Role model: conquering the expansive, complex world of MMORPGs requires vision, a solid game plan, skill ... and a bit of luck.(backdrop)(massively multiplayer online role-playing games)(Rob Denton and Mark Jacobs)(Interview)

Once the domain of techno and hard-core garners, massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) have expanded in recent years to include a wider demographic than ever before. Identifying this trend early on, Rob Denton and Mark Jacobs forward what is now Mythic Entertainment in October 1995, to pursue this market. After launching a number of online games, Mythic released in 2001 its most successful MMORPG title to date, Dark Age of Camelot, based on Arthurian, Celtic, and Nordic legends. Since then, the company has continued to support and expand the game, releasing its sixth Camelot expansion pack, Darkness Rising, last October. Not resting on its laurels, the developer is continuing its quest to broaden the MMO horizon with new and compelling content, and in 2007, plans to release its next MMORPG, which is based on the Warhammer fantasy world created by Games Workshop, the largest tabletop fantasy and futuristic battle-games company in the world.

Q Currently, which MMOs are you working on?

A We are hard at work on our latest MMORPG, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR), and we continue to add lots of new and exciting stuff to Dark Age of Camelot.

Q Why did you get into the MMO game?

A That's where I believed the future of gaining was going to go. I just didn't think it would take this long to get there.

Q What was your first title?

A My first pay-for-play online game was a 4X sci-fi game called Galaxy back in 1985, which was followed by an ORPG called Aradath.