RPGCodex "does" J.E. Sawyer

[zioburosky13]

Out of topic:

I'm confused..What is MCA :

 

[FeelTheRads]

Munchkin Chris Avellone?

 

[Brother None]

Master Chris Avellone.

From back when people still liked him.

I remember people being quite a lot more positive about the Bibles back in the day. Me? I never cared.

 

[zioburosky13]

Master Chris Avellone.

From back when people still liked him.

So no one likes him now :

 

[Brother None]

A good question.

I do, for one, if only for PS:T, doubtful as that may remain.

I dunno, I think he's a capable developer if given the chance. The whole munchkinism doesn't work for him, tho'

 

[Sander]

Master Chris Avellone.

From back when people still liked him.

I remember people being quite a lot more positive about the Bibles back in the day. Me? I never cared.

I remember MCA saying it stood for Mr. Chris Avellone in the Fallout Bibles, though.
Meh, people went negative about the bibles once they started contradicting themselves, methinks.

 

[Corith]

Master Chris Avellone.

From back when people still liked him.

So no one likes him now :

He is friendly and pleasant. And, he does not have the arrogance level common to others involved in the game industry such as the aforementioned JE, Fergus, Raph Koster, and Herve Caen.

 

[Roshambo]

All this talk of amnesia made me completely forget something; the title MCA will be remembered for long after PS-T and FO2 have turned to dust...

Descent to Undermountain!!!

More like Descent to Undermunchkin.

I almost forgot it myself. I kept confusing it with that Disney movie "Escape from Witch's Mountain". An easy mistake considering both had unparalleled suckitude factors. The difference being that one was a kids movie from Disney so I didn't expect much even when I was a kid.

It must be noted that the character creation in Disney's "Escape from Witch Mountain" was far better.

Now, I could go on and on and on about all the problems with DtU such as piss poor writing,

WHAT writing?

extremely pathetic managment decisions,

Yeah, hype out that it will have multiplayer dungeon crawling, about the only thing they apparently cared about, and then (this is the hilarious part) cut out the multiplayer without even removing that from the listed features on the box! It's not as if the networking and other multiplayer object code wasn't already present in the Descent engine, and you wonder how those boneheads could fuck that up...

graphics that somehow escaped a time capsule from 5 years prior which were completely wasted on an otherwise decent engine (which wasn't even designed for the type of game DtU was supposed to be)

Fact is, they took the Descent engine and did an absolutely pathetic job, further insulting the Descent title by using the name partly for this turd. And turd describes it well, given that most of the areas are a wonderful shit brown even when design would allow for escapes from shit brown. You are treated to such wonderfully created themes as: "babyshit green mixed with brown", "bloody mudbutt", and "this is so bad, smearing shit onto the screen would be a graphical improvement". The AI is even sub-par to that found in the original Descent, even more limited sound support (that loves to crash the game), and loading a save game will sometimes corrupt the installation of the game (I'm getting some pretty hairy Ravenloft flashbacks here...but DtU took the cake). So will just playing the damn thing cause it to sometimes crash out and corrupt the installation.

but instead of going on and on and on about all those craptastic qualities, I'll simply suggest reading some reviews or waiting for Roshambo to reply.

The Underdogs is HIGHLY accurate about the suckitude of this game. GameSpot has an even better one.

Even if everything in DTU were picture-perfect, this would still be a derivative game, treading the same path of all the AD&D computer games that inundated the market from the late 1980s into the early 1990s. But if it looked good and played smoothly there'd at least be some happy AD&D fans right now; as it stands, no one's happy, and in fact, a lot of people are downright angry. The lesson to be learned should be obvious: If you're gonna ride the hype machine, you'd better deliver the goods. Sadly, DTU doesn't even come close - and the worst part is that sometime over the next year or so we'll probably see this same story played out all over again.

