Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning : Dev Diary: Senior Designer Brian Wheeler

When I was asked to write a Dev Diary about the typical day in the life of a Senior Designer on an MMO, I thought about a crazy old wizard named Merlin and what his days were probably like…

         On a Wednesday once upon a time in a far away land where fantasy worlds and legends combine, King Arthur says to Merlin, “I want to take over Europa, and I need to know how by Friday.” After a brief crazy-eyed look at Arthur, Merlin says “Of course, just give me a few days.” With that, he shuffled off to his library to think about all kinds of ways to take over Europa.

         First Merlin thought Arthur was insane. There’s no way! It’s impossible! Not only does he want to know how to do it, but he wants to know by tomorrow?! Just because he got a sword tossed at him from some crazy woman in a lake, has liberated the lands from tyranny, and given hope to the people of Britain, he thinks he can take over all of Europa? Well…probably, but rocking back and forth in his chair (I don’t know if they had rocking chairs back then…but let’s just roll with it) Merlin pines over the thought of taking one small kingdom and spreading its glory across the continent. After a few hours of arguing with himself and eating a few bags of popcorn (it’s a fantasy world remember), he spends the evening scribbling down texts, making maps, pouring over historical battles, and entertaining the thought of getting the Lady of the Lake involved…or a dragon…he’s Merlin…he thinks of insanity like that from time to time.