Interview The Witcher interview at the Codex

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

After the first 3 questions I thought, yeah, fuck this interview and the game, its the usual PR shit telling us how the possibility to choose how to kill your enemy is great Roleplaying.

But the part about the choices, especially the global ones and the sentence that different outcomes won't be determined by a single descision at the end of the game make me interested.

Well, the only way to find out if this is some PR hype or reality will be to wait until the game is released.

There's some hope here.

Some negative things: Guessing from answer 9 they are not planning to include actual social skills.
And a bit less of that "stunning combat" and "modern version of classic RPG" gibberish would have made the answers better and more credible.

And finally, since they seem to put great emphasize on combat (which is ok imho), they better make sure it doesn't suck.

 

[Atrokkus]

Joanna is indeed the chosen one among the PR boys and girls. SHe gets a cookie tonight, because she actually instiled hope and postivism in the rotten, bile-smeared hearts of the Codexians!
Where Pete Hines failed horribly, she shines!

OMG! IM SO EXCITED!

 

[Greatatlantic]

Joanna is indeed the chosen one among the PR boys and girls. SHe gets a cookie tonight, because she actually instiled hope and postivism in the rotten, bile-smeared hearts of the Codexians!
Where Pete Hines failed horribly, she shines!

OMG! IM SO EXCITED!

And I bet a baker's dozen cookies that English isn't her first language, which makes it even more impressive use of PR speak. While a couple of CDProjekt (did I spell that right/wrong?) have posted here, I doubt they researched us so thoroughly as to know what answers could make us happy: such as multiple endings based on desicions accumulated through out the game, or open ended, nonlinear gameplay. In all reality, I think CD Projekt just won't have the talent to pull it off in a way to rival Fallout or Arcanum, but thats OK. These days half an RPG is still a lot better then a full faux-RPG-called-RPG-since-it-OMG-has-stats-and-choices-and-you-play-the-role-of-a-something game.

 

[Old Scratch]

I can avoid wanting to rip my brains out of my head before they turn to Jell-o while playing an action RPG, if there's at least a decent smattering of RPG depth to it. Divine Divinity and Gothic are great examples of those kinds of games. The Witcher sounds like it's kinda going that route, which does have me a lot more interested in it than when I first heard of it and assumed it was just a shitty hack & slash NWN mod.

I think she got a little too ambitious with this line though:

The Witcher is a modern version of the classic story and role-based RPG experience recreated with stunning real-time tactically deep combat.

For someone who obviously isn't a native English speaker, she sure has a grasp of the English PR, bullshit buzzwords. Seems to be doing a pretty good job pimping the game though.

Vault Dweller: You should try to tone down the questions a bit, keep them to one question per response, instead of three or four at a time. It gets fucking confusing just trying to follow what you're asking.

 

[Atrokkus]

VD, what are you own thoughts on this matter? How would you comment her answers?

Vault Dweller: You should try to tone down the questions a bit, keep them to one question per response, instead of three or four at a time. It gets fucking confusing just trying to follow what you're asking.

Yeah, this also allows your respondent to effectively evade a tricky question, while answering the not so critical, auxiliary question.

I think a real-time or one-by-one interview format would be much better, so that you could actually react to the answer and form the successing questions accordingly.

 

[PrzeSzkoda]

You can actually sling them with droves of questions over at their forum in this topic.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Vault Dweller: You should try to tone down the questions a bit, keep them to one question per response, instead of three or four at a time.

Well, I'm giving a developer a chance to explore the subject more. Whether the developer takes that chance or not is really up to him/her and tells you a lot about the game as well.

It gets fucking confusing just trying to follow what you're asking.

You can purchase a downloadable "Understanding VD's interviews in 5-easy steps" for only $19.99. First 10 customers get critically acclaimed Bethesda's Horse Armor Pack FREE!

VD, what are you own thoughts on this matter?

My thoughts and concerns are expressed in my questions. You be the judge of whether or not they have been answered.

I think a real-time or one-by-one interview format would be much better, so that you could actually react to the answer and form the successing questions accordingly.

That just aint happening in game journalism. I would love to do something like that, but it takes forever and fucking ever to do a simple "I send you questions, you send me answers" interview. I've been working on a Gothic 3 interview since February. The developer finally answered the questions (due to being busy - no hard feelings), now the publisher is saying that too much has been revealed. Now we are trying to work something out like splitting the interview in two parts (post the "safe" part now, post the "too much new info" part after E3).