Yeah, it was called "Baldur's Gate", which was similarly as unimaginative on almost all levels as DtU, ran like shit, and was a masterpiece of technical ineptitude that Feargus and MCA both adopted to further their fine tradition of SLAM DUNK! titles with a craptacular mentality that was first evident in DtU. Since there was copious use of munchkinism, Drizzt, and crackhead gameplay, of course it garnered attention of anyone who would buy a title for the license. Of course, BG was better than DtU, but not by much, really.

AVault also accurately describes DtU's numerous problems, and you would have thought that the trend-chasing mentality might have ended there with the obvious clue.

Interplay, which now owns the label, has put together a title designed to grapple both the discerning tastes of the RPG army and the trillion action-lovin' 3D junkies which have sprung up so forcibly of late. Hence, the concept behind Descent to Undermountain was born. Given flesh by a revamped version of the Descent engine, the title underwent a lengthy development process and was intended to satisfy all our RPG deprived longings. It was to break the ominous writs of history and become a successful, detailed first-person RPG.

It was but a brief dream.

First and foremost, we must establish the world into which this title enters. The most elegant example of recent role-playing game design is Fallout, also an Interplay release. The post-nuclear gem runs off of an incredible system architecture, features vastly entertaining gameplay, and a rich, original story. Then, in the fantasy-action mold, the most impressive (albeit simplistic) medieval world to explore thus far was served up by the silky-smooth accelerated code of Hexen 2. With that fundamental comparison as our template, it must be noted that Descent to Undermountain has been released long, long after its time.

Originally advertised as a true cooperative multiplayer adventure, DtU had the feature axed from it a few months before release. The RPG community, who had been anxiously awaiting an authentic networkable RPG, basically feels shafted. The game could have almost been fun if there was somebody else in it with you, and given the expanse of Descent's ability to multi-play, the resulting removal of this option is baffling.

At least that was what the game was billed, and also boasted about multiplayer more often than not. It is also irony that they take a moment to point out Fallout as a good game, when DtU, with almost every half-baked trendy thing people have been trying half-ass argue into Fallout 3, didn't work. Don't miss the multiple pages of the AVault review, they explain it a lot more in-depth.

Then, for anyone who doesn't think that CRPG had a DEFINITE definition back in the 90's:

The quests take the form of simple dungeon hacks, referring to the actual AD&D system of battle only with regards to armor class and spell memorization.

Too bad the gaming media isn't so clued in anymore.

Then, there's also this review, which I think details the problems even more.

Then, the truth about the game mechanics and Interplay comes to light, especially given the eventual Baldur's Gate.

Editor: The biggest disappointment here is that Interplay has replaced SSI in producing these AD&D games, but Interplay seems less equipped to deal with the issues of pure AD&D rules than SSI. In the Gold Box games, such as Pool of Radiance and in the later Eye of the Beholder series, which culminated with the Ravenloft and Menzoberranzin games, SSI displayed an intimate knowledge of AD&D rules and executed the mathematical damage and combat tables with complete faithfulness. Interplay does not seem willing or able to recreate the AD&D experience in a computer game, which adheres to the true AD&D mathematical calculations.

I think that is a fair evaluation of MCA and the general BioWhore Collective's design style, indeed.

EDIT: FOUND IT!

Finally found the archive of the Dragonplay site, Interplay's fantasy site back in the mid-90's. Such features listed include:

Up to 4 players via network and 2-player modem, which will be cut from the game and the site when the game hits launch, yet said feature will be kept on the box.

20 magic-ridden dungeons filled with unspeakable horrors of design.

3D polygon monsters await you in frighteningly bad detail.

Explore the treacherous dungeons with fluid movement using an unbelievable lobotomization of the award-winning Descent engine.

The rest of the page is simply full of bullshit lies, including the obvious for even 1998: Descent engine remains the best rendering 3-D engine ever. Not with DtU, which was fuglier than Descent, and offered no 3d acceleration!

Then there's the excuses and lame reasons why multiplayer was axed yet still hyped.

Then you can check the archived Interplay Feedback forums for the reactions of those who bought the turd. There, you will find the legendary Lord Brinne defending DtU until he apparently died out of denial about how a sequel wasn't going to be coming because DtU sucked too much*, to be remembered in M&M8, Deus Ex, UIX, and Morrowind.

