*Killmoms is clearly the only one who does not realize how grotesque and bombastic Helvetica is*

If I may but in for a moment...

All narrative media (books, movies, games, etc.) do two things - tell a story and build a world.

Most games focus on the first aspect: each character is someone unique and serves a purpose, each location is there because it needs to be. The story takes precedent, and the whole point is to make the player emotionally attached to the characters and invested in the story. If done properly, the player cares about what happens to the characters, but not necessarily to anything other than the characters. Bioshock comes to mind - I really cared as I was playing, but the end was the end. I was not at all interested in the sequel because the story I cared about was done.

Other games, like TES, prioritize on the world building. There are tons of characters who are not involved in the main objective, locations are there because they are part of the world, and the player does not have to follow the story. This does cost some players emotional evolvement because its just not as concentrated as a linear game. On the other hand, it makes players care about the world.

Take Vivec, for instance. He had a couple expository paragraphs in Morrowind proper - and yet outside of our interaction with the game he is one of the most developed, and in my mind brilliant, characters. Similarly, there are tons of people who want a game that takes place in Summurset Isle, not because of the story that could be told but because of how cool the location is. Its two different kinds of immersion: one that focuses on the player's experience during gameplay and the other on the player's relationship to the essence of the game.

On the other hand, prioritizing the world does not mean that the characters have to suffer. Take one look at deviant art to see the insane devotion people have to Martin or Lucien Lachance.

tl;dr - they are different things, though not exclusive.


[edit] I just noticed killmoms has my pic in his signature. Awesome!

We use the same editor you guys do to make the quests. That's why it's pretty cool that we release it to the public. Now, we do have code support, so when we need something specific the editor doesn't do, we can request it. But still, pretty neat stuff

Honestly, after all of the testing that I do on the games, which involves hours and hours of just adventuring in the world, I rarely sit down and play the retail product after it's been released. So many hundreds of hours are spent in the world just during my part of the process that I don't feel the need. Believe me, we play it A LOT before release. Not just our own quests, but everything!

The Master Thief

Do you guys all have deplorable grammar? Not you specifically, but I noticed some large grammatical discrepancies.

Psssht. Let's see if I name a character after you now.

How does working on an Elder Scrolls game in such detail affect your experience of playing the retail version? Are all the quests and stuff spoiled for you, or is there still a lot that surprises/entertains you after the fact? :celebrate:

Do the code-monkeys ever come out of their caves to interact with the rest of you gameplay guys or do you just send them requests on new stuff and it magically gets committed to your code within a week?

1.
Have you played Ultima?
If yes, which one?

2.
What is your all-time favourite videogame theme?

3.
Favourite video game genres?

3. RPG, Adventure, Shooter. And the sadly dead Space Military Sim. (TIE-Fighter and Freespace!)

So.....Testicles the Debug Centuron......How did that come about? I mean wrinkly old guy with and eye patch and is named testicles? From the darkest pits of who's mind did that spawn from?

I HAVE A SERIOUS QUESTION:
I have a batch of orange cinnamon mead to to be done and aged in mid october of next year. If i can find a way to legally ship it to you, would you or anone in the offfice possibly want it to crack open on the day of the realease?
The last batch from this recipet was very light and sweet had just a hint of cinnamon honey and acidity, when mixed with green tea it was a fantastic drink

Thank you very much for making the games of my dreams