Interview Leonard Boyarsky Interview at Hellgate Guru

[Jason]

Tags: Diablo III; Leonard Boyarsky

<b>Leonard Boyarsky</b> sat down with Rex for an <a href="http://hellforge.gameriot.com/blogs/Hellforge/Diablo-III-The-Lore-of-the-World-An-Interview-with-Leonard-Boyarsky/page1" target="blank">interview at Hellforge</a> about the upcoming Lovecraftian psychological horror thriller, <b>Diablo 3</b>
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<blockquote>Do you also draw inspiration from your previous games – for example Vampire or Fallout?
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Leonard Boyarsky: One of the most interesting things for me is that Diablo has a very distinctive voice and you know it’s really something that we’re trying to stick to. We really want to get that feel of the horror – the underlying psychological horror. At its basis it’s an action game, so there’s only so much of that kind of feel you can kind of get. But I think Diablo 1 did it really well , and I think that it’s one of the things we really wanna hit.
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Whereas, I think some of my past games I’ve been a bit more flippant in some of the dialogue writing. It’s just a different style, and we really wanna be true to that, and we really wanna make the dialogue as quality as possible, but we really wanna evoke the psychological horror feeling. You know, the whole Lovecraftian vibe of the universe. There’s all this stuff going on behind the scenes that’s just waiting to crush man.</blockquote>
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<i>Thanks to PlanHex for the tip</i>

 

[Grey]

"we really wanna"

 

[flabbyjack]

23
LIKES

If only the dialogue in his games was on par with his interviews... oh well. I like the comments tho, even more brainless than teh codex.

Love the interview!!!!!!!hmmmm

hahahaha fanboi

 

[Sovard]

we really wanna make the dialogue as quality as possible

Awesome!

, but

Oh...

 

[GarfunkeL]

I LOVE the lore from MMO's and RPG's, but as it states, I skip most of it becasue i want to play the game, not read a book.

This is why we cannot have nice things anymore.

 

[Azrael the cat]

You know, I can honestly say that I never ever associated Diablo with Lovecraftian psychological horror. Or psychological. Or Lovecraftian, without the psychological. Horror, I'l give it, but only if we're talking gore+killing=horror rather than a genuine attempt to scare anyone.

Nothing wrong with overly lofty ambitions though - I'm glad he has the honesty to admit that, being a mainstream action title, there's only so much psychological horror you can squeeze in.

Btw (off-topic, but what the heck): anyone else in Australia getting fucking tired of the '48hour Rapid Detox' ads with the woman that has the really annoying voice (www.48hourrapiddetox.com.au) - do what I did and report their asses to the ACCC for misleading and deceptive conduct (ok, apparently it isn't actually illegal to have a fucking irritating voice on tv, but I'm pretty certain they can't back up their weightloss claims, so maybe they can get screwed on that account). Seriously, I'd have no problem if the ads weren't so fucking annoying.

 

[Fat Dragon]

Always nice to hear from a developer who isn't some overconfident dumbfuck with his head up his ass. We need more guys like Leon.

The lore books sound pretty interesting, looking forward to reading some of those. Also random quests chosen for each new playthrough is good news.

 

[Jason]

Read?

The lore book that we’ve been putting in has been really popular. People like the ability to hear background stuff while they run around killing things as opposed to having to stop to read. So, we’re pretty surprised by that because people generally split into two different kinds of classes: the people who care about the lore and the people who could care less, but we’re finding that with the lore books that people have really responded to them. I’m assuming that’s because the audio portion of it where they don’t have to stop and sit and read it doesn’t cut into the action, basically.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Read?

The lore book that we’ve been putting in has been really popular. People like the ability to hear background stuff while they run around killing things as opposed to having to stop to read. So, we’re pretty surprised by that because people generally split into two different kinds of classes: the people who care about the lore and the people who could care less, but we’re finding that with the lore books that people have really responded to them. I’m assuming that’s because the audio portion of it where they don’t have to stop and sit and read it doesn’t cut into the action, basically.

Well it is an action game. Having to stop and read something for about 3 minutes kind of hurts the pace, wouldn't you agree? You can always go through the log book and actually *read* it later if you prefer, or you can listen to it on the fly.

 

[Emotional Vampire]

Agreed with fishlips. It's fucking Diablo. I wouldn't WANT to have Bloodlines-like dialogue in it.

 

[Shannow]

You know, I can honestly say that I never ever associated Diablo with Lovecraftian psychological horror. Or psychological. Or Lovecraftian, without the psychological. Horror, I'l give it, but only if we're talking gore+killing=horror rather than a genuine attempt to scare anyone.

