Q: What do you do on Star Trek Online?

A: I'm the lead designer. When we first started to work on Star Trek Online, the executive staff and I worked out the key features and the vision of the project. My primary responsibility is to ensure that the team maintains that overall vision. This means writing design documentation, creating systems, implementing assets and managing the design team. It is also my personal responsibility to ensure that the work we do remains true to the IP. But most importantly, it is my job to make sure that the game is fun.

Q: What part of Star Trek Online are you the most excited about working on?

A: Space combat. I am a combat system designer at heart, and I am very excited about the system we have worked out for space combat. Space combat is nothing like typical MMO combat, nor is it a dogfighter. It is deeply tactical, strategic and 100 percent Trek. Shield facing, turn rates, weapon firing arcs, power transfers, bridge officer skills, ship configurations and damage control are all things you will need to manage. We also are working on mechanics for different levels of automation if you want a simpler experience (put some weapons on auto fire, power level presets, that sort of thing).

Q: What are your favorite episodes?

A: There are so many. If you had asked what my favorite series was, cov infamy I would say Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Some of my favorite episodes include "Arena" (TOS), where we are introduced to the Gorn; "The Doomsday Machine" (TOS); "The Best of Both Worlds" (TNG) where Picard is assimilated; "All Good Things" (TNG), the series finale; "Scorpion" (VOY), where Voyager first encounters the Borg, Seven of Nine and Species 8472; and "The Visitor" (DS9), where an alternate future Jake Sisko sacrifices himself to save his father.

If I had to pick one, I guess I would have to say my favorite is "Sacrifice of Angels" (DS9), where Sisko retakes DS9; closely followed by "Yesterday's Enterprise" (TNG), where we see Tasha return, which eventually gives rise to Sela.