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Interview Road To Skyrim: The Todd Howard Interview

VentilatorOfDoom

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Tags: Bethesda Softworks; Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

<p>Gameinformer provides a <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/13/road-to-skyrim-the-todd-howard-interview.aspx" target="_blank">three part video interview</a> with Bethesda's Todd Howard.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Video 1: </strong>Todd Howard tells the story of how he got into the industry, recalls his earliest gaming habits, and offers advice for those looking to follow in his footsteps.<strong><br /><br />Video 2: </strong>Learn about the&nbsp; evolution of the Elder Scrolls series and the lessons of the past that led the team to the creation of Skyrim.<br /><strong><br />Video 3: </strong>Todd Howard reveals his favorite games of this generation, his thoughts on current trends in the gaming industry, and his perception of the difference between eastern and western role-playing games. He also discusses his impressions of Kinect, Move, and 3D technology, and whether we'll ever see an Elder Scrolls game on mobile phones.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/01/13/road-to-skyrim-the-todd-howard-interview.aspx">Gameinformer</a></p>
 
Medic

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"I joke in the office that one of the best roleplaying games is NCAA Football game."

"You can have a racing, football game in a roleplaying game."

He also defines Red Dead Redemption and CoD as RPG's.

:salute:
 

SimpleComplexity

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Anyone else believes Todd does this intentionally just to read the Codex after that?

Btw. Todd if you read this, get a new haircut.
 

hanssolo

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I think it's hilarious that he mentions Ultima 3 - 7 in such a positive light considering the fuckup Radiant AI was. It must be such a curse, to be able to recognize greatness but not see your own failings.
 
Achilles

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SimpleComplexity said:
Anyone else believes Todd does this intentionally just to read the Codex after that?
Click to expand...

Nah. I believe he really is that stupid, what with his dudebro mentality and all.
 
Andyman Messiah

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His dudebro mentality is actually what makes me like him, kinda. I mean, yeah he's stupid but at the same time there's actually something genuinly likable about the man.
 
racofer

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2vc8e2q.jpg
 
Azrael the cat

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hanssolo said:
I think it's hilarious that he mentions Ultima 3 - 7 in such a positive light considering the fuckup Radiant AI was. It must be such a curse, to be able to recognize greatness but not see your own failings.
Click to expand...

He's long raved about U7, wrote a big spiel a while back about how it was the greatest game ever made. Thing is, it shouldn't be that big a surprise. You can see the influence all over his work...he just doesn't seem to have the creativity or the eye for detail needed to do a good job of it.

Also, notice how in U7 the combat is shite and the dialogue is forgettable (in fairness, people didn't expect anything but childish dialogue in crpgs then)? You can tell that those things aren't important to him, and no matter how much he tries to compensate they always come across as lame afterthoughts in his game. I can't imagine him releasing a game that was as lazy in its world scope as it was in its dialogue writing. Not that his games are great in either department, but you can tell that he just doesn't have any concept of what is 'acceptable' for dialogue - it's just 'hire someone who's a writer and trust it's good enough'.
 
Peter

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He reminds me of Steve Carell's character from the American version of The Office. Genuine, likable at times, but ultimately really fucking dumb.
 
Chateaubryan

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Peter said:
He reminds me of Steve Carell's character from the American version of The Office. Genuine, likable at times, but ultimately really fucking dumb.
Click to expand...

I had the same feeling when I watched the vid where he gives the tour of Bethesda's new office.
 
Azrael the cat

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Peter said:
He reminds me of Steve Carell's character from the American version of The Office. Genuine, likable at times, but ultimately really fucking dumb.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. I even think that if he was just some guy who posted at the Codex, he wouldn't even stand out as being that consoletard. He'd just be 'the ultima guy' who loves open world sandbox rpgs, maybe with the odd quirk like thinking that sandbox rpgs are made better by fast-travel (why openworld if you're going to insta-teleport between everywhere of note???) and that combat shouldn't be challenging b/c it gets in the way of exploration.

We'd give him shit for his views on combat and fast-travel, but overall he'd get a lot less crap than, say, Volourn. Every now and then he'd get some KKKredit by writing off Bioware's focus on cinematic story and dating-game-elements, or by doing a let's play of U6-7.

But really, I don't think I'd have anything against him if he didn't make such fucking awful games.
 

Twinfalls

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Azrael the cat said:
But really, I don't think I'd have anything against him if he didn't make such fucking awful games.
Click to expand...

*One* fucking awful game.

Morrowind is pretty damn good, even great in many respects.

It's all there however. His philosophy just doesn't gel with the Codex's. He asks 'what skills can we remove, what can we streamline to make your choice more meaningful'. Not what could be added. He sees RPGs as being about building up your character and being rewarded - with loot. Not about C&C...

Or so it seems anyhow. He didn't give enough credit to the work of Peterson and Lefay, given how crucial TES lore and Daggerfall's design have been to Bethesda's current financial success. But still a reasonably nice guy in interview all things considered.
 

SimpleComplexity

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Stop having sympathy with the guy and start hating him.
HES ALRIGHT: HES A PRETTY COOL GUY: HES OK IN MY BOOK:

NO HE ISNT
:x
 
Excommunicator

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A full transcription of these videos somewhere?

It is important to keep reminding yourself of how much such people deserve to be excommunicated from the industry.

"He is a nice guy" attitudes are almost as bad as the "I'll buy the game just for a little mindless fun" attitudes. Be resolute in what matters, and that is the condemnation of such people as game designers.

Falling for the charms is very un-Codexian.
 
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