Aug 9, 2011

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VideoGamer Interview With Daniel Erickson: The Action Bar Is The Best Way

VideoGamer.com scored a short interview with BioWare Writing Director Daniel Erickson.

In the piece, Erickson talks about pre-orders, longevity, companion deaths and even the action bar:

Daniel Erickson: We make RPGs and we use the best RPG interface we can put together. Not only did we not depart from action bar combat, the Dragon Age series adopted it right from the start for its single-player game. It turns out to be the easiest way to organize a complex series of powers. What we did bring was synchronized animations, more dynamic and movement-based combat (Force-push, explosions that send people flying, etc) and far faster fights. Which seems to be plenty marketable as a bonus.

He then goes on to answer a question regarding cross-platform MMOs, and what mobile platforms like iOS might mean:

VideoGamer: We’re beginning to see more MMOs being developed for console, and MMO-oriented apps for iOS, is cross-platform gaming the next logical step for MMOs?

Daniel Erickson: While there’s always been a push for cross-platform gaming, I don’t really see MMOs being the place that it takes off as a pure implementation. In a community where a one point difference in dps per character classes can cause major outcries, it’s hard to imagine accepting wholly different input devices. So until consoles have keyboard/mouse setups standard and enough users willing to find a way to use them in the living room, I imagine we keep the core game to one type of platform each. That said, using light console games or iOS games to enhance aspects of your MMO or explore other takes on the world is exciting.

Daniel’s comments about the iOS are intriguing, as that has been one of the hottest topics – extending the game to other platforms outside of the game, without necessarily playing it. The Crew Skills system would seem to be a great, natural extension for TOR onto iOS and hopefully we’ll see something like that sooner rather than later!

Hop on over to VideoGamer to catch the entire interview.

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Jul 13, 2011

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E3 2011: Daniel Erickson Interview w/ GameReactor

Just as the San Diego Comic-con train* is about to leave the station, the E3 caboose is still in view!

GameReactor has just posted a nice video interview with BioWare Writing Director Daniel Erickson. During the chat, we hear about the immense polishing effort currently underway, but also some interesting comments about end-game:

GameReactor: What will I see at end-game if I am not interested in rolling “alts” (paraphrased)?

Daniel Erickson: You’ve got Operations, Warzones, and some full different content that we have not talked about yet.

Definitely worth a watch if you’re one of the TOR faithful… hop on over to GameReactor to check it out!

 

*Note: “train” does not imply “the” train.

Source: GameReactor
Via: Massively

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Jun 24, 2011

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Daniel Erickson: BioWare Writers Are Game Designers

The UK edition of PC Gamer magazine has just hit the stands, and there’s a an interview with BioWare Writing Director Daniel Erickson.

In the highlights, Daniel discusses what many of the TOR faithful already know – that BioWare writers really are game designers and have a huge impact in the outcome of the product:

What I’ve learned though, and what the rest of the industry is still wrestling with, is: you can teach a writer to be a junior game designer. You cannot teach a junior game designer to be a writer. You need somebody who is a senior master level writer and then you teach them the basics of game design.

Another interesting quote, it response to a PC Gamer question about choices that count as Dark Side but are the right thing to do. Part of Daniels answer had to do with the Jedi following the code to the letter, and this, sure to cause some controversy:

Daniel Erickson: In the time period we’re at in TOR, the Jedi are massively conservative and they follow the very letter of what it says in the Jedi code. Which is that affection leads to the Dark Side. You do not want connections, you do not want these things, you have chosen to be a Jedi this time, so you have signed up for this. So basically, all romance paths lead to the Dark Side, if you’re a Jedi.

While the entire interview isn’t available online, you can subscribe to PC Gamer digitally and get your hands on it RIGHT NOW! It’s well worth reading…

Source: Massively

 

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Jun 10, 2011

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E3 2011 – Daniel Erickson Video Interview

During E3 this week, we had a chance to sit down (well, actually, we stood up) with Daniel Erickosn and talk about some of the new stuff that we were seeing at the show.

Specifically, we focused on Operations (raiding in The Old Republic) and player Vehicles. We think there are some gold nuggets of information here, but we’ll let you be the judge of that!

Here’s an overview, with the video below and a full transcript after the jump as well!

  • Operations overview
  • Operations narrative & story
  • Faction details for Operations
  • Party size & difficulty settings
  • Resistances & special mechanics
  • Progression tracking
  • When and how you obtain vehicles (including theft!)
  • Class-specific vehicles
  • Atmospheric vehicles (flying mounts)
  • Types of vehicles
  • Multi-player vehicles
  • Vehicle-based combat
  • Vehicle customization
  • … and more!

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Jun 8, 2011

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E3 2011 – Alderaan Content Preview At GameSpot

In case you missed it, GameSpot yesterday published a new interview with BioWare Writing Director Daniel Erickson where they take a look at group content on Alderaan.

This particular preview is great for players who fear that the open world may not contain any group situations or quests, and this illustrates that’s simply not the case.

BioWare has said that the Alderaan preview content will be available on SWTOR.com in the coming weeks, but for now, enjoy!

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