neblig
02-02-2006, 11:33 AM
IGN did a feature on Obsidian Entertainment, the developer of Neverwinter Nights 2 and Knights of the Old Republic 2. There are some crazy pictures taken from Obsidian's offices.
http://pc.ign.com/articles/684/684902p1.html
Some interesting quotes from the article:
One common thread throughout all the games that the team has developed is that gameplay is the most important thing of all. "Where we've had our successes is where we haven't lost sight of that." For Obsidian the important questions are 'Is it fun? Is it easy to play? Is the player not fighting the game?' "When we do that," says Feargus, "we succeed. When we lose track and get myopic about specific things in the game, you lose the whole." You risk losing the player when you focus too much on technology or include an incredibly long, non-skippable cutscene; these are lessons that the gang at Obsidian has learned firsthand over the years at InterplayThe real threat of MMOs, according to Feargus, is that they can completely take over a company. "You make one and then it becomes your life," he says. The technology, content and service personnel required to maintain a massively multiplayer game almost constitute an entirely separate company by themselves. Since most publishers aren't equipped to handle the load, it all falls on the shoulders of the developers and the weight of that responsibility can keep a company from developing other games. "Is Blizzard Blizzard anymore or are they just the company that supports World of Warcraft?" Feargus asks. "There's less of a focus on doing new stuff there because of the WoW juggernaut. That's what scares me."
http://pc.ign.com/articles/684/684902p1.html
Some interesting quotes from the article:
One common thread throughout all the games that the team has developed is that gameplay is the most important thing of all. "Where we've had our successes is where we haven't lost sight of that." For Obsidian the important questions are 'Is it fun? Is it easy to play? Is the player not fighting the game?' "When we do that," says Feargus, "we succeed. When we lose track and get myopic about specific things in the game, you lose the whole." You risk losing the player when you focus too much on technology or include an incredibly long, non-skippable cutscene; these are lessons that the gang at Obsidian has learned firsthand over the years at InterplayThe real threat of MMOs, according to Feargus, is that they can completely take over a company. "You make one and then it becomes your life," he says. The technology, content and service personnel required to maintain a massively multiplayer game almost constitute an entirely separate company by themselves. Since most publishers aren't equipped to handle the load, it all falls on the shoulders of the developers and the weight of that responsibility can keep a company from developing other games. "Is Blizzard Blizzard anymore or are they just the company that supports World of Warcraft?" Feargus asks. "There's less of a focus on doing new stuff there because of the WoW juggernaut. That's what scares me."