24th August 2004 - NC Interactive's Kyzah

Today I have the pleasure of talking directly with Kyzah, the Community
Coordinator for Lineage 1 in the US.
She's made a special promise not to set fire to my office or cast Turn
Undead on my mother-in-law.

Rooella	Hi there Kyzah! How are you doing today?
Kyzah	Fine, thanks for asking; and you? :)
Rooella	Yeah! I'm doin' great thanks! :) I have a whole heap of questions to ask you... So we'll start with the nice ones and i'll turn mean later... :D How long have you been working on Lineage with NC now?
Kyzah	Just over 2 ½ years.
Rooella	Wow you must really love your job huh? *avoids incoming slap* Can you give us a hint of what and average day in the office is like for you?
Kyzah	I don't know that I've had an average day since I started here... Generally, a standard week for me will typically include any and all of the following: forum moderation and discussion, often including multiple conversations and related discussions with Development, QA, Support and Network Operations; various forum-related administrative duties; assisting/Consulting with other departments and products; various meetings and discussions relating to L1 and other products; news announcements and web/internal documentation; various ongoing contests, such as the Screenshots, Player Stories, and Fan Art, as well as special contests, such as the Boss Monster Design Contest; various fansite-related tasks, including review of submitted new and existing sites and browsing various "Linblogs"; L1 Comic editing/revision; assisting in troubleshooting any issues/emergencies that might arise; various game and community-related brainstorming discussions and meetings; various game and community-related reports. Until next week that is, then who knows!? ;)
Rooella	So you've been present for a significant number of major changes? How many episode changes have you been involved with so far?
Kyzah	Five; I joined NCsoft just prior to Episode 10 (pre-Dark Conquest).
Rooella	Wow that's a lot! More than i've seen in-fact! hehe. It must be pretty crazy there during a publish... What was it like back there during the roll-out of Episode 2?
Kyzah	Fairly hectic and involved; we've had many, many long days and weeks of testing, documentation, troubleshooting, and legwork, some of which is still ongoing; however, we're pleased to be able to finally release the much-anticipated new content and hope everyone is enjoying themselves.
Rooella	Yeah... Episode 2 was a a huge update... It certainly looks more than Dark Conquest did! Not only did we get new monsters and hunting areas, you guys turned it right around and knocked out a spanking new User Interface - I actually found it hard to get used to the new pet controls and monster spawns but I am a bit of a blonde when it comes to change! hehe Speaking of changes and Epsiode 2 tho... We did get a sneaky little update no-one was excepcting. It's what we've all come to know as the "Auto-Loot" system. It upset a large number of people! We're all looking forward to receiving the 'fix' from Korea. What are your thoughts on this change?
Kyzah	I definitely understand and empathize with your frustrations over this change, and I'm very appreciative of the Korean Dev Team's willingness to respond to our community's concerns by agreeing to provide us with a localized server flag to re-enable this system on our servers.
Rooella	It's good to hear that even the folk in Korea care about our wierd ways! :) Unfortunatley this wasn't the only set-back we had when Episode 2 went live. A number of "Known Issues" were published, such as the hyperlinked text abnormality, flickering chat window, missing windows and various mac bugs. Which of these is your biggest concern?
Kyzah	The alignment issue with hyperlinked text, since the affected interfaces are an integral part of typical gameplay; I believe we're close to having a resolution on this issue and look forward to seeing it resolved.
Rooella	Yeah - it makes me scared to use the teleporters!!! So I guess you're looking forward to Episode 3?
Kyzah	To be honest, I haven't really thought about the next episode as I'm still very much in the put-Episode-2-to-bed mind-frame; I'll be interested to see what they come up with next, though! :)
Rooella	I have to say... I'm starting to get nervous of game updates. They tend to change so much of the game... which is good! It keeps the game fresh... but it happens overnight, you log in and it's like "wooah... did I load up the wrong game?" Can you provide our readers with any details on currently "Considered" changes to Lineage for Episode 3?
Kyzah	Sure, but then I'd have to kill you! ;) I actually haven't received any details regarding the next episode; this is a better question for Capt, but good luck getting anything out of him! ;)
Rooella	I have beer... he can be bribed! ;) Hmmm... I was reading your Q&A on the official Lineage website a few weeks back... You were asked what your favourite US server was- but you wouldn't give... Are you ready to let the world know this yet?
Kyzah	I'd honestly prefer not to say on which server(s) I predominately play, so as not to add further fuel to the "Server Wars" fires we see in the forums and elsewhere.
Rooella	Awwwe... Go on...
Kyzah	Sorry, no. :) But I will say that I've generally enjoyed the time I've spent on all of the servers and appreciate each of their unique flavors and populations.
Rooella	Hmmz... What about your favourite character class?
Kyzah	Again, I'd prefer not to say; substitute in "Class" for "Server" above. However, I've tried them all, leveled one to 50, and as to which I choose when I play, it really depends on what sort of play style I'm in the mood for, including whether I'm soloing or group-hunting.
Rooella	Wow... do you ever get any work done? *grins* It has been speculated by the community in recent months that NC Austin are trying to urge customers to move to the Lands of Aden server. Do you have something to say to the devoted players of Depairdu and Ken Rauhel?
Kyzah	You're not forgotten or forsaken, as many tend to believe. I believe the mistaken assumption here might be that we simply don't care about those servers as LoA is "our baby" and we've "got something to prove" as far as Seoul is concerned, which is simply not true. If we seem to be encouraging of players to move the LoA server, it's because we actually have the ability to tailor that server to our community's wishes.
Rooella	I still think a non-PVP LoA rule-set would be sweet... *hint hint* If you were able to make 1 change to Lineage of your own choice, what would it be?
Kyzah	Ack! Only one?! I'd like to see additional quests added, both ongoing, such as Lyra and the Orc Totems, and one-offs like the level/class specific quests.
Rooella	Why is that?
Kyzah	Simply to provide more options, more involvement, and something different to do on an ongoing basis.
Rooella	I ask such dumb questions lol. Where do you think the future lies for Lineage 1?
Kyzah	Pork Bellies! Owait, that's Trading Places... ;)
Rooella	*dials the local loony-bin*
Kyzah	I foresee it only getting bigger and better over time, both globally from our team members in Seoul and locally with our development on the Lands of Aden server; it's hard to tell exactly where it'll go, but I look forward to being a part of it. :)
Rooella	Well... It certainly looks like you've been very working hard over the past 2 1/2 years, so I thank you greatly for taking the time out of your hectic schedule to talk with me today. Lineage has seen many changes over the years... it's pleasing to see it still has a bright future ahead! Before I let you go, there's somthing that's been on my mind for some time...
Kyzah	Oh dear, I do hope it's not one of those face-huggers from Alien; I've heard those are pretty nasty...
Rooella	What *did* happen to Lena, Core, Scortch and Visigoth?
Kyzah	Well, only Rock can say for certain, but I have my suspicions; I haven't noticed any new Soylent Snax in the breakroom, though...
Rooella	*laughs* Well thanks again Kyzah... It's been a pleasure! I hope to speak to you again soon!
Kyzah	Likewise, Roo; I appreciate the opportunity. :)