CoverItLive Developer Q&A Transcript
(Update) April 26: The CoverItLive transcript is now available!
Topic: Mists of Pandaria Gameplay and Design, Patch 5.2 and Beyond
Panelists: Dave Kosak, Ion Hazzikostas, Brian Holinka, Cory Stockton, Greg Street
Moderators: Bashiok, Crithto, Daxxarri, Rygarius, Zarhym
Good people of Azeroth, lend me your eyes!
We’ll be hosting a live World of Warcraft developer Q&A open to the community on Friday, April 26 beginning at 02:30 CET. Designers Dave Kosak, Ion Hazzikostas, Brian Holinka, Cory Stockton, and Greg Street will be available to field your questions about Mists of Pandaria gameplay and design, patch 5.2, and beyond. This will be a moderated chat, and community managers Bashiok, Crithto, Daxxarri, Rygarius, and I will be there to filter your submissions for the developers.
We receive thousands of questions each time we host these events, so please be patient with us and bear in mind that we won’t get to every question. You can help by keeping your inquiries concise and focused on one topic per entry. Submissions that are well over 200 characters, or contain multiple questions on an array of topics, are much less likely to receive responses. We want to cover as much ground as possible and appreciate your assistance in helping us to achieve that.
To participate, all you have to do is log in to the CoverItLive client embedded below once the Q&A is live. You can create a CoverItLive account, use your Facebook or Twitter credentials, or simply sign in as a guest. If you’re on the go while the event’s underway, be sure to check out the free CoverItLive mobile apps available on the Android Market and iTunes Store.
We look forward to chatting with you on Friday!
About the Panelists
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Dave Kosak
Ion Hazzikostas
Brian Holinka
Cory Stockton
Greg Street
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Lead Quest Designer
As Blizzard Entertainment's lead quest designer for World of Warcraft®, Dave Kosak oversees the development of all quest content for the game and its expansions, as well as contributing to the overall fiction of the game world. In addition to managing the team that creates the quest flow for all of the Warcraft universe's zones, Dave plays a pivotal role in defining the relationship between gameplay and storytelling.
Prior to joining Blizzard Entertainment, Kosak was a co-founder and original creative director of GameSpy, where he wrote under the pen-name 'Fargo.' He is a passionate reader, loves indie games, and can play nearly four entire chords on a guitar.
Lead Quest Designer
As Blizzard Entertainment's lead quest designer for World of Warcraft®, Dave Kosak oversees the development of all quest content for the game and its expansions, as well as contributing to the overall fiction of the game world. In addition to managing the team that creates the quest flow for all of the Warcraft universe's zones, Dave plays a pivotal role in defining the relationship between gameplay and storytelling.
Prior to joining Blizzard Entertainment, Kosak was a co-founder and original creative director of GameSpy, where he wrote under the pen-name 'Fargo.' He is a passionate reader, loves indie games, and can play nearly four entire chords on a guitar.
Lead Encounter Designer
As lead encounter designer on the World of Warcraft® team, Ion Hazzikostas's primary responsibility is overseeing the creation of the game's dungeon and raid content. Hazzikostas joined Blizzard Entertainment in the summer of 2008 as a game designer, and his responsibilities have included raid boss design and implementation, class design and balancing, and maintaining the World of Warcraft achievement system. Prior to arriving at Blizzard, he worked as an attorney at a law firm in Washington, DC.
In his spare time, Hazzikostas enjoys exploring Southern California in search of craft beer. Having grown up in New York City, he is a lifelong Yankees fan.
Senior PvP Game Designer
As a senior game designer on Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft® team, Brian Holinka focuses exclusively on continuing to make the World of Warcraft PvP experience enjoyable for all of its players. Holinka works with the systems and content teams to create a balanced competitive environment with exciting rewards and diverse content.
Prior to joining Blizzard Entertainment in 2012, Holinka worked on the multiplayer components of Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, Homefront, and Frontlines: Fuel of War. Holinka got his start in the game industry moonlighting on the "Desert Combat" mod for Battlefield 1942 while serving as a Captain in the United States Air Force.
Lead Content Designer
As Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.'s lead content designer for World of Warcraft®, Cory Stockton is responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of all exterior zones, dungeons, Battlegrounds, Arenas, and cities. He is also involved with many other aspects of the game, such as dungeon scripting and the Pet Battles System.
Stockton started at Blizzard Entertainment in June 2005 as lead dungeon designer before transitioning to his current role. Prior to his arrival, he was a lead designer on the Ratchet & Clank series and also contributed extensively to the Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver series.
In his spare time, Stockton plays games extensively, and enjoys collecting classic consoles and games. He holds an associate's degree in computer animation from the Art Institute of Phoenix.
Lead Systems Designer
As the lead systems designer for World of Warcraft®, Greg Street is one of the two lead designers on the team that reports to the Game Director. He leads a team that is in charge of World of Warcraft class, item and tradeskill design. He and his team also design the user interface for the game and handle all of the various combat calculations and number tuning.
Contrary to popular belief, it is not Greg's #1 priority to make players (read: Paladins) unhappy. In fact, if given the opportunity, he’d love to meet with each and every one of you individually over a good gin—note: he doesn’t drink with the underaged.