* - Bad joke, I know, but it takes a special kind of person to like DtU and how other mainstream titles were turning to crap. Oh, wait, he wasn't alive to see how his favorite series were skullfucked, and that's probably a good thing else he'd be here alongside me as an irate alumni from the old school. Even I was forgiving to a point, but enough has been enough, and the incompetence of years just stacks up.

I also found this bit of debunking the lies about DtU by 3dRealms' Scott Miller to be quite amusing.

Also, those who still remember the fiasco around the FOS forum being closed down will love this.

I remember people being quite a lot more positive about the Bibles back in the day. Me? I never cared.

I didn't care much until it seemed like he had a clue with PS:T. That was only for a brief period, however, since from DtU, to Fallout 2, to the rest of the SLAM DUNK!s, MCA has been quite the clueless wonder. It's a wonder that they can do anything right, but then I remember that their target audience is a bunch of 14 year-olds who think the genre started with BioWare.

I remember MCA saying it stood for Mr. Chris Avellone in the Fallout Bibles, though.
Meh, people went negative about the bibles once they started contradicting themselves, methinks.

No, people went negative about the bibles after the moron tried to go into what was and what wasn't FEV mutated, and then perhaps each creature could have a stat showing its level of FEV infection. As in, from the very start, with his "FEV explains everything" garbage.

 

[Per]

Avellone made Targos, yes, but Puuk made Severed Hand (with someone else)

edit: J.E. was more of an overseer

Puuk got a fair amount of praise for his Van Buren stuff, didn't he? Also, how do you know this crazy inside information? Could you tell me if John Deiley did the Wandering Village?

(I have these unwritten reviews of IwD 1+2 and Torment in my head, but I don't like to start pilfering opinions and comments from them because it'd kill any possibility (however slim) of me ever typing them out and submitting them in General Gaming, which I don't since I basically have this suspicion people would reply with something like "Uh... yeah". Now if MCA or JES browsed NMA on a regular basis...)

Quite frankly, the only thing I liked in IWD2 was the character artwork, mostly done by Jason Manley.

He didn't do the new portraits in IwD2, though, did he? But the ones from IwD were awesome indeed in an "all right, all-babe party coming up" kind of way.

What?

Then I read a TSR novel in the Planescape setting called "Pages of Pain" by Troy Denning which came out in September 1996. The plot is... I bet you can't guess... The plot is about an uber tough amnesiac who's wandering around Sigil. So much for originality although I recall reading an interview where MCA said he'd never heard of the novel when he thought up the story for PS-T.

The similarities - when looking at plot summaries, at any rate - are striking. But it also feels hard to believe that MCA, or anyone, would steal a whole premise straight off like that and expect plausible deniability (unless that was the master plan, but that's a bit too conspiratorial for me). Stranger coincidences than you'd expect do happen in writing. People come up with the same concepts and sets of concepts, especially when some of them follow more or less logically from each other. And if he had just read a plot summary of PoP and this sparked off his own take on the theme? That wouldn't necessarily be plagiarism as much as "writing it better", to nick a few words off Neil Gaiman. This is apologetic speculation, yes, but the theory that someone else is to blame for all that's right with PsT is speculation as well.

At least New Reno, while being little more than pathetic adolescent fantasies, didn't involve any amnesia.

Amnesia plots are, by this point, almost an established device in genre fiction, like, say, time travel plots or virtual reality. By now, no one goes, "Geez, not time travel again??" The thing is to come up with your own angle, to beat everyone else at the game, or just do something good involving the idea. (Everyone go watch Primer.) If there's a reason to point at KotOR 2 and say that this is the one amnesia plot we didn't need, it would be because it had been done in the same series, and even that could be countered (weakly) by saying the KotOR series is somehow about amnesia. (Yeah, I know.)

"Pages of Pain" is said to be brilliant compared to many in the genre

Looking at Amazon and elsewhere, it seems to get very mixed reviews, but it's certainly got a following. Still, when it goes about explaining and detailing the Lady of Pain, you have to seriously question the author's understanding of (or respect for) the setting.

