In an http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7lzDYDJT1Q#t=7m3s with our beloved Ken Rolston, he makes some remarks about the "puritan", DnD-derived RPG elements that he seeks to preserve in the project. He then goes on to make some comments about Todd Howard and Oblivion in a satirical (without malicious intent I'd hope) fashion. He even used the buzzword "visceral". Personally, not to incite any big debates, but I agree with Rolston on a lot of these points. For any TES-neophytes who don't know who Ken Rolston is, he was the lead designer for Morrowind and largely responsible for most of the game's writing - much of the game's eldritch DnD inspiration is from him. He stuck around with Bethesda through Oblivion before being a fool and leaving the best developer ever. :sadvaultboy:

Also, it is interesting to see how with KoA, they've begun adapting to a less rigid archetype system just as Bethesda is doing with Skyrim. RPG developers seem to work in trends. I wonder if they still keep in touch?

7:10 onward, if the time cue doesn't work for any of you. Maybe this should go in TES general discussion?

I don't get it. Was he bashing Todd? When did he impersonate him? What was that Yoda impression all about? I think I'm missing something here.

Eh, kinda was ripping on the Todd man.

He is dissing Todd and Skyrim.

You have opened a can of worms.
:flamethrower: TES isn't an RPG anymore rabble rabble.

lol seriously though I was hoping for a good impression. Skyrim looks great from what we have seen but hey some people don't like how it is shaping up to be. It is impossible to keep everyone happy.

Who is Ken Rolston? :s

Well Clearly Ken left Beth because he saw it going in a direction that he wasn't agreeable with, but looking at KoA, that looks very cheesy and very fake.

I rather agree with him about his impression on "that it's too much to say that in our game the world changes, we just make it seem like the world is changing."

I don't know who Ken Rostlen or Kingdom of Amalur so he kinda just left a bad first impression on me :toughninja:

Hm. I respect the fact he was involved with Morrowind, but not a fan of the jabs he's taking at Todd. Skyrim looks A LOT better than Kingdoms of Amalur.

He was the lead designer on Morrowind and Oblivion, but left after Oblivion.

As I watched it, it didn't leave a good impression. I can't imagine Todd speaking that way about another person in discussing TES games. The voice was clearly to ridicule him. It was just sad.

And I'm very happy with what I'm seeing about Skyrim.

:tes:

The cheesy painterly art style that worked well with WoW but has since been copied by every other fantasy game really gets to me. Whilst I'm glad to see he has more creative freedom this time around, it doesn't seem remarkable to me in the least.

Ken was also the lead designer of Oblivion.


Big Huge Games and Bethesda are the only large game developers in the area and there are several people who have moved from one to the other. There doesn't seem to be a rivalry or any bad blood between the two studios and I've seen Bethesda devs chatting with their BHG ex-patriots quite often on Facebook.

Wow... he's [censored]y.

Kingdoms of Amalur looks mediocre at best. Despite what Ken is saying, it seems far more gimmicky than Skyrim.

Not a fan of his remarks, but I do respect his writing. Kingdom of Amalur looks pretty good actually, but its no Skyrim.

start at the begining of the interview. this guy is who brought you the depth in morrowind. todd is the one who removed it.

Actually he left during Oblivion. He's over the hill and from the looks of it, the game he is working on isn't going to break any molds. I say good riddance, Bruce is doing a fine job in his stead.

They worked well as a team IMO, because Ken is the one with experience in character development and RPGs from his days designing tabletop games. Todd is the one who was programming since he was in high school and knows what gamers actually enjoy - where to draw the line, if you will. Unfortunately I think without Ken at Bethesda, Todd has been trying a little too hard to exercise his newfound creative freedom. Considering he was only a programmer for Daggerfall and Ken designed most of Morrowind, I wonder if Todd really is a reputable person to talk to or not when it comes to actual gameplay. This is really his first time managing a TES game on his own. :shrug:

I have always got the impression Todd can break balls when he wants to.

And Socucius Ergalla in Morrowind was modeled after Ken, too.

What??? lol bitter much? Confirmation on this please...

Glad to see Ken rear his head, I still resent him for leaving :/ wow just look at all the people who don't know who he is.....lol you guys REALLY thought Todd was the brains behind TES? pffft I hope this thread gets stickied, a nice educational reminder, that said theres no bad blood between the guys he has said in previous interviews. and also I agree about KOA Im on the fence and from what I saw, barring the graphics its not all that impressive, the sprites look like the slide on the ground and are superconnected to it like Oblivion and Morrowind, yes I know theres a mystical thing called Gravity.

I love when he says ''thats not a good RPG when you cant express yourself with your kit (meaning your equipment)''

@Omega the problem with Todd is that hes a Game Director and a Producer and on top of that he makes design decisions and he should not

Okay that sounds pretty cool of ken but still kingdom of Amalur looks kinda regular compare to skyrim