Interview 1UP Interviews Feargus Urquhart

[Sol Invictus]

Tags: Feargus Urquhart; Neverwinter Nights 2; Obsidian Entertainment

Our favorite piñata has been given an <a href="http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3134617">interview</a> by 1UP and he had the following things to say about his bad experience with the development at <b>Black Isle Studios</b>:
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<blockquote><b>FUrquhart</b>: Well my hell lasted from about June of 1996 until September of 2000. That was pretty much one straight crunch time - Fallout 1 to Fallout 2 to Baldur's Gate to Torment to Icewind Dale to Baldur's Gate 2. It pretty much sucked.
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: Not to whine, but I got one vacation in there to get married. </blockquote>
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Oh, and before you all decide to flog him with a stick, check out the following:
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<blockquote><b>FUrquhart</b>: We've been talking a lot about older RPGs and how RPGs have evolved.
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: We want to get back to the place where the world really played a role in the game. When you were playing Ultima IV, it wasn't just about your stats and the next big sword. It was about your place in the world.
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: I guess we want to make it an adventure.
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<b>CGW</b>: So how do you really feel about all the other RPGs out there now?
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: They've started to fall into this "on a rail" feeling, or they are so expansive that you don't know what to do next. But Bioware did a great job with Kotor1 and brought the story back to being at the forefront.
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<b>CGW</b>: So, for the most part you see lots of Diablos or Morrowinds.
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: Exactly!
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: I loved Diablo, but you didn't feel the accomplishment when you finished like you did when you finished an Ultima. And well, Morrowind, I think it's a good game in a lot of regards, but there are also a lot of problems with it.
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<b>CGW</b>: I know, Ulitma IV was like a morality play...teaching you how to live a moral life and all. Sadly, I think I learned more from that than Sunday school. (They had an Apple in the rec room, what can I say?)
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<b>FUrquhart</b>: Yep, and you still had the character system, items and spells - but that didn't over shadow what you were trying to do. We want to make sure that both reinforce each other and not have one overshadow the other. </blockquote>
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Hey, that's what I like to hear. Now, NWN2 should definitely feature more choices on morality, and unlike the later Ultima games (Ascension, anyone?), it would be <b>best</b> if it didn't pigeonhole you into playing a specific character/morality. I always liked that part about the Ultima series where you found out that the Gargoyles were an intelligent race of benevolent beings and that killing them all along was a <b>bad</b> thing to do.
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<blockquote><b>FUrquhart</b>: I can tell you that a big focus for NWN2 is on the NPCs - we want the player to care about them and have them be real. So, we are focusing on the key NPCs and putting a lot of time and energy behind them - to reinforce their part in the world.</blockquote>
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I'd like to see if Chris Avellone can work his magic with NWN2 like he did with Planescape Torment.
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Thanks <b>Mr. Teatime</b> for the news tip.

 

[Surlent]

CGW: Welcome to the party everyone. So, how should I address you, Feargus: Mister? Doctor? Esquire?

FUrquhart: How about Feargus Urquhart, CEO, Obsidian Entertainment, Inc.

CGW: Anything shorter?

FUrquhart: Smooth Motherf***er.

LOL 11 GG FEARGUS 1111

FUrquhart: Actually today was our first milestone for Atari and that is getting sent off in the next hour or so. From here Wizards of the Coast needs to approve all the story stuff to make sure we are treating the Forgotten Realms right. So I can't say anything yet.

So WotC really gets to censor FR products just like that ?

 

[Crazy Tuvok]

Depending on what WoTC is looking at it is not necessarily censorship. Anyone who owned an intellectual property or setting like Forgotten Realms would want to make sure that the thrid party they hired to make a game out of it has not *completely* upended the knowns of the setting.

That said, what WoTC is looking at may very well amount to censorship at the expense of game. There was a thread a while back on this topic and the WoTC guidelines had some really whacked out shit in 'em (good must always triumph over evil e.g).

Still it is neither unusual nor necessarily nefarious that WoTC wants to check product. Any company would do the same.

Feargie is such an odd duck. For every interview he gives that has something asinine in it, he gives one that gives me hope for Obsidian. I admit to being hopeful about the stuff they are working on. I like what he has to say here, and c'mon man in fairness any of us would bitch about not having had a vacation in 4 years.

 

[Briosafreak]

CGW: Hey, totally random tangent, but I'm curious: What are your thoughts on the Fallout franchise now that its going over to bethesda?

FUrquhart: Well, a part of me is sad that I won't be involved in creating the next Fallout. I always thought we would get to do it.

FUrquhart: Another part of me is glad not to do it.

FUrquhart: It's sort of a no-win situation with what Interplay has done with the brand and the rabid fans that it has.

