Interview Dungeon Siege III Does Not Have A Respec System

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Tags: Dungeon Siege III; Obsidian Entertainment

<p><a href="http://www.siliconera.com/2011/02/23/dungeon-siege-iii-does-not-have-a-respec-system-feargus-urquhart-explains-why/" target="_blank">Feargus Urquhart explains</a> why respeccing is out in <strong>Dungeon Siege III</strong>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I asked Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment, why the team decided not to add in a respec feature. "I think respec is an idea&hellip; you know that&rsquo;s a hard question. If we were making a MMO like Warcraft and I&rsquo;ve put a billion hours into this character and I kind of want to do something different with this character. Instead of doing PvE [player vs. enemy] stuff, I now want to do PvP [player vs. player] stuff I absolutely have to respec it do that," Urquhart replied.<br /><br />"In other words, it&rsquo;s not like the player becomes less successful with their character because of the game or because now they can play the game in a totally different way. In a lot of ways, it is not as necessary, but it was a hard decision to whether to provide that or not. A lot of it came down to it&rsquo;s not like you&rsquo;re making a decision like &lsquo;I played 75% of the game PvE and now I want to play PvP and now I have to respec or I&rsquo;m not going to be as good as players at the same level.&rsquo;"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.rpgwatch.com/#16821">RPGWatch</a></p>

 

[J_C]

I've never ever used respec in any game, so I don't really care. If I want to play a different character, I'll start a new game.

 

[turn_based_fanboy]

Evil Obsidian how will modern warfare crowd now play your game?

 

[Deleted member 7219]

What were the first two Dungeon Siege games like? I was under the impression they were two hack n' slash Diablo clones. But now Obsidian is developing the third one, I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[Jasede]

They were mindless hack and slash. (At least the first one, the one I played.)

They weren't _that bad_, mind you- at the time DS looked pretty and sounded all right. But the gameplay was, well, more relaxing than anything.

German review magazines gave it good ratings, but noted that they couldn't shake off the feeling that it felt like playing a screensaver - as you could just let the AI handle every fight easily.

It's just another typical case of Obsidian attempting to turn garbage into gold, just like with KOTOR or Fallout 3 or NWN 2- we'll see what level of success it will enjoy.

I am cautiously optimistic, but I am going to expect NWN 2- (a fairly decently written in small parts, but hideously boring and not very well tested game that tries to do too many things at once, with the text in bad need of editing at some points.) and not Mask of the Betrayer. But as I have learned, you can get Mask of the Betrayer out of NWN 2, so who knows?

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Respec'ing....good grief.

So it has now become an RPG staple has it?

 

[Jaesun]

Agreed Blackadder.

Could you image that shit in the M&M, Wizardry or Ultima's? Fuck no.

 

[Xor]

Blame WoW. I don't remember respecing being anywhere in single player games before WoW made it popular.

 

[J_C]

Blame WoW. I don't remember respecing being anywhere in single player games before WoW made it popular.

And now every dumbfuck wants respec in a single player game. I remember when DAO came out, everyone started bitching, that you can't respec the NPCs immediately.

 

[Yeesh]

I asked Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment, why the team decided not to add in a respec feature. "I think respec is an idea… you know that’s a hard question. If we were making a MMO like Warcraft and I’ve put a billion hours into this character and I kind of want to do something different with this character. Instead of doing PvE [player vs. enemy] stuff, I now want to do PvP [player vs. player] stuff I absolutely have to respec it do that," Urquhart replied.

"In other words, it’s not like the player becomes less successful with their character because of the game or because now they can play the game in a totally different way. In a lot of ways, it is not as necessary, but it was a hard decision to whether to provide that or not. A lot of it came down to it’s not like you’re making a decision like ‘I played 75% of the game PvE and now I want to play PvP and now I have to respec or I’m not going to be as good as players at the same level.’"

Did anyone notice that he doesn't actually answer the question? All he does is talk about WoW.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Because if a game has respec it means it'll be good.

Because if a game does not have respec it means it'll be bad.

Maybe if I knew enough about DS3 I'd begin to care if a respec mechanic will fit in.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

What the fuck is the point of having respec in an RPG? Isn't that a bit like getting to the Spider Mastermind in Doom, running out of ammunition for the BFG because you're a lousy shot and then demanding the ability to turn pistol ammo into plasma cells so you can use them in the BFG?

The whole point is that you can't respec. Respec is for dumbasses who don't know how to spec in the first place.

Did anyone notice that he doesn't actually answer the question? All he does is talk about WoW.

Yeah, I read that as Feargus tastefully trying to avoid calling the interviewer a complete dumbass and insult what is probably Obsidian's prime market segment these days.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

The whole point is that you can't respec. Respec is for dumbasses who don't know how to spec in the first place.

For action rpgs with fuck all for plot and where the point is to figure out how to kill everything and everyone drops random loot and respawns the inherent unrealism of respeccing is just another mechanic that has to be weighed at this point. Look at titan quest's mystic that you can pay increasing amounts of cash to respec for. This sort of thing is usually used for situations where an early skill though maxed is now best wiped and raised to a level where you unlock a better skill that is now viable at the part of the game. Or maybe the game outright forces you to respec regularly at high level play like my experience in the first guild wars.

That's my experience anyway, and the reasoning from others who are actively desiring this probably varies.

 

[DaveO]

R-E-S-P-E-C, doesn't belong in an RPG!

R-E-S-P-E-C, are you a big dummy?


