~Ahoy me mateys!~
I have had the honor of interview Thomas Purdue, A.K.A. One-Eyed Jack (Your one and only Pirate101 Community Manager) & The Friendly Necromancer!
I arranged this interview a few weeks ago, and today this Swashbuckler's face lit up in joy after seeing this in my inbox!
Thanks to Thomas, there are some 5000 crown codes included at random points in the interview for YOU to redeem at wizard101.com/promo!
Okay, you probably don't want to hear me speak again, because this amazing interview is the only thing on your minds!
All questions are in LIME and Mr. Purdue's responses are in AQUA.
Without further ado, here we go..:
-On May 9th 2012, you received a call from KingsIsle asking you to join their team. What was your first reaction as soon as you ended the call? Was the move worth it?
Actually, the call came a couple months earlier! I just had to keep it a secret all the way *until* May 9th. It was probably the most painful two months I've ever had as a socialite. ;)
My first reaction was shock and panic with a smile on my face. I wasn't planning on getting a job and wasn't actively pursuing it either. It just literally landed in my lap after all those years of work and fandom. I had to call a few people and express just how stunned I was.
I think the move was worth it, but that remains to be seen really. When a dad makes a move like this that involves the whole family, you have to take the whole family into account. If my kids don't blend well or there's some additional problems that we didn't foresee, then no, the move won't be worth it. On the other hand, there were no promises things wouldn't go sour where we were at either. You never know. It's my ultimate hope that it's a very awesome adventure in life for everyone, and so far that's exactly what it's been. For now . . . it's so worth it!
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-So, I'm sure everyone knows that you're the Pirate101 community manager by now. How are you enjoying the new job and working with the staff at KingsIsle?
The new job is really intense and cool at the same time. Some of my coolest moments in the day are those where I get to wander and look over the artists shoulders to see what's being made next. Everybody contributes in a huge way here and it couldn't all get done without a lot of teamwork and supervision.
-Does being the community manager make you very busy? In other words, do you still have a lot of time for the Friendly family?
So far I still have plenty of time to be dad and One-Eyed Jack. I worry about what life might be like when the game launches, but it's all about finding balance. My coworkers have been doing a great job trying to prepare me for the onslaught that cometh. Technology rocks!
-We have heard that you are an 'Alpha' tester for Pirate101. Do you think that this game is more addictive and time-consuming than Wizard101? [5000 CROWNS CODE: C855D3L9K23LT9M4Q533]
It’s not just me--all our Alpha testers love playing Pirate101! You should see how hard everyone is working on making this game every bit as fun as Wizard101, and the community has been right there with them making suggestions and trying to make this game as epic as possible.
To me the words “Addictive” and “Time-consuming” really have a negative connotation that, while I understand where you’re coming from, aren’t how I really feel about Wizard101 and Pirate101. I think what makes us want to spend time playing these games (MMOs in general) are the people we play them with. Sometimes I'm “addicted” and moreover “committed” to the people I play with more than the game I'm playing! That said, Pirate101 is going to have an awesome community. I can already see it blossoming and taking a life of its own, and currently it’s a community that’s just really anxious to play the game. Soon that’ll be a reality! I can’t wait for us to raise the anchor and launch!
-You've confirmed that your NPC in Pirate101 will be One-Eyed Jack, while in Wizard101, it's Dworgyn, right? So tell us, what role does One-Eyed Jack play to the young pirates in P101?
Ahh, well I don't know if I want to spoil the surprise! Let's just say that One-Eyed Jack is very instrumental in getting you in touch with the right people there in the early stages of the game. Much like the One-Eyed Jack character, I too am very instrumental in passing information between players and "the right people."
-Apart from being the community manager and One-Eyed Jack, do you play any other role in Pirate101?
I put in my request with the sound guys to please let me do some voice acting in the game, but it hasn't happened yet. I'll keep trying to polish my pirate talk . . . we'll see!
-If someone had asked you to name three reasons that you love Wizard101 and Pirate101, what would be your reply?
1- The people.
2- The consideration for family play.
3- The fun.
-Rumor has it that you're working on a Pirate101 blog, called 'The Friendly Witchdoctor'. Can you confirm as to whether this is true, or not?
True! I have reserved the name The Friendly Witchdoctor, but I haven't been posting anything in there yet. Maybe the time will come, but for now I'm just trying to keep afloat on The Friendly Necromancer. ;)
-Apart from these two games, is there currently any other game that you have a 'knack' for?
The past month I've been playing Diablo 3, Legends of Grimrock, Mario Super Sluggers, Monkey Quest, Minecraft, and Dungeons and Dragons Online. BTW, I was stoked to find out there was a crew of guys at KingsIsle that play Dungeons and Dragons Online! Woot! Part of the DDO clique baby! YEAH!
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-This question is between me, you and well of course, the readers- Is there anyone at KingsIsle who you think has been more friendly to you than the other workers?
Oh dang! You want to get me in trouble with everyone, don't you? Everybody has been friendly to The Friendly! Technically my section is Marketing (even though Community Management is slightly different than Marketing), so everyone in Marketing is who I talk with the most, and Professor Greyrose and I are tied at the hip. Outside of my section though? I gotta give a shoutout to the designers that sit behind me! They probably don’t want to be mentioned by name, but they’ve been a great source of knowledge when I or the Alpha community members have had questions.
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Wow, a HUGE thank you to Mr. Purdue for taking his time to answer all of these questions excessively and 'partially' comically!
Hope you all enjoyed the interview!
Have a good future at Kingsisle!
Happy Sailing, young pirates.
~Chris.
