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Mark Davis, Deputy Content Director

What is your official title? I'm the Deputy Content Director. That's my official title, anyway. Most of the team enjoys smirking and calling me "Deputy Dog". I keep waiting for my badge and six shooters to arrive. What is it you do on a daily basis? I go to a lot of meetings, read thousands of pages of documents, and work closely with the artists on ensuring the level design meets the needs of the content. On first glance that may not sound too exciting, but my meetings are about dungeons and my documents are about ancient, slumbering dragons. To top it off, my content leads and designers are all extremely creative folks who make my job so much fun. The stuff they're creating is really going to knock your socks off. Having such a good team makes my job so much easier and more fun. What is your background? Has it helped you with this job? I got my BA from the University of Kentucky (Go Cats!). When I wasn't in class or studying, I was most often found in the computer labs playing various fantasy text-based games known as MUD's. The funny thing is that a lot of my friends at the time told me that I was wasting my time playing computer games. How wrong they were! I joined Mythic just before the launch of Dark Age of Camelot. My marketing and management degrees have been helpful with organizing E3 events and Roundtables but otherwise all those hours in the computer lab were much more helpful. What other titles have you worked on in the past? In what capacity? I was the Associate Producer for all six of Camelot's expansions to date, the Lead Designer for the Camelot tutorial, Producer and Director of many Camelot movies (including the official introduction movie included on the Epic Edition), and I was the Producer for Camelot for a short time. What was your "welcome to the game industry" moment when it hit you that you were really making games for a living? I think my "moment" occurred when I opened the Prima guide for the Shrouded Isles expansion and the introductory paragraph was thanking me for my help. It was not only the first time I'd seen my name in print but it was also the first time that I had been recognized as a game developer. What excites you about the Warhammer property? What makes it perfect for an MMO? I really like the Warhammer Dwarfs. I mean, what's not to like? They enjoy drinking beer, hoarding gold, and blowing things up! I also like the "grit" of the IP. The Warhammer world is a dark and scary place, ripe for adventurers to explore and conquer. Do you collect Warhammer figures? What army do you play? I have a collection started. My Dwarf army is currently amassing on my shelf at the office and I have every intention of actually taking off the shrink wrap and painting them as soon as I have some free time. Haha! … sigh. What are your hopes/goals for the game? I want players who experience WAR to become completely immersed in the Warhammer world and lore. If you're not playing it, I want you to be talking about it. If you're not talking about it, I want you to be thinking about it. If that happens, then my hopes and goals will have been realized. What has influenced you the most while working on WAR? Anything besides Warhammer? You mean besides being a huge fantasy loving, game playing, MMO playing, movie watching geek? The biggest influence would be a life long love of literary fantasy. I started reading fantasy novels in the 6th grade and have been gobbling them down ever since. I've also taken to listening to books on tape while driving to and from work. I have another book on my bedside table, and another I read while working out. Finally, I'm inspired by the games I've played in the past, specifically pen and paper RPGs and the old text-based MUD's. What is the biggest problem with current MMOs you hope to fix with WAR? Action! Logging in and finding there's nothing to do for one reason or another is the most frustrating thing for me. WAR will be a world full of conflict and strife. You can be sure that there will always be a quest to complete, an enemy to kill, or a dragon to slay. Whether you have 10 minutes or 10 hours, you should find quick, yummy action in WAR. What are your favorite video/computer games of all time? Now that's just an impossible question to answer. After twenty years of playing games there are just way too many choices to narrow it down to just one game. The video game that hooked me on fantasy was the original Legend of Zelda. I'm also a big fan of Deus Ex, which had great action sequences and a terrific story. And I have to mention Knights of the Old Republic which was also truly fantastic. What music are you listening to right now? I'm a soundtrack guy. My favorite soundtrack has to be from the movie Last of the Mohicans. I also really enjoy the soundtracks from Unbreakable, The Mummy, The 13th Warrior, and Gladiator. Is there a recent movie you've seen or book/comic you read that you'd recommend to others? I just finished George R.R. Martin's 4th book in the Song of Fire and Ice series and I was very pleased. If you haven't read the first book in the series, The Game of Thrones, go read it right now! I have a three year old son, so I don't get out to the movies much anymore. The last really good movie I saw was Narnia. I did manage to sneak out to see Underworld 2 recently, and if you were a fan of the first you'll enjoy the sequel. Anything else you want to add? Look at me, Ma! I'm making video games! Seriously, I can't wait until we can all lift a pint in Bugman's brewery, pick up our weapons, and unleash WAR on the world.

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