Feargus Urquhart Interview

E-Boredom has conducted an interview with Obsidian's Feargus Urquhart, asking the former Black Isle producer several questions about CRPGs in general. A sample question to follow:
Q: How is the gameplay in a console RPG different from a CRPG?

A: I think it depends on what you are looking for in a game. Some people find fast action more immersive, while others find a more tactical approach to gameplay to be their thing. So, I think the answer is that it really depends on the game, its execution and the gameplayer as to whether a game is more immersive than another.

As for gameplay, I'll go with the easy answer here in that in console RPGs you generally control the character directly, while on a PC you often click and the character goes where you click. It seems minor in some ways, but it changes a lot of how you design the game and what expectations people have. An example here is that in direct control, players expect more that when they press the Attack button that they will swing or fire their weapon right away and if there is an enemy in front of them or in their line of fire then they will hit them. With non-direct control, there is more an expectation that the character will move to where they can attack the enemy, either running up to them or moving to where they have a shot and that when the attack occurs and when it is successful is dependent more on the game system, i.e. rolling of dice. Now those distinctions are not so true with KOTOR and KOTOR2 and this is maybe why both console and PC players loved it.