Re: Can we preorder it yet?
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
It worries me that he says he's been playing Gothic 3 for some time now...
Well, I'm a gamer first, otherwise I wouldn't even be on this site.
I think I came of a little harsh with my posts. Having English as second language often forces me to use words that are somewhat what I want to use, but not exactly, and thus the mood of my posts gets harsher/softer than I intended. However, my worries - as stated by this quote - wasn't that you played Gothic 3. It was that you played Gothic 3 and did not work on AoD. That's a 1/0 ratio.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
he does have a full-time job... but if you love what you're doing you'll fucking get up in the middle of the night just to write down/implement a new idea.
Making games is hard. Very hard. Especially from scratch (vs. designing a NWN module, for example). Sure, it's an enjoyable work, but it's work nonetheless. Right now we have a crisis at work. I had to fire several managers and I have more than enough to deal with at the moment. When I get home, my brain shuts down and I can do very little. Hopefully, the crisis will be over in a couple of weeks. You start each week expecting to be able to work every day, but then some shit happens, and you lose a day, then two, and before you know it, you only worked the weekends.
Sorry to hear that. I see now that my post could be read as if I questioned your dedication to the project, and that in a not very pleasant way. Well, I did question it, but just at this point in time. As in "Is he feeling low?" Your reasons not to work on AoD, however, are more than valid.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
Especially in the end-phase of a project.
The end-phase is the hardest. That's where you look at everything you've done and start throwing things out. Or feel that something must be added, because this particular feature (the money system, for example) feels empty, generic, and non-interesting in general.
Wil replacing the existing currency system with a better one make AoD a better game? Maybe, maybe not. What I've always liked about the pre-WoW Blizzard games is the insane attention to details. There is a huge difference (in every way) between a good, but unpolished game (Arcanum, Gothic 3, etc) and a good AND polished game (Fallout, Darklands, etc).
I want a polished product and I'm glad you have this attitude,as long as you remember that things can
always get better no matter how much you polish them... but I'm sure you do. I'm not a raving junkie that needs my RPG-fix right now no matter the cost.
Regarding the currency system (even though it was just an example): as long as I'm broke I'm a happy camper :D . Make money worth working for. It's fucking ridiculuos how you in most games walk around with 100k worth of gold in your backpack only to take on jobs that reward you 200 more.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
I wouldn't be surprised if those graphics complaints and writing complaints curbed his enthusiasm a little.
Not at all. People were bitching about this and that from day one. I disregard retarded criticism and look for valuable opinions that actually help us a lot. When you work on something for a long time, it's getting harder and harder to look at your work objectively simply because you become used to it. So, looking at our work through your eyes is a great experience.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
It's never fun to have to re-do what you thought was good. It puts doubts in ones skull.
Unless one realizes and accepts the fact that mistakes will be made, but isn't sure where. If you are looking at a good example of what happens when developers are certain that what they do is good, dismiss criticism, and are unwilling to change things, take a look at Oblivion.
There's a difference between beeing:
1) arrogant, ignorant and catering to the casual gamer to make money, thus giving the finger to their old time fans (i.e. Bethesda).
2) Having to hire a writer/editor because your writing isn't up to par + having to change from 2d to 3d.
Again, the outcome were good things. The criticsm was a great thing. Without the criticism you probably would have released a game only the Codex wanted to play. And I think we all now what that would have meant for the possibility of a AoD2.
But, it's not fun having to realise that what you think is good - what you have been working on for a long time - just doesn't cut it. Fuck, don't tell me you read the criticism and thought "Oh great, now I know! Happy days! Yippie! The beer's on me tonight!!!" That's just not how people work.
Of course, if you presented your (early) material with a "Lets see what they want"-attitude, then I can understand how you can take the criticsm as something purely positive.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
I was talking out of my own experience, how a project can fill you with joy one minute and bore you to death the next if things doesn't work out as planned.
We've been working on it since Mar 2004. That's a long time. A lot of things didn't go as planned. We are still here. You can judge by the screenshots that we release more or less regularly how far we've come. If you think that some whining will force me to abandon all this work, you are mistaken.
Here's a big misunderstaning and the fault is mine. When I was talking about "how a project can bore you the next minute", I didn't mean from that point until eternity.
And, no, the thought that you would abandon AoD didn't even cross my mind.
Vault Dweller said:
MountainWest said:
...and I'm sure he thought they were perfectly fine when he first showed them to us
Not really. I'm well aware of my flaws. I expected a better reaction, to be honest, but I wasn't surprised by the criticism. As a non-native English speaker (it's my third language, unfortunately), I see things differently and I can't see all the issues as clearly as native speakers do, but that's why I have you guys.
Third language, you say. Canada implies French as first language (if not English). But then again, If you really had French as first language and were stationed in Canada, one would think English would be your second language... Now I'm thinking you're an immigrant (because of your work) and have French as second language... It's a mystary!! One I have to have the answer to. So whats your first language?
In any case, do listen to the native speakers, but do that only for grammatical errors and minor changes. Like when they point out two sentences in a row ending with "though". Mastering a language and being able to point out errors does not in any way equal beeing able to write beutiful text, as shown by a lot of the suggestions in your "The updated writing"-thread.
Cheers!