In unrelated news I tried scoring another interview with Bethesda. I explained them what I wanted to do (a discussion of the game features, what worked out and what didn't, etc), Gavin didn't mind, Pete said that he isn't interested in something like that. What a dick. The least he can do is to acknowledge now that not everything was as perfect as they thought. Oh well...

 

[LlamaGod]

Pete just wants hype and boobies

ow the publisher is saying that too much has been revealed. Now we are trying to work something out like splitting the interview in two parts (post the "safe" part now, post the "too much new info" part after E3).

LET ME REVIEW THIS OVER, YES PLEASE.

 

[suibhne]

The least he can do is to acknowledge now that not everything was as perfect as they thought. Oh well...

That would be crazy for them to do. The point is, they've gotten away with it. They may fully realize everything in Oblivion-land isn't perfect (in fact, they must realize it, since the shipping product obviously falls short of their original vision), but most major game outlets are pretending as if it is; it makes somewhere in the vicinity of ZERO sense for the devs to rock the boat.

 

[Vault Dweller]

The least he can do is to acknowledge now that not everything was as perfect as they thought. Oh well...

That would be crazy for them to do.

Not really. Everyone knows where they fell short. Some damage control is in order. Not all fans are happy, not all reviews are shiny, and those bullshit 1.7 mil numbers are what's been shipped to stores to be sold, not the actual sales numbers.

 

[suibhne]

Not really. Everyone knows where they fell short. Some damage control is in order. Not all fans are happy, not all reviews are shiny, and those bullshit 1.7 mil numbers are what's been shipped to stores to be sold, not the actual sales numbers.

VD, what's their angle in this? Why would they poke holes in their own product only a few weeks after it's shipped? Oblivion is still being carried on hype, frankly, and I don't see why they'd want to deflate that hype.

My point is that most of the the reviews they're getting are embarrassingly gushy, like teenage girls at a late-'80s Andrew Lloyd Webber review. Even most of the mainstream reviews have been short on substance (or even what you might call journalistic balance), trading it for hyperbolic praise. If the general journalistic bent on Oblivion was "overall very good game, with these five notable problems", it might make sense for Beth to be honestly self-critical at this point - but that's most definitely not the gist of the journalistic response to the game.

I'm using "they" monolithically, and that's unfair. I'm sure there are some devs at Bethesda - perhaps like Gavin - who would be sincerely reflective in a game post-mortem, and of course I think that's what they should do. But I have no difficulty understanding why Pete would react negatively to a proposal like yours.

The other question in response to your message is...well...damage control from whom? I don't think Bethesda cares about hardcore RPG fans - I think they've made a calculated decision to emphasize what they think of as "mass appeal" at the expense of what they view to be "hardcore" or "traditional" RPG traits - and I don't think they think they have to do any damage control at all. They're not taking fire from any of the market segments that they actually care about, with the possible exception of the TES mod community (and RPG Codex is hardly the best medium through which to reach the TES mod community).

 

[Vault Dweller]

VD, what's their angle in this?

Well, let's see... Suppose Beth does such an interview, stating the obvious without trashing it. What's the downside? There is none. People who already love Beth would love it more for "honesty and humility", people who were disappointed would respect Beth for not pretending it's a perfect game. It would have been a smart move, but smart isn't one of Pete's qualities. Just look at how he handled the delay in 2005.

The other question in response to your message is...well...damage control from whom? I don't think Bethesda cares about hardcore RPG fans...

I wasn't talking about the hardcore fans. There are plenty of disappointed people at the ESF, people who bought the hype, thought the game is godlike and perfect, and, well, turned out, it wasn't.

 

[FrancoTAU]

Is the Gothic 3 interview the next interview scheduled? (assuming you can do the split interview)

 

[Araanor]

Joanna is indeed the chosen one among the PR boys and girls. SHe gets a cookie tonight, because she actually instiled hope and postivism in the rotten, bile-smeared hearts of the Codexians!
Where Pete Hines failed horribly, she shines!

OMG! IM SO EXCITED!

Well, it seems she actually has some good RPG elements to talk about, unlike Bethesda. It's still laden with annoying PR speak; I could feel my attention slipping in every paragraph. Don't bother comparing with Pete, he just sucks.

 

[Jora]

If the G3 interview is of the same length as most of VD's interviews (not very long), I suggest publishing all of it after E3.

 

[Atrokkus]

Anyways, great work VD.

