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Tags: Chris Avellone; Icewind Dale 2; J.E. Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity
The Codex's favorite designer, Josh Sawyer, must have been bored this Sunday, because he elected to answer three questions asked of him on his Tumblr on video. The first one is about villains and how they're represented in modern fiction:
The second one is about Pillars of Eternity, and specifically about the perceived removal of certain cherished D&D class archetypes from that game:
silkvalley asked: Do you think it is important for attributes to allow certain archetypes? For example, a clumsy and physically weak wizard, yet she deals tons of damage with her spells. The priest who's outstandingly accurate with his spells, but is not a master in sleight of hand and pickpocketing (Dexterity). Similarly, should increasing the damage he deals with spells (via attribute) also increase the number of items he can carry?
And the third is a short retrospective of Icewind Dale 2, Josh's first game as lead designer:
By the way. speaking of villains, Chris Avellone also participated in a podcast about them recently. I haven't listened to it yet because I've fulfilled my insanely long MCA interview quota for this month.
The Codex's favorite designer, Josh Sawyer, must have been bored this Sunday, because he elected to answer three questions asked of him on his Tumblr on video. The first one is about villains and how they're represented in modern fiction:
foxx-trotting asked: I notice in recent years many "popular" evil characters are written in a way so that they're too sympathetic or relatable so that their status as a villain whom the audience should not overly sympathize with is diminished. How does one write a villain or evil character in a way in which their motivations are well-defined and even sympathetic without defeating their purpose in the story?
The second one is about Pillars of Eternity, and specifically about the perceived removal of certain cherished D&D class archetypes from that game:
silkvalley asked: Do you think it is important for attributes to allow certain archetypes? For example, a clumsy and physically weak wizard, yet she deals tons of damage with her spells. The priest who's outstandingly accurate with his spells, but is not a master in sleight of hand and pickpocketing (Dexterity). Similarly, should increasing the damage he deals with spells (via attribute) also increase the number of items he can carry?
And the third is a short retrospective of Icewind Dale 2, Josh's first game as lead designer:
megagalamdraga asked: Hi Josh, if don't mind, please answer my question! Icewind Dale 2 was released more than ten years ago, it was the last Infinity Engine game and the first game that you worked on as a lead designer (as far as I know). What do you think about it in retrospect? What things would you have done differently, if you had to work on it now?
By the way. speaking of villains, Chris Avellone also participated in a podcast about them recently. I haven't listened to it yet because I've fulfilled my insanely long MCA interview quota for this month.
