Kyan Mehwulfe Interview

n Friday 18 Nov 05, WoW LQGaming had the pleasure of interviewing none other than High Warlord Kyan Mehwulfe in our IRC channel about his path to rank 14 and his feelings of the game now and into the future.

If you missed the interview we have the transcript here for you. At the bottom you will find a separate transcript for the open forum we held after the official interview where fans and victims got the chance to ask Kyan their own questions.

{19:10} [Mogrin] Today we are talking to Kyan Mehwulfe, the famous Orc Warrior who has acquired the rank of High Warlord on Stormreaver Server. Welcome!

{19:10} [KyanMehwulfe] Thanks.

{19:11} [Mogrin] Let's start off with a little bit about your gaming background.

{19:11} [KyanMehwulfe] I started gaming on the NES and fell in love with gaming thanks to Final Fantasy 2 on the SNES.

{19:12} [Mogrin] When did you begin to play Blizzard games? What was your first Blizzard title?

{19:12} [KyanMehwulfe] Warcraft 2. The demo, to be specific, from a gaming magazine. It, along with Daggerfall, is what made me fall in love with PC gaming.

{19:13} [Mogrin] And it's safe to assume you continued through the Warcraft RTS series to Warcraft III.

{19:14} [Mogrin] How did you come to be a member of Blizzard's Friends List?

{19:15} [KyanMehwulfe] Yeah I played Warcraft II for a long time. Not online but I worked on custom maps a lot, building RPG-esque campaigns and such. So when Warcraft III was announced as a "Role Playing Strategy", originally, I followed it through development quite intently.

{19:16} [KyanMehwulfe] Through the Frozen Throne beta. I knew by best chance to get into the World of Warcraft beta was through the Friends List so I treated beta testing that expansion like I would any other competitive grind. Two weeks later after dozens upon dozens of reports and bug emails, I was invited by Blizzard to said list.

{19:19} [Mogrin] You were in the beta test pretty much right when it begin publically. You had a chance to experience the wide changes that were made to World of Warcraft, both graphically, geographically (in-game, and mechanically in terms of how the game was built. Do you think there were a lot of good changes made in beta? Any bad ones?

{19:20} [KyanMehwulfe] For sure. Any development process goes through a lot of ups and downs. Blizzard experimented with a lot of things too.

{19:21} [Mogrin] Now, changing the topic to release, when did you decide that Orc Warrior was going to be Kyan's form in World of Warcraft? What plans did you have for him in terms of crafting, questing and overall achievement?

{19:23} [KyanMehwulfe] I decided on an Orc Warrior during Beta, though I cannot remember exactly when. Before beta, other races went through the phase of being my favorite.

{19:23} [KyanMehwulfe] Trolls, originally, as I absolutely love the Forest Trolls of Warcraft II, and Metzen's original style for them.

{19:24} [KyanMehwulfe] Then Tauren during Warcraft III. During Beta though I decided I wanted to be the core race of my faction though.

{19:25} [KyanMehwulfe] When I played Star Wars Galaxies, I was a Rodian in the dominantly Human Empire, and I always regretted that.

{19:26} [Mogrin] My apologies everybody. I had a small emergency to take care of in real life, I hope you understand.

{19:27} [Mogrin] Now before the Honor System patch came out, what was Kyan up to?

{19:28} [KyanMehwulfe] I went through my first lull with WoW in the Spring. I didn't play much as I was a bit burnt out after a year of the game and I basically took 2-3 months to refresh myself, so to speak.

{19:28} [KyanMehwulfe] Find new inspiration, etc.

{19:28} [KyanMehwulfe] I still played a little, did some fishing, etc, but I mostly bided my time waiting for the "War" system.

{19:29} [Mogrin] And then came the big honor patch. PvP'ers everywhere scrambled to begin climbing the ranks. What did you do after the patch released?

{19:30} [KyanMehwulfe] I grinded the first week quite hard. Believe I got Standing 36 or so. The next week I tried to continue but I simply wasn't enjoying myself.

{19:31} [KyanMehwulfe] I ended up relaxing and waiting for Battlegrounds. I didn't have any interesting in being high rank based on the enviroment of Tarren Mill.

