Dungeon Siege III Interview
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GB: Will we find ourselves faced with a lot of decisions during the quests? For example, will a quest ever send you off to rescue somebody, but then along the way another NPC will ask you to kill them instead for a different type of award? Even if there isn't necessarily a good and evil approach, are there times will a quest will have two different outcomes based on decisions the player makes? George: Yes, there are. Most of that happens during the main story, but I can think of a few side quests right off the top of my head where that also happens, so yes, those elements are there. But there will also be some quests that are more simplistic for the guys who just want to hack and slash and get through and get a reward. There are some of those, too.
I wouldn't say that we're at the level of a New Vegas or a Baldur's Gate II where almost every quest has some sort of complication and somebody else tries to kill you... we're not at that level of complexity, but there definitely is a balance between the quests that give you a choice at the end or some kind of complication and the quests that are more straightforward. I think a lot of the hack and slash gamers will be a big portion of our audience, and they will feel more comfortable with just being able to get a reward.
GB: What sort of reward system have you integrated into the quest system? Will rewards primarily be of the gold/item/experience variety, or are there more complex or even hidden rewards like skill points and such?
George: I don't think we have any quests that give out skill points - I think it's typically XP, gold, or an items. A lot of times, as you're going through the quest, there will be dialogue where you have a chance to get influence with your companions as well. Those are the main rewards that are in the game.
GB: Hypothetically speaking, should there be some downloadable content or an expansion pack of some kind, where would you like to see it go? Would you like to continue the narrative and build another 10-hour storyline beyond the original? Or would you prefer to add additional classes, abilities, and side quests to increase the replayability of the original storyline?
George: There are a few areas that we wanted to do that I think could have expanded the existing story and the existing fiction. There were some things that we even had some plans for, but as always happens in game development, we didn't end up doing those areas. I think that my first choice would be to expand the fiction of the Legion and expand the story that we have right now. There are some areas that I think would be very easy to add into the existing storyline that would expand the player's understanding of the world.
I don't remember if I already told you this or not, but there are a lot of references to things that are not necessarily right there in the game just to make the world feel bigger. And that happens a number of times in fact, things in the causeway is one example of this, and that happens a number of times with Legion fiction. And there are things that they talk about that I would love to actually put into the game, and I think that would probably be my first choice is to expand upon what we have.
I would design [a future addon] so that it's something that opens up halfway through the game, or a third of the way through the game, so that it adds other areas. There is a point in the game where a lot of things open up and the player has a number of different places that they can go, and I think I would put it there so that it's another thing that the player can do.
GB: Looks like we're out of time, George. Thanks for the interview!
