1UP: Another medieval fantasy MMORPG? Can the world take it? More to the point, with so many MMOs available, and more with nifty brand name recognition on the horizon, what will make Vanguard stick out?

Brad McQuaid: Well, first, I'm not convinced we need brand recognition (especially now, with our pedigree). I know back when we were developing EverQuest, some people were skeptical because we were going up against Ultima Online and the long history and name recognition of the Ultima brand. I'm convinced, however, that if you build a great game, people will play.

As for medieval fantasy, I do indeed think the world can take it -- they're ready for the next level of fantasy MMORPGs, and that's what Vanguard is going to offer. Sure, there are other choices out there, which is good -- competition pushes us all to do even better, and the consumer always wins. I still don't think, however, that the market is truly saturated...growth may have slowed a bit, but I also think we're waiting for another EverQuest-level hit. And, quite honestly, with EQ behind us, we can't really accept anything less. These games can't last forever, that's for sure. At some point, even players with multiple high level characters and tons of time invested will want to move on to something different and something better -- a new challenge.

But there are still fears. How does SGO plan to make Vanguard differ from the vast majority of fantasy MMOs live or in development today? Can Mike lead the design team to a place where the players haven’t seen this or that gambit a million times before? "I touched on this a little bit earlier when I said that if it is not fun it doesn’t go in. Elaborating, I would say, "If it is not fun in the long term, it doesn’t go in." Achieving and wanting to achieve even more are what attracts and keeps people long term. Of course it goes without saying that the game always needs to be fun, whether it is the first or the nth time you are logging in."