Originally Hans-Willi Brüggen (aka Palopique) started Michael's interview and as personal issues became more pressing, Michael asked me to take up the cause. Following is some information gathered by Palo:

"Michael started with the Level Editor directly after playing TR5 and began building, looking at the manual with the standard tut1 wad. He was fascinated and his first level came out in January, 2001. Feedback was not all that good so he started his next one – 'Seven Islands', an outside level and he initially looked to the TombRaiders.com Forum. Michael likes logical levels, gameplay and puzzles are important and through contact with Sash, began reviewing. An international meeting is Michael's big aim. Michael lives south of a town called Heilbronn, loves to travel but would like to do more traveling that's not connected with his job. He especially would like to visit Mexico again and loves London. He likes reading English literature and novels and in life is normally quiet and always thinking."

Cher: "Tell us how your involvement with Tomb Raider began?"

Michael: "Wow - that starts out highly original and surprising. I am almost caught off guard right away."

Cher: "If I were speaking with DougE, I would say something rude."

Michael: "ts ts - I think you need to relax."

Cher: "Well, we must start at the beginning mustn't we?"

Michael: "What was the question again - ah, right... Yes, the beginning... 1996 then... Can't believe that's almost 6 years ago and I actually have no recollection of why exactly I bought TR1, but I did back then and simply loved it from the very first moments in the caves. I missed that very first switch right next to the door for a very long time, but the frustration was not that big so I carried on... Finished TR1 pretty quickly and I think even back then got some help from Theresa's tombraiders.com site And ever since bought the sequel games on their day of release in Germany and played them over the Christmas period."

Bex: "What do you find so appealing about Lara Croft, and what do you dislike about her?"

Michael: "Lara as a person? Funnily enough her rather 'outstanding' female attributes never appealed much to me. I like how she quickly became a character with a story in the background etc. as this made it so much easier to fully identify with the game and all those moves were so cool and such, but I guess they would have been cool if it had been a guy as well (will see if that statement holds when I get to play Kurtis in AOD - LOL)."

Cher: "How long did you play around with the Level Editor before actually building a level?"

Michael: "A week or two - that's how long it took me to rebuild the tutorial level and wading through the manual. Like many other builders I had completed TR5 quickly and then replayed it for speed in 4:10 hours and as of that moment turned my attention to that second green CD ROM in the package."

Cher: "You've authored 3 levels, Escape With the Amulet of Horus, Seven Islands and Blue Sphere. Which is your personal favorite."

Michael: "I really could not pick one."

Bex: "Do you think that the Level Building scene will die off with the release of TR:AOD?"

Michael: "No - I do not think AOD will have anything to do with that. Many builders have disappeared from the scene already others, are still going strong rumours have it that AOD will be rather short so, the attention might be shifting for a moment but I think new custom levels will be coming still for a while - more slowly of course but they will."

Cher: "Any plans for another Michael Prager level?"

Michael: "Yes and No - I am proud to be part of the Eidos Project managed by Lucas (Treeble) which just completed the architecture of the final room and is now in texturing stage, and I have a few papers with ideas in my drawer, but I have not seriously touched the editor in more than a year and would have to learn lots of stuff again from scratch plus all the new tools you need to build something decent. And then there is the issue of time - with the website to run and still lots of levels to play and review..."

Cher: "Would you even have the time to author another level with the time spent moderating and maintaining forum, work and your personal life?"

Michael: "Well, the answer would be - I don't even have the time to maintain site and forum, play levels and work and personal life but I am doing it anyway somehow - so from that perspective I could as well build a level - but I guess it's been too long since I did."

Bex: How do you find the time to work, maintain a forum, update an ever-changing web site, write reviews and spend time with your wife - in other words, do you ever sleep"?"

Michael: "Yes, I do sleep - though definitely not enough...and no, I do not spend enough time with my wife - but as she is going through a phase of exploring new hobbies (painting, reading, playing guitar) she needs a lot of time for herself too, so we manage..."

Cher: "Do you aspire to have a level in the top 50? Or are you happy with what you've done and moderating this site?"

Michael: "No, I do not aspire to have a level in the Top50 and in fact I think nobody should. This is not what it's about. I am very happy with the ratings for my three levels and realize they are a little higher than they would be if the author wouldn't be me."

Cher: "You think so?"

Michael: "Yes - also many of those ratings are from long ago and would be lower today - so I am not complaining."

Cher: "Do you have a favorite custom level? A favorite level author?"

Michael: "I easily have a 100 favourite levels, but as known by many, Tomb of Cleopatra's Handmaiden somehow is my special, classic, nostalgia level. As for authors I could only name the usual suspects and rather than omitting somebody, I won't do that."

Bex: "Is there anything you really don't like in custom levels?"

Michael: "Lots - LOL! Mazes, dark mazes, dark underwater mazes, unmarked climbing or monkey passages, unmarked spike traps - did I mention mazes."

Bex: "Have you ever played a custom level and, during a really good bit, thought "Ooh, I wish I'd created that!" If so, what bit was it?"

Michael: "Not quite like that. I often asked myself 'How did she or he do that'? when I was intrigued by something I had not thought of being possible with the editor. Of course, with all the new tools lots of things became possible and I have long since stopped wondering about anything."

