Would Todd Howard still care about RPGs?

[Lacrymas]

You have yet much to learn about real life

Don't try to lecture me about real life,

 

[an Administrator]

I say just wait a decade more and some indie is going to make a game much better than Morrowind ever was.

It has been already made.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/428880/

 

[Lacrymas]

It has been already made.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/428880/

I was actually thinking some games along those lines, but they are more akin to old-school blobbers than Morrowind, due to the grid-based movement and turn-based combat. I don't know what people like about Morrowind though, since I think all Elder Scrolls are hiking simulators with awful combat, so they may like them based on other things, who knows.

 

[HoboForEternity]

You have yet much to learn about real life

Don't try to lecture me about real life,

tis true tho. You just need to grow out of your naive idealism, but almost everything comes down to money.

A fraction of people alive find their passion and made a job out of it, but most of us does it so we can live and feed our families.

I hate it but ultimately this is how the world works.

If i own a company and decide to make shit that sells or to make gems that only 1% will buy it, i will choose shit first. At least until some financial security is held firmly. Even that in most cases, that ambition falter and everything just become money churning machine.

 

[Mortmal]

The question is rather would codexers still care about rpgs without todd howard?
Bethesda and bioware subforum were created to hide the horrible truth, 99% of the discussions and megathreads were about them. Yet even after the split, i still see 3 threads on top in GRPG about bethesda.

 

[Lacrymas]

HoboForEternity If you want to slave over something for the sole purpose of making money, going to a creative route is a shit deal, unless it's music and even then I'd do something else. What I said has nothing to do with plain living expenses and feeding-your-family survival, if you are still on that level we can't be talking about creativity at all. People just piss me off when they start bullshitting me like he did, especially when the entire context is ignored. It's not about idealism, at one point in your life you might want to start thinking about something more than trying to survive to the next day, if you can't do that then that's your problem, lecturing others on not knowing what real life is like is hilarious after that.

 

[Jacob]

More importantly, are studios like Obsidian make mid-budget RPGs because "this is the game we wanted to make!" or do they only make those games because mid-budget RPGs are the only games they are able to make competently?

 

[Sigourn]

It's not about idealism, at one point in your life you might want to start thinking about something more than trying to survive to the next day, if you can't do that then that's your problem, lecturing others on not knowing what real life is like is hilarious after that.

Some people are just in love with money. Hence why I said: if money was no longer a factor in Todd Howard's life, if Todd Howard didn't care about making money anymore, would he still make games like Fallout 4 because he genuinely thinks they are the shit, or would he aim to make something deeper?

You can say you don't know the answer, that's fine. But loving money doesn't mean Todd automatically thinks "Fallout 4 is the best game ever made", he could also think "Fallout 4 is the best cash grab ever made". It's clear that as a money-making guy he loves making games that make money, but that doesn't tell us if he thinks they are actually awesome RPGs.

 

[Lacrymas]

Some people are just in love with money. Hence why I said: if money was no longer a factor in Todd Howard's life, if Todd Howard didn't care about making money anymore, would he still make games like Fallout 4 because he genuinely thinks they are the shit, or would he aim to make something deeper?

You can say you don't know the answer, that's fine. But loving money doesn't mean Todd automatically thinks "Fallout 4 is the best game ever made", he could also think "Fallout 4 is the best cash grab ever made". It's clear that as a money-making guy he loves making games that make money, but that doesn't tell us if he thinks they are actually awesome RPGs.

Rich people don't care about having money or surviving anymore though, they are in it just for making money and that's fine in the line of things you can do after you stop trying to survive. We do, however, know that Todd hasn't used his own money (he has money for personal use, not everything is funneled to Bethesda) to make a private project, while I think (since I can't find his net worth, but people speculate that it's in the billions) that he has enough to make a game if he wanted to, without fearing whether he'd lose money or not. That makes me think that either he doesn't care (which answers the question in the thread title) or thinks the recent offerings at Bethesda are great. If you can find a more solid argument than that, without wild speculations, go ahead.

 

[Somberlain]

The idea that Todd doesn't love RPGs is ludicrous. The fact that his franchises, Fallout and Elder Scrolls, are constantly evolving and changing is a testament to the fact that he cares deeply about the genre. Todd is a light shining in the darkness, bringing the magic and salvation of RPGs to new people again and again, like an apostle of Jesus. Contrast this with a so-called "incline" indie developer who makes "new" games with the same old antiquated formula for his echo chamber fanbase of neckbearded Codex nerds who fap to pony cartoons between filling piss bottles and playing their autistic "hardcore" PnP simulators with their chubby and greasy Dorito-stained fingers.

And according to the smelly basement dwellers here, Todd, who is always exploring new ideas and spreading the joy of RPGs for new audiences with a smile on his face, is the one who no longer loves the genre?

 

[Luzur]

It sounds like a nightmare to work at Bethesda, who would subject themselves to such a soul-crushing environment?

Well, you get to listen to Jeremy Soul all day long

 

[NeoKino]

Bethesda is part of a multinational media conglomerate, Todd has a decent amount of creative control but even then there's pressure from his bosses to make the games end up a certain way, Moreover many of the newer people in his company haven't experienced RPG's in the same way that the older staffers had with the classic open old school blobbers, DnD inspired adventures, and the many experimental roleplay games released in the pass. That doesn't excuse bethesda games from sucking though, Their games have severe problems that come from lack of development talent that was present since morrowind, the games are poorly programed run like shit, gameplay designers make the shittiest systems in a western rpg (Skyrim skill system although bland had potential as shown by modders, but Fallout 4 on the hand is irredeemable garbage), with writing so piss poo they make sixteen year old smut fanfiction seem like the Odyssey.