You know i can understand his hate for Fallout fans since we know how full of bullshit he is (slam dunk, lionheart combat, TORN beeing the game all Fallouy fans would want, the Fallout2 bugs, unfinished quests and design chaos mess, etc) but putting us on the same level as Interplay, man that`s low, really low. So Fergus do please go outside and eat shit, don`t forget about the ketchup.

 

[Seven]

Don't you think you're taking too personally? Nowhere did he say that FO fans and Iply are the same. What he's consistently said was that we were hard to please. You're adding two things up that don't go together.

 

[Sol Invictus]

FEARGUS WANTS US ALL TO ROT IN HELL. HE WILL PURGE US.

 

[Stark]

You know i can understand his hate for Fallout fans since we know how full of bullshit he is (slam dunk, lionheart combat, TORN beeing the game all Fallouy fans would want, the Fallout2 bugs, unfinished quests and design chaos mess, etc) but putting us on the same level as Interplay, man that`s low, really low. So Fergus do please go outside and eat shit, don`t forget about the ketchup.

haha. your response exactly proves his point.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

haha. your response exactly proves his point.

Not quite. Feargus does have a tendency to, for some reason, lump all Fallout fans into the same bag. He's under the impression that its fine to claim all of them are [insert random derogatory term here], when his problem is likely just again those that express themselves online (ie, No Mutants Allowed, Duck and Cover, etc).

Briosa's post, if anything, only proves that ocasionally, Fallout fans online have a certain type of attitude. Which isn't representative of neither the majority, nor of the individuals.

 

[Anonymous]

I like how Feargus also managed to slip in a bit of BioWare ass kissing that has become so common for him.

 

[Mr. Teatime]

Fallout fans on DAC are loud and rude, no doubt. The trouble is, fallout is a hardcore franchise in the rare position in that it's also well known to many developers. So developers like feargus would want to screw around with that hardcore bit to make it mainstream - eg turn based combat going hybrid or real time. Being a BG fan is OK because it's already got sucky mainstream bits in, so there's nowhere near as much stuff to bitch about when a publisher announces a sequel.
Basically, Feargus is being a bitch about people he can kick around with little percieved consequence (fallout fans), at the same time brown-tonguing, in a very hypocritical way, companies like Bioware.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, pretty much.

Angry because he sucks ass at handling Fallout, maybe? Probably wouldnt get complaints if you did it right Mistar Feargus, but I guess he's sore because he didnt do it right (Fallout 2).

 

[Volourn]

? FO2 is better than FO1. He did itr ight. He wins, the FO Fanatics lose. Stop whining because you've been put in yoru palce.

Boo hoo hoo. Devs don't like FO Fans. Cry me a river.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

FUrquhart: It's sort of a no-win situation with what Interplay has done with the brand and the rabid fans that it has.

You know i can understand his hate for Fallout fans since we know how full of bullshit he is (slam dunk, lionheart combat, TORN beeing the game all Fallouy fans would want, the Fallout2 bugs, unfinished quests and design chaos mess, etc) but putting us on the same level as Interplay, man that`s low, really low. So Fergus do please go outside and eat shit, don`t forget about the ketchup.

He's not lumping Fallout fans with Interplay. He's saying Interplay has fucked the brand over many times and the developers of Fallout games in the future are going to have to deal with the angry mob that Interplay basically helped create.

 

[Anonymous]

? FO2 is better than FO1. He did itr ight. He wins, the FO Fanatics lose. Stop whining because you've been put in yoru palce.

Boo hoo hoo. Devs don't like FO Fans. Cry me a river.

FO2 was terrible in comparison to FO1 and i'm sure you disagreed with every point made, just because you're an idiot like that.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Owned. Maybe you fuckers will learn to read in the future.

 

[Volourn]

"FO2 was terrible in comparison to FO1 and i'm sure you disagreed with every point made, just because you're an idiot like that."

I disagree, because FO2 is not worse than FO1. Only fanboys think otherwise.

 

[Mr. Teatime]

I enhjoyed FO2 more than FO1, and played it a lot more as well. That doesn't invalidate what I said above, about Feargus being a little bitch.

 

[Reklar]

FUrquhart: It's sort of a no-win situation with what Interplay has done with the brand and the rabid fans that it has.

You know i can understand his hate for Fallout fans since we know how full of bullshit he is (slam dunk, lionheart combat, TORN beeing the game all Fallouy fans would want, the Fallout2 bugs, unfinished quests and design chaos mess, etc) but putting us on the same level as Interplay, man that`s low, really low. So Fergus do please go outside and eat shit, don`t forget about the ketchup.

He's not lumping Fallout fans with Interplay. He's saying Interplay has fucked the brand over many times and the developers of Fallout games in the future are going to have to deal with the angry mob that Interplay basically helped create.

I'm inclined to agree with your interpretation of Feargus' quote, but I think he could have worded it better. He makes two statements in that sentence, that Interplay has used the Fallout license in an unfortunate manner, and that Fallout has rabid fans. His intent may very well have been to imply that Interplay helped create rabid, angry fans, but his choice of words does not make that clear. I think it's fair to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it's difficult for me to tell if any company rep is being sincere anymore because none of them have been infallibly honest.

