The problem is, according to Larian, that lots of people don’t read narrative and just skip through, so therefore they were taking the logical step of reducing it and therefore having less localisation costs. The hero originally had one word responses, until Bron, the testers and I, rebelled against it – hence the hero was allowed short, to-the-point lines - again not what I would have hoped for but better than one worders.
Rhi
Hi LR,
I'm just back from doing the weekly supermarket shopping so, yes, this IS a mushroom in my pocket. But I'm still pleased to see you. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> (Obscure reference to BD joke, if that sounds odd to other posters...)
I'm horrified to read that the opinion at Larian is that "lots of people don’t read narrative and just skip through". That may well be true, but my feeling is that a big part of DD's success came through support from people who saw it as a welcome relief from the current trend towards "dumbing down" games for the mass market. For many of us, the lines that you were allowed to put into BD were one of the best parts of a rather patchy affair. We'd like more not less. Put the writers at the front of the decision making queue not the back please!!
Games like Dungeon Siege and Diablo 2 do what they do well, and I certainly wouldn't knock them - I enjoyed them both. But I'd hate to see all rpgs follow that same format, or even that general trend towards more speed and less thought.
I think that DD very successfully tapped into a niche market that still wants to see variety, individuality, and a bit of depth. Moving away from that could be a risky move. No doubt Larian are hoping to leap-frog into the big league, but game companies that mis-time the leap all too often fall to oblivion on the rocks below. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />
Look at any discussion of great rpgs and one that crops up time and time again on the list of all time greats is Planescape Torment (more often than not in top spot on rpg gamers' personal favourites lists). Yet it was one of the wordiest games ever! Now I'm sure that developers would be quick to point out that PsT wasn't exactly box office dynamite when it came to sales, but there is a lot of fruitful middle ground between the abundant prose of PsT and a game with one word replies.
Another recent game that seemed ambivalent about its direction was Ascaron's "Sacred". Clearly they were aiming at a slice of the Diablo market and unashamedly copied much from those games (as have many others). But they hedged their bets and tried to "improve" on D2, not only by little touches like allowing unsocketing of items, but also by trying to broaden out the rpg appeal with other additions. Their quest system, was a curious mix of fully scripted and random quests which - like the Battlefields in BD - was shipped while still buggy and unreliable. The end result was a game that was far from a flop to play yet didn't really succeed well in any area. It didn't have any genuine rpg depth in the quests, or most other aspects, but neither did it really pull off the "Fast, Furious and Fun" style of a good adrenaline charged hack and slash title. I had a very similar feeling of let down after both Sacred and BD - both games that clearly had some talent on the team, but just failed to get the mix right. Significantly for me, both games were clearly trying to economise on the writing.
I think that DD2 is going to be a watershed title for Larian and they simply can't afford to blow it. I for one fervently hope that they know where they are going with it and don't end up with another half-cooked effort like BD or Sacred. I don't want to sound like I'm knocking Larian. I understand that pushing out BD quickly was probably a commercial necessity to buy some time to develop a new engine for DD2, but I certainly hope that they have a clear idea of where they are going. And I hope that direction is not towards less focus on writing a good story, less genuine interaction and less dialogue.
If they're chasing the "dumbed down" market then that's up to them. All I can do is put in a fervent plea for them to stick to the style and spirit that made DD a success.
