Gamasutra: Leading The Design of APB

Lead designer EJ Moreland comes to Scottish developer Realtime Worlds with a background in MMOs, having worked on titles such as Ultima Online and EverQuest II. But that background isn't the whole story, he reveals in this interview. The concept behind much-awaited PC online game All Points Bulletin (APB) is more accretive in nature, taking in action games, console and PC innovations, and coming up with its own solutions to gameplay questions.

Here, he talks about the process, the dangers and opportunites of creating an contemporary urban online game outside the typical MMO territory, and working with Dave Jones, the Grand Theft Auto creator who has recently talked passionately to Gamasutra about the opportunities online gaming offers on multiple occasions.

The interview, conducted at this month's E3 Expo in Los Angeles, is essential reading for those who would consider breaking the rather staid boundaries of the MMO genre, and also provides a window into a design process across developers who have spent their time working on what have been, up to now, very disparate genres -- and now are trying to marry them.