Bigger than making that perfect Hot Pocket that somehow tastes 10 times better than any Hot Pocket before it. Bigger than downing RAAM on Insane after 24 hours of no sleep, no help, and definitely no sunlight. Even bigger than, dare I say, your most recent guild raid that ended in a veritable piñata of loot for all to enjoy.
Allow me to explain. I'm a huge fan of G4, the television network that covers all things related to gaming, technology, gadgets, and general nerd humor. I know a bunch of you probably watch as well, so you'll understand my excitement when I tell you that my dream of interviewing Casey Schreiner of Attack of the Show and the MMO Report came true last night. For anybody still wondering what the heck is going on, don't worry, this is pure awesome and you should read on.
Before we jump into the interview I want to make sure Casey is introduced properly. Half swashbuckling adventurer and half renaissance man, Casey is an associate producer and writer on G4's "Attack of the Show", a primetime tour de force of all things technological and hilarious. Hosted by Kevin Pereira and the wonderfully beautiful and sexy Olivia Munn, "Attack of the Show" is definitely worth checking out by any self-respecting gamer. Take a gander at just a sample of what you may be missing out on:
Casey is also the star of The MMO Report, an Internet show about, well, MMOs. A new edition of The MMO Report is uploaded every Thursday and should be checked out for its hilarity and stockpile of information concerning current and upcoming MMOs. Here's the newest episode to wet your whistles on the goodness to come:
Now that we're all primed and ready for this first-ever interview on HardestLevel, please enjoy Casey Schreiner: The Interview.
HardestLevel: Have you been a gamer all your life or has it sort of been a coming of age progression?
Casey Schreiner: Oh yes, I've been a gamer for a very, very long time. I had an old Atari 2600 hooked up to a black and white TV in my bedroom as a kid - the one with the Pac-Man game where Pac-Man didn't look anything like Pac-Man. I also remember having this strange gaming system called the Action Max, which was all light-gun games you played on VHS cassettes. Eventually I got an NES, and from then on both my younger brother and I became dedicated gamers.
HL: What game have you sunk the most time into, MMO or not?
CS: That's a tough one. My brother and I put a lot of time into role playing games on the SNES - particularly Final Fantasy III, Chrono Trigger, and Secret of Mana. When we got our first PlayStation, I think I played through Final Fantasy Tactics three or four times with different character builds. While everyone at Boston University was playing Halo, my roommates and I were intent on unlocking every single character, level, and trophy in Super Smash Brothers Melee. Of course, World of Warcraft sucked a large part of my life away, but I think if there was one series that ate my time, it'd be Sid Meier's Civilization. I've played every single version of the game, all the way back to the original PC game running off of floppy discs. Aside from being a video game nerd, I'm also a history and geography nerd. So obviously, that series has a lot to offer me.
HL: I know you have your hand in television production with Attack of the Show, but what's it like filming a weekly internet broadcast like the MMO Report? Is there more flexibility with the internet side of things and which do you find yourself enjoying more?
CS: I really, really love the time pressure and creative challenge of having to write for "Around the Net" every day, but shooting the MMO Report is a total blast. It's essentially a three-man operation - me, Joe Lynch (director of photography - and also the excellent "Wrong Turn 2"), and writer-producer-editor / one-man-production-machine Patrick Roche-Sowa. We basically spend an hour trying to make each other laugh, and then I take my tie off and go back to writing AOTS while Patrick turns my comedy-MMO tin into comedy-MMO bronze.
I don't know if I could pick which one I enjoy more. I really like doing them both, for different reasons. On AOTS, I've been involved with the writing since the show began, so I feel kind of attached to it and like to think I've been able to add to its overall voice and direction over the years. On the other hand, we can make superspecific jokes about character classes, Second Life deviants, and the d20 system on the MMO Report, which is always nice. Also, I get to look spiffy at work for one day of the week.
HL: So I have to ask, after everything you've seen at E3 and within the last few months, what is your most anticipated MMO?
CS: Everything I've seen of "The Old Republic" makes me think it's going to be an awesome game. Storytelling in games is so important to me - it's one of the reasons I liked "Lord of the Rings Online" so much. But you really don't get much better than Bioware for great stories in videogames, and I'm really excited to see what they can do with the Star Wars universe. Also, I was a big fan of "City of Heroes" when it first came out, and it looks like "Champions Online" is going to be a faster, more action-packed version of that game. The nemesis system has really piqued my interest, too. If Cryptic can pull that off and make it feel like your arch-enemy is actually hell-bent on getting in your way, they're going to have a great game that can hold people's attention for a long time.
Based on the number of people at G4 who are ready to hand over cash to buy it on its launch date, Scribblenauts may also qualify as an MMO I'm excited about, too.
HL: Casey Schreiner: The Complete and Ultimate MMO Experience is in development. What would your MMO be like and what kind of audience would you shoot for? Feel free to change the name if you want, though I did spend a lot of time on it.
CS: It would be a historically accurate, extremely tedious resource management game, set in the Age of Colonialism. What little combat existed would be highly regimented and difficult enough to encourage most players to instead engage in diplomacy and trade. Basically, the detail of Age of Empires with the tediousness of EVE Online.
The audience would probably be me. And maybe the few friends of mine who wouldn't get bored.
HL: Where do you stand on the idea of there being "hardcore" gamers and "casual" gamers? Do you even believe in these terms or does it frustrate you to see these comparisons in many MMOs such as World of Warcraft?
CS: There is always going to be a group of players who are going to devote 30-40 hours a week to an MMO so they can get the highest tier gear and elite titles. But there are also going to be the players who just sign on one or two nights a week after work to play with their friends. The best MMOs - and games of all kinds - not only appeal to both kinds of players, but make room for them to co-exist.
To me, it's much more important that a gamer's having fun when they're playing a game - whether that comes from being the best flagrunner in Warsong Gulch or having a great guild house in Everquest 2. The guy who waits near a newbie area to gank lower level players isn't a hardcore player, he's a jerk who's ruining the game for others.
HL: Finally, we need to know; do you truly play a level 80 gnome rogue?
CS: I never got to 80. I think I maxed out at 73, then had to delete my account because I was spending too much time in the game. That was a while ago, and now I only play MMOs for a few weeks at a time when I want to learn more about them for the show. I do, however, have two separate Dungeons and Dragons tabletop campaigns running right now -- one where I play a halfling paladin, and another where I play a gnome sorcerer. I guess I have a soft spot for little guys.
I'd like to thank Casey Schreiner from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to answer my questions, as well as Kristina Levsky for helping me get in touch with him. I'd also like to remind all of you to head over to G4tv.com and check out all of the great stuff going on over there and to keep checking out Hardestlevel for all your gaming goodness.
chrono trigger, ff3, secret mana all brings back memories!! damn... well i still play it til this days hahah. WoW was a addicting game but i quit... too time consuming, but i had my fun ganking alliance.
Sounds like a cool dude. Any guy who spent hours on Chrono Trigger, FF3(6j), and Secret of Mana is okay in my book.
@Riskbreaker - I agree, and I honestly wasn't expecting to see those games pop up in Casey's answers while I was writing the questions.
HL: What game have you sunk the most time into, MMO or not?
Comments (3)
chrono trigger, ff3, secret mana all brings back memories!! damn... well i still play it til this days hahah. WoW was a addicting game but i quit... too time consuming, but i had my fun ganking alliance.
Sounds like a cool dude. Any guy who spent hours on Chrono Trigger, FF3(6j), and Secret of Mana is okay in my book.
@Riskbreaker - I agree, and I honestly wasn't expecting to see those games pop up in Casey's answers while I was writing the questions.