People News Mark Yohalem joins the Torment: Tides of Numenera writing team

[Kz3r0]

Must be sea
But I would like the whole story as well.

 

[Cadmus]

I can't trust that face...

 

[Eddas]

Pretty good news indeed. Hopefully they can pull this one off.

 

[bonescraper]

They're still hiring writers? I'll be 40 years old by the time they finish this game.

 

[Eddas]

They're still hiring writers? I'll be 40 years old by the time they finish this game.

It will come out in a humble bundle with Dwarf Fortress and Grimoire.

 

[Zeronet]

Cool stuff. I need to finish Primordia..i played the demo loved it, got the game and realized i had to play through the demo again, which put me off and it's languished ever since. : P

 

[MRY]

Maginot Line is WWII.

Dear God. The decline has spread from my pate to my brain.

 

[Severian Silk]

Didn't Infinitron post a selfie that looked a lot like this guy? Maybe I am misremembering...

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

Grandmother, what a big mouth you have! :D

 

[Infinitron]

Didn't Infinitron post a selfie that looked a lot like this guy? Maybe I am misremembering...

They all look the same, eh?

Spoiler

You might be thinking of the great AdventureDex interview where the title image used this same photo.

 

[Infinitron]

MRY hair visible here:

 

[MRY]

I tried to lean back precisely to avoid letting you guys see that. I did manage to conceal my gigantic nose, at least.

 

[Karwelas]

I tried to lean back precisely to avoid letting you guys see that. I did manage to conceal my gigantic nose, at least.

YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FROM CODEX EYES, MR YOHALEM.

 

[A horse of course]

What kind of monster wears a dress shirt to work at a vidya development studio.

 

[MRY]

Last time, I wore a suit. My wardrobe is limited!

 

[garren]

hoodies4lyfe

420 blaze it

 

[A horse of course]

Next codex fundraising drive should be for YOLOlem's wardrobe.

Taluntain get on it

 

[Brother None]

Also, I hope there is still some actual writing to do at this stage of development and you are not relegated to fixing typos in Brother None's item descriptions.

Nul sweat, we got great tasks in mind for him.

Mark was kicking ass in that meeting. Was great to have him down while we were in the country.

 

[DeepOcean]

MRY, I hope the eternal capillary battle raging on your head remind you of the end of PST, make you remember of the eternal blood war. I know that Torment 2 uses numenera and not Planescape but the principle is the same, place your passion on the writing and we will see it, as you've made an adventure game, you know games are more than words and there are powerful ways beyond verbose prose to provoke strong feelings on the player. Unless they hire you to write the items descriptions or something, in this case make cool and unique stories to the weapons or whatever.

I long forgot Dakkon's dialogue on PS:T but I remember making him remember of the teachings of Zerthimon on one on the final battle and making him stronger. Whatever writing you do, I don't know if a contract writer has the power to decide this, but if you can, inject player input wherever you can. The mainstream sheep will eat whatever InXile regurgitates and are going to forget Torment as soon as Fallout 4 is released but ohh... boy, if its good, I will remember and if its bad I will remember too.

The mainstream are totally going to love a verbose JRPG with zero player input but I don't think the praise of idiots is something to be proud of, sure pays the rent but working at Zynga does too. Whatever people liked your writing on Primordia or not, you are going to be judged on a whole new level and worse... we will know the parts you wrote but don't worry, you don't need to be perfect just write with passion, don't half arse like certain writers did on a certain big kickstarter RPG released recently.

PS: If you phony in I will tell you are bald, have a big nose and your mom sucks too.

 

[TedNugent]

What a fucking bro. He has a codex account.

 

[MRY]

DeepOcean All the things you're talking about -- other than nose-shaming -- are foundational standards for TTON's writing. So failing at them means that the inXile game will tar and feather me well before you guys do. That said, the truth is that it is hard to live up to expectations once they form, and I cannot imagine higher writing expectations than those that come with respect to a Torment sequel. So one way or another, I'm sure someone will be flinging tar.

 

[tuluse]

DeepOcean All the things you're talking about -- other than nose-shaming -- are foundational standards for TTON's writing. So failing at them means that the inXile game will tar and feather me well before you guys do. That said, the truth is that it is hard to live up to expectations once they form, and I cannot imagine higher writing expectations than those that come with respect to a Torment sequel. So one way or another, I'm sure someone will be flinging tar.

Some one or something?

What conspires against us? Why must we not have good RPGs? Does god hate us? Does god exist? If expectations cannot be met does that mean we are doomed to eternal sorrow? Should we fight regardless? In fighting do we guarantee disappointment? Does such fighting have meaning in it self?

fuck

 

[MRY]

Some one or something? What conspires against us? Why must we not have good RPGs? Does god hate us? Does god exist? If expectations cannot be met does that mean we are doomed to eternal sorrow? Should we fight regardless? In fighting do we guarantee disappointment? Does such fighting have meaning in it self?

Never give up!

The reason why someone will be disappointed is because people hope for different things. What was wonderful about PS:T was its sheer unexpectedness. (I feel the same way about MOTB and Fallout and Darksun.) None of the games came freighted with decades of hopes and dreams that had already defined what the product should be.

PS:T means different things to different people. Necessarily, TTON will be some of those things but not others of them; only an exact replica of PS:T could be everything PS:T was, and of course even that would not satisfy everyone because many (most?) of us are hoping for TTON to be something new -- a spiritual successor, not a literal duplication. But ask a dozen people who love PS:T what its spirit is, and you'll probably get more than one answer. Is it the Morte/TNO relationship? The writing style? The eccentricity of the setting? Etc. Even if we could all agree on the elements, we'd probably rank them differently. So if one group of people say that the order of importance is 1432 and the other says 4123, then it is hard to say how one group will not get disappointed. And the nature of gaming fandom (for better and worse) is that if a group is disappointed, some portion of the group will call for tar and feathers.

The price for switching sides, for me, is that I've traded the chance to ever again experience something like PS:T for a few grubby dollars and a Vine video of my baldness circulating on the Codex. That seems like a very Tormentian choice to make. I'll have a lifetime to futilely repent my error.

 

[hiver]

I always consider it a good sign when a writer or designer starts talking how there will always be someone who doesnt like it, or who will be disappointed, and how there is always someone with a tar - before he even started writing anything.

PST means different thing to different people? Really?

Anyone sees it as a basket of vegetables? Hey, im going to think its about pink zeppelins! Whatever the fuck, hey, people. Someone will like it!
Only grognards wont, right?

ask a dozen people who love PS:T what its spirit is, and you'll probably get more than one answer. Is it the Morte/TNO relationship? The writing style? The eccentricity of the setting? Etc. ven if we could all agree on the elements, we'd probably rank them differently.

spirit is elements people! Heard it here first! You people that argue over which is better and why between TNO/Morte banter and the setting! You know... you people ...err... umm... someone must have mentioned that atleats once, right!?
Its all the same. Just depends on what opinions you have. Some people will think this some will think that.. its all the same.

And since the fact that someone likes it makes it good, as your sales vicepresident will tell you, its all good. Use britney spears music for the game, someone will like it. Duet with biber.

 

[MurkyShadow]

Just shining a little warmth into an olde glittering gem of hatred, more I don't expect.
One last time, sitting beside the fireplace, the generator running on fumes, before
the last sun rays disappear in the endless night of the postapoclaypse...