P.S. - Apologies to Aretha Franklin for rewording lyrics.

 

[Zomg]

Did anyone notice that he doesn't actually answer the question? All he does is talk about WoW.

I was hoping that was just bad excerpting, but no. Feargus, bad! Bad Feargus!

Also shouldn't 3rd edition D&D queer buildfags at least be neutral about respeccing, it does let you explore more tactical space in one playthrough. The main people that would be against respeccing would be roleplayers that are theoretically simulating/pretending to be a dude and respeccing is narratively retarded. The only buildfag downside is that there is now no point in grinding and reloading over and over to get some build that only starts working properly at level one billion through the early game. But since single player games are never interesting as pure games who fucking cares.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

R-E-S-P-E-C, doesn't belong in an RPG!

R-E-S-P-E-C, are you a big dummy?

I would like interviews more if the interviewees sang their answers like this.

 

[Topher]

I like having the option to respec in games not so much in class based games but in games with more open ended class systems in can be useful. I don't make drastic class changes or anything but sometime I find out that I just don't like such and such ability and I'd like to get rid of it or even more common I find out that such and such ability is just pure garbage and I've wasted points on it. A good example would be two worlds, it's one of the few games that I took liberal advantage of the respec system.

Granted if the game is well designed from the start the option to respec will probably never be put to use but honestly is that what were expecting.

 

[Esquilax]

I like having the option to respec in games not so much in class based games but in games with more open ended class systems in can be useful. I don't make drastic class changes or anything but sometime I find out that I just don't like such and such ability and I'd like to get rid of it or even more common I find out that such and such ability is just pure garbage and I've wasted points on it. A good example would be two worlds, it's one of the few games that I took liberal advantage of the respec system.

Granted if the game is well designed from the start the option to respec will probably never be put to use but honestly is that what were expecting.

I suppose, but even then I don't like it. A well-designed game should not really be littered with shitty and useless skills. And even if there are some useless skills here and there, I really hate the idea of cheapening character creation by just letting you do shit over all the time. The whole point of creating a character in the first place is to play as that character.

It's really a sign of the decline that now the fact that there is no respecing is newsworthy. This kind of design should be par for the course.

 

[Kosmonaut]

Never heard that term before. What does respec means? re-specialization? re-spectable?

 

[Esquilax]

Never heard that term before. What does respec means? re-specialization? re-spectable?

Re-specialization. Basically, taking all the character creation points that you've earned and being given an oppurtunity to change them if you don't like your character build.

I think it's a cover for bad design if you have a game with a ton of pointless skill. And that's at best. At worst, it pretty much defeats the purpose of making an RPG, IMO.

 

[Jaesun]

The whole point is that you can't respec. Respec is for dumbasses who don't know how to spec in the first place.

This.

 

[Kosmonaut]

Jesus. It amazes me that they keep finding new ways to make RPGs even more popamole.

 

[Topher]

I like having the option to respec in games not so much in class based games but in games with more open ended class systems in can be useful. I don't make drastic class changes or anything but sometime I find out that I just don't like such and such ability and I'd like to get rid of it or even more common I find out that such and such ability is just pure garbage and I've wasted points on it. A good example would be two worlds, it's one of the few games that I took liberal advantage of the respec system.

Granted if the game is well designed from the start the option to respec will probably never be put to use but honestly is that what were expecting.

I suppose, but even then I don't like it. A well-designed game should not really be littered with shitty and useless skills. And even if there are some useless skills here and there, I really hate the idea of cheapening character creation by just letting you do shit over all the time. The whole point of creating a character in the first place is to play as that character.

It's really a sign of the decline that now the fact that there is no respecing is newsworthy. This kind of design should be par for the course.

Feeling the need to respec is definitely a sign of bad game design but honestly it's inclusion doesn't bother me but I would like there to be some real costs associated with using it, as if that will ever happen.

 

[PorkaMorka]

The whole point is that you can't respec. Respec is for dumbasses who don't know how to spec in the first place.

How do you know how to spec?

Unless you are playing a CRPG licensed from a pen and paper product you probably don't have comprehensive documentation of the mechanics available from the in game help and the manual.

Most of the time with non licensed systems the mechanics are quite obscure, so you don't know many of the formulas that determine your performance.

This makes it extremely difficult if not impossible to make an informed decision on how to build your character to maximize his effectiveness, unless you resort to reading the forums or the FAQs for spoilers, especially as the skill descriptions rarely provide mechanics or objective analysis, but rather tend to read like marketing blurbs for each skill.

So in an unspoilered playthrough you are simply picking based on the skill descriptions and what kind of character think is cool. Which is fine if all the skills are within a reasonable level of effectiveness.

But because creating a balanced RPG system out of nowhere is extremely difficult there are usually multiple specs which sound like they'd be fun to play, but are actually awful. It's pretty much an iron law of non licensed RPGs.

Respecing is your insurance against getting stuck with a terrible character because the Devs failed (and they almost always fail if they didn't license their system).

If you don't have the ability to respec, then either

a) your character's power comes down to luck of the draw, as in which abilities the Devs coded to be powerful and which abilities the Devs coded to be junk.

b) You read through a bunch of spoilers prior to designing your build, possibly reducing your enjoyment of the game.

 

[Raapys]

Well, the point would be to actually have useful skill descriptions in the game/manual, so that picking skills isn't entirely random.

Respec is just stupid and makes the whole 'pick your skills' idea kinda pointless and thoughtless.