Interview Road To Skyrim: The Todd Howard Interview

[Azrael the cat]

But really, I don't think I'd have anything against him if he didn't make such fucking awful games.

*One* fucking awful game.

Morrowind is pretty damn good, even great in many respects.

It's all there however. His philosophy just doesn't gel with the Codex's. He asks 'what skills can we remove, what can we streamline to make your choice more meaningful'. Not what could be added. He sees RPGs as being about building up your character and being rewarded - with loot. Not about C&C...

Or so it seems anyhow. He didn't give enough credit to the work of Peterson and Lefay, given how crucial TES lore and Daggerfall's design have been to Bethesda's current financial success. But still a reasonably nice guy in interview all things considered.

I agree regarding Morrowind (though I still prefer Gothic 2), but I didn't think Todd worked on it - Ken whatsisname was lead on it.

Also, if Todd did pursue a design of building up your character and being rewarded with loot, I'd respect his games a lot more - still wouldn't be my cup of tea, but certainly respect-worthy. I don't see him pursuing that design: in Oblivion levelling up was counterproductive, exploration was pointless and loot was meaningless due to the all-pervasive scaling. If character building was 'his thing', there's no way he'd let that slip through - it's the sign of someone who wants to focus on other things (the scale of the world) and isn't too interested in character builds so he doesn't notice when the system makes them meaningless and combines everything into a single mage-fighter-thief build.

FO3 was better at rewarding building one's character, but it still didn't play like a game that considered that important. If it was a focus, then he did it really really badly.

What he does seem to care about is the world - not the lore, but the towns and scope. He undermines that as well, through fast-travel and scaling, but I can still see the effort there. But it's missing everywhere else - even the 'build your character and be rewarded by loot' aspects.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Morrowind is pretty damn good

Morrowind happened despite of him. The company wasn't completely Toddified yet so a lot of the older Bethesda design philosophies made it through. He has no redeeming qualities, none whatsoever.

 

[Excommunicator]

Despite of him, indeed.

People need to understand that just because someone likes or recognises a great game, doesn't mean they like it entirely because of what made it great, doesn't mean they can identify what truly makes it great, and certainly doesn't mean they are suddenly capable of producing those same strengths by their own effort.

I would say for Todd and Ultima 7, there was a touch of a, a pinch of b, and a lack of c.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

So this whole fucking thread basicly turned into a two page discussion about how Todd Howard is actually a nice guy? Good god, what happened to the codex?

 

[Jaesun]

So this whole fucking thread basicly turned into a two page discussion about how Todd Howard is actually a nice guy? Good god, what happened to the codex?

No, he is still an incompetent dumbfucking faggot. No matter what games he claims to have enjoyed. His work on the games he has made speaks volumes.

 

[SCO]

 

[torpid]

A full transcription of these videos somewhere?

It is important to keep reminding yourself of how much such people deserve to be excommunicated from the industry.

"He is a nice guy" attitudes are almost as bad as the "I'll buy the game just for a little mindless fun" attitudes. Be resolute in what matters, and that is the condemnation of such people as game designers.

Falling for the charms is very un-Codexian.

Yes, because obviously the Codex's opinion of Todd Howard will have far-reaching effects in the gaming industry. We are a prestigious magazine after all.

This isn't politics ffs, where we have to toe the party line -- Todd Howard sounds decent overall, especially compared to most other denizens of the industry (think Molyneux; Molyneux vs Howard, no contest). That doesn't mean I like Oblivion, nor do I think that Skyrim will be any good.

 

[Excommunicator]

Emotional urge to defend your happenstance feelings detected.

 

[torpid]

Internet is serious business dumbfuckery detected.

I'm not sure what you think a hardline anti-Todd Howard position is going to achieve, or why not hating him enough is a terrible compromise, but whatever, keep preaching. I guess if we don't hate him enough we're liable to buy Skyrim; is that what you think? The flesh is weak and all that?

 

[Admiral jimbob]

He makes games we don't like, therefore he must be a terrible human being, EVIL to the core and spend his free time kicking domino rows of puppies into lava in his volcano lair while laughing manically. I don't see how that's hard to understand.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

He makes games we don't like, therefore he must be a terrible human being, EVIL to the core and spend his free time kicking domino rows of puppies into lava in his volcano lair while laughing manically. I don't see how that's hard to understand.

This.

And

Location: France

Drop your weapons and surrender. Nothing will happen to you.