I have a hard time believing that no-one either at TSR or at BIS researching the setting said "uh, hey, this was just done".

Whether they did or not doesn't have any bearing on the issue of whether MCA ripped off PoP, though.

The second is that MCA appearntly complained about the use of amnesia as a plot device once upon a time, saying it was a lame cop out.

Objection! Hearsay.

Descent to Undermountain!!!

There's a hidden message in New Reno acknowledging DtU was crap.

Master Chris Avellone.

I've seen it typed out as "Mayor" and "Mister", though I never knew was that was about.

So no one likes him now :

I'm a little confused by this ire myself. As far as I can tell, MCA has brought considerably more ambition, effort and attention to detail to the games I've played that he contributed to than the average designer: PsT, Fo2, IwD2 (not counting IwD since it doesn't have enough dialogue or plot to tell who did what, or even to rate them meaningfully - haven't laid eyes on KotOR 2). I find it slightly hypocritical to praise PsT to the skies and yet not credit MCA with the traits that went into making it, when his character design, dialogue and humour in other places don't exactly indicate the opposite (I said I didn't play KotOR 2 LALALALAICAN'THEARYOU).

I found the MCA interview at the Codex odd in the way that it was sometimes clear that MCA was responding to Serge's comments, but at other times he hadn't been given the opportunity to do so. For instance:

SERGE: You are kidding, right? Anyway, why do you feel that way? Do you think that graphics – any graphics – can be more immersive, more descriptive than good writing?

This is a nonsensical generalization: does arbitrarily good writing trump arbitrarily good graphics? What? Obviously if MCA had been allowed to respond to this he'd have either qualified his statement or else just said he wasn't talking about some inherent conflict between graphics and writing that Serge just pulled out of his hat. But since he doesn't get the chance, he comes off as saying, "More pixx less words hurr!!!" Since I don't think he really was, inserting these comments, which are noticeably more loaded and hostile than the questions, seemingly just in order to "get" MCA doesn't really reflect too well on the interviewer.

 

[Sander]

Amnesia plots are, by this point, almost an established device in genre fiction, like, say, time travel plots or virtual reality. By now, no one goes, "Geez, not time travel again??" The thing is to come up with your own angle, to beat everyone else at the game, or just do something good involving the idea. (Everyone go watch Primer.) If there's a reason to point at KotOR 2 and say that this is the one amnesia plot we didn't need, it would be because it had been done in the same series, and even that could be countered (weakly) by saying the KotOR series is somehow about amnesia. (Yeah, I know.)

Standard amnesia plots get boring, just like the standard swords and sorcery fantasy settings get boring. Original takes are what makes games outstanding, Fallout's 50s-oriented Post-nuke setting, PS:T's approach of an amnesia plot, Arcanum's form of steampunk (although that one's due to the fact that steampunk isn't that common in the first place). It's also what can make potentially good games, books and movies really, really boring.
I'd say that if MCA did steal the premise from Pages of Pain, he didn't steal all of the character design, all of the writing and all of the rest of the story from it.

I'm a little confused by this ire myself. As far as I can tell, MCA has brought considerably more ambition, effort and attention to detail to the games I've played that he contributed to than the average designer: PsT, Fo2, IwD2 (not counting IwD since it doesn't have enough dialogue or plot to tell who did what, or even to rate them meaningfully - haven't laid eyes on KotOR 2). I find it slightly hypocritical to praise PsT to the skies and yet not credit MCA with the traits that went into making it, when his character design, dialogue and humour in other places don't exactly indicate the opposite (I said I didn't play KotOR 2 LALALALAICAN'THEARYOU).

PS:T was brillliant, of course. New Reno was quite a good roleplaying design, which was reasonably worked out, but it was completely off for the setting, hence one of the reasons for ire. The other being his further ignorance of the setting in the Fallout Bible as pointed out by Rosh, although this wasn't entirely his fault since Chris Taylor agreed that the ghouls were caused by both FEV and radiation even though that obviously contradicts the fact that they became like that due to the vault not closing. Tim Cain contradicted Chris Taylor on that point, though.

