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In the second half of our conversation with Mark Jacobs - former CEO of Mythic Entertainment and now General Manager of EA Mythic - we talked about the health and future of Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot and the company's integration into Electronic Arts.

For the first half of the article, which focuses on Warhammer Online, check out this link.

Despite the downturn, the game still makes a tidy profit for EA Mythic and is in no immediate danger of disappearing. Mythic has a history of maintaining games for years and years, long after they pass their prime. A good example of this is their pre-DAoC games that they maintained long beyond the point that most remembered they existed. The advantage of a mature MMO is that ultimately, it can be maintained - if not expanded - with a very small workforce. So long as DAoC remains profitable, it will march on.

That said, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is on the way and given that they themselves are developing a game that is in many ways a spiritual successor to Camelot, Jacobs fully expects a large hit to the Dark Age of Camelot numbers. He does not, however, believe that it will completely wipe the game out.

Click below for part two.

Join Janita as she muses on why she is currently a role-player....

Why Role-play?

So many are so focused on "the end game"... on being the best of the best of the best. Which, at least by their definition, means being in the "best" 8-man. Having the highest IRS score. Having the most kills. Being the top of the RP stats list.

So why would someone choose role-play?

(For more on Shadowklan, please visit The Klan.)

Janita may be reached at Janita AT MikeyCunningham DOT com.

Sanya Thomas no longer works for EA Mythic, WarCry has learned. For over six years, Sanya Thomas has helped blaze the trail of community manager over at EA Mythic (formerly Mythic Entertainment). She began as the Community Manager for Dark Age of Camelot just prior to its launch and eventually was responsible for all their titles as their Director of Community Relations. Today, we have an exclusive interview with Sanya about what happened, her time at Mythic and her future.

[Update: A few minutes after this story was first published, EA Mythic announced the change on the Camelot Herald (story).]

WarCry: You are known to be the long time Director of Community Relations for EA Mythic. When did you and your company of six years part ways?

Sanya Thomas: I got my jungle of houseplants moved out of the office last week.

WarCry: Can you talk about the circumstances of your departure?

Sanya Thomas: We mutually agreed to separate.

You can read more at the link below.

Today we're happy to feature an exclusive interview with developers at EA Mythic on Dark Age of Camelot. It has been a while since we last say down to chat with them and our own site manager Byrnel took the time to ask some insightful questions.

WarCry: With clustering, one of the chief complaints we hear is the "of Server" tag associated with the characters. The adding of the -x to a name before sending or inviting is one issue. Another is the inability to see the last names of people from other servers. This is especially important to the role-playing community who spend a lot of time on their last names.

EA Mythic: We agree that this was a change that takes a little getting used to-but it was a small sacrifice to make toward better gameplay overall. To us, it made sense to accept this minor extra mechanic in order to help facilitate more lively, populated game area. Having to add -x to a name or being unable to see a last name on roleplaying servers lost out over having three times more people to play with in some areas. Besides, when was the last time you walked up to someone in real life and instantly knew his last name? It's the perfect chance to start a role-play conversation!

Read more after the click.

Matt Firor made a name for himself as the Executive Producer of Dark Age of Camelot, but last year surprised some by leaving it all to go start his own consulting company.

Now, after a few months to get on his feet on the ground, he's loving it even though he's not doing anything he expected to be.

Originally, with his production background, Matt figured he'd be helping MMOs with design and production advice. It turns out, he's mostly found himself working with venture capitalists and people seeking to enter the MMO industry. His role is to look the games over and help three investors make an informed decision about potential products.

He admits that he will likely eventually find his way back into the production end, but for now, the unique challenges he faces and the freedom of being his own boss are keeping him happy.

We also spoke about his non-traditional views on innovation in the MMORPG genre.

"How many movies have you seen that are innovative and how many movies have you seen?" He asked.

It's a valid point. Movies are not often innovative and those that make money even less so. Innovation for its own sake does not impress him. The key is to make something familiar, something fun and something that innovates where necessary to provide a unique experience to the end user. Ultimately though, familiarity is also very important.

Greetings fellow travelers! Come on in and strap onto "Janita's Rack" (Random Access Conversations K - um, because it's needed to spell rack!)... I don't have a specific theme for my torture, just random thoughts that pop into my brain as I play the game and interact with others.

Today, I'm thinking about play styles. It seems to me that there are quite a few play styles out there and the game has room for them all. You could be one who sees the game as:

Last week, WarCry had a chance to scoot down to EA Mythic's Fairfax, VA offices and see Dark Age of Camelot, Ultima Online and Warhammer Online. In the first of these three articles, we look at news from the lands of Camelot.

At the event, EA Mythic released news on what they're doing this year and their latest content initiative Camelot Campaigns.

Each campaign is slated to last six months, across three patches and rolled out in new installments every two weeks. These are not traditional live events, but rather epic encounters and quests that players can enjoy either as they unfold or go back later and work their way through.

In the first campaign, the dragons of each realm become restless and the players must react to them and their minions as they actually go out and alter the world's landscape. For example, a dragon may one day show up over some part of Albion and burn the town. The players will then have a quest to repair it.

Click here for the full article.