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Interview with Todd Howard?

Notorious

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I really like the questions, now all you need to do is to convince them that this interview isn't going to be hostile at all and that all the questions are relative harmless (yet interesting)
 
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Perhaps cut down the length of the questions, make an account on the watch and then ask on behalf of them.
 

Xor

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Pretty good questions overall. It would be interesting to see them answered, although I doubt we'd get much more than the marketing-speak that Bethesda usually produces. That said, if he does answer them, I'd expect Todd to get a bit more respect on the codex than none at all for having the balls to reply.
 

Jaesun

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What part of Bethesda will never do a RPGCodex review so you not get? What a bunch of wasted fucking time.

Instead you should try asking some questions from CDP or PB.
 

Sceptic

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Pretty good series of questions. A few comments:

3) You've left the Daggerfall mention vague enough that it can work.

5) Good find, the final TG quest was also my favorite.

8) Oblivion had some of the special abilities (either from birthsigns or from some of the stone things you find) be a one-cast-a-day, so you're probably better off referencing that than D&D.

12) Daggerfall had no mountains (the terrain info was encoded in the data files but the engine never uses it). Morrowind and Oblivion had some impassable mountains, but in MW you could just fly over them. In Ob the northeastern part of the map was IIRC quite mountainy.

13) replace "rape" with something a little less Codex-ey (as Angthoron suggested)

14) you could add "like Daggerfall" at the very end

17) I'd reword the end a bit, as you make it sound like you think having to be selective with perks is a bad thing (OTOH if that's what you aimed for by all means leave as is)

18) Take out the "visually impaired" bit

I would suggest you ask him how many questions he's willing to answer (you could start by telling him you have 20 and ask if he's willing to answer all) before you send them. If he says he'll only answer X we can try and trim them down to his requested number.
 

King Crispy

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Hey Dicksmoker,

I know you catch a lot of shit around here, and much of it is deserved, but you equally deserve credit for this effort. I like the questions and I sincerely believe Todd might actually answer them if DU's careful about how they're submitted.

Well done.
 

Forest Dweller

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Sceptic said:
14) you could add "like Daggerfall" at the very end
Daggerfall had a reputation system? Interesting.

17) I'd reword the end a bit, as you make it sound like you think having to be selective with perks is a bad thing (OTOH if that's what you aimed for by all means leave as is)
I wasn't trying to be. I thought of saying something like "Can we really expect such a thing..."

18) Take out the "visually impaired" bit
Yeah, that was the one question I thought might be a little rude.
 

Forest Dweller

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Crispy said:
Hey Dicksmoker,

I know you catch a lot of shit around here, and much of it is deserved, but you equally deserve credit for this effort. I like the questions and I sincerely believe Todd might actually answer them if DU's careful about how they're submitted.

Well done.
Thanks.
 

Sceptic

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Dicksmoker said:
Daggerfall had a reputation system?
A very complex one. Every faction, whether you could join them or not, had its own reputation. Factions also had their allies, so if you did something for faction A it not only boosted your rep with A but also with B and C because they were allies. On some occasions doing something A dislikes would result in loss with A, B and C but increase with their enemies D, E and F. Faction reputations applied equally to all areas (so if TG likes you in Daggerfall they'll equally like you in Wayrest), but each area had its own legal reputation, so you could be a criminal in Daggerfall but dependable in the eyes of the law in Wayrest. I doubt Beth would ever go back to such a system, but even having the legal reputation not apply equally (as your question suggests) would be a good step.

I wasn't trying to be. I thought of saying something like "Can we really expect such a thing..."
I've reread it and it looks fine actually, don't know why I thought it didn't. Ignore my previous comment.

Crispy said:
I know you catch a lot of shit around here, and much of it is deserved, but you equally deserve credit for this effort.
This. Good job on this one :salute:
 

Phelot

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"Hi! I'm Dicksmoker from RPGCodex! Would you be interested in answering some serious questions?"
 

King Crispy

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I think it might go a bit more like

Mr. Howard,

I'm DarkUnderlord, site administrator of RPGCodex. Before you delete this email, please, hear me out.

We at the Codex are actually somewhat divided in our initial impressions of your newest TES entry, Skyrim. To that end, we respectfully submit the following questions, all composed by one of our loyal members, and sincerely ask you to consider answering them.

We would, should you decide to accomodate us, and with your permission, then post the Q&A as a news item on our site, independant of any general comments (although we cannot guarantee a slew of new topics about it on our discussion boards soon afterwords).