I found the MCA interview at the Codex odd in the way that it was sometimes clear that MCA was responding to Serge's comments, but at other times he hadn't been given the opportunity to do so. For instance:

SERGE: You are kidding, right? Anyway, why do you feel that way? Do you think that graphics – any graphics – can be more immersive, more descriptive than good writing?

This is a nonsensical generalization: does arbitrarily good writing trump arbitrarily good graphics? What? Obviously if MCA had been allowed to respond to this he'd have either qualified his statement or else just said he wasn't talking about some inherent conflict between graphics and writing that Serge just pulled out of his hat. But since he doesn't get the chance, he comes off as saying, "More pixx less words hurr!!!" Since I don't think he really was, inserting these comments, which are noticeably more loaded and hostile than the questions, seemingly just in order to "get" MCA doesn't really reflect too well on the interviewer.

Well, that's in part due to the Codex' provocative and confrontational style, in part due to MCA's cynical and sarcastic style of writing as well. I'd say that Avellone loves to play around with interviewers like this.

 

[Crazy_Vasey]

Amnesia plots are, by this point, almost an established device in genre fiction, like, say, time travel plots or virtual reality. By now, no one goes, "Geez, not time travel again??" The thing is to come up with your own angle, to beat everyone else at the game, or just do something good involving the idea. (Everyone go watch Primer.) If there's a reason to point at KotOR 2 and say that this is the one amnesia plot we didn't need, it would be because it had been done in the same series, and even that could be countered (weakly) by saying the KotOR series is somehow about amnesia. (Yeah, I know.)

KOTOR2 had an amnesia plot? I just thought it was a case of the player not knowing as much about the main character's history as, well, everyone else in the galaxy.

 

[Ratty Sr.]

The Jedi Exile is so clueless he might as well have amnesia.

a) He wakes up in a kolto tank and doesn't know how he got there.

b) He doesn't know who got him off the Ebon Hawk.

c) He has no idea how get got to be *aboard* the Ebon Hawk in the first place.

d) He has no idea who Kreia is.

e) He has no clue why the Jedi Council banished him.

f) He no longer remembers how to use the Force.

g) He is hopelessly out of the loop concering political developments in the Republic and the Sith Empire.

You are right, though, the KotOR II main character doesn't have amnesia, but KotOR II designers apparently did, because I don't know how else to explain the fact that the last six hours of the game last 40 minutes.

Really, according to my calculations the game would have been 24.76% better had they actually - you know - *finished* it. Here are just some of the things Obsidian cut:

- an entire planet, containing, among other things, the HK-50 factory

- a hilarious scene in which HK-47 tortures an HK-50 unit into revealing the location of said planet

- on said planet, HK-47 was supposed to reach an agreement with new HK-51 units...

- ...that the HK-51 units will help him destroy G0T0/Goto (LS Exile) or Bao Dur's Remote (DS Exile) in the great G0T0/Remote stand-off

- the great G0T0/Remote stand-off

- Bao Dur was supposed to sacrifice himself at some point between the battle of Telos and Malachor V

- originally, it as possible to have Kreia remain with the Exile throughout the entire game, and Atris would then assume her old Darth Traya alter-ego

- Canderous and his Mandalorians were supposed to turn on the Republic forces in the battle of Telos

- duels between Visas and Brianna (if the Exile was male) or Atton and Mical (if the Exile was female)

- a confrontation between Darth Nihilus and Darth Sion

- a duel between Darth Sion and Atton, resulting in Atton's injury and possibly death

- a confrontation between the Exile's party members and Darth Traya on Malachor V (likely resulting in their capture or death)

- Canderous' account of Revan's departure into the Unknown Region

- Kreia is Brianna's mother!!!11 (not sure if this one is true)

Quite a list, there.

 

[SimpleMinded]

On the topic of JE and NWN 2, it looks like he's actually just become the lead designer for the project. Whether that will cause any changes at this point in the project, I don't know. Just thought I'd bring it up since both subjects are being discussed .

