Knights of the Roleplaying Table. Brian Fargo: «It was only 6 months ago that I was in China lamenting the death of the genre»

It's fair to call the last five years the 'RPG Rebirth Era'. Before that was a period of decadence and uncertainty: the question was either to revive good old principles of the genre, currently considered to be 'hardcore', now or to evolve and adapt to modern gamers. So, we've made kind of a 'Round Table' and invited leading RPG developers to speak on the subject, those who developed genre's current looks. Here's the first interview, and we have Brian Fargo here to speak with us. Reminder: he's a founder of Interplay and currently the owner of modest inXile Entertainment.

Greetings. Please introduce yourself to our readers. Tell us about your position and job responsibilities.

My name is Brian Fargo and I am a producer of computer and video games. My job is to assemble great teams or people and to convey a vision for a game.

What favorite places do you prefer to visit so as to have a rest and coin an interesting phrase or image or possible to have a cup of coffee and read?

My favorite places to relax usually involve the sun. Whether I head to the desert like Palm Springs or just sit in my backyard the main requirement is me being solar powered.

So, Kickstarter. Revolution in the game industry. What do you think about this project? Are planning to command his services in future?

I hope that all of my future projects involve Kickstarter. It offers all the freedoms that a developer hopes for. There is no pressure to make a game for an audience other than the one who wants the game, you have no pressure from a publisher to compromise the vision and I a have the ability to hire the people I want.

Could you please explain further developer’s actions after having received the money from Kickstarter? Is he becoming absolutely independent from the publisher? What about packaged versions of the game? Is the developer about digital distribution market only? 

We are indeed becoming independent from a publisher and for me that is a good thing. There is a packaged good business still and I could decide to sell the packaged goods if I wished. Fortunately the world is going digital so there is no requirement for needing retail.

Is it safe to say that role-playing genre is having the second birth now? Which RPG do you consider to be the main ones in this console generation?

Indeed we are seeing an era of bringing back the classic RPG and that is just amazing to me. It was only 6 months ago that I was in China lamenting the death of the genre. The main RPGs of the console generation are certainly the ones from Bioware and Skyrim.

 Е3 is coming soon. Are you and your team planning to present anything at Expo?

We will definitely not be showing anything at this E3.. it is way too soon. And frankly I'm not sure if we will spend money at the next show as we want to maximize the monies that go into the game itself.

If it’s not a secret, what is the main expenditure item while developing of the role-playing game?

The biggest costs in making any kind of game are the people costs. Take a simple 15 man team with a fully burdened (rent, hardware, software, insurance) overhead cost of $9,000. That team would be costing almost $150,000 a month. In addition we have a large amount of money spent on outside art, music and design services. We are very excited about the budget we have for this game but it is not on the high side of development. Not having to make the cinematics makes it possible to create a deep game without a much deeper budget.

We are very disappointed that the majority of the developers make us manage a no-name deaf-and-dump Chosen. Should the main character of the role-playing game be a «full-bodied» like Adam Jensen from Deus Ex: Human Revolution? Or it would be harm to identification of the player with the character?

Well that is a debate that many people have. We have made games using both sides of that approach. When we did our last Bard's Tale we had the main character have a lot of personality in his snarky approach to the world. This allowed a very distinctive writing style. However, many RPG people want a fully customizable party or lead character. When it is truly customizable the players might be playing a woman or boy or a Russian or someone who is Chinese. In fact we are going to allow you to import your own character portraits so you can fully identify with your group.

What biggest failure in RPG genre could you recollect?

I think the biggest failure in the recent past is this assumption that the audience is not smart. Too much effort is being spent making it dummy proof. The situations have become bland and all the clues are being held right in front of their nose. The exploration and journey is the reward.

What is the most complicated thing in a big company management? How do you motivate and inspire your stuff?

Motivating everyone is a big company is very hard to do and it is why I try to keep it small. We contract out as much as we can in order to keep things tight. The other key ingredient is making sure the whole team knows exactly what is being built. It is exciting go to be part of something you believe in.

What is your favorite games system of the all time, and why?

The PC is still my favorite game system. All of my fondest memories come from it.

How much time does take from the moment of the first idea till the story outline writing? When do the game-designers start their work, how is further cooperation of the group built with the material written? On which stage is the ready scenario with dialogues and scenes enriched?

It depends on your definition of story outline. I can move from basic concept to overall story in a month but to flesh out all the details of the story and the specific actions of the player can take 6 months or more. We will hand off the major sections to the designers with the specific things we need for them to accomplish in their area. It might be a simple set of variables like "make sure they get the proton axe, make sure they meet Mad Dog Fargo and they received a certain clue". After that we let the designer do what they wish.

 Have you got congenial developers who have the same idea and point of view on game industry? If you had a possibility of joint game project who of your colleagues could become a perfect co-author?

I'm not certain I fully understand the question but Chris Avellone is a colleague of mine that I brought on because of our similar views on RPG design. I have a strong sense of vision and I believe there should only be one person strongly directing the game.

What, in your opinion, is the emotional component of the plot in? Is a not easy choice made by the player, leading to unexpected consequences, the death of the key character that was so loved by the gamer or unexpected turns of the history?

I think the people that get people the most "emotional" is losing hours of time in gameplay. The tension can come from the player taking too much risk and dying thus losing all the items that were hard fought. The inverse is also true that you too much risk and narrowly escaped death huts allowing you to keep your loot. Those are moments that will get you out of your chair.

 To what extent does the final result correspond to the one you planned to receive in the beginning?  

The overall vision should be similar since we try quite hard to nail down the sensibilities up front. But making games in also a tinkering process for which we watch how we or the players REALLY react and change accordingly. Again this is a great part of the process in that we have no one stopping us from making changes that we know the players want.

Questions: Anton Zhuk

Other Knights of The Roleplaying Table:

• Aaryn Flynn: «I love plot twists!»
• Chris Avellone: «I think Kickstarter is a breath of fresh air for the industry»
• Maciej Sosnowski (CD Projekt RED): «The best ideas come in a bathtub»
• Swen Vincke: «The key is to make people to believe in the game»
• Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda: «The scope and type of the project you're dealing with are also factors in scheduling»
• Jason Anderson: «People don’t relate to ideas or concepts»
• Josh Sawyer: «I'm not suggesting it's easy, but come on, guys!»
• Björn Pankratz (Piranha Bytes): «The trick is to implement visual improvements without compromising gameplay»
• Tim Cain: «Why not to give the player the opportunity to become a villain?»