Yo devs, whut kind of job would you have if The Elder Scrolls never existed?

If you could be anything other than a video game designer...what would you most like to be?

How do you feel about HK-47, from Knights of the Old Republic I and II?

SJML,
I see what you mean now!! After 8 threads, most questions are the same. I read them all , so I will ask one just for you.

What is the best prank someone has played on you? (could be in the office or at a previous job)

Open to anyone -

Who was in charge of the culmination of information for the GI article? Presumably you were all aware of some (if not most) of the information that will be revealed. Would you have done it differently (more or less information, talked about mudcrabs or talked about trolls, etc). Essentially, do you approve of the information, or would you yourself have conducted it a bit differently?

Not asking for specifics, just asking the opinion on the general release of information.

Please answer this, how many are you guys att bethesda now`? the team working that is

We have a team of about a hundred people working on the game.

Do you ever draw any inspiration from bands? My friend and I write books together sometimes, and if we are stumped we usually listen to favorite songs to help us brainstorm.

My favorite band being Coheed and Cambria .

could you please, please, please put in a troll that looks like gabe newell, name him gabe, and make him mention "episode 3". the valve fans will know what your on about.

Hi Devs!

Could you tell us, more or less, the studies that you devs have, for example:

2 musicians
10 computer technicians
...

I know this has to do with skyrim but i'm sure its safe to say now. Where yall laughing at us when we started comeing up with hundreds of different variations of the lyrics from the trailer before we got the official lyrics?

This question is for designers, artists and writers. When you are designing or writing something, do you need to confirm the ideas with the other people, or does it usually work out well? This is different than the question(s) about your departmental and interdepartmental meetings, because this question is more specific about certain departments.

I found it pretty hilarious when I found out now, I'm also curious what the devs were thinking about it, considering they knew it wasn't english right from the start.

How many people worked on the elder scrolls lore and how long did it take to create such a huge lore background? Is it inspired from anything in the real world? Same with the actual storys and quests ingame.

Just asking because I write a fantasy novel and for that I have to create a new world with new cultures, races, history, wars and so on. I find it quite difficult to build up such a big lore, especially because I have to do all this by myself and have to think about every aspect without forgetting something.

Okay, because SJML feels a bit left behind:

Have you ever designed something that wasn't put into the game because "it didn't fit in with the rest"
and you were like "WHAT!?!? if it doesn't get in the game, I quit!" but you actually didnt't quit?

please tell us about it vividly :hubbahubba:

If I do a quest that touches someone else's content (uses a character of theirs, or a place, or a game system), I'll go run it by them first. We're all pretty good about being aware of what the other designers are working on and what they're trying to do with it, so we rarely come up with something so off the wall that the other person has reservations. If they do, we discuss. It's pretty fluid.


A few of us were definitely keeping track of our favorite attempts at English transcriptions.


Especially when you're writing in a new universe that you're creating from the start, don't worry so much about building the lore -- tell a good story first, then build the lore around that, on-demand, as necessary. Because even if the lore is great, without a good story in that world, it won't matter.

Since the Elder Scrolls has been going on for so long now, it's hard to say how many people contributed to lore. Every designer does, in varying amounts.

Thank you for the reply! I already have a story in my mind but not very worked out. I thought I should concentrate on the lore before I create the plot because otherwise there might be problems later with the plot not fitting to the lore. I will see if it works the other way round.^^

Another question: Are you going to play Skyrim when its released or will you be sick of it by then?^^ Same goes for other games aswell of course.

Well, the lore is important, but especially when there's no existing lore for you to invalidate, why would you want to tie yourself down? You'd hate to end up in a position of "This would be best for the story, but the lore I wrote wouldn't work, then!" Warp the lore to fit your story, then worry about consistency with the sequel after you've sold a million of them.

I'll probably play it, but not as much as, say, I played Fallout 3 or Oblivion (which I didn't work on). In my experience, BGS developers play the games they work on more than the developers at any other studio. (I imagine MMO devs play their own games a lot, though.)

Thanks for the reply if you don't mind me asking which english translation was your faviote?

I too have been writing a Fantasy novel (just for fun). I spent a good year making notes and building around lore that leads up to the story. I am now about 75% done with the novel but have scrapped or altered nearly 95% of the lore I had in place before starting the novel. My advice would be just start writing the novel and the world will begin to take shape around that.

Now for my question... Since we're on the topics of novels, do you designers get ideas you've read in novels, comics or other written works and implement them into the game? If so, what was it?

I see the point. I just thought that having something to rely on would make it easier to create the plot, but I never really thought the other way round. Just creating a plot with whatever comes to my mind and then create a lore based on this.

I imagine that way it could be much easier to create the lore. Im having a hard time thinking about what events could have taken place in the past and how everything works (like magic and so on). Maybe its easier to create them with already having a plot.

Ok, thanks for your reply. Now I should leave some room for other peoples questions aswell^^

Are all the dev's amped?



I am cussing amped.
(yes, I am cussing with you)

I have a question for one of the programmers.. what do you like to drink while coding?

You don't want to know.

It differs between environment art, character art, and definitely concept. Tools of choice? Wacom tablet, ergonomic keyboards.

Also, like Shane, the King's Quest games got me into computer games, to answer an earlier question.

Megan