)
- Smooth
Sailing - A GDC 07 Interview with Jess Lebow - (3.16.07)
- Taylor
Danes, Burning Sea Lead Designer, with a Pre-PAX
Pirate Parley - (8.23.06) - Taylor Danes updates us on recent
improvements made in the Pirates of the Burning Sea
beta.
- Staying
the Course: An Interview with Burning Sea
Producer John Tynes- (6.9.06) - Burning Sea
Producer John Tynes gets us lubbers ready to hand, reef, and steer as
the game begins to emerge from the internal beta mist.
- Kevin
Maginn, Flying Labs Designer, Talks Pirates of the Burning
Sea at E3 2006 - (5.11.06)
- Pirates
of the Caribbean Online
- Red
5 Studios
- RF
Online
- Saga
of Ryzom / Ryzom Ring
- Seed
- Sony
Online Entertainment
- Stargate
Worlds
- Star
Trek Online
- Sword
of the New World: Granado Espada
- Tabula
Rasa
- Thrones
of Chaos
- Top
Secret
- Vanguard:
Saga of Heroes
- Warhammer
Online
- World
of Darkness MMO
- World
of Warcraft
- ZeniMax Online Studios
- An Interview with ZeniMax Online's Matt Firor
- When it was announced that ZeniMax Media, the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, had started a online gaming studio named ZeniMax Online, Elder Scrolls fans shouted with joy. On top of that, ZeniMax Media hired Matt Firor to head up the new studio, a big name in the MMOG industry. Firor originally made his name as one of the founders of Mythic Entertainment, the developers of Dark Age of Camelot, and as a general MMOG expert. Since the Ten Ton Hammer staffers are equally fans of the Elder Scrolls series and Dark Age of Camelot, we had Garrett Fuller write up a series of questions for Matt Firor to answer to sate our curiosity concerning ZeniMax Online. (8.15.07)
Extras
Legends of the MMO Industry Series
Tech
E3 2006
- Wonder
Woman Busted! - 5.12.06 - At E3 2006, we spoke to Casy
Poteet, the first (and only, that we know of) victim of E3's policy
prohibiting show-goers from showing too much skin. After Poteet was
tossed out of the exhibition hall, Ten Ton Hammer's own Neddie Seagoon
talked with her to examine the issue top to... er, bottom.
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