The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Interview
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Q: Some developers say that with an open-ended game, you have to sacrifice a good deal of the story, as a lot of the action taking place is out of the creators' hands. Did the Oblivion team take this concern into consideration as you were crafting the story?
A: No, not really. Our big, open-ended games are all about the story, or stories. We give you dozens and dozens of stories you can participate and you can pick and choose which ones to follow through on, or ignore them all and go out and just explore and kill stuff or pick flowers or whatever. The story of Oblivion, or your game in Oblivion, is what you make of it. If you just want to focus on saving the world, or being an assassin, or becoming the head of the mages guild, then that's what Oblivion is for you. We let each designer focus on their area, on the story or stories they're working on, and once they all get put into the world they just sort of work. As I said above, part of that comes from doing a number of these games and knowing what works, and what doesn't, and focusing on the kind of experiences that capture people's imaginations and let them get sucked into the game until it's 3 am and they're still in their work clothes and haven't eaten dinner and have to get up for work in 4 hours. A hungry, tired workforce -- that is our ultimate goal.