{19:32} [Mogrin] Many players agree that past Rank 8 or so, the Honor System simply becomes a grind. What insipired you to continue to fight your way up the ranks and finally become High Warlod, the gleaming example of a true Horde fighter?

{19:32} [KyanMehwulfe] In truth I miss the action of Tarren Mill a little now and I have a couple great memories from some really valiant fights we put up. But it was fun as a sort of adventure, here and there. It wasn't something I liked the idea of 'grinding'.

{19:34} [Mogrin] Having been at standing #1, Rank 14 on a very competitive PvP server, you can tell us first-hand the ins and outs of the Honor System. In your opinion, what are its major flaws? What would you change?

{19:35} [KyanMehwulfe] Hrmm I find inspiration for my serious gaming from a lot of places. Fantasy novels, console RPGs, and so forth. But for this grind specifically, High Warlord, I'd say it's simply my love of the Warcraft world and the Horde. I wanted to be a hero of the Horde, not a grunt. As odd as it sounds, High Overlord Saurfang was a source of inspiration. I wanted my character to rival the great heroes of Orc lore.

{19:37} [KyanMehwulfe] We're our own worst enemy, in a way, with how the system works. Obviously, it's relative, so it's only as hardcore as we make it. Which, in a genre like MMOs, had only one outcome really. We, the players, would drive each other to extremes.

{19:38} [KyanMehwulfe] Every week we'd take the system to new heights of inflation.

{19:39} [Mogrin] Would you care to divulge your personal record of Contribution Points (Honor) in a week?

{19:39} [KyanMehwulfe] I'd say that's the biggest flaw in the system, from a developer's point of view. Personally I don't hate how it works. The more hardcore a system is, the more I can personally excell. But it seperates the gap between casual and hardcore gamers even more. Makes it less accessable.

{19:40} [KyanMehwulfe] Just over 700,000 Points. That was in the first week of Arathi Basin. If we never lost our Honor for that first Tuesday, and the Holiday Bonus wasn't bugged on that Thursday, myself and a friend in my guild would of both broke 1 million most likely.

{19:42} [Mogrin] Impressive. Let's talk about the three battlegrounds for a minute. What are your thoughts on each of them? Which of them is your favourite? In your opinion, which one was designed best?

{19:44} [KyanMehwulfe] I love the theme of Alterac Valley. I have a soft spot for snow, I absolute love winter. It actually serves as a source of inspiration, I'll spend sleepless nights in a snowy mountain forest far longer than some swamp or desert. Beyond the climate, I loved the overall plot of the conflict there. I've read Lord of the Clans so the Alterac Valley, Drek'thar, and so forth were all areas of personal interest.

{19:45} [KyanMehwulfe] The idea of partaking in a large orc versus orc war really suits my tastes.

{19:46} [KyanMehwulfe] Arathi Basin is my favorite for pure gameplay though. I think it serves as a good test of group versus group skill because of it's emphasis on control. It's not just a test of how well your group fights but also how organized they are; not simply a test of strategy but also of reaction. You have to be able to adapt on the fly.

{19:47} [Mogrin] After reaching Rank 14, what was the first thing you did?

{19:49} [KyanMehwulfe] I got completely smashed on ale in the Hall of Legend.

{19:50} [Mogrin] Hehe. You've focused, for the most part, on PvP. Are you now exploring the reaches of Molten Core and Blackwing Lair?

{19:52} [KyanMehwulfe] Aye we spend most every evening in Blackwing Lair now. I like the lore of the Dragonflights a lot and would love to bring Nefarian's head to High Overlord Saurfang soon.

{19:54} [Mogrin] Do you feel the quality and effort put into the PvE aspect out-does the PvP aspect?

{19:54} [KyanMehwulfe] That's a good question, it's one I ask myself a lot...

{19:56} [KyanMehwulfe] I find the work and reward of PvE to be a lot less stressful and perhaps more glorifying. Rank 14, while it still requires strong teamwork often on competitive servers, is primarely a test of dedication still.

{19:56} [KyanMehwulfe] Where as to slay a 'dragon', first even, requires more group organization, which earns a lot more respect.

{19:57} [KyanMehwulfe] It's something I ask myself a lot. Would I ever chase Rank 14 again? Is it worth it when I can concentrate on something like Nefarian instead?

