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Sanya Weathers of EA Mythic

EA Mythic has been hard at work over the past year and a half bringing the vaunted Warhammer universe to life in the upcoming (late 2007) MMO, WARHAMMER ONLINE. As the company puts it: "Drawing from a quarter century of highly detailed source material, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning will bring Games Workshop's fantasy world to life in a way that will allow players to create characters destined for great deeds and glory on the field of battle."

We had the opportunity this week to chat with Sanya Weathers, Director of Community Relations for EA Mythic, and shake out her take on the current state of development, as well as her personal insights and favorite features about the highly-anticipated MMO. Read on...

gamebunny:
Firstly, could you tell me briefly about your history in the game industry? Have you worked for any other devs or pubs before Mythic?

Sanya Weathers (Warhammer Online):
The story begins with Infocom text adventures. What, you didn’t want to go that far back? Okay, I started as a volunteer for a mainstream MMO, and from there I had my own MMO-related website. After that I got into freelance writing, and I particularly loved to write about games. I was writing for a gaming news website when I met the Mythic band (in late 2000), and they hired me in June 2001. Best job I ever had for some of the best people I’ve ever known.

That is, of course, the sanitized version. The whole story involves a fair amount of swearing and a large number of tequila shots.

gamebunny:
When you’re getting ready for work in the morning what do you most look forward to? What do you dread?

Sanya Weathers:
Working with players. Working with players.

gamebunny:
Now that E3 2006 has come and gone, what are your impressions of the show? What did the team learn from watching strangers sit down and play? Any surprises?

Sanya Weathers:
E3, and a number of shows since then where actual players have been allowed to actually log in and play our pre-alpha build, have all been very exciting for us. We think we’ve really got something – most people come in, and even if they’re pure PVE people in other games, they find out how exciting PVP can be, and stay… and stay… and come back a few hours later with friends.

And it’s those friends that really point up what it is we need to work on. We’ve been making PVP games, and MMO games, for so many years now that there are certain genre conventions we take for granted. This will be the first MMO for many fans of the Warhammer world, and we need to be sure we’re making assumptions with our design that would put a newcomer off his feed.

But there have not been many out and out surprises – that’s the benefit to having so much experience as a company.

gamebunny:
Are there any changes planned after people’s reactions after E3? Anything that didn’t really work as hoped? Or perhaps anything being enhanced?

Sanya Weathers:
Well, it was a pre-alpha build. It was very barebones, really too thin to judge anything besides our core concepts. You could say EVERYTHING is being enhanced! Our real challenge now is to deliver everything we talked about, so guys like you aren’t trying to hurt me in fall 07.

gamebunny:
What do you think are the key elements of the Warhammer universe that make it so appealing and enduring?

Sanya Weathers:
In my opinion, the three standout elements are: One, the richness, the sheer depth of the world. Two, the sense of fun. And three, the world has an edge to it. Really classic fantasy isn’t a happy frolicking elf in a meadow, there’s blood and guts and betrayal and revenge. Warhammer has all that and tentacles. The three things together create an environment perfect for telling all kinds of stories, really classic tales. And that makes for a gaming universe that can endure through all kinds of mediums, online and off.

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