Really looking forward to Gothic 3 interview.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

I would say that the general derisiveness towards bethesda, including blatant name calling against individuals from the company on this board may have something to do with not wanting to deal with the site, don't you think? There is valid criticism, but there has also been a lot of plain animosity. If I would work there, I am not sure I would want to do an interview, that will mostly be read by people who called me an idiot only if they wanted to be nice, and with the interviewer being someone who I would have to assume is mostly interested in having me repent the error of my ways.
It's the price for the ultra free speech as practiced here.

 

[Araanor]

"Ultra free speech" - I like that one.

Notice that there have been Bethesda people positive to doing an interview with the Codex, the obstruction here is the PR dude using his veto.

 

[Drakron]

Except that is the same a s a politic refusing to do a interview with a newspaper because "its from the left/right".

It just shows lack of professionalism, if I was creating a RPG and made decisions that would not make the Codex hive mind happy I would still made a interview because I am a professional.

Also what is your excuse for AG.ru that only fault was showing how the game actually looked without being the screenshoots being doctored or running on a something with 3.6 Hrz with 4 gigas of RAM with 2 7600 GTX SLI.

After all they were promiced a exclusive preview in exchange to take part 1 down and not releasing part 2 of their article and Pete never called back.

How about specs were the programers said many times they were running it fine in relative outdated cards when in fact the game runs badly on a GeForce 6600 GT?

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

Even in political debate there is a difference between heated debate and mudflinging / personal attacks, and no politicain has to deabate with every idiot just because he is a politician. All I am saying is that this place sometimes crosses that line, and I can't be mad at pete not wanting to do it. I agree with a lot of the content of the criticism here, but at least for me the style sometimes goes completely down the drain.

Now I am sure that VD is both honest in his goals and capable of conducting a critical but fair interview - but to know that you have to know this site pretty well. Wich Gavin does, but pete does not.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Is the Gothic 3 interview the next interview scheduled? (assuming you can do the split interview)

Well, "scheduled" assumes that we have some control over interviews, which we don't, so...

If the G3 interview is of the same length as most of VD's interviews (not very long), I suggest publishing all of it after E3.

13 questions is our standard for some reasons. That's what Saint told me when he invited me to join the most professional & politically correct journalist club on the 'net.

Anyways, great work VD.

Thanks

I would say that the general derisiveness towards bethesda, including blatant name calling against individuals from the company on this board may have something to do with not wanting to deal with the site, don't you think?

It's frightening how well you know me. I would say that the "general derisiveness", including, of course, the "blatant name calling" (I don't think you could be derisive enough without blatant name calling), may have something to do with the continuous dumbing down of Beth's once prized RPG series into an action adventure game with stats and Pete being a [blatant name calling] lying incompetent cocksucker [/name calling] which he was long time before the first attempts to talk to Beth were made.

If I would work there, I am not sure I would want to do an interview...

I don't want to do an interview with Pete, as that would be a waste of everyone's time. I wanted to interview Gavin and Steve.

 

[Relien]

I would say that the general derisiveness towards bethesda, including blatant name calling against individuals from the company on this board may have something to do with not wanting to deal with the site, don't you think? There is valid criticism, but there has also been a lot of plain animosity. If I would work there, I am not sure I would want to do an interview, that will mostly be read by people who called me an idiot only if they wanted to be nice, and with the interviewer being someone who I would have to assume is mostly interested in having me repent the error of my ways.
It's the price for the ultra free speech as practiced here.

That may be part of the reason, but such personal disputes shouldn't prevent PR from doing what's good for the company. I believe there are still many people who think Oblivion is a flawless masterpiece, and those people call anyone who complain about something a whiner. Now, if Bethesda would admit that some things aren't as perfect as they claimed them to be, many people would begin to take 'whiners' more seriously, and that wouldn't be good yet. They will surely admit it later, when they will talk about the features of TES5, and how much they learned from their previous mistakes in Oblivion.

 

[Claw]

I've been working on a Gothic 3 interview since February. The developer finally answered the questions (due to being busy - no hard feelings), now the publisher is saying that too much has been revealed. Now we are trying to work something out like splitting the interview in two parts (post the "safe" part now, post the "too much new info" part after E3).

OMG PM PLZ1

 

[vazquez595654]

Fuck The Witcher.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I've been working on a Gothic 3 interview since February. The developer finally answered the questions (due to being busy - no hard feelings), now the publisher is saying that too much has been revealed. Now we are trying to work something out like splitting the interview in two parts (post the "safe" part now, post the "too much new info" part after E3).

OMG PM PLZ1

Nothing to tell really. I guess they didn't want people to know about that spaceship you find in the end.