Role Playing Games: an Interview with Eric Lamy

by Ben Gorlick

In this weeks "Producers Corner" with Ben Gorlick we bring you an interview with Eric Lamy, the Producer of the Iron Realms rpg text game Aetolia.

Eric dives into his history and experience with Iron Realms games and then expands on what makes Aetolia truly unique, how the races and cities differ from other Iron Realms games and the future direction of Aetolia. This Interview is targeted at both new and familiar players of Aetolia and those who want a closer look behind the curtain of The Midnight Age.

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Comments

Infernius of Aetolia

First

Nice interview!

Faur of Achaea

No Subject

I agree.

Arkyth of Aetolia

Quality

Yeah, the video and image quality was great.

Iana of Achaea

Yep

Sanek of Achaea

yay webcam

Menelaus of Aetolia

Neat

-thumbs up-

Veda of Midkemia

Only have my cell till

Only have my cell till tuesday. Can't wait to watch it as I want to try Aetolia next.

Ayla of Midkemia

Yes, Aetolia looks

Yes, Aetolia looks interesting, I've tried a few of the IRE games and they all seem great!

Grylls of Aetolia

you really should give it a

you really should give it a try

Djett of Midkemia

Interesting

I'm stuck in Midkemia at the moment, but Aetolia might be worth a look in the future. Interesting interview.

Keaira of Aetolia

RE: First interview

So were you the one who made Farlilo of Lady Khepri's temple take a nap when I was trying to solve the mystery of that egg? -.-

Nin of Midkemia

Thanks for the interview

Thanks for making the interview.

Bronagh of Lusternia

Interviews

Always love seeing new interviews. Aetolia's a game I've seriously considered trying sometime.

Kando of Midkemia

Waiting on MKO interview with

Waiting on MKO interview with Ishap :D

Aodh of Midkemia

Agreed. It will be

Agreed. It will be interesting to see what Ishap has to say.

Zylo of Midkemia

DEFINITELY. And the youngling

DEFINITELY. And the youngling of IREs' games could use a little more spotlight, too.

Alexina of Aetolia

Revamps

Seriously can't wait for the Knight revamps.

Infernals wielding warhammers, polearms, and using warhounds. Paladins with blessings, special weapon empowerments and crazy things like that.

Do want.

^_^

Esrian of Achaea

Whoa. Now I want to go

Whoa. Now I want to go back!

Drafox of Achaea

That sounds pretty

That sounds pretty interesting.

Kesler of Imperian

Nice

Sounds good!

Batista of Achaea

:(

It'd be nice if Knight combat in Achaea could get some retooling. Hate how boring knight is compared to all the other classes.

Triak of Achaea

Who is the interviewer?

Th Ben guy.

Raeri of Lusternia

Interesting

Nice interview, interesting to listen hear!

Arobus of Lusternia

It's amazing how much Aetolia

It's amazing how much Aetolia has changed. I used to have a character there a few years ago and went back recently, and I was amazed at the new features, races, classes, and even landscape.

Ada of Achaea

They start out at prison

... new chars in Aetolia that is. That was pretty unique compared to all the honey and butter intro tour from all the other games.

Favonius of Achaea

I like it

A bit of darkness is always welcome in these games!

Mystere of Achaea

Interesting.

I tried Aetolia once, was kinda put off because it was similar enough to Achaea at the time that I felt frustrated because of the presence of a learning curve.

I'll have to give it another shot someday.

Luenn of Lusternia

Same here

Although it wasn't the differences so much as the similarities that frustrated me.

Yilkon of Achaea

Agreed, granted this was not

Agreed, granted this was not long after Aetolia came out, I'm sure it is different these days.

Pahm of Imperian

mud games

Yeah... these guys changed my life. Since I've discovered the Ironrealms games (and I've only played Imperian and Aetolia), I find it hard to attach myself to other games.

Zerin of Imperian

Likewise

I've put so much time into Impy that I just can't get into any other games, even IRE ones.

Krex of Achaea

Insight

It's always nice to get this type of insight.

Kiyotan of Aetolia

Hehe. I started RPG

Hehe. I started RPG text-gaming on AOL too.

Ariex of Achaea

Stuff

Youtube?

Galleus of Aetolia

Huh?

