AutumnKiss: First off, thank you so much for taking time out to chat with us! To start with, can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background, so that our readers can get to know you a little better?

Joe: Sure! My name is Joe Alread and I’ve been a designer at SOE Denver for almost 6 months now. Before coming to SOE I worked on a number of other MMOs and TCGs including the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trading card games. I’ve been playing Legends of Norrath for quite awhile now and am delighted that I now have the opportunity to have an impact on its future.

AutumnKiss: With the Legends of Norrath, there is an immersive story being told here, spanning the sets and the lore behind both EverQuest and EverQuest II. How difficult is it to put this story into a TCG like this, and what has been your greatest challenge so far in this aspect?

Joe: The biggest challenge in my mind is maintaining a balance between both games, as we want to give both groups of players content to be excited about. At the same time though, having lore from both EverQuest and EverQuest II as a resource gives us an amazing amount of freedom in how we create our stories, and I think it really shows. In Oathbreaker for example you’ll find out that the Oathbound are not all that you think them to be. You must join the forsworn and convince other Oathbound to join your new plight.

AutumnKiss: With the release of Inquisitor, some in the community felt there was a weakening of certain classes in the cards. Can we expect to see the same here for more balance?