Interview "Turns out the only thing that can take down the Planes is IP ownership": A Colin McComb Interview

[FeelTheRads]

Sounds crap...

Nope. You sound crap. And that's just the way it is.

 

[Mother Russia]

Sounds crap...

Nope. You sound crap. And that's just the way it is.

C'mon bitch...what sort of a name is Numenera...

 

[Marquess Cornwallis]

An interesting interview. As for the new Torment setting, I'd prefer something more low-key (or at least less hyperbolic and generally over the top) than the Planes, as too many games these days tend to go for shallow weirdness in terms of setting, mostly as a gimmick to help them stand out (and cover up weak writing and story). It's not a big deal, though, a bizarre setting is fine as long as the focus stays on strong, personal narrative (bonus points if it at the same time manages to moves away from a glorified -- and cool -- visual novel and closer towards an actual game). Anyway, I'm pretty curious to hear the details -- and ready to support the project.

 

[catfood]

Numenera sure looks more interesting than Obsidian's snow-dwarfs and totally-not-orcs-amua-hakunamatata Gay Lick inspired high fantasy trash setting.

 

[Fowyr]

It's by Monte Cook, same dude who wrote the Book of Vile Dorkness...

Fuck, I remember it. Shitty rulebook about shitty third edition. Just compare this mindfart with something good like 2ed "The Complete Book of Necromacers".

 

[Moribund]

Numenara? May as well call it Tolkienville. Save the bobbits of the shive from the terrible borks.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I dunno why exactly you guys are so angry at Numenera, but I regret to inform you that it has been confirmed for the new Torment: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/09/fargo-details-torment-game-in-numenera-universe/

 

[skuphundaku]

I dunno why exactly you guys are so angry at Numenera, but I regret to inform you that it has been confirmed for the new Torment: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/09/fargo-details-torment-game-in-numenera-universe/

Beat me to it by a minute!

As for the news itself, I think this is really awesome (although highly predictable) news and fuck all the haters!

 

[Kahlis]

I wish Fargo would hurry up and explain more of Wasteland 2 with vague descriptions and platitudes already! "We won't have clunky household robot assistants, but we'll have motorcycle cyborg centaur people.

 

[scrambles]

I wish Fargo would hurry up and explain more of Wasteland 2 with vague descriptions and platitudes already! "We won't have clunky household robot assistants, but we'll have motorcycle cyborg centaur people.

I read an update on the Kickstarter that revealed all the skills

 

[Kahlis]

I'm just waiting for him to talk more about the gameplay mechanics. Supposed to be a big update this January, but I don't know when that will be. He said a video is coming soon.

 

[Brother None]

I dunno why exactly you guys are so angry at Numenera, but I regret to inform you that it has been confirmed for the new Torment: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/09/fargo-details-torment-game-in-numenera-universe/

lulz teasing an interview.

Anyway the interview covers covers the reasoning for the choice, the potentialities, the team, where they're at, etc. etc. It's be a good read.

Lot of people guessed at it already. It's a pretty natural fit. Monte Cook, the openness of that setting and the way it bridges fantasy and sci fi, stuff you can do with high-powered beings and portals that is reminiscent of planescape. Personally, I like the choice, but that should be pretty obvious.

I'm just waiting for him to talk more about the gameplay mechanics. Supposed to be a big update this January, but I don't know when that will be. He said a video is coming soon.

Few weeks at most. Well. That's kind of a given. But don't expect it within a week or anything. It'll cover combat, skill tests, interface, etc. etc. Everything we'll want to know, basically. It's a doozie, I've been reading the scripts and stuff.

 

[FeelTheRads]

What? I was right?

I already called it, sort of: http://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.ph...-probably-wont-join.78501/page-5#post-2396811



Awesome news!

 

[Infinitron]

In before massive Paki butthurt.

 

[Kosmonaut]

In other news, I'm really sad that I missed that Numenera Kickstarter.

 

[skuphundaku]

In other news, I'm really sad that I missed that Numenera Kickstarter.

Me too. That's the only KS that I'm really kicking myself for missing.

P.S.: here's the interview: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/09/planescape-torment-sequel/

We won’t have faeries or devils, but we’ll have diabolical creatures from far dimensions with schemes beyond human imagination. We won’t have gods, but we’ll have creatures who have lived for millennia with the powers of creation and destruction at their fingertips, with abilities honed over countless lifetimes. We won’t have other planes per se, but we’ll have pathways to hostile worlds and bizarre landscapes and ancient machines that catapult the players into places where the ordinary laws of nature no longer apply.

We know it hasn’t been done often in the game industry, but we’re envisioning Torment as a thematic franchise with certain themes that can expand over different settings and stories. We will focus on the same things that made people appreciate PST so much: overturning RPG tropes; a fantastic, unconventional setting; memorable companions; deep thematic exploration of the human condition; heavy reactivity (i.e., choice and consequences); an intensely personal (rather than epic) story.

We’re very early in Torment’s preproduction right now. We have a basic story outline, design sketches of the major characters, and thematic concepts defined. Wasteland 2 is in full production and we don’t want to detract from that focus. But with that said, the writers on Wasteland are complete for the most part and the concept artists are not involved at this stage in the game. The guys working on Torment are no longer working on Wasteland 2 and I want to keep these talented guys busy for us. Typically we do begin design of the next game while the production team is working on the current one. This allows the team to take a nice break once they are complete on the current game and then come back to roll onto a design that is thorough and polished. The last thing we want to do is break up a winning team.

 

[bonescraper]

I'm hyped, but i fear that this Kickstarter may not be as successful as Project Eternity or even Wasteland 2. No Avellone, no Planescape license, Biodrones and other fags may be discouraged to pledge :/ At least we can count on those Numenera backers i think... that's always something.

 

[Infinitron]

skuphundaku http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-will-use-monte-cooks-numenera-setting.79547/

I'm hyped, but i fear that this Kickstarter may not be as successful as Project Eternity or even Wasteland 2. No Avellone, no Planescape license, Biodrones and other fags may be discouraged to pledge :/ At least we can count on those Numenera backers i think... that's always something.

It won't need as much money as those. They already have an engine and they'll also have the revenue stream from Wasteland 2 when it's released.

 

[Brother None]

It doesn't need to be as successful, no. It does still need to raise a fairly substantial amount, since inXile can't exactly budget for Wasteland 2's income (since they don't know it yet, this is a pretty new field, selling Kickstarter-funded games)

 

[DwarvenFood]

I am very excited about this setting, finally something not controlled by WotC that seems pretty well fleshed-out and interesting.. This will be a great surprise, We already got a couple of nice games coming our way but I am excited to see what will come of this one.