 

[Corith]

On the topic of JE and NWN 2, it looks like he's actually just become the lead designer for the project. Whether that will cause any changes at this point in the project, I don't know. Just thought I'd bring it up since both subjects are being discussed .

Expect a liner plot line where you are told what you will be doing on each and every aspect of the game.

 

[4too]

""Play It Again Sam ... "" / "&quot

""Play It Again Sam ... ""




Let's remix from the interview.


From here:
http://www.rpgcodex.com/content.php?id=127

To refresh the memory:

1. What's your definition of RPG? What features are important to you and why?

I think the ability to make personality choices through my character that influence the outcome of things in the world is the only requirement for a game to be an RPG.

I don't think that the character I play needs to be one invented by me, but I have to be in control of aspects of that character's personality. And the way in which I choose to express that character's personality needs to have significant effects on the state of the world. The more the world reacts to my character's personality, the better.

I do not think that item collection, stat screens, combat style, or the presence of a lot of dialogue make a game an RPG. Using this definition, I've never shipped a game with strong RPG elements. ...

Cherry pick this JE line:

... to make personality choices through my character that influence the outcome of things in the world ...

... choices ...

Blend it with this JE observation from question 13:

... To my knowledge there are no pure PC RPG developers left outside of very small outfits like ... Welcome to hell.

Fewer chances to make choices.

Fewer RPG's of any genus species ...

My observation: REPLAY VALUE upsets the tool up, production, and sales cycle. Games are now 'short-sharp-shocks' of unrequited expectations, a defoliated ''Field Of Dreams"".

Investment in entertainment software has no time for art and craft, for the old Pre Raphael / cottage work ethic. The dollar delta flow, the money ethic of the money changers holds the ultimate - artistic - license. The properties, created in the image of the ... MBA's, the ''business .. masters''' of the universe!

That's the divined industry trend, for this life cycle.

No matter how finely one puree's the DNA, how highly spins, RPM's, the separating centrifuge, the RPG pattern has changed. The RPG's twisting helix that carries it's organic code is adapting to these environmental influenza's. The flu of money. Viral adaptation.

The mutation may still be green, but in this 'Wasteland' of 'hollow men'.... 'no bang, but a whimper'.

Sorry MCA, it ain't 'FEV'.



....................



""In Held Twas In I"" *




Ratty:

... You are right, though, the KotOR II main character doesn't have amnesia, but KotOR II designers apparently did, ...

Consider as a parable for this corporate crowd, "'The Swimmer"".

Either the 1968 Burt Lancaster drama, or Cheever's short story of origin.

As this thread flows on and on the layers of conventional posturing are pealed away. The real stature of those in ''the industry'' seems a fan dance of denial.

The reviews googled at the movie sale sites, swing, pendulous, spoilers akimbo, so beware.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063663/
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005JKQ6/103-0753600-4489426?v=glance&n=130

And, it's O.K. to adapt a - shallow - attitude and not 'get' any connection to this twilight (zone) tale of the power of psychosis to tidy up all the bloody amputations of moral and fiscal failure, for a while. And, this forum thread of dissecting dev interviews.

Just another tale of selective amnesia, or a stubborn will to survive the truth and consequences of roles played.

The hero must journey on ... in the hell of his own choosing.




*Title's vapid cultural reference at:
http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/procol_harum/in_held_twas_in_i.html




4too

 

[Josan]

On the topic of JE and NWN 2, it looks like he's actually just become the lead designer for the project. Whether that will cause any changes at this point in the project, I don't know. Just thought I'd bring it up since both subjects are being discussed .

Expect a liner plot line where you are told what you will be doing on each and every aspect of the game.

Poor Ferret. Ferret go bye-bye.

But I don't think Sawyer can screw it up too much. The game is supposed to be released in a few months and Atari won't give Obsidian any additional time so no massive rewrites from JE.

I can't wait to see if there's an amnesia plot though...

