Nival Interactive Interview

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Written by BuckGB on July 7th, 2004

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Q: Overall, what have you found to be the keys to blending strategy and RPG elements effectively, and how did you discover or learn them?

A: There is no key, no secret, no riddle wrapped in an enigma. We learned a lot from the first Rage of Mages - the main thing being that people had already begun to form stereotypes of genres, and each player saw (and played) the game through those stereotypes. So, strategy gamers played it as a strategy, and of course, it lacked some elements that had come to be considered standard for the genre - the same happened to RPG players - so in the end, we weren't able to convince the hardcore fans of either genre that the mix worked, instead catching a smaller group in between.

The lesson was that the mix works, but it has to be implemented differently - focusing on getting in all of the features of one of the genres and a collection of features from the other that enhanced the gameplay in a unique way. Silent Storm is an excellent example of this method, containing full tactical and strategic gameplay along with a strong RPG system.

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