Back To Meet The Devs

1. What is your name and/or nickname?

Eri Izawa, also "rei" or "reijin."

2. How did you come to work at Turbine?

Way back when, one of the company's founders (who I knew from college) sent out email to a mailing list looking for applicants. At the time I was in an OK-but-not-great job, so I decided to try for something I could be excited about. I interviewed, and here I am.

3. What other jobs have you had?

I've been a "Web engineer," done some scripting, and been in a QA department. I have some unpublished novels sitting around too :)

4. Do you work on anything else besides AC (and can you tell us about it)?

I write for EX, an online anime/manga magazine. I also occasionally update my own web essays and maybe someday I'll rewrite those novels....

5. If you could add or change one thing in AC, what would that be?

I would add a housing/allegiance war system. Mind you, that's about a gazillion features all in one, because it would include communication updates, new kinds of vendors, new artwork, tons of new functionality, and everything else.

6. What's the most amusing or embarrassing death you've had or witnessed in AC?

We were "filming" in-game for a promo reel, and one of the guys entering Black Death died when he hit the ground. That wasn't as funny as the rest of us standing around and mocking the corpse ... which was immortalized in a blooper reel.

7. Are you in an allegiance and do your allegiance members know you're at Turbine?

I'm in an allegience, though unfortunately it seems to have broken up. No one within the allegiance had or has any idea that I'm at Turbine.

8. Have you played any other MMORPGs and are you looking forward to any upcoming ones?

I've only very briefly played UO and EQ. Actually, I'm very interested in seeing the approach Squaresoft uses in Final Fantasy XI.

9. What's the current in-office LAN game?

Counter-strike, though it's not just local. For online games in general, though, somehow it keeps drifting back to AC around here. It's funny that way.

10. Favourites:

Beethoven; "Brazil" and "Laputa: Castle in the Sky"; probably curry rice; is aikido a sport?; Civilization, or Zork back in the day.

11. What was the first computer game you played?

Some kind of pong.

12. What would you like appreciative fans to send as gifts?

I really don't think fans need to send gifts. One of the best gifts is to get your friends to play AC ;)

13. Did you get your pre-patch Greater Shadow Armour in time?

Nope! But I have Gertarh's Dagger!

14. Fasten and then zip or zip and then fasten?

Great, now you have one of the designers trying to figure it out in the middle of the room.

15. Because of the lead- and asbestos-lined walls at Turbine's offices, you all survive the apocalypse - who'd get voted Supreme Leader?

Hmm, I suspect it'll be David Bowman. "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."