By far bethesda develops the worst critically acclaimed games on the market. With that being said even if Todd was giving full control without market pressure to make the game that he wants with full creative control of the production it still would be shit. maybe a bit better than what he currently directs, but shit nonetheless.

the only games they are able to make competently?

"Make competently", thats a good joke!

 

[acer palmatum]

Would Todd try to make a good RPG if he didn't need to worry about money?

The sad thing is, I don't doubt he is trying. But he will as likely succeed as a dickless man with nailing someone.

 

[Melcar]

Poor Todd. Such a tragic figure. It's not his fault.

 

[anvi]

How would anyone know this shit? You guys read his life story or something?

 

[Melcar]

How would anyone know this shit? You guys read his life story or something?

This is The Codex Bro.

 

[Morality Games]

If Bethesda was absolutely free from money, from the need to make money, if someone gave Todd millions of dollars and said "I don't care about this game making a profit, I care only about a proper RPG", do you think Todd would say "Alright, I'm going to make a good RPG for a change"?

Does Todd miss the days of Morrowind? Or is he perfectly happy making popamole garbage? I find it hard to believe that someone whose favorite RPG is an Ultima title would be okay with games like Skyrim and Fallout 4.

Discuss.

(a) The guy is co-equal in terms of influence and reputation as the biggest Hollywood producers and has obviously chosen that lifestyle.

(b) most game designers have lukewarm feelings about actually playing video games themselves, and when they do, usually play accessible AAA games regardless of how indie they are

(c) obviously looks more on the positive side of the games he produces than the negative side, ergo, bringing a great sense of adventure, exploration, and wonder to a huge mass of humanity at the expense of depth needed to satisfy core RPG fans. Like if you asked James Cameron if he feels bad about making massively popular adventure films like Avatar versus meaningful Cannes Film Festival type indie films. Or if you asked Steven Spielberg about whether he regrets his filmmaking legacy.

Point is whether he gets to make games like the ones he enjoyed as kid (when video games were a niche industry) probably doesn't rank high on Todd Howard's list of priorities. The world he inhabits is alien to that one.

 

[Lacrymas]

Why would game designers not want to play games? It's like a composer not wanting to listen to any other music or author not reading any other books. An artists who produces more than he consumes smells like an amateur.

 

[Morality Games]

Why would game designers not want to play games? It's like a composer not wanting to listen to any other music or author not reading any other books. An artists who produces more than he consumes smells like an amateur.

That's actually pretty common. For example, Terry Gilliam freely admits that he almost never watches films and has no idea who the leading directors of the next generation will be because he doesn't watch or care about their films.

I'm also an aspiring writer and I read (modern fiction) books about 2-3 a year at most. Most other writers in the community report the same.

Creative industries are heavily demanding in terms of time, effort, and attention. Video games are also demanding in terms of time, effort, and attention, unless they are AAA shlock like Skyrim.

Therefore game developers rarely play games and when they do play AAA shlock like Skyrim.

 

[Lacrymas]

Aspiring writers have jobs in the creative industry (those two words kinda sound like an oxymoron, entertainment industry would be closer to the truth)? So much so that they don't have time to read? Not to mention that being a good artist involves not only consuming other art, but analyzing it as well, it's impossible to be good and not have absorbed at least what the old masters have to teach us with their own examples. Shitty games explained - game designers don't play other games?

 

[Morality Games]

Aspiring writers have jobs in the creative industry (those two words kinda sound like an oxymoron, entertainment industry would be closer to the truth)? So much so that they don't have time to read? Not to mention that being a good artist involves not only consuming other art, but analyzing it as well, it's impossible to be good and not have absorbed at least what the old masters have to teach us with their own examples. Shitty games explained - game designers don't play other games?

Aspiring writers have crap jobs, for the most part. The couple hours of leisure they get between 6 and 10-11 (when they go to bed so they can get up at 7-8) are almost certainly going to be spent on writing or things like social obligations/enjoyments than on reading a book.

Another example would be Brian Jacques (author of Redwall series) who admitted he never read other books because he didn't want them to obtrude on his imaginative process.

 

[Lacrymas]

I have heard of such people, none of them being able to plunge the depths of this existence, so I wouldn't take advice from them. On the most basic level not knowing what other artists do is counter-productive because you end up doing something that has already been done, especially in the Western author tradition. This is a very complicated topic though, so I'd drop it for now :p So, yeah, following that logic it seems like devs make the same mistakes over and over again because they haven't actually played those mistakes. How curious and not at all unexpected actually.

 

[Ludo Lense]

Todd fought constantly with Rolston over Morrowind. In a interview for Kingdoms of Amalur Rolston even said Todd isn't a gamer.

While Mr. Howard has some moments of nostalgia over past gaming passions, you can pretty clearly see he is a producer through and through in his interviews. His job is to make sure games are made not designing them.

The Codex hate boner for the man is entirely misplaced. He isn't in charge of the creative process but making sure the games see the light of day.

 

[Barnabas]

You have yet much to learn about real life

Don't try to lecture me about real life,

Don't tell him how he should talk to you hipster, we've seen our share of shit in this life. Or maybe we'll just poop on your principles and diarrhea on your dignity.

 

[Lacrymas]

Ha, funny. Not my problem you life is shit :p