I've got an email interview with Obsidian for this week

[Sensuki]

I'm doing an email interview with Josh (I think, although others may answer my questions if they're more appropriate) for the Australian website Cybergamer (which has a European sister site).

 

My interview will try to avoid any of the questions that interviews/articles have asked already and things that the devs have answered on the Kickstarter Q&A, the forums or their personal sites (Sawyer's Formspring etc).

 

The planned interview will be split into three sections (Personal, Design, Mechanics).

 

I will ask very specific design and mechanics questions to try and generate better / more informative answers.

 

I think I have a bit of room for an extra design or mechanical question or two, so if there's anything you want to know that fits the bill of the interview then feel free to post your question here and if I like it I'll try and fit it in. I expect that I should get a reply tomorrow, if so the article should go up in 36 hours or so.

 

General topics I've already got covered

 

 

Souls

Class Homogeneity

Art Style

Avatar/Paperdoll Customization

RTS influences

Run Time Performance

Attack Animation

UI Features

Level/Power/XP Progression

 

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

How will attack rolls and skill rolls be handled?

 

How will AC be handled?

 

Will spell-casters have to make concentration checks?

[Sensuki]

I'm going to try and avoid simple one line questions like that because those are things that they probably haven't decided yet, as Josh or Feargus previously stated most of the stuff just exists as brief scribbles on whiteboards or they've talked about the general concept or idea behind stuff. No doubt Tim is cracking away designing systems.

 

For instance, your first question there they said that characters will hit more likely than not (unless you're a level 5 guy attacking a level 20 monster etc) in a post somewhere on the forums

 

Concentration checks, you'd assume, would at least be on in expert mode.

 

edit: I might consider asking about checks, but more in the context of what they can do now that they're not limited by a 20 sided die.

Edited October 10, 2012 by Sensuki

[Osvir]

What kind of macro versus micro strategic assets are we looking at?

 

Macro = Strategic assessments, such as the player house, inventory, equipment, Tech, Skills, Crafting and so on and so forth

Micro = Skill, combat, clicks, APM, dodging "bullets" and so on. Can you dodge attacks by going into prone mode in combat?

 

If talking generally, out of the blue (not necessarily a P:E question but a personal question to the staff of Obsidian): What features would an optimal co-op mode have, in a game, that they'd enjoy the most?

 

I would also, personally, want to get some ideas that may or may not be related to P:E. So that's a question too: Could you give us some more crypticism? xD

 

EDIT: Can you donate more money to Obsidian post-Kickstarter through PayPal? Or are there some legal issues post-Kickstarter that kicks in?

Edited October 10, 2012 by Osvir

[Gyor]

Any other races planned as stretch goals at 2.9 million and beyond?

 

How high are the Paypal donations?

 

Maybe Example of what kind of traits subraces may have?

 

They've given thier basic fluff vision for Wizards, Fighters, Rogues, Ciphers, Paladins, Chanters, Priests, Barbarians, but what about Rangers, Druids, and Monks?

 

Just some suggestions.

[Sensuki]

I know what macro and micro is the first game I played online once DSL became available in my area was warcraft 3 ladder afterall

Edited October 10, 2012 by Sensuki

[eimatshya]

You may already have this covered under class homogeneity, but I'd be interested to learn more about class customization options. They've stated that while each class will have a default combat role, it will be possible to develop them differently (e.g. nimble fighters and melee-centric priests). I'm curious as to how this will work. Will there be subclasses or different skill trees to choose from? Or are there something along the lines of feats/merits that you can select to customize your progression. If there are skill trees, are they going to be the kind of linear trees you see in most MMOs or will they be more open ended (more like the tiers in SWG prior to the NGE)? They may not have decided on what approach to take yet, of course, but if they have, I'd be interested to learn more about the approach they're planning on.

[Sensuki]

okay I sent my email away, there ended up being 9 big questions with mini-questions inside them and 6 personal questions mostly non-PE related

 

I'll start working on the article tonight and paste the interview in as soon as I get it back, then post it up on CG.

 

I included (loosely) some of the things people posted in this thread, it just depends whether they answer all of the questions.

[Gorth]

Damn, I missed this thread. Would have added the following:

 

Will Feargus make a cameo in this game. Or alternatively, "Brother Ferg" and "Brother Gus". Sort of miss the constant worrying

 

On a more serious note, overpowered mages are boring. Will there be "critical failure" chances when using magic excessively? WH40k has a nice "Perils of the Warp" mechanism that means playing around with the supernatural comes with a risk. Greater risk, greater benefits (besides, wild mage was fun to play in bg2).

 

Maybe next time.

[Sensuki]

Might be one for the reddit ama they're doing this week.

[HangedMan]

Damn, I missed this thread. Would have added the following:

 

Will Feargus make a cameo in this game. Or alternatively, "Brother Ferg" and "Brother Gus". Sort of miss the constant worrying

 

On a more serious note, overpowered mages are boring. Will there be "critical failure" chances when using magic excessively? WH40k has a nice "Perils of the Warp" mechanism that means playing around with the supernatural comes with a risk. Greater risk, greater benefits (besides, wild mage was fun to play in bg2).

 

Maybe next time.

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

[Gorth]

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

I only remember him from BG2 and IWD. There was an "Enoll Eva" (Avellone) reference in PS:T... those are the ones I remember.

[HangedMan]

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

I only remember him from BG2 and IWD. There was an "Enoll Eva" (Avellone) reference in PS:T... those are the ones I remember.

Hmmm, interesting. I need to replay PST, then, because I don't think I ever found that.

[Gorth]

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

I only remember him from BG2 and IWD. There was an "Enoll Eva" (Avellone) reference in PS:T... those are the ones I remember.

Hmmm, interesting. I need to replay PST, then, because I don't think I ever found that.

I think it was a text somewhere, not actually a person. Just a reference to the name spelled backwards. Google is my friend. It's part of your interactions with Nordom. From sorcerers place: "If your intelligence is greater than 16 and you are a mage, then you can order him to increase his introspection routines for 36.000 XP, and +2 INT for Nordom, several pieces of Junk, and the Twisted Gear of Enoll Eva which teaches the spell Enoll Eva's Duplication."

 

Edit: So not actually a person you encounter, just part of the "lore"

[HangedMan]

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

I only remember him from BG2 and IWD. There was an "Enoll Eva" (Avellone) reference in PS:T... those are the ones I remember.

Hmmm, interesting. I need to replay PST, then, because I don't think I ever found that.

I think it was a text somewhere, not actually a person. Just a reference to the name spelled backwards. Google is my friend. It's part of your interactions with Nordom. From sorcerers place: "If your intelligence is greater than 16 and you are a mage, then you can order him to increase his introspection routines for 36.000 XP, and +2 INT for Nordom, several pieces of Junk, and the Twisted Gear of Enoll Eva which teaches the spell Enoll Eva's Duplication."

 

Edit: So not actually a person you encounter, just part of the "lore"

 

That's cool. Thanks for that.

[eimatshya]

Didn't Feargus appear in Fallout 2? And didn't Avellone appear in Fallout: tactics? Personally, I really wouldn't mind if some one on the staff ended up in the game, somehow.

Yeah, there's a character named Fergus in NCR in Fallout 2. He's President Tandi's aide and has a part in one of the Vault 15 quests. I think Chris Avellone appeared as an NPC in the Boneyard in Fallout 1.

 

Anyway, congrats on the interview, Sensuki; I look forward to reading the article.

 

*EDIT*

 

OK, looked it up. Here's the link:

 

http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Chris_Avellone_%28Fallout%29

Edited October 10, 2012 by eimatshya