Ferret

If you have the option to play either gender, the game should reflect it. I completely agree with you on that point. The funny thing is I actually got a bug very recently with one of my areas where I slipped and didn't include a case for the female. Oopsie, it happens. I fixed it, of course, but I thought the timing of this thread was amusing. Perhaps Grinder wrote the bug in question and is now poking fun at me. How cruel. -Ferret

Oh, and welcome to our forums. -Ferret P.S. I also think this was a cool idea for a thread. I think he should get a coveted Gold Star for it. That's what I get paid with.

In KotOR, I don't recall any gender mistakes playing either as a male or female. Which certainly doesn't mean that they weren't there on occasion, but that it wasn't so pervasive that it was glaring (to me, at least). When we're writing we definitely try and take the PC's gender into account. If we slip it's a bug. So please forgive our mortal failings. -Ferret

This is sort of a half-answer, so bear with me. In KotOR some skills may have felt neglected by the end of the game. In our game we try to make each skill get more "air time", if you will. Ideally speaking if you have bought any particular skill by the end of the game you should feel like you got some good mileage off of it. There will probably be some skills that are more desirable than others (which is almost always inevitable), but all skills should have their moments to shine and be relevant. -Ferret

I am rather curious how the boards will be in a few months time. Being a big Star Wars geek, I am looking forward to seeing what the new people think and what they have to talk about. We'll see in time how crazy the board gets, I suppose. -Ferret

Little does Michael Chu suspect that there is no way out of the first room. Planescape: Torment is just a well-planned consipracy. Bwahaha... -Ferret

It's been awhile, but I played Arx Fatalis. It was reminiscent of the classic Ultima Underworld series. I enjoyed the game, and even got into the rune casting thing. My expectations of the game were pretty low, though, so I was pleasantly surprised and that might color my evaluation of it. I've been playing Sacred, Battlefield: Vietnam, and just picked up Mark of Kri. And any day I keep hoping to hear that City of Heroes has a slot for me. Yay! -Ferret

Getting a publisher to agree to find development of a game is wicked hard. Development studios can have trouble with it, I haven't heard of any examples of independent peeps getting something signed. It probably does happen, but you'd probably be more likely to be struck by lightning...multiple times. It's a heavy investment and like Frank was saying, publishers want to minimize their risks as much as they possibly can. -Ferret

I think Josh is right on the money with his comment, and it's great cautionary advice. Game development is a job - and that does mean you have to play ball and don't have complete freedom in what you do. There are all sorts of factors that limit what a developer can do. I think there is plenty of room to be happy and do what you love, but many times you need to be very flexible and roll with the punches. Sometimes that is difficult, and other times maybe impossible. But even with that give and take, there is clearly nothing else I'd rather be doing. -Ferret

Egad, my post got lost. Aaah! I'm not going to post the games I was playing recently because it's just too long. The game I plan on playing more tonight is Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX. I've been playing that series since the 80s, and I still enjoy the new iterations. I'm thinking of playing Lionheart again if I don't get into the City of Heroes beta soonish. But there are several other contenders on my bookshelf, too. There really are just too many games and not enough time. -Ferret

More like free soda - but that's kinda comparable to bottlecaps, right? I pity you people paid in real money, sheesh! -Ferret

Yeah, QA can definitely be a rocky road (sorry to hear about your rough experience). But I'm amazed at how many developers got their start there. And even if you landed a developer position directly and skipped entry-level, I think you're missing some valuable experience and perspective on the process of making games. If you have other marketable skills or a decent career, going to game QA is a huge sacrifice. The pay cut can be very painful.

I've worked QA at a few companies and in my experience if you like games, know the basics about computers (or consoles), and can make a good impression in an interview then you have a good shot at getting a QA gig. No real education is required and any technical skills beyond basic familiarity with computers is a big plus. The biggest trick is to find a place that is hiring. I'm sure that different companies have different expectations for QA, though, so don't take this as gospel. -Ferret Designer on the Delaware Project

Rubber elf ears are cheap. And so is Frank. I hope you guys are letting someone else write the jokes for project X It's all us, baby! Get ready for comedy gold for hours on end!* We'll be here all week. * Views expressed do not necessarily represent those of Obsidian's consumer base, fans, detractors, or employees. Oh man... Who let Avellone out of his cage? I'm not putting him back in there this time. -Ferret Designer on the Delaware Project

Hee hee... So I take it my choices of favorites didn't offend people. It's funny how many times I've talked about my favorite games with peoples. I think Ultima IV is almost the gimme answer for many RPGers (when it came out it was like a breath of fresh air for RPGs). PST has to have one of the best stories ever, and I know friends that got into the sit-down Planescape genre because of that game. And Atreides, I'm afraid Force Persuade only works on the weak-minded. So *RESIST*. -Ferret Designer on Project X

The first post is free. Go ahead and try one, kid. -Ferret Designer on Project X

What I'm about to say has been said in this thread somewhere, but I think it bears emphasis. A tried and true way of breaking into the industry is via QA and CS. There are oodles of developers I know that got their start there. I think that is becoming less common with time, the golden age of people being snatched from QA/CS in 2 months to become devs seems a fading memory. But if you have the patience QA can still springboard a career into the games industry. Just try to leave your pre-conceptions at the door - pay attention, listen to the veterans, learn the process, and be politely pro-active. Just my opinion. -Ferret Designer on Project X

Sounds like a pretty normal day at the office. I'm quite resistant to normal interrogation techniques now. -Ferret Designer on Project X P.S. Favorite RPG is a toss up between Ultima IV and Planescape: Torment. Non-RPG is much harder to pin down.

Nice to meet you all. I'm a new face on these boards. I was from Black Isle (but I was only there for a short spell - I worked on Van Buren). Been a bit too busy working on secret stuff to post. But I'll try and poke my head out every now and again. -Ferret Designer on Project X

You guys probably already know this - but as much as you'd like to know what we're working on, we're probably 10x more excited to be able to tell you and others we're doing. You trying telling friends, "I'm working on an unannounced project". It gets old fast. -Ferret Designer on Project X