A divided interview
I just did an interview with the lads & lasses over at The Divide – the oldest known artefact of an ancient TLJ-worshipping community – and here it is:
http://z14.invisionfree.com/The_Divide/index.php?showtopic=285
Read it, link it, spread it.
It may not be the most super-excitingest interview you’ve ever read, and no, I don’t reveal any Big Truths or announce a cure for cancer (or the sequel to Dreamfall; same thing, basically), but good people took time out of their busy schedules to ask me questions, and I took way, waaay too long to answer them. So, you know, read it, link it, spread it.
And, hey, when is that ‘temporary home’ going to be a permanent one, guys?
In other news:
How about carrots? can you post something about that?
It’s a well known fact that carrots aren’t as funny as turnips, so what would be the point? People eat carrot cake and drink carrot juice, but have you ever heard of a turnip cake? Exactly. And that’s because the turnip was created by God for the English to mock in half-hour comedies.
Lastly: yes, this is what counts for today’s post. I had an incredibly busy day. Back tomorrow with something more substantial – fingers crossed. At least there’s the interview, right?
An enjoyable interview
Of course, we can hardly wait to see how it (quote) all makes sense in the end, and it’s always exciting to hear you talking about the continuation of the TLJ universe. Thank you for the interview!
Oh, and the asparagus always beats the turnip, hands down. And the only reason I didn’t say that in plural is because I’m unsure whether it’s “asparagus” or “asparagi”. Help, anyone?
‘You want more than that? Not a chance, bub.’
Oh, wait, there is more. A quote, because it deserves it:
‘Dear Diary – today I met this totally awesome chick, but get
this: she’s a rebel! Suckage. Sincerely, Kian.’
Grr.
I meant “asparaguses” back when I said “asparagus”.
I’ll be quiet now.
2 more weeks ’til October ends! That is all =)
The interview was great, too.
Thanks for interview
But I am really disapointed in your replies to critics!
I loved TLJ very much.it is the best game ever.but Dreamfall!
maybe it was good but not great at all.that is OK.but the sad point is
YOU DON’T WANT TO BELIEVE IT!
I think you made Dreamfall for yourself! and don’t see anything wrong in it because you love Dreamfall for yourself!
but howabout the fans!it looks like you don’t care for them at all.
sorry rangar!
Hallelujah!
I think the new Divide is still percolating somewhere…
Indeed it be. Aint sayin’ no mo’, tho’.
I’ve got a friend called Milad…
Okay…I just, I had to get this out of my system, so bear with me for a second. DF—as a game that stands on its own merit and is totally unrelated to TLJ—was entertaining and in fact better than a lot of other games I have played (many, many games). I simply don’t understand, however, how DF could be considered a sequel, or even “spiritual successor” to TLJ. It’s not simply that the characters have changed (I am far from railing against change, innovation or new protagonists), but that *everything* changed at the expense of flow and continuity. No more brilliant tongue-in-check social commentary; a plethora of faux-philosophy and platitudes; a new set of mythologies that were awkwardly crammed into the ones already established…it would have been better to leave TLJ out of it.
Substantial? As in “post-mortem substantial”? Ooooh, I just can’t stand the suspense!
Milad – Who’s this “Rangar” you speak of?
Xanadua – I don’t see change, I see evolution and progress. I see cause and result. Flow and continuity seemed to have been achieved. You are right about the Faux Philosophy and platitudes not as plentiful, but it is still quite extra-dimensional.
A new set of mythologies akwardly crammed?… or discovered?
To suggest leaving TLJ out of it would be like saying “Let’s leave the Quist out of Tornquist” ; It’d be Torn, quite painfully.
I love Ragnar’s diet. Suits me, ooh!
Tulips own Turnips.
[url]http://www.geocities.com/spectrum_ethereal/RomanceOfTulip.jpg[/url]
Ok, just one followup question (which you’ll probably ignore, since it involves Secret Stuff[tm], but I can hope):
You said “I believe it’s going to be an even cooler universe than the TLJ one to explore, and I also believe that everyone who loved TLJ and Dreamfall will love NBT.”
Any hints as to the overall genre of NBT? I think you said that it was an MMO before (although I could be confusing it with something else). Is that right? Is it SF or fantasy or a little of both? Any hints at all?
