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Probably the same reason why EQ raiders like Tigole also got into lead development positions almost from the start, by being EQ guild buddies with Rob Pardo (EnoYls).

You have to remember something. Blizzard devs played a LOT of EQ, and it shows, from the number of references in the game to hiring on their buddies despite no previous (or in Kalgan's case, competent) experience. Except in Kalgan's case, it involved him turning UO into nearly the same item-based lootfest as Diablo, similar to what Blizzard has done with WoW, and he got attention from Blizzard for it. Hell, even being A Name in the industry is worth something to a company when you have nothing for morals or standards, and Kalgan cashed in. That's probably why he fucked over UO before he left, after taking a nice Japanese vacation and adding in an expansion to appease the Japanese playing audience and the Japanophile crowd without any consideration to the material or the fans.

Then add on that even Kalgan could make it sound good by re-adding Lord British as a character in UO after Garriott left Origin and he was essentially written out, and you have a spin doctor AND designer in one that Blizzard could definitely use. Since, after all, they were doing nearly substandard MMOG work on almost all levels except take a beloved license and make elf tits bounce appealingly for all the kiddies in the Lion's Pride Inn.

The PVP is crap, raiding has turned from the camaraderie from other games into a backstabbing drama fest over who gets a raid slot, and the rest is nothing special other than it looks and sounds good (and I *do* have the utmost respect for most of the graphics and sound designers, as they have propelled an otherwise worthless game), but it's essentially a graphical MUD lamely copying from EQ using Diablo-esque loot mechanics, yet has been written for the Lowest Common Denominator. This number also includes a great deal of morons who STILL can't figure out how to read their quest descriptions.

As for how Kalgan/Evocare got into a lead position over much more competent folks at Origin to act as lead designer for a while, I have my theory about that as stated above.

He worked some design on UO, then worked even harder under an EA exec's desk. Nobody from any UO sites I know, nor anyone I know who has worked with him, has really been able to come up with an answer to that mystery.