THQ and Big Huge Games Team For RPG

GameDaily Biz is reporting on the project that Ken Rolston moved to Big Huge Games to do. The RPG project will be helmed by the former Oblivion designer, developed by BHG, and (it's now been announced) will be published by THQ. Slated for the 360, PS3, and PC platforms, few other details are available about the project. Just the same, the article contains an interview with Tim Campbell, VP of Business Development, THQ, and Big Huge Games' Tim Train and Rolston. "BIZ: Ken Rolston, you're a legend in the RPG field, both electronic and paper-and-pencil. Where would you like to take the genre next? What innovations can we expect? Rolston: I'm actually a pretty conservative variety of visionary. In addition to our brilliant but secret central premise, and the addition of four or five original amazing major features and implementations we can't Wait to Reveal at a Later Date, I just want to make everything... story, characters, exploration, themes, setting, interactivity, entertainment, world class whacking and looting... just a little more perfect in every way."

Uhh

How is this newsworthy yet? I mean, sure, it'll be interesting when they actually tell us WHAT they are designing, but "Look at how many cool names we have working for us! What are we working on, you ask? We can't tell, neener neener neener!' just pisses me off. I hope it wasn't as big of a disappointment as Oblivion (sans user mods).

Sounds great, but that's not saying much

The names are big, they're obviously pleased with their ideas, and they give every indication that they think they're going to make a great game. At this point, though, that's not saying much. I'll wait on getting excited until at least some aspect of the game is up for discussion; as for now, all the article says is that some people who've made good games in the past are teaming up to make a game in the RPG genre, and they want to make it a good one. Allow me a moment to rearrange my face into a suitable expression of shock.

Wait... a minute more...

OK, there. Got it. *SHOCK*

Carry on.

Less than nothing

There were tiny hints as to what this RPG will be like..

Mark Nelson, my colleague at Bethsoft, and lead designer of Oblivion's Shivering Isles expansion, has joined the Big Huge team, and I'll be looking to him to do all the Real Work while I Mentor him and deliver Sage Pronouncements.

So he won't actually be doing any Real Work on this title anyway, it'll be the guy who did the Oblivion expansion. Yet we do find out it will be a Tolkienesque world.. well I can only think of a handful of RPG's NOT in a Tolkienesque world. This is almost as vague as an MS product announcement. In fact I can't think of any point to this interview at all, if they don't want to say anything of substance.

Rolston gone mad?

Rolston: Usability. I was shocked to discover how difficult getting started in Oblivion was for some casual gamers, and even for some experienced fans of the genre.

W..T..F? I think now he's finally lost it. He was never on my list of favorite games designers, mainly for his obsession with everything having to be a metaphor for something, and his complete refusal of ever having an NPC betray the player, but this really sounds like a very very very bad joke to me. Difficult? This dumbed down hackfest? You have got to be kidding me!

For reference, here's a snippet from an interview with former TES designer Doug Goodall:

Sinder Velvin:

Can you remember any other rules that Ken Rolston had?

Douglas Goodall:

There were quite a few of them, but since I didn't understand most of them, this is something you ought to ask Ken if you get the chance. The only ones I'm sure I understood were "no betrayal" and "everything must be a metaphor/everything must be based on something."

"No betrayal" meant that key NPCs couldn't turn on the player, lie to the player if they were honest in the past, nor could an NPC steal an item from the player, etc. This is good as a general rule, but it's the kind of rule that begs for exceptions.

"Everything must be a metaphor" is how the quirky Cyrodiil of Daggerfall and the alien Cyrodiil of the Pocket Guide became the Roman Empire, how the Bretons got French names, etc. I felt Tamriel had been moving away from generic fantasy and medieval history with every game until Morrowind. I wanted this trend to continue and resented having to squeeze a Hermaeus Mora-shaped Vvardenfell into a Roman Province-shaped space. I think Ken uses historical examples to make the world more believable. If you just make stuff up, there's a good chance you'll make something wrong and break suspension of disbelief. That's true, but I'd argue that if you use an inappropriate or easily recognized metaphor, you have the same risk. Besides, making stuff up is more fun for both the creators and consumers. Did I mention I enjoy arguing?

Ludicrosity

Ah, now we know who to blame for the ludicrosity of the autolevel system of Oblivion.

I'll avoid this game (whatever it is), at all costs.

Why is that a troll?

Games are often made nowadays for the 360 when they are made multi platform.

The 360 tops out at ~7 gigs of content on a single disc, which means it's the weakest link.

Games for the PC can have a 1 zillion DVD game if they need it, and the PS3 has Blu-Ray, which is what... 25 GB per disc?

Let's put this in real world terms. The Sims 2 and all its games take up about 7 gigs. If The Sims 2 comes out with a few more expansion packs it'll be well over 7 gigs. EA can release, in the future, the entire Sims 2 Uber Collection for the PC on a few dual layer DVDs or one Blu-Ray DVD for BR-owners. EA could release it on the PS3 on 25gb Blu-Ray because the PS3 has Blu-Ray built in. The 360? Tough cookies for them.

So yeah, the 360 is the weakest link. Making this RPG for the 360 will limit the amount of content that it can provide, unless the developers intend on releasing a truncated version for the 360. On topic fact, not flamebait or troll.