Fable III Interview
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It seems like, when you play an RPG as a gamer who likes the genre, at different times you want different things; that's one of the reasons why the genre has its own unique fan base. I have very fond memories of grinding levels in certain RPGs that I've played, and it seems like in other genres there's this pressure to propel people forward always and to always be showing them something new.
PM: It is an overwhelming urge, and that's all part of the craft of what we're making. There aren't many -- if you look at this in an analogous way to movies -- there aren't many movies like action games, which are all about actions.
Most action movies have the love interest bit; they have the "Ah, my parents are wonderful" bit; the sort of enriching bit. They have those -- to me, a lot of them are very bland -- but the good movies that do it right, just when you think, "Oh, God, I don't want any more action; I just want a bit of downtime," then they give you that downtime.
I think we're just realizing that what we're making is a sort of arc of enjoyment, and that arc of enjoyment should have definitely a variety in it. It's so easy to get the balance of that wrong, I think.
It's like the basic philosophical argument that, without evil, good can't exist; without some downtime, action doesn't have any meaning.
PM: That's right; absolutely right. Yeah, you need the high action moments, and you need the low action moments. Quite often the journey to the action moment can be as enjoyable, in a very different way, than the actual action and the anticipation of defeating the enemy. It's a very interesting thing with Fable. I don't keep on saying "Fable III" because I want to market Fable III to you; I'm just saying it to show that we think about these things.
With Fable III, building up the bad guy -- and Josh will remember this -- I keep on saying, "Make the bad guy a real bad guy. Don't make him a little bit of a nice guy; make him a bad guy. Make me want to defeat him!" And then, when I defeat him, that will feel more emotionally powerful, and then you can turn the cards and say that this bad guy isn't all he's cracked up to be. Then it becomes more interesting.
But there's a lot of craft and skill which all comes together, which makes games a true art form now; I think it is growing up to be a true art form.