{19:58} [KyanMehwulfe] You'd earn more global respect, earn argurably similar loot, and while it may be harder on your guild, it is certianly a lot less stressful and requires much less real life sacrifice.

{20:00} [KyanMehwulfe] So I think it does outdo it but ultimately, for me atleast, it's still PvE. I love PvP and the faction war more than slaying fire elementals and such.

{20:00} [Mogrin] Speaking of Nefarian, has your guild attemped or killed him yet?

{20:00} [Mogrin] (I know some of your guildmates are in this channel right now, hehe.)

{20:01} [KyanMehwulfe] We've been working on him for a few weeks now and are trying to perfect our Phase 1 a bit yet and refine our Phase 2 strategy.

{20:04} [Mogrin] Let's Change gears for a bit. On your site (http://www3.telus.net/public/mehwulfe/), you talk about wanting Kyan to become a Blademaster for Thrall. Are you still eagerly awaiting Hero Classes?

{20:06} [KyanMehwulfe] Yeah ultimately they're still my most anticipated feature. I have unrealistic expectations for them. One of my biggest complaints in WoW is the lack of racial depth. We don't have class troll Headhunters. Your race doesn't define you much. Most everything, from abilities to equipment, are global for the entire world.

{20:06} [KyanMehwulfe] In a world that's been defined by having such unique faces and factions for so long, this disapoints me. So I'm hoping that Heroes really give each race a chance to be fleshed out. So we have tauren Warriors with totems, trolls with furs and voodoo masks, and so forth.

{20:08} [KyanMehwulfe] A part of me is worried that Heroes will be as generic as much as the rest of the game, eg: Mages of all races simply because Wizards.

{20:09} [KyanMehwulfe] Simple become, Wizards, even. But I try to avoid giving it much thought since they've been delayed for so long. I prefer to try concentrate on current issues instead of the distant future.

{20:09} [Mogrin] What are your thoughts on the expansion? Any concerns?

{20:10} [KyanMehwulfe] The emphasis on content is my biggest concern.

{20:11} [KyanMehwulfe] Don't get me wrong, content is what fuels this genre, and it's why WoW is so popular, and why EQ was. But I'd like to see them concentrate more on other areas.

{20:11} [KyanMehwulfe] Make the world war & PvP more engaging, add some dynamic features to the world, etc.

{20:12} [KyanMehwulfe] I'd be more excited I think if they announced that one area of the Outlands was a sort of DAoC Frontier or Shadowbane-zone where each faction can fight for control over.

{20:13} [KyanMehwulfe] It doesn't need to be the poster-child of the Expansion but a bit more balance instead of a 100% emphasis on new EQ-style content would suit me better.

{20:14} [KyanMehwulfe] At the end of the day I'm still excited though because of the lore. There's a lot of potential in Outland with the Warcraft 2 Heroes and Illidan's faction. I'm looking forward to the events leading up to the Blood Elf and Horde alliance and then the entry into Outland.

{20:15} [Mogrin] Blood Elves... a hot topic among any Horde Enthusiast. Are they welcome in the Horde?

{20:16} [KyanMehwulfe] No but apparently they have something we can't live without so they'll be tolerated.

{20:16} [KyanMehwulfe] It's a smart move by Blizzard, though, I can't fault them for it.

{20:17} [KyanMehwulfe] As long as the lore supports it well and it doesn't feel like a gimmick or becomes another case of "Thrall is ignorant of their true intentions".

{20:17} [KyanMehwulfe] As with the Forsaken.

{20:19} [Mogrin] Alright, we are drawing to a close with the interview. Keep in mind we are taking fan's questions now, but first I have one last question. Who is your favourite character in the Warcraft series? Personally, mine is Grom Hellscream, and probably will be forever. What about you?

{20:20} [KyanMehwulfe] Zuljin the Forest Troll Raider from Warcraft II. I love simple and classic fantasy design; trolls raiding elf farms, opposed to supernatural beings threatening the entire world with an ancient power of unbelievable magnitude.

{20:22} [Mogrin] On behalf of the entire LQGaming Network, I'd like to thank you for giving us your time this evening. We are taking fan questions now. Please be patient and give us a minute to work out how we will do this in a civilzed (Non-Crazy) manner.

*Note: No changes were made to this transcript in terms of context.

Go to Open Forum with Kyan Mehwulfe