JeuxOnline : Longtime NWN players already know you but perhaps not the new ones. Could you introduce yourself, tell us when and how you joined BioWare, and what was your involvement with NWN and its two expansions?

Rob Bartel : My name is Rob Bartel and I’m the Lead Designer on the BioWare Community Live Team. I joined BioWare in 1998, eight months prior to the release of Baldur’s Gate I. My job was to write 15 FedEx quests a day in order to fill up all of the gorgeous but empty areas. If you ever had to fetch someone’s shoes, clear someone’s basement, or deliver a potion to someone, I take all the blame. =o) When no one was looking, I also slipped in a few oddities like Noober and the Larry/Darry/Darryl trio.

After some involvement in Tales of the Sword Coast and Baldur’s Gate 2, I took on the role of Lead Designer on NWN, the position I had been hired for. My focus was on interpreting the new 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules as well as on the key multiplayer, toolset, and community aspects of the title. When NWN switched publishers from Interplay to Atari, we sadly lost access to the Baldur’s Gate licence. With one year of development left, the decision was made to hand over NWN’s remaining development to the BG team in order to reposition the title and compensate for that particular void. I established the Live Team at that time to ensure support for the community after the game’s release.