Sylvane of Lusternia

Wha...?

Ellaeren of Midkemia

Youtube is good for things

Youtube is good for things like this. It's a hosting service that won't run out of capacity, and it serves up all the formats you could need. You can even watch it on an iPhone.

Zeon of Achaea

yeah

yeah it is

Savil of Midkemia

But no good for console

My desktop is nearly full text based, plus I hate having to load that crappy flash plugin which crashes under Windows and Linux. I was said that HTML5 was alright on Youtube, but ...

So definitely (for me) articles > interviews (written interviews would be great !)

Galleus of Aetolia

Thanks for the kind words

Glad you guys enjoyed my interview! If you have any questions for me about the interview in particular or Aetolia in general, feel free to ask them here!

Genocide of Aetolia

Webcam

Nice to finally see someone with a decent webcam on here. And to put a face to the diety.

Tukio of Achaea

Nice

Always nice to hear about the other ire games.

Valdar of Midkemia

damn another

interview

Galleus of Aetolia

Yeah, but, it's the best

Yeah, but, it's the best interview.

Kalidas of Midkemia

Indeed!

As video, it certainly does have a more personal feel than a bare text article.

Niuri of Aetolia

Bessst?

It's the best interview. Of all time! <3

Alizais of Achaea

Degrees in Computer Gaming

Wow, biochem dude produces an online RPG? The MBA he's going for is definitely more appropriate.

Qistrel of Lusternia

Very interesting insight into

Very interesting insight into Aetolia and what's going on.

Veldrin of Achaea

yah

yup

Srilyx of Midkemia

nice

Great interview. I can't wait for more!

Daay of Midkemia

yay for more producer

yay for more producer interviews

Drazik of Achaea

vampires!

Soooo... do Aetolian vampires sparkle in the sun?

Keaira of Aetolia

Holy...

Ugh.. Why. Oh an Achaean. Now it makes sense.

Rine of Achaea

Interesting

This interview shows the difference between the iron realms games which some think are completely alike, nicely done.

Morthif of Achaea

Nice interview

Savea of Lusternia

Great interview!

Rathan of Lusternia

iiinteresting

Edenwe of Lusternia

Aetolia...

defintely has caught my attention after this interview.

Xarcon of Lusternia

Entry requirement

At first, I was quite surprised at the age he started mudding but then I think back and I remember that my time was often split between table-top D&D and Mystic Adventures in High school.

I wonder what everyone thinks is the proper age to enter text games or any game for that matter...

Stratas of Lusternia

Just couldn't do it

I tried Aetolia. I wanted to like it, I really did. But I only have so much time in a day, or a week. Choices have to be made, and Aetolia just couldn't draw me in like Lusternia did.

Good interview, though

Conslo of Achaea

besides

Aetolia's the only game besides Achaea I've ever seriously considered playing, the others either seem too complicated (Lusternia's combat) or too simple (MKO, though of course I could be wrong on this one)

Tau of Lusternia

These keep getting better and

These keep getting better and better

Goggo of Achaea

nice interview!

Demos of Achaea

videos?

I know this isn't the most productive comment but articles > videos.

Great interview though!

Galleus of Aetolia

Why Articles?

This is just a query of interest, but why do you like articles better than interviews and other videos like this?

Nonsam of Lusternia

I've felt a little

I've felt a little intimidated to try Aetolia due to the fact that I'm not really into gothic themes and the RP may be a bit above my capability.

Galleus of Aetolia

RP Support

Aetolia has a fantastic support system of players who can ensure you get into the spirit with little difficulty. Just play along!

Aktillum of Achaea

great job

another fantastic interview from Ben Gorlick. I can't help but think to myself as I watch this video "that Ben guy looks like a chocolate lover".

Tynanor of Imperian

Sounds pretty cool!

Cales of Imperian

Yeah for interviews with good

Yeah for interviews with good cameras!

Vanna of Midkemia

The interview

Good interview! It is always interesting to hear from the producers themselves and get to know how they view the game they run, especially since it gives insight to players in terms of the admin side of things. I am sure your players are excited about the new classes coming out soon!

I quite enjoy Youtube being used for interviews. It allows me to listen and play at the same time or watch the video directly if I want to. :)

Oh and congratulations on the engagement!

Thorne of Aetolia