WorstUsernameEver
But best title ever!
Massively is offering another interview with Brian Fargo which comes just after the project exceeded its goal and offers some interesting insight into his mindset for the project and the future of the industry. Snips ahead:<blockquote>You'd been working on getting a true sequel to Wasteland out for the last 20 years. Can you give us any examples of the resistance you faced when you brought this idea to publishers?
In the beginning it was just a matter of having rights to do so. When we released Wasteland we were one of the top developers in the world and had several #1 successes with Bard's Tale, yet we really were not making much money. I tried to re-negotiate terms but I was offered but a small increase from what we were getting. It would have been crazy to stick with the same business model if a #1 hit wasn't getting us anywhere. There were people making decent money on games in the late 80's but they tended to be 1-2 person teams and there was no way I could make decent RPGs with that few people. So I became a publisher to change our model and EA wanted to pursue making a Wasteland 2 without us which was certainly in their rights to do so. I continued to pursue them to license the rights since they were not producing a game but they wanted to hold onto them. I finally gave up and decided I would just go make a new post-apocalyptic game that shared many of the sensibilities with the first one. We had many discussions about what made Wasteland great and through those discussions Fallout was born.
But then I was able to work out a deal with EA that allowed me to get the rights I needed and secure the trademark. At long last I was finally going to be able to jump back into the post-apocalyptic fray after so many years. But incredibly, I had no interest from ANY publisher. And then Fallout 3 became a HUGE success in 2008 and I thought for sure that would get me a deal, but again, zero interest. And then I brought Jason Anderson and Mike Stackpole aboard and still nothing.
The resistance from publishers ranged from absolute indifference to not knowing what I was talking about. I would speak quite enthusiastically about how great party-based RPGs were and that there was little competition, but I might as well have been pitching 4D tic-tac-toe. Most times I would not even get an reason as to why the publisher didn't like the idea or it would be a very generic "moving in another direction." It was aggravating.
(...)
Tell us about the game. How true to the original do you plan to make it?
I want this game to be comfortable for either a Wasteland of Fallout 1/2 player to be able to step into like a comfortable pair of shoes. Obviously the graphics need to be updated and will have different combat systems etc. but there is a tone, stats, and interface that comes with the RPGs from that era. People are very clear about wanting THAT experience and none of this "re-imagining" business. The game will initially take place in the (American) southwest with you controlling a band of desert rangers like the first game. The game will have scope and scale like both Wasteland and Fallout; it will be open-world in the sense that we don't lead you around by the nose; it will have multiple approaches to most things to avoid the moralistic "right" solution; it will be skill based; NPCs will join the group and not always behave like you want, and it will not require hand-eye coordination. Oh, and tons of weapons so people can shoot their way through situations instead of charming anyone.</blockquote>Thanks Goral.
In the beginning it was just a matter of having rights to do so. When we released Wasteland we were one of the top developers in the world and had several #1 successes with Bard's Tale, yet we really were not making much money. I tried to re-negotiate terms but I was offered but a small increase from what we were getting. It would have been crazy to stick with the same business model if a #1 hit wasn't getting us anywhere. There were people making decent money on games in the late 80's but they tended to be 1-2 person teams and there was no way I could make decent RPGs with that few people. So I became a publisher to change our model and EA wanted to pursue making a Wasteland 2 without us which was certainly in their rights to do so. I continued to pursue them to license the rights since they were not producing a game but they wanted to hold onto them. I finally gave up and decided I would just go make a new post-apocalyptic game that shared many of the sensibilities with the first one. We had many discussions about what made Wasteland great and through those discussions Fallout was born.
But then I was able to work out a deal with EA that allowed me to get the rights I needed and secure the trademark. At long last I was finally going to be able to jump back into the post-apocalyptic fray after so many years. But incredibly, I had no interest from ANY publisher. And then Fallout 3 became a HUGE success in 2008 and I thought for sure that would get me a deal, but again, zero interest. And then I brought Jason Anderson and Mike Stackpole aboard and still nothing.
The resistance from publishers ranged from absolute indifference to not knowing what I was talking about. I would speak quite enthusiastically about how great party-based RPGs were and that there was little competition, but I might as well have been pitching 4D tic-tac-toe. Most times I would not even get an reason as to why the publisher didn't like the idea or it would be a very generic "moving in another direction." It was aggravating.
(...)
Tell us about the game. How true to the original do you plan to make it?
I want this game to be comfortable for either a Wasteland of Fallout 1/2 player to be able to step into like a comfortable pair of shoes. Obviously the graphics need to be updated and will have different combat systems etc. but there is a tone, stats, and interface that comes with the RPGs from that era. People are very clear about wanting THAT experience and none of this "re-imagining" business. The game will initially take place in the (American) southwest with you controlling a band of desert rangers like the first game. The game will have scope and scale like both Wasteland and Fallout; it will be open-world in the sense that we don't lead you around by the nose; it will have multiple approaches to most things to avoid the moralistic "right" solution; it will be skill based; NPCs will join the group and not always behave like you want, and it will not require hand-eye coordination. Oh, and tons of weapons so people can shoot their way through situations instead of charming anyone.</blockquote>Thanks Goral.