Cher: "You recently went on a holiday, to Austria, I believe, did you think about the forum and wonder how it was getting on?"

Michael: "Yes, couldn't help myself - and guess what they had an Internet terminal in the hotel and read the forum every night. Managed to stay away from posting though but I read."

Cher: "I'm sure some of the original forum members know this, but why the Forum? Where did the idea come from, why YOU?"

Michael: "The idea was not mine. There was already a pretty good community of reviewers and it was Webknight who offered to create and host a forum for the site and of course I gladly accepted and see where we are today with 250+ members and close to our first anniversary. I owe Dirk a lot here and it's sad that he has some private reasons to step out of the community, as without him it really wouldn't exist in the way it does today."

Cher: "How has the Forum evolved since it's inception?"

Michael: "Actually the structure has never changed - with the exception of the addition of the Jury forum. We did not know what would happen and it turned out to be a players forum rather than a builders forum, which was fine by me as I had turned into being a player - There are other and better forums out there for level builders to share tips and tricks but I dare say, there are few if any better forums out there to help you when you are stuck in a custom level."

Nef: "What were your expectations when you and Dirk set up the website and forum and how wildly different is reality."

Michael: "We actually did not have any expectations - well, can't speak for Dirk really but we just thought we would give it a go and see what happens. I think it turned out great because it has become such a friendly and virtual home like place. We have had so few real fights and troubles in the forum it's amazing I think I deleted maybe 5 posts in my moderator role in the whole last year."

Cher: "Yes, and one was mine."

Michael: "No comment."

Cher: "I am sure members come and members go, and then there are some that have been around as long as the forum. Are there any members who are no longer active, that stick out in your mind? And if so why?"

Michael: "Another tricky question to answer, because as you pick one you miss out others, but actually I miss every single person who was a regular forum member and then for known or unknown reasons disappears."

Cher: "In your circle of friends, are there other "raiders" And do your friends know about your Tomb Raider "fetish":"

Michael: "In the old days I had a colleague who also played the regular series but by now he is married, has two kids and other priorities. Of course, I have just met a fantastic circle of 'new' friends at the German TR meeting in July who are just as addicted as I am. Other friends know that I spend a lot of time with my site and are actually in awe about the monthly hit rate of more then half a million and the fabulous Review Staff page with those diverse people."

Cher: "There has been a recent influx of "newbies" lately. To what do you attribute that to?"

Michael: "Actually that was always the case and some then stayed and became regulars and others didn't. The bigger the community gets the higher the likelihood of sharing with friends that there is a site they might want to try out. In the early days I roamed many forums and advertised my site - I have totally stopped that as it is no longer needed."

Cher: "How much time do you spend moderating and maintaining the forum? It's got to be a HUGE amount of work."

Michael: "Actually not - you all are such a friendly bunch - LOL. I am basically online most of my daily work time and can check quickly every hour or so for new posts and the time doesn't even register as spent. And admittedly I have stopped reading everything in the Stuck in a level forum and trust people will notify me when things get out of hand. Keeping the reviews up to date is much more work."

Nef: "Exactly what do you do for a living? I know you work in IT but that covers a multitude of sins?"

Michael: "All the filthy details can actually be found in the CV section on the website. In short I am currently what we call the Global Product Owner for the SAP Demand Planning software that Procter & Gamble uses world wide to forecast which products our customers will buy from us in what quantities. The role involves lots of international contacts with the US, Asia, Latin America and Europe and is great fun."

Cher: "How tall are you?"

Michael: "ROTFL - you DO mean body height, right?"

Cher: "What'd you think I meant? lol?"

Michael: "nevermind - about 1.80 meters, you'd have to convert that into feet & inches yourself (5 ft. 11 inches)."

Cher: "ROTFL."

Cher: "What color are your eyes?"

Michael: "brown - don't you see that on the pic on the review staff page?"

Cher: "like we can tell what color your eyes are, lol. What is your wife's name and how did you meet?"

Michael: "I could tell you my wife's name but then I would have to kill you afterwards or she would kill me - does not want to share anything about herself on the net and I respect that. We have met in 1984 in Brighton, UK during a summer school vacation - very romantic."

Cher: "Does she resemble "Lara" at all?"

Michael: "No."

Cher: "How long have you been married?"

Michael: "9 years."

Cher: "Does your wife play Tomb Raider at all? Or any games?"

Michael: "Only occasionally. When TR4 came out we had a bit more time and she actually took a few steps and liked the idea of the game, but her priorities are elsewhere."

Cher: "Hopefully she is understanding about the time you put into the forum?"

Michael: "See somewhere above - we are mature enough to get our priorities managed."

Cher: "Do you have children? And if not, any plans to start a family? *though Cheryl thinks he could hardly have time* lol"

Michael: "How much time do you need as a man if you want children? Shouldn't 30 seconds be enough - seriously - answer is no and no current plans - we both work and enjoy working, so it might happen or it might not - time will tell..."

Cher's comment: I'd like to thank Michael for asking me to do this as it was great fun. And many thanks to Bex, Nefertari and of course, Palo for all their assistance.