I certainly realize you've got more than enough reasons not to trust us, but I think if you'll take a moment to at least glance through the questions, you'll see that we indeed mean well.

Sincerely,

Fred Schumaker (DarkUnderlord)
 

Jaesun

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Keep dreaming that pipe dream. Seriously, spend time on devs who WILL actually reply to the codex.
 

Vault Dweller

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Crispy said:
I certainly realize you've got more than enough reasons not to trust us, but I think if you'll take a moment to at least glance through the questions, you'll see that we indeed mean well.
What do trust and meaning well have to do with it?

Bethesda doesn't like the Codex because the Codex generates negativity they don't want. They want to talk to people who are excited about their games and answer interesting questions like "seriously though, how awesome Skyrim is gonna be?" instead of talking about Daggerfall which nobody at Beth can even remember.

To give you an analogy, it's like offering Charlie Sheen to go on a "let's get to know each other, build up trust, and take things slow" date instead of snorting cocaine and party with porn stars.

For the record, I do have Todd's and Pete's emails, so if DU wants to give it a try and see what happens, I'll be more than happy to pass the info to him. Pete's always replied to my emails, so if the email is well presented (i.e. without all this let's learn to trust each other again crap), I'm sure he would be willing to discuss the interview or at least offer his reasons.

I do agree with Jaesun that the time would be better spent on getting interviews with developers who don't get as much coverage and thus who'd want to talk to the Codex. Risen 2 is a perfect candidate. Make it happen!
 

chzr

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while there could be a better 'target' for interview than bethesda and skyrim, i guess something like this (= 'serious', but not cocksucking interviews) would incline codex quite a lot and this might be the first step.
 

MetalCraze

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At least Codex is coming out of the closet, dropping the retarded act "lawlwlwls Todd Howard reetard , Pete hiens reatrd raeping mah fallout aaaaaawwww"
 

Forest Dweller

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Vault Dweller said:
For the record, I do have Todd's and Pete's emails, so if DU wants to give it a try and see what happens, I'll be more than happy to pass the info to him. Pete's always replied to my emails,
Even though he knows you once called him "full of shit?" :lol: I guess that would make him a good sport.

so if the email is well presented (i.e. without all this let's learn to trust each other again crap),
I agree with this. The best way to do it would be just to state straight-forwardly that we would be interested in conducting an interview. I think that fact alone would speak for itself.
 

Shannow

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Doing an interview with Bethesda doesn't mean we can't do an interview with other devs. Just need to find a member who is interested and knowledgable enough to compose a similar set of questions (Darth Roxor?).

The questions for this interview were surprizingly good. I doubt beth will answer them.

I think it'd be an incline if "we" (I'm not gonna do it) were to conduct an interview once in a while again. (Did we have more than two since VD left?)
 

DwarvenFood

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(although we cannot guarantee a slew of new topics about it on our discussion boards soon afterwords).

I lol'led.

Code:
Mr. Howard, 

I'm Fred Schumacher, site administrator of RPGCodex. 

We at the Codex are awaiting the new installment of the TES series, Skyrim, with great anticipation. As we are discussing various aspects of the game, we have become somewhat divided in our initial impressions of it. To that end, we respectfully submit the following questions to you and sincerely ask you to consider answering them. 

We would, should you decide to accommodate us, and with your permission, then post the Q&A as a news item on our site, independant of any general comments.

Sincerely, 

Fred Schumaker (DarkUnderlord)
 

HardCode

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I would omit the "respectfully" part. He isn't a judge or mayor.
 

Admiral jimbob

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Vault Dweller said:
I do agree with Jaesun that the time would be better spent on getting interviews with developers who don't get as much coverage and thus who'd want to talk to the Codex. Risen 2 is a perfect candidate. Make it happen!

Agreed. They're far, far more likely to play ball, more likely to give answers of actual substance, and they're making something we have reason to actually give a shit about.
 

Forest Dweller

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Another interview I might be interested in doing would be for Deus Ex 3. But since it's so close to release now that seems kinda pointless.
 

denizsi

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Duh, just put more references to Fallout 3 and FNV to hint at a recently emerged positivity for Bethesda.

Tell how well FNV is received and ask if there is anything they intend to implement from FNV to Skyrimjob.

And really, if FNV was used as a template for a TES game, it would possibly be the best TES game yet.
 

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