Meeting of the MMO Minds

An Interview with Tamat of EQ2 OGaming

By: Tony "RadarX" Jones

Almost everyone I know has done it at one time or another. If you needed help with a quest, you went to look on OGaming for the walkthrough. Boasting the largest quest/item database of any site for EverQuest 2, this is no small time operation. Tamat the Community Manager for EQ2 OGaming, graciously granted me an interview. The questions and answers were the meeting of two old school MMO minds.

RadarX - Once again, I really appreciate you taking the time to do this.  

Tamat - You're welcome! 

RadarX - Tamat, give us a little back ground on your MMO experience and how you got into the industry. 

Tamat - It all really started back in my Diablo days. Diablo isn't really an MMO, but it was the first online game I ever really got into. I was leading a guild back then called XassassinsX. During this time in my life I realized how fun being part of an online community could be.  

In early 2000, one of my friends started hounding me about trying EverQuest. I knew very little about the game but was hesitant to try it. After a few months of hounding me to play, I finally broke down and picked up a copy. I installed the game and entered the world of Norrath for my very first time.  

Truth be told, I hated EverQuest at first. I died a lot. The style of game-play was unique and unlike anything else I had ever tried before. It took a few days of extreme anger and frustration for me to understand how things worked in this new world. After that, I was hooked. 

I was an avid EverQuest player until mid 2003. I tried every new MMO that came out, but EverQuest was the only one that kept me enthralled. After I threw in the towel, I started reading up on EverQuest II. I knew I wanted to help build the community and that led to my first job as a Community Manager at Warcry.   
 

RadarX - You started out in EverQuest1, so that puts you as a player from the golden age of MMO's. What kind of trend changes have you seen since then in regards to the playerbase?  

Tamat - I suppose you could call it the golden age of MMORPGs. The biggest trend changes I've seen since EverQuest would be the dissolution of contested content and the gradual implementation of instanced content **. In regards to the playerbase, these changes "nerfed" the primary reason there was so much drama in EverQuest. 500 people aren't fighting over a monster they need for a quest because it's usually instanced. Some people like this, I prefer it the old way ;)  

In Kingdom of Sky there seems to be a lot less instanced content then before. Two of my favorite places thus far in the expansion "Palace of the Awakened" and "Sanctum of the Scaleborn". They are both contested dungeons with trains, drama and bickering!

RadarX - Yes...LOVE the drama in the Sanctum.  "Are you camp stealing?!"  "Ummm...Huh? What's a "camp"?"  Do you feel that the influx of MMO players in recent years is due to a new demographic being introduced to MMO's? 

Tamat - No. Like the computer, it needed time to grow and to catch on with society. Five years ago if you would have gone up to someone on the street and said something about EverQuest or Ultima Online, chances are the person would have had no clue what you were talking about.  

RadarX - No, I think you're completely right about that. It was a very niche market 5 years ago. What other MMO's are you up to date on? What else have you played and how do they stack up to Everquest 2? 

Tamat - I've tried quite a few MMO's. During my EQ days I took a short break to try DAoC. After I quit EQ I played FFXI for a few months. I was lucky enough to be able to test Vanguard in Beta 0. Recently I finally took a stab at WoW. I'm a gamer so I try to make a point to try everything. If something more "my style" surfaces along, I'll go play that instead. For now, nothing else comes close to being as fun as EverQuest II.   

RadarX - I try a variety of stuff personally to stay in the know. On to your site.  OGaming is considered one of the colossus of fan sites. What do think you guys do best? 

Tamat - I like to think we do everything pretty well, but our database is definitely the thing that sets us aside. Despite the popularity of our database we also have a fantastic community of people who visit us for news, screenshots, editorials and forums. My predecessor "Leonai_Art" did a truly fantastic job building EQ2 OGaming into what it is today. We have an amazing staff that helps make OGaming great.  

RadarX - I have to agree, you seem to have some good people working for you. Player vs Player was released for EverQuest 2 recently. What do you feel was the delay in bringing PvP to the table? 

Tamat - I'm glad they waited to bring PvP to EverQuest II. I think part of the delay was because of the focus they wanted to give PvE. Blizzard has always had amazing PvP which also may have played a factor in the decision to hold off.  

Having played EverQuest II PvP, I'll re-iterate that I'm GLAD they waited. The EQ2 Development team has created the most unique and exciting PvP rule set for an MMORPG that I've ever seen. Of course this is my personal opinion so I encourage you to judge for yourself ;)  

RadarX - I think PvP was inevitable in order for them to stay competitive and fufill the vision they had for the game. Do you think Everquest 2 is doing what is necessary to stay competitive in the MMO market? 

Tamat - I think so. It's obvious to see that they are listening to their customers based on how the game has changed in the last 6 months. In addition to their developers and producers taking an active role in the forums, they have in the past paid for dozens of customers that represent both Adventure and Tradeskill classes to come to San Diego and Las Vegas to give feedback in the flesh about things that need to change. I don't know the numbers but I'm willing to bet the amount of active subscriptions has risen quite a bit in the last 3 months.  
 

RadarX - The server merges were dramatic and filled with many angry villagers. This normally signifies a downturn in the games growth but what is your opinion on SOE's move?  

Tamat - Normally server merges do signify a "downturn" in a game's growth yes. I don't think that to be true in EQ2 however. Overland zones in EverQuest II are insanely massive; even when there are 20-30 people in one of these huge overland zones, you almost never see anyone.  

I think the main reason these server merges happened is because of the newbie revamp. There are a lot of new people playing the game now and most of the loyal players who have been playing for awhile are all higher level. This left the 1-30 zones pretty barren, which can come off negatively for a new player.  

I think merging servers was a good idea on SOE's part but it was implemented very poorly (holy lag batman).   
 

RadarX - Somewhere I read you play a Templar. How do you feel we stack up soloing, grouping, and raiding? 

Tamat - I've been playing a "Cleric" type class in MMO's for as long as I can remember. I enjoy being a sought after class and having the ability to decide who lives and who dies. I decided before Beta that I would play a Templar as my main because they looked like they would take the roll of the best beneficial priest. As it turns out, Inquisitors and Templars are pretty dang close. Furthermore, the other priest classes are useful as well. Lockeye did a good job of balancing all of the priest classes. 

Templars are actually pretty good at soloing despite common belief. It's a slow and painful process but we can get the job done. Grouping and raiding we are great but we're not broken as the "Cleric" class was in EQlive.  
 

RadarX - If you could add something to EQ2 what would it be?  
 

Tamat - I'd implement a more realistic city betrayal system. For a long time I've taken the stance that the betrayal system should be based on faction. Someone from Qeynos would be able to raise faction with Freeport and in doing so, betray Qeynos. Also, doing this you would keep your class and, if you choose, you could also do a quest to change your class to the Freeport equivalent. 

RadarX - Tamat thanks again so much for taking the time and keep up the good work over there at EQ2 Ogaming.