RPGWatch - Spiders Interview #3

Couchpotato

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Here is the third part of our new interview with Jehanne Rousseau, CEO and co-founder of Spiders. This time we talk about her studios released games.

Couchpotato: Now that you have released Bound By Flame, Faery: Legends Of Avalon, Mars War Logs, and Of Orcs and Men, what lessons have you learned from developing all of those games to make future games even better?

Jehanne Rousseau: Creating is never easy. You have to face the comments and criticism of your public. Face it and learn from it (at least I hope so). Of course we can't do everything our players want: sometimes because we don't know how to do it, sometime because it's not possible with current technology, but most of the time because we have a very limited budget. Despite all that, we're really trying to do our best with the budget we have. We're spending a lot of time reading our player's comments and we're really trying to improve each game based on what we read. Some comments really make us sad of course, or furious - we're human beings and some words can hurt. But some of these comments make us think and those are the best.

I can't detail all the things we've learnt - all the player expectations here - but we're listening.
More information.
 
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hope so. it looks going worse and worse. (
not sure what those players comments are, but theres a chance they are leading them astray
 
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Well I don't see how they have been led astray by players comments. If you want to complain please write to their publisher Focus Home to give them a bigger budget.

As thats the main problem they have plenty of Ideas, but not enough funds.
 
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Jehanne Rousseau: One thing: sometime answering interviews is just boring, because the questions often are the same. Not here, and it was really a pleasure to answer!

Couldn't agree more.

You really do ask great questions Couch. It makes your interviews much more interesting to read. Keep up the good work.

It would be great if Spiders could get a larger budget. They're a creative team, with interesting ideas. Having more money, to create their vision, could only lead to even better games.
 
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Thanks Dean but I had help from Farflame with some of the questions. So give him a big thank you also as he helped make the interview better than it was already.:thanks:

Also for those curious here are my next four interviews.

Rampant Games – Jay Barnson
Spiderweb Games - Jeff Vogel
Olderbytes - Charles Clerc
NWN Modder - Savant

I also have an update about the OtherSide Entertainment interview as it might not happen as their PR department never sent back their answers.:disappointed:
 
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Thanks to you and Farflame.

You guys even got a compliment from the interviewee. How often does that happen.

Looking forward to the interview with Jay. He's got a unique perspective on game making and the industry. Should be a good read.
 
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It will be interesting to know which of their games was the most successful.

And more specifically how well Bound by Flame did and whether or or not they have plans to continue with this IP and maybe do a sequel after they finish Technomancer.
 
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Thanks to you and Farflame.

You are welcome. I just wanted to use this opportunity to "talk with" talented ppl.


You guys even got a compliment from the interviewee. How often does that happen.

Not very often I think. Its nice to know that the dev appreciate it. Maybe after few years Couch will approach Jehanne with another interview when Technomancer 4 and Of Titans and Gods will be announced. :)


Dennis14 said:
It will be interesting to know which of their games was the most successful.

Afaik it was probably Mars because it was the second cheapest game (after Feary, but Feary wasnt very successfull according to Jehanne). You dont need to make many trees or jungle assets for Mars, you know. :) I dont know if Bound by Flame sold more copies but it was definitely more expensive game so it also needs to sell more to be profitable. Now we see that its Mars settings they try to build upon in Technomancer.


Couchpotato said:
I also have an update about the OtherSide Entertainment interview as it might not happen as their PR department never sent back their answers.

They are probably too busy. Wait until their KS ends and send them another mail to remind them of an interview. I dont think they changed their minds.
 
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They are probably too busy. Wait until their KS ends and send them another mail to remind them of an interview. I dont think they changed their minds.
It's just another example of why I hate dealing with PR departments for interviews. As I said in the other thread I prefer to interview smaller indie developers.:brood:

Update: They finally sent the answers.
 
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