*waits with breathless anticipation*
(*dies of asphyxiation*)
I wanted to comment on this:
”So yes, it was a conscious decision on our part to make the game
easier and more accessible. Maybe we went too far, and maybe it was a
bit too easy for some – particularly the aforementioned fans – but I
also think that TLJ was too difficult at times.”
IMO, the difficulty level in TLJ was just about right. It wasn’t always easy, but it could be solved over some time (unlike the last Broken Sword — when sometimes you had to look for a black mobile phone on a black wall, not knowing that there *should be* a mobile phone on that wall).
Remember how you had to make a fishing pole using a ridiculous combination of items in TLJ? That was so *not* obvious, that i actually had to use a walkthrough, as little as i like the walkthrough method…
In dreamfall, i actually played it through completeing puzzles naturally and it felt like it flowed more instead of being stuck over something, clicking around aimlessly all day.
Haha, i loved your carrot comment. Well, it was more of a turnip comment actually. But anyway, I loved it! Best post on this blog so far.
…hey, wait a minute. There’s an interview aswell? Oh joy! This day gets better and better. Need to read that interview. Must read that interview. Have to read that interview.
I think I’m off to read that interview now. BRB.
“To suggest leaving TLJ out of it would be like saying “Let’s leave the Quist out of Tornquist” ; It’d be Torn, quite painfully.” – OmniTek
Oh great, thanks: now I’ve got ex-compatriot Natalie Imbruglia stuck in my head.
“Your too late, i’m already ToooOoorn”(quistefied)
Questions being asked to Ragnar are hereby now to be known as “Quistions”
(Alright, i’ll stop now…)
I think I will make it a personal Quist, to write a “Ragnar’s Divinity” thing like that student did for Chuck Norris, being a faithful ‘Quistian and all..
The Dawn of Tornquistianity is upon us. Halelujia!
Jesus H. Quist: enough, guys!
I completely disagree with something in the interview. Ragnar stated that he felt TLJ was too difficult and that puzzles should not present roadblocks in the storytelling process. The audience for a story as deep and complex as TLJ or Dreamfall is more than capable of handling puzzles as complex as those in TLJ. They weren’t unintuitive. They weren’t unfair. And you didn’t have to have played 47 other adventure games to get a sense of what to do. Puzzles are the main element even allowing adventure games to be called “games”, so I’d recommend not playing down their importance. The taste of victory gained by solving a puzzle is only as sweet as the time and effort invested in solving it.
I`m not a very big fan of difficult puzzles in adventure games. Getting stuck on them distracts me from the story and ruins immersion. That isn`t to say that I dont like a good challenge, but puzzles should definitely be intuitive and make sense in the storycontext (such as the puzzle with the symbols in the underwatercity in TLJ).
The puzzle with the rubber duck in TLJ, amusing as it was, did distract me from the story and I for one am glad that the puzzles in Dreamfall were simpler and more logical.
I don’t get this whole ‘Dreamfall sucks’ thing. Personally, I thought it was a brilliant idea for a sequel. Predictability is for chumps. I admire Tornquist for having the guts to consciously change his world, even if it pissed off his fans. He knew that nobody likes change. They get immersed in a world and want to stay there forever… But worlds never stay the same, anyway. Ten years change a lot. It’s why they had suits and ties in the 60s and afros and hairy chests in the 70s.
It might be because I wasn’t involved much in the 6-year wait for a sequel (mainly ’cause I played The Longest Journey in anticipation of Dreamfall), but I found Dreamfall to be refreshing. Too many series of games just try to keep everything as similar as posible, so they can keep their profits as similar as possible, or something like that.
And besides, after 30+ hours of playing through the story of The Longest Journey, and seeing everything about the world I was supposed to see, I was ready to move on. It told me it was ‘The End’, and so I accepted that. I wanted more, of course, but not really more of the same. And Dreamfall certainly gave us ‘more’, even if it wasn’t what people were expecting. But I like surprises.
There were things I didn’t like (mainly just the missing humour, and Zoe’s British accent ;-p), but I felt there were improvements, too. The beginning wasn’t as slow, for example, and the cutscenes were far better thought-out and more numerous.
Also, for once the guys with Irish accents kick arse, instead of being dwarves or something. I don’t get why they’re all black though…