Articles - ARK Interview - Events Team Director Nevarstiyeh

AOU: So, for the interview, could you state your position within ARK/Funcom.

Nevarstiyeh: My title is Director of the Events Department, which basically means that I'm responsible for managing all aspects of ARK-Events and working with Funcom on events and storyline issues. It's my job to set up and maintain the structure of the department, provide highest level support to our personnel, and assist with the development and execution of material. Not only this, but I do participate hands-on as well -- I'm actually in the process of personally running one particular storyline that is active at the moment.

AOU: What duties does this position include?

Nevarstiyeh: It's a pretty involved job. I do everything from administration and management of the department down to producing and writing events, and everything in between. I (as well as our various team leaders) check over the events-feedback messages, keep an eye on the forums, and try to stay involved and in-touch with the player base as much as possible really.

The one thing that can keep me busy is plot work. I'm in touch with Yngvild Lothe a lot, and occasionally even Funcom's monster and item developers to sort out issues pertaining to quests, events, and just about anything else we're working on at the time.

Other things I handle are the set-up for events -- buffing of characters, the building of dungeons and mission areas, spawning of monsters, etc. I'm also known for hanging out with those Kyr'Ozch guys and influencing where they want to visit. *grin*

AOU: Do you have any teasers for the Citizens of Rubi-ka over the current storyline, and how it is going to expand?

Nevarstiyeh: You haven't heard the last of that strange comm interference.

AOU: Where, in your opinion, is the party spot on Rubi-ka?

Nevarstiyeh: Well there's the easy answer and the more involved answer. The easy answer is wherever GSP and ARK Community Relations goes. If I had to think about a particular place though, I'd say it's probably Reet's. A lot of things go down there, whether its casual gaming and hanging out, or a group of Masked Commandos kicking in the door and dragging someone out. I do recall when Rompa was _the_ place to be, back in the day.

AOU: Are you looking forward to Lost Eden, both from your role as Event's Team Head, and as a gamer. Is the game going to bring more events, and better gameplay, in your opinion?

Nevarstiyeh: I'm absolutely looking forward to Lost Eden. I can pretty much guarantee you that it's going to be a phenomenal expansion to the game's current content. As far as its impact on events and roleplay goes, it's naturally going to be huge. The effects are already being seen. At the very core of AO's story is the whole conflict -- the conflict between Omni-Tek, the Clans, and even the Neutrals. It's building up to a point where lines will be drawn, alliances formed and friends betrayed. The amount of story material that has been developed over the existence of AO is very deep and detailed, and honestly you've yet to see the coolest parts of it.

As far as its feature changes and such go, I really do believe it will add some cool new elements to the game that I'm pretty certain will be well-received from the players. I'm pretty anxious for it to come out.

AOU: Do you have any tips for people wishing to get more involved with the roleplay aspect of Anarchy Online?

Nevarstiyeh: Well, I'll start off by stating the obvious: there's no formula or process to make it happen. In order to participate in the various events that run throughout the game, part of it is really just based on good timing and chance. The vast majority of the events we run really have no forewarning and aren't on an "invite" basis. Other things, like the Newland City Council, Omni-Tek Board of Directors and the Council of Truth meetings are scheduled things which involve some of the more dedicated roleplayers in the game. The key to participating in _any_ event or storyline is that you accept the fact that you're going to have to roleplay, and you're going to have to be somewhat consistent. This is not to say that you have to run around saying "Perchance shall I venture on a quest with thee to purge the hills of mutants" -- it's just a matter of giving some background to your character, playing it out as such, and sticking _to_ that character. You don't have to be hardcore -- you can go OOC, you can do missions, kill hecklers, do whatever really. It's not a matter of imposing restrictions on your gameplay.

The short version: hook up with some of the more experienced roleplayers. Maybe join a roleplaying org that fits the nature of your character. See a green name that doesn't appear to be your regular support ARK? Talk to it. There are certainly a lot of opportunities out there. It's just a matter of capitalizing on them.

AOU: Are you involved with any other Funcom projects at this point? i.e Age of Conan, Dreamfall - The Longest Journey?
Nevarstiyeh: No, but that's not to say that opportunities won't arise. Myself and members of my department may be called upon to assist with Age of Conan. We're really not sure of it at this point. As far as Dreamfall goes, my only real contribution was pestering Funcom about when it was going to be released. *g*

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The following questions were submitted by the AOU Team.
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AOU: An issue affecting some of the larger RP Organisations at the moment is metagaming. What is the events departments view on this?

Nevarstiyeh: Metagaming does tend to take a lot of the fun out of roleplaying. In fact, it takes away a lot of the elements of roleplaying itself, such as your character trying to uncover information about a particular situation on their own. In terms of going out-of-character in general, that's a little different. Given the nature of the game and the fact that there are a lot of people who have decided not to roleplay, it can be a little harder to advance one's character, so it's expected that someone may have to go OOC in a team, while hunting, while doing a quest, etc.

The key is knowing when to turn OOC off and get in-character. Generally speaking, when you're with other roleplayers, you should be able to RP just fine and not have to go OOC. And of course, going OOC at an Omni Board Meeting probably isn't a good idea.

AOU: Currently both the Council of Truth and the OT:Rk Board of Directors are suffering from poor attendance. What are your thoughts on possible causes for this and how can this be remedied?

Nevarstiyeh: The attendance issue is something we're working on correcting. I've put together a team of some very talented individuals to try to address this. Cymber, Miamalle, and the Storyline Team leader Devdas are all trying to straighten it out. Basically, I believe the core problem is the lack of _relevant_ assignments, material, and tasks for the players involved, so in order to fix it we need to put together material that applies to each participant. For example, Omni-Trans should be getting assignments based on things which pertain to their department. The easy ones are Omni-Pol, Omni-AF, and to an extent InternOps. The hard ones are Omni-Engineering, R&D, etc.

AOU: And our final question...what is your favourite filling of pie?

Nevarstiyeh: Hrm, I'm not a big pie dude but if I had to pick one I'd have to roll with apple.

Last updated on 12.07.2011 by Khuri
Article written by Khuri
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