Hmm, maybe I was younger than you (or more impressionable) when I first played D1 but especially in the beginning it had a very eerie and threatening atmosphere. Wouldn't call it lovecraftian but the first time I met the Butcher I nearly shit my pants. That "horror" didn't last. But it was there for me in the beginning.
I also found the Oceanside Motel in Bloodlines scary the first time. So maybe I just scare easily...

 

[Lyric Suite]

A Lovecraftian psychological horror thriller displayed in pastel, cartoony colors. Right.

 

[Derek Larp]

You know, I can honestly say that I never ever associated Diablo with Lovecraftian psychological horror. Or psychological. Or Lovecraftian, without the psychological. Horror, I'l give it, but only if we're talking gore+killing=horror rather than a genuine attempt to scare anyone.

Hmm, maybe I was younger than you (or more impressionable) when I first played D1 but especially in the beginning it had a very eerie and threatening atmosphere. Wouldn't call it lovecraftian but the first time I met the Butcher I nearly shit my pants. That "horror" didn't last. But it was there for me in the beginning.
I also found the Oceanside Motel in Bloodlines scary the first time. So maybe I just scare easily...

Hmm I thought it was rather boring. And didn´t bats drop gold coins? Meh. I never really got into the Diablo games, despite their popularity. Guess it´s just not my cup of tea.

 

[Weresloth]

The previous Diablos for all of their hack and slash mentality (which isn't necessarily always a bad thing if you are in the mood for it) were able to at least set some kind of mood with their tremendous rendered cutscenes.

 

[Seymour]

Diablo I most definitely did have an element of gothic horror with its eerie, very atmospheric art and music. Even gameplay-wise I'd say this carried on to its very end since at least in multiplayer hell difficulty you were never really safe - play dumb and enemies (especially damn tri-immune advocates) will fuck you up.

Diablo II lost this aspect almost entirely by going the way of high fantasy, and though I'd like to believe they are going back to basics here, the cartoony WoW graphics just won't cut it. Wish Blizzard would give their old IPs their distinctive looks back instead of making every game look like their favourite cashcow.

 

[MetalCraze]

I LOVE the lore from MMO's and RPG's, but as it states, I skip most of it becasue i want to play the game, not read a book.

This is why we cannot have nice things anymore.

You just have unrealistic standards.

 

[1eyedking]

Diablo 1 atmosphere > Diablo 2 atmosphere
Diablo 1 mechanics < Diablo 2 mechanics
Diablo 1 gameplay ? Diablo 2 gameplay

Playing Diablo 2 definitely does not feel like playing Diablo 1, which is much slower-paced and relies on suspense to deliver entertainment. Diablo 2 relies on its fast-paced action and superb, immiscible class/skill system for its share of fun. I would say they're very different games.

However,

A Lovecraftian psychological horror thriller displayed in pastel, cartoony colors. Right.

At its basis it’s an action game, [...] but we really wanna evoke the psychological horror feeling.

Diablo 3 seems to be taking a rather dangerous road. The road of double-talk. We here all know where that path usually leads to...

 

[Shannow]

That path leads into Oblivion.



SCNR

 

[Jim Cojones]

Agreed with fishlips. It's fucking Diablo. I wouldn't WANT to have Bloodlines-like dialogue in it.

Why not? Bloodlines have never thrown real walls of text at you unlike previous Diablo games where you had to sit for five minutes listening to NPC if you were interested in some background info.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

and the people who could care less

 

[MetalCraze]

I have to agree with EmoVamp.

This is Diablo. There are a lot more things in this game you can bitch about (like Blizz turning it into a goddamn WoW) and the lack of super-duper-LARPer-heavan writing is not one of them.

 

[Xor]

I LOVE the lore from MMO's and RPG's, but as it states, I skip most of it becasue i want to play the game, not read a book.

This is why we cannot have nice things anymore.

You just have unrealistic standards.

Who are you and what have you done with Skyway?

 

[janjetina]

Redding is teh hard

If you continue down this path, you'll soon be indistinguishable from the illiterate Bethesda fanboy crowd.

 

[bhlaab]

Hm. What do you think are the chances of someone like Leonard Boyarsky leaving Blizzard and Diablo 3 behind to work for Double Bear?

Like, 50/50 right?

 

[Gay-Lussac]

I LOVE the lore from MMO's and RPG's, but as it states, I skip most of it becasue i want to play the game, not read a book.

This is why we cannot have nice things anymore.

You just have unrealistic standards.

Who are you and what have you done with Skyway?

]

Sarcasm