Nel looks up as a breeze swirls through the room. Shivering, he gets up to close the shutters and restack all of his papers that have blown around the room.
Halfway to the window, Nel realizes that the shutters ARE closed... and that the papers have fallen in a very distinct pattern. He steps back a bit, and looks at the floor of his study... now littered in papers spelling out the word “Ghost”. As soon as he reads it out loud, there is a shimmer near to his desk, and a pale figure appears.
1) What do you do for AE? (coder, artist, game staff, forums staff, support staff)
Mostly I animate all the pretty things C and Warlic send me for DF and MQ, and sometimes they let me draw things too. Which is awesome. I've worked on AQ and a few minigames, too. Also, because I am still one of the newer staffers I often have to put on Ye Ole Gecko Feeding Suit. Once upon a time it had padding, a helmet, even a nifty stun gun, but these days it is more like a rag that lets Pae know anything within sight is fair game.
2) How did you first find/get involved with AE?
Heh, I am still piecing together how it happened... but once upon a ninja I was just some random guy working in a call centre doing tech support like usual when I discovered AQ by accident. I checked it out and was instantly hooked. (AQ was in the middle of the Great Fire War at this time). Eventually I started hanging out on the forums and was asked to help out as an AK. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the admins, mods, and other AK's, and got to know them pretty good.
Fast forward a year or so and I am fooling around with Macromedia Flash and learning how to use it on my days off. This was a lot of fun for me because I have always been into drawing and Flash felt like a natural extension of that. Anyways, I started showing my stuff to Reens and Pae and a bunch of others to bounce ideas off of them so I could start getting better, and they eventually started showing my stuff to Artix and the guys. From what I understand, AE decided to hire me JUST so Artix could stop hearing about this Ghost guy and get back to work.
3) What keeps you interested in AQ, DF, MQ, and all the Ebil Games?
I have always loved AE ever since I started playing AQ. I fought in the Great Fire War, was there when Dragonslayer class was released, and Beta-tested Dragonfable. I thoroughly enjoyed the gameplay and especially the humor, and it just keeps getting better so I'll be playing these games for a long time. I try not to ask questions about major storyline events (except what I need to know to do my job properly) because I want to save the surprise for when it goes live. (Saturday mornings are all about playing AE games). It's moments like almost falling out of my chair when my character got equipped with the dunce space helmet that will always keep me coming back.
4) Has your time in school prepared you for what you do with AE, or, if you haven't finished school, will it help you once you're done?
Yep, definitely. I used to doodle comic book characters in class every day. Studdi gud, kydz.
5) If you could change anything about one of the games, what would it be and why?
You know what they say... “Stop eating my food!” Er, I mean, “Don't fix it if it ain't broke”. I love them too much to change anything except to keep expanding them like we do.
6) What is your favorite part about AQ/DF/Ebil Games?
Well the humor for sure, and definitely the weekly updates.
7) Who is your favorite moglin and why?
I have always been partial to Twilly, probably because I spent a lot of time peeking around his big football head to see Battleon, but also because he is not afraid to throw on a dragonslayer helm and hack away with the best of them.
8) Would you like to see a Sneevil vs. Zard matchup? Who would win?
Sneevils would own. I mean, sure zards have big teeth and claws, and yeah some of them breathe fire and shoot pillars of light out of their mouths, but Sneevils are clever enough to beat them. It's like pitting Batman up against the Foo Fighters. Sure Dave Grohl can make good music, but those skinny arms are useless in a fight. Batman however would already have invented Foo-Exploders before they even did battle.
Personal questions:
9) Do you have a favorite style of food? (Southern, Chinese, Italian, etc)
It's pretty hard to find something I don't like to eat. I enjoy everything from Burgers to Sri-Lankan Bean Curry. My beautiful wife Charis is amazing in the kitchen and often invents things, usually when we run out of stuff we usually make. (I don't make her do all the cooking, I help. Honest!)
10) If you like to read, do you have any favorite genres? What are some of your favorites books from it?
I don't do a lot of reading, with the exception of webcomics. (Nuklear Power ftw!)
11) Do you play any games? Console or computer? And what?
I'm a sucker for a good RPG. I run a PS2 right now, and am thoroughly enjoying Rogue Galaxy at the moment. But I also like FPS's, racing games, and MegaMan.
12) What are some of your hobbies? What is it about them that is attractive to you?
I play guitar. I've used to be in a Metallica/Megadeath/just-about-everything cover band back in High School, but now I'm more into rock. Though I still like to hear a singer scream his guts out every now and then. Currently, I'm part of the house band in the church I attend. I blast my Marshall stack every Sunday. :)
13) Have you completed college? What did you study? Why?
Nope, I attended Uni for a while but ended up getting dis-interested and sick with mono (during my final exams) and quit by default. Moral of the story: Make sure you want to do the thing you are going to Uni for before you enroll.
14) Do you have any favorite sports teams? What and who?
Toronto Maple Leafs!!!
15) Do you play any sports? If so, for how long?
Not regularly, but I wouldn't think twice about joining a game of pretty much anything if I was there.
16) What kind of music do you like to listen to?
I like Rock-Hard Rock-Metal. Fav bands include Disciple, Thousand Foot Krutch, Project 86, Red, Day of Fire, Demon Hunter, and Joe Satriani.
17) Do you sing or play any instruments?
Yep, I play guitar. I slayed questions 15 and 16 with the hobbies question. Whoops!
18) Do you have any pets? What?
Nope. I enjoy shirts with no dog hair, couches with no cat hair, and no teeth marks in my coffee table.
Random/Fun questions:
19) Do you know what the Burning Daystar is? Do you see it on a regular basis?
From what I can piece together, it is the thing that burns my eyes when I look outside.
20) Can you tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi?
Oh yeah. Coke tastes greasy while Pepsi tastes more like awesome. Also, Pepsi from a glass bottle tastes better than Pepsi from a can or plastic bottle.
21) What is your quest?
*this message was removed by ninjas*
22) What is your opinion of the affect “American Idol” has had on the US media?
American Idol jammed it full of dynamite and stale crackers and commanded it to do battle with Xan.
Nel (muttering under his breath) “First a Vampire Queen, now a Ghost...what's next, a dragon?”
The Ghostly Nel Interview
by Nel
