Question: Tell us about yourself!* What’s your name and what do you do here at SOE? How long have you been working at SOE?
Answer: My name is Damon Collins. I am Sr. Web Developer / UI Engineer. I have been at SOE over 2 years.
Question: How did you get into the industry?
Answer: I’ve been a UI engineer for various companies for the last 14 years. This is my first job in the gaming industry, and I’m not sure I’d want to go anywhere else!
Question: Tell us what a typical workday is like for you.
Answer: I’m usually working on features for some of our game’s websites. The Game Web Team focuses on developing feature-rich sites that utilize relevant data from the game it accompanies. We give the players a web portal for their characters that include their profile info, game stats, leader boards, in-game items, and more. So when I’m not collaboratively dreaming up and implementing new ways to bring the game and the web together, I’m fixing or making additions to previously written code.
Question: Let’s talk favorites… What is your favorite SOE game title? What is your favorite location, favorite thing about that game? Do you have a favorite memory or moment from that particular game?
Answer: My favorite game is Free Realms! Yeah, it’s “supposed” to be just for kids… Whatever, lol! I like Shrouded Glade… It‘s all magical and glowing. I need a Shrouded Glade home or lot! I like the different jobs and quests you can do. I started out doing all the ninja quests and becoming level 20… then followed suit with every other combat job. I also love the rides… I have a couple of dragons, dinosaurs, and even a Hydra. Now I need a motorcycle for my brawler (he looks like he needs one).
Question: If you could be any fictional character, who would you be?
Answer: Probably Reed Richards (of the Fantastic Four). His power, admittedly, is kind of lame. However, he has a super-genius-level intellect. And his stretching power enables him to literally expand his brain cells, allowing for unparalleled thinking power.
Question: If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Answer: Definitely *not* being able to stretch my body to incredible lengths, lol… but there was one Marvel villain from a long time ago named Molecule Man. He had the power to basically control matter at the molecular level. He could literally make something out of nothing, or turn one thing into another. That sounds fun.
Question: Let’s get real! Hobbies? What’s last book you read? What do you do to unwind after a busy day?
Answer: The last book I read was “They Like Jesus but Not the Church: Insights from Emerging Generations,” by Dan Kimball. After a busy day besides working on my own web projects, I sing and work on music (free ringtones here:
http://myxer.com/thisisdamon).
Enjoy this screenshot from Free Realms in Shrouded Glade, one of Damon’s Favorite Locations!