Medros Questions and Answers

Despite talking for over four hours there were a few questions I didn't get chance to ask Medros during the interview.  But Medros was kind enough to provide a written responce.  I hope you all enjoy

Sayo

PS part two of the interview will be January 29, 2013

Thoughts on BC, Wrath, Cata, and Mists

I think BC was awesome because it introduced flying to the game, which I love, but I do think Blizz is right to limit it to max level in new expansions. BC also brought in daily quests, which anyone who played through the wasted quests between level cap and when they brought in gold for quest xp at cap in vanilla will be eternally thankful for. I think Wrath was a fun for a lot of reasons, from Death Knights, to taking down Arthas and the reappearance of Tyrion Fordring, who is heavily infuencing in my main's RP story. Cataclysm is an expansion that brings heavy conflict to my heart. In part the expansion brought the revitalized old world, and included flying. On the other hand it was one of the worst expansions for the playerbase, and caused a lot of people to slow or stop playing WoW all together.

Thoughts of the Story of wow?

The story in WoW is awesome, rich, and one of the deepest I have read in the history of gaming. The story of WoW as a game, is great, and shows that the Blizzard developers were truly brilliant in their goals and design philosophies of WoW, which incorporated beloved features from several existing games, a previously mentioned rich lore and story to the world, and some great game play. All of this became a great lead up to an incredible game which has been the #1 game since it's release.

Thoughts on Chris Metzen?
Chris Metzen is a god. LOL. Seriously though, he definitely is not a perfect man, the Draenei lore flop is one big example, but he has personally crafted some amazing stories, lore and history for this world we play in.

General thoughts on the other wow radio staff during your time there?

Oh boy. There was some folks with a lot of talent at WoW Radio, some of whom were untapped talent that the management had no desire to work with. There was also some with massive egos and high opinions of themselves. Sadly in my experience this is not rare in broadcasting.

Current wow leadership
I think the current lead sev team for WoW is trying to manage and grow the world we play in without stepping on the toes of the many varied groups of players, and their individual styles and wishes for the game. This is an unenviable task, and I tip my hat to them for all they do.

How do you see raiding has changed

In my time in the game, I have seen raiding change from virtually non existant, to something only the elitest of players, and then slowly matured and grew so that now virtually everyone with a few hours a week to play has the potential to experience the story of the raid encounters. As someone who went into ICC and BT at 85, never saw Dragon Soul, Firelands, or any Cataclysm raids, I approve of the addition of LFR to the game.

How do you see pvp has changed

As I spoke of in the interview, my first experience was on Mannoroth, and I have pretty much avoided much PvP since. I did experience some South Shore/Tarren Mill PvP, and did a few battle grounds back in the vanilla days, even earning the Sergeant rank. I haven't really done PvP since, though, and don't have many thoughts on it, other than that I would love to see the refugees of Hillsbrad make an all out attack on the Southshore/Tarren Mill area via either world PvP or Battleground.

How do you think Warcraft Podcasting has changed

Oh boy. Can. Of. Worms. LOL. I think that when there were fewer shows, there was a higher expectation of quality, but also more forgiveness for mistakes. In the Wrath and Mists eras of WoW, I have seen many new shows launching, and there is a variety of quality on the content and listening experience for those shows. I have always offered my experience and knowledge to new shows, and have a lot of respect for new shows that ask, and also for podcasters who offer this to other shows.

No show exists as an island, and I really think less of podcasters who don't listen to other shows, and who either refuse to help, or ignore requests for help from other podcasters. I truly beleive in building up the community, not tearing it down. Shows in the community cannot improve without help and feedback.

If you had it to do over again would you?

Absolutely. From the beginning I have been participating in the community in these formats, both WoW Radio and ATA, for the community, to give a voice to the people who don't speak much. The loudest voices have long been the most heard, and I want those who normally say little to have a voice to speak for them, and to get their thoughts in the game. When you do something for others, no matter what happens, there should be no regrets. I enjoy what I do, and will keep doing so for many years.

What are you doing now?

I run Dawnforge part time, trying to cross promote, build up and improve all of our shows with every episode. I play WoW and several other games via Steam. I have continually been adding more shows to the network, and to reach the goal of making Dawnforge a worthy part of the Podcasting community.