My business card reads Content Developer but my team is known as Content Design. Recently we were awarded the title of Viper Pit. I'm thinking of making signs.
Job description - What is it you do on a daily basis?
I have the best job in existence. No, really. I am paid to come to an office each day (where they have
very nicely provided me with a computer and as much caffeine as anyone could want) and get to play
pretend. My day is comprised of equal parts boisterous brainstorming, furious typing, and trading
frantic gesticulations with the awesome folks who put our stuff in game. As a member of the content
design team I work with some of the craziest, creative people on the planet. And together we write
all the quests, encounters and public quests in game. Yep, anytime you walk up to an Orc and he
threatens to rip your maggoty face off, that's us.
What is your background? College? How long have you been with Mythic?
I've been with Mythic since 2004, but growing up I wanted nothing more than to be Han Solo. The small
matter of a difference in gender didn't faze me; I just wanted a blaster and a fast ship. Throughout
school I satisfied my voracious creative appetite by pretending to be someone else in front of
paying audiences and single handedly keeping the Pilot pen company in business. Although I
attended Chapman College on a vocal scholarship, please don't hold it against me.
My first job out of school was working for a major book retailer. If there's any retail business
I have no qualms about supporting, it's the book business. Absolutely nothing wrong can come of
spreading knowledge (apart from bruised minds due to enforced horizon-broadening). I contented
myself with flying around the country and setting up new book stores for a few years before dipping
myself in the primordial stink known as retail management. Somehow my husband and I ended up in
Virginia, and then I got the news: Mythic was hiring!
What was your “welcome to the game industry” moment when it hit you that you were really
making games for a living?
I recently had the privilege of working our event booth at the New York ComicCon. Watching people
salivate and shout their approval for WAR was definitely a heartwarming experience.
What excites you about the Warhammer property? What makes it perfect for an MMO? What
cool things in the Warhammer universe do you hope to bring to life?
Besides the whole war part? My sincere hope is that we will be able to funnel the gritty, dark
soul of the existing Warhammer fantasy universe into an infinitely playable MMO experience.
Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play?
My husband and I now have quite a few armies between us. First, we tackled Lizardmen and enjoyed
painting anything and everything in varying shades of blue and gold. Then we moved onto Vampire
Counts and learned why the Black Coach doesn't come with scythed wheels right off (impossible to
make 'em stay glued!). We also seem to have acquired miscellaneous Skaven models due to my love
of bipedal rodents.
What are your hopes/goals for the game?
People around the world have been purchasing, painting and occasionally paying vast sums of money
to cheerfully slaughter their rivals across a battlefield for twenty five years. If WAR can achieve
a small part of that fanatic love, I feel we will have done our jobs well.
What your key influences when making the game?
Besides Warhammer itself? Hrm...I have an insatiable appetite for literature. Although 'omnreaderous',
I tend to gravitate unerringly toward fantasy and science fiction. My love affair with the written
word began at an early age, in no small part helped by the several large boxes of science fiction
and fantasy books my parents kept in the garage. Put that together with a love of Warhammer and an
earnest desire to make WAR content that will knock the socks off even the most jaded of MMO players,
and there you have it.
What are your favorite video/computer games of all time?
I've always hated "favorite" questions. Not the bubbly cheerleader kind of hate, but a deep
burning repugnance emanating from my very soul. Why? Because I can't choose just one!
EQ was my introduction to the MMO world; as such it holds a special place in my black and shriveled
heart. How can you take life seriously when a giant hand is chasing you out of a mausoleum?
That and the message "You have entered the Estate of Unrest." <3
But don't take that to mean I turn my nose up at all others. In no particular order my favorites include: EVE Online, American McGee's Alice, Oblivion, Sacred, Diablo II (all expansions), Heroes of Might and Magic, and of course DAoC. Actually I played the hell (can I say “hell”?) out of DAoC (and still do upon occasion).
Although I enjoyed blasting people out of space in EVE online, my Gallente miner-turned-pirate exterminator has hung up her mining lasers for the last time. On a serious note, I must say EVE gave me the most satisfying PvP experience I've had since DAoC.
Currently I'm falling headfirst into Vanguard. It truly is the spiritual successor to EQ, with all the improvements that entails.
What music are you listening to right now?
*uncomfortable look* Do I have to answer this question? Shouldn't I check with a lawyer first?
Right, if you absolutely must know I have an iPod. Yes that's right, I said it- iPod. And that
means forty gigs of music blasting directly into my delicate psyche at any given moment. My
personal soundtrack contains over 3500 songs in genres ranging from long dead men who wore
wigs to industrial rock. I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of every REM album ever
recorded, nor can I specify which (if any) of the Tea Party albums may or may not be contained
therein. If you submit a properly worded request, double stamped and in triplicate I may
divulge which rock greats are listed on my top 25 (which may or may not include Led Zepplin,
Tool, and Metallica). You're probably better off pocketing my iPod. Well, aside from
suffering an unfortunate demise due to the finger pad daemon I've summoned and bound.
Is there a recent movie you’ve seen or book/comic you read that you’d recommend to others?
There are two book series I believe must be read before one can be counted as a member of
the human race: Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and the Callahan's series by Spider Robinson.
The first won't lie to you and the second will save you thousands in therapy bills.
Anything else you want to add?
Rumors have reached me that some people believe the game is being generated by a carefully
trained cadre of monkeys who tear about conference rooms flinging poo at the walls when not
securely chained to their desks. This is not true. We are not monkeys.