As to Volourn's assertion that Fallout 2 is better than Fallout, I cannot agree. I believe there are aspects of Fallout 2 that are managed better than the original, such as hand-to-hand combat and NPC handling, but overall the story, plot, and feel of the original is far more believable and consistent than it's larger sequel. I like both games and I think Fallout 2 was a worthy sequel overall, but it's by no stretch superior to the original as a whole.

-Reklar
(a Fallout/RPG fan)

 

[Briosafreak]

You know i can understand his hate for Fallout fans since we know how full of bullshit he is (slam dunk, lionheart combat, TORN beeing the game all Fallouy fans would want, the Fallout2 bugs, unfinished quests and design chaos mess, etc) but putting us on the same level as Interplay, man that`s low, really low. So Fergus do please go outside and eat shit, don`t forget about the ketchup.

haha. your response exactly proves his point.

Brilliant reply, indeed brilliant. So FU again and again calls Fallout fans the worse kind of fans, rabid, and a liability for the franchise, and when one decides it`s time to respond OMG LOLZ USEE? HE`S RIGHT LOLZ. You are of the servile tipe, aren`t you?

He's not lumping Fallout fans with Interplay.

He`s saying that those are the two factors behind the Fallout franchise not beeing interesting. Actually it is interesting, just see the several offers Interplay had in the last months, but if it isn`t as shining as it was Interplay is to blame ALONE. Fergus has it`s share too of course, but this is just the way he`s trying to divert people from the fact HE screwed up with Fallout2, TORN, Lionheart and so on, and didn`t listened to the Fallout fans that were saying he was doing all the wrong choices. People like Saint.

It`s also a smart way to prepare the path for when his colleagues that were interested in getting the Fallout license for Obsidian find out that after a couple of phone calls in December he CHICKENED OUT and passed on every idea a publisher or some backer had about it, while continuing to say he was interested for a few of his friends. He`s a sissy, he was the one that helped Fallout3 to be canceled twice, not the fans, so he has ZERO morality to talk about the franchise to us, and after all the times he screwed us it is funny as hell that he`s the one trying to pass as a victim.

So no, nothing personal, i`m sure he`s a wonderfull human beeing and a great family man, but he sucks anyway,and he`s an hipocryte, next he`s going to blame us for his failure in getting the Take2 deal ahead and the zero interest he got on the E3 last yea with his contacts shrugging him offr, wich placed Obsidian as Bioware`s bitch now.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

It`s also a smart way to prepare the path for when his colleagues that were interested in getting the Fallout license for Obsidian find out that after a couple of phone calls in December he CHICKENED OUT and passed on every idea a publisher or some backer had about it, while continuing to say he was interested for a few of his friends.

Is this true? o_O

next he`s going to blame us for his failure in getting the Take2 deal ahead

Eh?

 

[Sol Invictus]

What's next after blaming Feargus for Lionheart, Brios? Blaming Feargus for FOBOS, too?

 

[Briosafreak]

Remember how he said Lionheart combat was going to be a winner and how the people complaining (mostly here and at the Iplay boards) didn`t knew what they were talking about? That`s what i`m talking, together with his early enthusiasm in placing BIS resources into it, wich many said it wasn`t such a good idea. Now tell me he doesn`t have the slightest share of the blame on TORN, Fallout2, Fallout3 cancelations, lack of Fallout2 second patch,the quiting of the eleven that were promissed many times that were going to work on Fallout3 and were sent to IWD and console games and many many other situations.


A few even more embarassing...

 

[Volourn]

Brio still crying? Some things never change. Hahaha.

 

[Seven]

"FO2 was terrible in comparison to FO1 and i'm sure you disagreed with every point made, just because you're an idiot like that."

I disagree, because FO2 is not worse than FO1. Only fanboys think otherwise.

Suck my dick. :wink:

I don't understand why you continually belabour this point, you played FO2 before FO, so naturally you would assume that it was better because it was your first point of contact with the franchaise. Those of us who played FO1 first see a lot of faults with FO2 because it's not consistent with the world of FO1 (in some ways); this is why FO2 is often critiqued. BTW, how did FO2 improve over FO1/how was it better?

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Fallout 2 was basically a bigger gameworld with more places to see and more quests to do. That in my mind, is the primary thing where Fallout 2 shines. The interface was also improved, by the way; gone were the useless Tell Me About options and the inability to take all items at once from a place and not being able to take more than 999 coins at a time.

However, it also had a crapload of bugs. It was also too lighthearted for its own good. References, jokes, easter eggs... too many of those. The setting inconsistencies were also detracting. While not being a puritan, I also find the profanity to be in excess. The overal design of it was visibly centered around combat, which was disappointing to say the least.