 

[Alex]

(...snip)
Also, notice how in U7 the combat is shite and the dialogue is forgettable (in fairness, people didn't expect anything but childish dialogue in crpgs then)? (snip...)

What do you mean here, Azrael? Are you criticizing the way the dialogue was written, or the whole character interaction in the game? Because if it is the later, I have to disagree. The characters in the game were, mostly, normal people and interaction with them was very tame, some might even call it boring. But it was amazing at creating a sense for each location. Each new place you found in the game had NPCs that fit very well there, making each location more unique.

He makes games we don't like, therefore he must be a terrible human being, EVIL to the core and spend his free time kicking domino rows of puppies into lava in his volcano lair while laughing manically. I don't see how that's hard to understand.

Well, it is an old Codex tradition, that. Do we really want to break this tradition now?

 

[Luzur]

i was expecting him to name something like Goof Troop on Snes or Pong as his main RPG influence, but U7?

dunno, i suspect this is a PR trick to fool the lost hardcore TES RPG'ers back into the fold.

"LOOK GUYS I PLAYED ULTIMAS JUST LIKE YOU AND IS TOTALLY HARDCORE AND STUFF, PLEASE BUY MY GAMES SINCE THEY ARE HARDCORE RPGS JUST LIKE YOU USED TO PLAY"

 

[Lyric Suite]

Todd Howard sounds decent overall

No he doesn't. He sounds like a poser and a douchebag.

 

[Lyric Suite]

He makes games we don't like, therefore he must be a terrible human being

Fuck you. He makes shitty games, hence, why he is an incompetent asshole at best, and an opportunistic piece of shit at worst. Considering he doesn't actually design the games he produces, but merely makes the decisions, i'm leaning towards the latter.

 

[Lyric Suite]

"LOOK GUYS I PLAYED ULTIMAS JUST LIKE YOU AND IS TOTALLY HARDCORE AND STUFF, PLEASE BUY MY GAMES SINCE THEY ARE HARDCORE RPGS JUST LIKE YOU USED TO PLAY"

This.

 

[JarlFrank]

What he does seem to care about is the world - not the lore, but the towns and scope. He undermines that as well, through fast-travel and scaling, but I can still see the effort there. But it's missing everywhere else - even the 'build your character and be rewarded by loot' aspects.

No, not even that, I think. Oblivion was much smaller than Morrowind in scope - less unqiue dungeons, less and smaller cities, almost no villages...

And Fallout 3 had much much less cities, too. Only Megaton and Rivet as major cities, "villages" were usually just 6 people living together in about 4 houses or something.

 

[Decado]

ITT: Nerds care too much about vidya gaymes.

This type of rabid hatred is no better than rabid fanboi-ism you guys make fun of so much. The Howard hate is on par with the David Gaider gayness over at the BioWare forums, it's just a different emotion. At the end of the day, all of you fuckers need to get lives.

 

[Jaesun]

ITT: Nerds care too much about vidya gaymes.

This type of rabid hatred is no better than rabid fanboi-ism you guys make fun of so much. The Howard hate is on par with the David Gaider gayness over at the BioWare forums, it's just a different emotion. At the end of the day, all of you fuckers need to get lives.

Except we have the facts that every game Todd Howard has worked on is a shit/mediocre RPG. r00fles!

 

[Decado]

ITT: Nerds care too much about vidya gaymes.

This type of rabid hatred is no better than rabid fanboi-ism you guys make fun of so much. The Howard hate is on par with the David Gaider gayness over at the BioWare forums, it's just a different emotion. At the end of the day, all of you fuckers need to get lives.

Except we have the facts that every game Todd Howard has worked on is a shit/mediocre RPG. r00fles!

That has nothing to do with anything. GRRRRR TODD HOWARD IS A PIECE OF SHIT MOTHERFUCKER DICKLICKER CHILDMOLESTER!!! reactions to what are essentially wastes of time just reveals how some of you are assburgers-having socially-inept retards with no real sense of scale.

 

[Drakron]

... no real sense of scale.

We dont scale to your level.

 

[Jaesun]

What's wrong Decado?

 

[Decado]

... no real sense of scale.

We dont scale to your level.

 

[Lyric Suite]

some of you are assburgers-having socially-inept retards with no real sense of scale.

Point being? Being called an assburger with no social life is a mark of pride around here.

 

[Crispy]

I wonder why developers never come 'round these parts no more.