I have another question.
Have you worked on Arena?
If yes, how does it feel to have seen The Elder Scrolls evolve into what it is today?

I began working on Morrowind, but it's still pretty amazing to see what the Elder Scrolls has evolved into.

What's your favourite game made by Bethesda?

Alright, thanks for answering.

I think I am too biased to answer that honestly. I like all of the stuff we make for various reasons. Pour a lot of blood and sweat into them, so they mean a lot to me.

I'm not sure whether or not this was asked before, but just in-case...

How did you go about getting involved within the games industry? Did you start off in Quality Assurance and work your way up, or did you build up a portfolio of work before applying for a design job (level editor, programmer etc)? How long did it take?

:hugs: :hugs: :hugs:
Wish I could get a dev to come out to my 21st Birthday party XD

Who did the Snatcher reference in Fallout 3? Snatcher is such an awesome game so I want to know who at Bethesda have such fine taste in games.

In my case, I started out in QA and worked my way up.

Do you know anyone there who has worked on Arena?




Does Todd actually work on game material, anymore?

How does that work, anyway? Do you work and then casually mention that hey, I'd kinda like to get a promotion/lateral move to a different department?

I've asked this before of QA, going to ask it again for the other departments:
What was hardest to design/implement? Is there anything that you simply couldn't get working and had to cut?*


Do you know anything about the Eye of Argonia? :spotted owl:

*except ladders

Thanks for answering the question.

slateman and SJML: you both named Heavy Rain as one of your favourite games of 2010. It's also one of my favourite games of 2010.

The game's strong point is how it highlights emotional investment and identification with the characters (particularly the lead character Ethan). This is done through a strong central narrative with some room for the alteration of events, both small and large, though the overall narrative has a 'directed' feel.

The Elder Scrolls games (and now the Fallout games) allow us to create pretty much any kind of character we wish, and player freedom is central to the experience, but is this freedom at the sacrifice of emotional investment with the character? Can true emotional investment with the player character be achieved in a large-scale RPG such as Elder Scrolls and in what ways do you think this can be achieved?

Have you ever looked in on the forums and been surprised at how accurate someones prediction is or humoured at how wrong they are but convinced that they are right?

I think it's kind of incumbent upon the individual to wait for the position to open and then apply, since I would think it would be easier to move internally. But I am not in charge of the hiring process, so I can't say for certain. If someone from outside the company applied for the same position, yet they were far more qualified (perhaps having worked on other games) then who's to say? It certainly would help if they know you and your personality ahead of time though. This is a very team-based position, so you have to play well with others

The only thing I know about the "Eye of Argonia" was it was going to be a sequel to Redguard, but plans changed. I believe Todd Howard mentioned that in an interview at some point in the past. There is an easter egg involving it in Tribunal as well, but it's only mentioned by name.

Actually, I have another question, aimed at slateman.

You said you worked your way up from QA. When you entered a new field (programmer, level editor...I've no idea what you do, sorry), did you have prior experience or was you trained by the company before promotion?

This is an excellent question. It's also a very complicated one that I want to think on before attempting to articulate a response. I may do a blog post on it....

Thanks. That would be great. Keep me updated!

Today I failed I math test. Do you think I will be alright at the end of the day?

My take on this subject is that some games, like Heavy Rain, bring you to the table and put the character in your hands. They are leading you down an emotional experience that they developed and they'd like you to follow. This is a strong way of eliciting emotion from the player, and some games do it quite effectively. Heavy Rain is one of the best games I have ever played in that regard (character/emotional impact). Our games give you a giant sandbox. We provide the table, and it's a HUGE table, and you bring yourself to it. We want you to create your own adventure, create your own history and tell your own story while we provide a framework in which you can do that.

So, instead of spending all our resources on emotional impact with the protagonist, or the Player (whatever archetype they may be), we invest the emotion in the world and reflect that back at you. We craft history, characters, creatures, etc. all to bring a living, breathing world to life for you to experience so that no matter what type of player you are, you feel like you belong there. That's our goal. I don't consider the freedom a sacrifice at all, I consider it a boon.

Sorry to hear about your test. I think that as long as you can put your mind to something, you can do anything you want. Don't feel down!

slateman you are quickly becoming one of my favorite Elder Scrolls Developers! I've enjoyed many of the quests you've made.

Did you make the quest associated with the guy singing about cliffracers? I really enjoyed the Corruption and Conscience quest, because you could choose a nonviolent and violent way of handling things, great roleplay value!

I also have a general question,

Do you have a target demographic for your games? Or do you kind of build what you yourself would find interesting, which subsequently happens to be what your games demographic find interesting?

My field is English Lit in college and I also provided a sample of my work before they allowed me into that department. I think I also made an impression on some of the existing design staff, who I had worked with when I was in QA. There's really no "training" per se.. except maybe how to use the toolset.

Thanks. That was a really passionate reply, very well answered

Thank You Sir!