The Creative Ladies of Sigil Speak!

Ammonsinas and I were discussing reasons people play and even create games. Then we happened to think: Nobody has interviewed the Ladies of Sigil's creative staff to see what they think, or why they do what they do. So, we decided to do just that!

Although they are soooooo busy getting ready for the inevitable next phases of the game, three of our Ladies blessed us by answering a few quick questions. Lead Game Play Programmer, Amanda Tarr, Associate Game Designer, Lisa Boleyn and Senior Artist, Tina Hou took part in our interview. Thank you all for your time, and thanks to Glip for having to deal with three - no, FIVE (Moony and me, too!) - women at one time. Must have been rough!

Amanda Tarr

Q: What is it about your job you most enjoy?
A: There’s a whole lot that I like about my job. But to trim it down, I’d have to say that I most enjoy the creative environment, the smart people, and working on something that I do in my free time anyway.

Q: What class/race is your favorite and why?
A: In most games, I play a healer or a healer hybrid. Part of this is because I like helping people, and the other part is that I find it generally requires a lot of attention. I also like casters, especially pet casters, because I enjoy complex gameplay. I really like using utility spells and/or a pet to help control combat because it makes it more challenging for me.

Q: What would you most like the women, who are looking at VSoH, to realize about this game in comparison to many of the others?
A: The two biggest things that I think players will see are the next step towards a living, breathing world as well as the resurgence of community in MMOs. We are planning on filling players’ plates with content to explore for many years, and we believe that it can be much more satisfying to see the world we are building with friends. In that regard, we’re working hard on making the group gameplay as rewarding as we can, and also providing many communication options to stay in touch.

And of course the thing I’m personally most excited about is the depth and challenge that we’re working to achieve in our combat. It will certainly be easy to play any class with a minimal learning curve, but the mechanics that we’re introducing will allow the avid player to really showcase their playing skill by learning their class inside and out and using it in creative ways to overcome whatever challenge the mobs come up with.


Lisa Boleyn

Q: What is it about your job you most enjoy?
A: After running tabletop RPGs for so long, it’s a wonderful experience to see my quests and encounters given life outside of my imagination. I love that there’s nothing stopping me from bringing awesome player experiences into the game. I enjoy our brainstorming meetings, too.

Q: What class/race is your favorite and why?
A: Even though the classes in Vanguard are still being tweaked, I’m pretty sure my favorite will be the bard. Bards have a lot of roleplayability, and their special abilities rock. Races are more difficult to choose, but in general I enjoy playing tall, fearsome races. My current favorite is the Vulmane, but I also like the Orc and the Kurashasa.

Q: When creating quests, is it necessary that things be generic, or does
anyone ever think gender specific? If yes, why? If no, why?
A: All quests in Vanguard will be available to both male and female characters. Some quests may appeal more to female or male players, but we never design quests thinking, “Oh, girls will love to do this one.” We strive to craft a questing experience that’s fun no matter what your gender.


Tina Hou

Q: What is it about your job you most enjoy?
A: For Vanguard, my job in the environment team is to help create places where stories can be told. I love doing 3D modeling and cow-belling (our term for set dressing). We need to understand the life style of the particular race to be able to set up a believable living environment. It is really fun to be able to do location scouting and moving things around in a scene by just clicking on a few buttons.

As added bonuses, I love to be able to work with a great bunch of other talented and creative artists. We share and bounce ideas back and forth and we inspire each other. The office pranks that we pulled on each other are incredibly creative as well.

Q: Who or what has been the biggest influence on the work you do for Vanguard?
A: The person who has been the biggest influence to Vanguard and myself is Keith Parkinson. He will always be someone who I can look up to for inspiration. His vision is the "North Star" to Vanguard.
Also, music has been a big influence on my work as well - especially movie soundtracks. Movie scores are spiced up and more dramatic unlike traditional, mellow classical music. Music without words leaves space for the imagination. It helps to create the right mood and allows my imagination to expand. Then I try to transfer "the feeling" back into my artwork.

Q: What class/race is your favorite and why?
A: I guess I have to say Kurashasa because it echoes back to my nickname- "KittyKombat" ;-)

Again, Ladies, the Ladies...and Lords...of Vanguard Spheres thank you for your time and energy, both here and in the world of Telon!