 

[Mattaus]

Turn Based in Fallout Tactics just didn't work...

i agree... although it was there i think to please the die hard fallout fans like myself, it didnt work, if a falout 3 is ever made, it has to be turn based, isometric... although alot of things from tactics can be brought over.. like the quick 'right' click menus, changing appearance of 'sidekicks' with new armour, new animation sequences etc etc etc the graphics can also be brought up to date, even beyond tactics.. i think most pc's can handle higher performance graphics today but NO ctb !!!!!!

 

[Tannhauser]

Still, when it goes about explaining and detailing the Lady of Pain, you have to seriously question the author's understanding of (or respect for) the setting.

 

[VDweller]

I found the MCA interview at the Codex odd in the way that it was sometimes clear that MCA was responding to Serge's comments, but at other times he hadn't been given the opportunity to do so. For instance:

SERGE: You are kidding, right? Anyway, why do you feel that way? Do you think that graphics – any graphics – can be more immersive, more descriptive than good writing?

This is a nonsensical generalization: does arbitrarily good writing trump arbitrarily good graphics? What? Obviously if MCA had been allowed to respond to this he'd have either qualified his statement or else just said he wasn't talking about some inherent conflict between graphics and writing that Serge just pulled out of his hat. But since he doesn't get the chance, he comes off as saying, "More pixx less words hurr!!!" Since I don't think he really was, inserting these comments, which are noticeably more loaded and hostile than the questions, seemingly just in order to "get" MCA doesn't really reflect too well on the interviewer.

First, MCA was allowed to say whatever the hell he wanted to. I've given him a month to add the comments, since he indicated that he'd like to. In the end, he chose not to. That's his business.

Second, that quoted comment was in response to "Today, I would have had more NPC responses be reflected in animation and facial expression rather than just text. I'd also like a lot of dialogue options be represented visually, instead of described."

Third, the comments are not hostile, they are blunt, but is it really such a bad thing?

 

[Per]

KOTOR2 had an amnesia plot? I just thought it was a case of the player not knowing as much about the main character's history as, well, everyone else in the galaxy.

It seemed to be what people were saying. Looking at Mobygames (where KotOR 2 doesn't do too badly) none of the reviewers mentions amnesia. I'm not really the right person to discuss that, though.

First, MCA was allowed to say whatever the hell he wanted to. I've given him a month to add the comments, since he indicated that he'd like to. In the end, he chose not to. That's his business.

Right. It just looked a bit odd that all the remarks that were truly pointed - and not appended with "don't take this the wrong way" and such - were also the ones he hadn't responded to. Of course, by including the unanswered comments in the finished interview, you also demonstrate that you think they have value in themselves, not just as requests for clarification that never came. And that's debatable.

Second, that quoted comment was in response to "Today, I would have had more NPC responses be reflected in animation and facial expression rather than just text. I'd also like a lot of dialogue options be represented visually, instead of described."

Yes, he said "just text". I wonder why that might have been? In Fallout, important NPCs had text, a full set of voice samples, and facial expressions. Torment had lots of text, very few samples, and no facial expressions. Fallout had few visual cues in the written dialogue; Torment was loaded with them - some areas had people constantly frowning, peering, scratching their chins, looking up or looking down, to no great effect. What MCA is saying here is basically, "Oh, I'd do talking heads", and you triumphantly come back with, "Aha! Then you can't write well enough!"

Third, the comments are not hostile, they are blunt, but is it really such a bad thing?

You don't think the Quake comment could be interpreted as a malicious dig? What's the purpose of it, anyway? You're splitting hairs and indirectly ascribing a moronic standpoint to him, leaving it at that as if you'd somehow "debunked" him. Do you think he'd say an RPG "allows you to act out that role", then go on to seriously say that this does not necessarily mean having "the means to do so"? In what way would that make sense?

Sure, MCA is a big boy, he's had opportunity to answer for himself by now. I don't want to slag the whole interview, I just think the "blunt" remarks have a tone that break away from the rest, and it sticks out. They certainly don't amount to "putting him in his place" as someone said in the other thread. I suppose that depends on what you think about him in the first place.