How has the response been for the Early Access for Wasteland 2?
Brian Fargo: Very good. People liked what they were seeing and felt we were delivering on what was outlined from the start, delivering on the Wasteland 2 we promised and for the people we expected. But, it’s also been good in the sense that we got a lot of quality, constructive feedback, and Early Access has given us not just a means to gather more of that feedback, but also the funds, so we can take our time to process and work with that feedback. Fans who have been in Early Access since the start will have seen how much the game has been improved, and the fans that waited will get a more polished and robust game thanks to it.
Do you have any specific examples of gameplay mechanics or features that have been changed due to the Early Access feedback, or was it relegated more to bug fixing?
Brian Fargo: There have been a number of changes. There are points of system balance, such as beefing up the usefulness of Charisma. There are points of level design, such as adding more instances where Alarm Disarm, or Demolitions for disarming traps are more useful. Or it’s minor points, such as the fact that all Wasteland 1 followers were found in the gravesite in Ranger Citadel, and this came as a bit of a shock to players who had grown fond of them, so we changed a number of gravestones. In a broader sense, it also lets us know what features people really value and use frequently, so we can prioritize them, such as putting back in a local map functionality. This is important info to have both for now, and for possible post-release work. The beauty of this process is that we took all the feedback that normally comes post launch, and moved into production where we could react to it.
