Normally, when we want to talk to Ray Muzyka, General Manger of BioWare, we have to camp outside his palatial mansion and wait for him to get his morning paper. He's pretty spry though, so we can usually get out "When is Mass Effect 2 go--" before he slams the door in our face. But this time, EA actually asked us to pick the good doctor's brain. Here are the results:

BioWare has worked in several fantastical settings. How did working in a sci-fi world like Mass Effect differ from some of your earlier titles?

That's a great question. The creative inspiration for both fantasy and sci-fi, and contemporary settings for that matter, certainly come from very different sources on different projects – for example, we're inspired by the classic fantasy novels for our fantasy games like Baldur's Gate or Dragon Age, and by classic science fiction films for science fiction IPs like Mass Effect, and by contemporary setting movies and novels for other titles. We're always striving to deliver powerful emotional experiences to our audience.

Can you remember back to November 3? No, young one. Not November 3, 2007. That'd be easy. No, we're talking about Nov. 3, 2006. The nation was tuning in to watch the antics of The Honeymooners, bell-bottoms were all the rage and a young Dwight D. Eisenhower was just gearing up his bid for the presidency. It was a crazy time. But it's also when we first got a release window for Dragon Age, a BioWare RPG that was supposedly due in late 2007 or early 2008. As a quick check of your calendar will tell you, both have come and gone.

But fear not! Speaking at yesterday's EA spring showcase in San Francisco, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka said that the game is not only still in the works but is "Looking really sweet." Well, we should certainly hope so, Ray. We should certainly hope so.

CEO Ray Muzyka and President Greg Zeschuk of Bioware, a company founded on narrative-centric RPGs, can't seem to decide if the Wii is a game (as opposed to, from what we gather, a toy). In an interview with GameDaily, Zeschuk said, "If gaming is defined by story, then generally Wii may not be," though he immediately expands on that, "The game [4 to 5 people together are] playing is actually very different than the rest of us. What they're doing as a company is like a different flavor."

Providing a counterpoint, Muzyaka noted that the Wii experience is "more toy-like" but also said, "there's also a narrative between the players outside the game and kind of fulfills the same things games do. Games are 'toys' in the sense that they're fun." Warren Spector had made a similar designation in an Escapist piece last year, categorizing games like Tetris and Madden akin as "retold" narratives. The above is a rather bare-bones highlight of their discussion, so check out the full interview for more.

Dear developer, does your game need to be a trilogy? MTV's Multiplayer blog decided to make two developers -- Too Human's Denis Dyack and Mass Effect's Ray Muzyka -- justify their trilogy ambitions. Dyack responds that their three-part epic is already mapped out, story-wise, and that each iteration has a specific theme: discovery, revenge and enlightenment, respectively.

As for Mass Effect, BioWare co-founder Muzyka was more vague in his reasoning, citing how "great science fiction arcs often occur in trilogies" and that they allow for a different pacing. The feeling we get is that BioWare isn't as interested in the story aspect so much as it is in the building of a virtual world, akin to what Will Wright discussed at this year's GDC.

Earlier today fans of Massively Multiplayer Online Games were given a rare treat: a look into the future of the genre. Five veteran members of the gaming industry debated the finer points of MMO game creation as it exists today, and how the games of tomorrow will be bolted together. Participants included Cryptic Studios' Jack Emmert, NCsoft's Matt Miller, BioWare's Ray Muzyka, Nexon's Min Kim, and Blizzard's Rob Pardo. Each designer brought their own unique points of view to the conversation, and their visible conflicts made for a not only entertaining but informational dialogue.

The biggest point of contention during the discussion was the subject of Microtransactions; while Nexon's business model is based entirely on that concept, Cryptic's Emmert was a staunch opponent of the practice in general and as a "magic bullet" in specific. Mr. Emmert also dug several times at Blizzard and Rob Pardo, cracking jokes like "Isn't it true that Blizzard is going to buy the entire continent of Africa?" and essentially stating that the Massive gaming industry is deeply sick as a result of WoW's success.

The entire liveblog of the discussion is available over at Massively, and is well worth a look.

Just after lunch we had the chance to sit in on a demo of the PC version of Mass Effect. It was a great opportunity to check out the changes and tweaks to the Xbox 360 title we all know and love. Add-ons like the improved equipment UI (pictured above), more deliberate squad commands, and a great-looking new 'hacking' mini-game spoke volumes about BioWare's commitment to keeping PC gamers happy.

Afterwards we spoke briefly with Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, the driving minds behind BioWare, about Mass on the PC. They expounded on their background with the WASD crowd, hopes for the future of the Mass Effect franchise, and offered a few words on what it's like to work for EA. We even asked them about their upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Game ... and got shot down. You have to ask, right?

We're going to have full writeup of the interview on the site soon, but in the meantime you can listen to the full audio of our conversation with The Doctors below the cut.