Bethesda Softworks - Community Q&A @ Edge Online

Dhruin

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It's obviously unofficial Bethsoft day...Edge Online has a Pete Hines community Q&A with reader-submitted questions:
Why did you make Shivering Isles so big? Wasn't there a point where you were thinking about not making it an expansion pack and releasing it as a standalone game?
[From: Tim Chubb]

Pete Hines: No, no. I mean, Oblivion is such a big game, which sucks people in and has them play so much, that what makes most sense to us is to give those people something to do with those characters that they’ve attached so much to. So doing an expansion allows you to do that – it allows you to take those guys and go to a different place where you can do new quests and find new stuff, and at the same time go back to the original game. Because one of the things we find is when people play expansions, they play the expansion content but then they also want to go back and do more stuff in the game that they realised they never finished – like: “Hey, I didn’t realise I was that close to becoming head of the thieves guild – I’m going to go back and finish that,” and so on. So we like this idea of continuing this character that you’ve spent so much time addressing, and giving them more stuff to do without breaking it apart completely and just doing a standalone thing. That’s not something we do – we believe in doing a big game and then doing a big expansion.
More information.
 
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"Pete Hines: No, no. I mean, Oblivion is such a big game, which sucks"

Can't argue with you there Pete, but I'm still keeping an open mind on the expansion. Judging by the construction set there's no technical reason why an interesting RPG module can’t be produced using the Oblivion engine. Bloodmoon was a quality expansion; hopefully the Shivering Isles will be up to that standard.
 
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Future Quotes about Fallout 3...

Here are some future quotes from Bethesda about Fallout 3...

"We've always envisioned Fallout 3 as a next-step above the first two [installments], so I really think that their dedicated fanbase will embrace the real-time combat once they see it."

"To us, the first-person perspective really creates an accessible atmosphere that allows the casual gamer to fully enjoy the Fallout universe."

"I think that less text is actually more; If you can convey the same conversation in three lines as opposed to five, then why not? If you can convey the story arc in three quests, instead of five, then why not? It doesn't make sense to add more when you don't need to."

"At Bethesda, we always encourage divergent thinking. I don't think that revisionism is necessarily a bad thing; Just look at what Lucas did with his original trilogy. You always want to respect prior timelines but, at the same time, you don't want new or casual gamers to be daunted by Fallout's otherwise rich history. By altering the history & streamlining it, I think we've struck a very good balance of our creativity & [Black Isle's] creativity in creating a compelling plot that is accessible to all of our potential fanbase."

"Above all, story is very important. I think I speak for us all when I say that the story only works when you have very compelling gameplay to back that up with. Most people just want good game mechanics; I think that the game mechanics for Fallout 1 & 2 were wonderful. I think that what people will see in the game mechanics for Fallout 3 will both pay homage to & expand upon the SPECIAL system in ways they could never imagine."

Let the spin begin...
 
You know..That text above is way too scary to be just a joke.:biggrin: . Either you come from the future or you have some serious inside info! :p
 
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