Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Webster 11-20-07, 10:11 PM	http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=955623 Load 'em up! Gamer Zer0 is looking for questions to ask Chris Perkins on his podcast.
Stigger 11-21-07, 02:37 AM	I'd ask, but I can't think of anything that wouldn't come off as insulting or antagonistic...
Lord Toast 11-21-07, 10:39 AM	It wasn't that hard for me. Go ahead and give it a shot. :)
Lord Toast 11-21-07, 10:44 AM	BTW: I think this needs a sticky.
Uzzy 11-21-07, 12:32 PM	I threw in my question. Simple really, just keep it civil and I'm sure we can get a lot out of this interview.
MaskedOne 11-22-07, 03:13 PM	Is Mystra's death expected to be permanent and if so are there any more compelling reasons than 1) The monopoly on magic that she DOESN'T have because 3.0 and 3.5 went out of their way to bypass it and leave room for alternate bypasses to be created in the future. 2) Her Chosen who compared to some of the villains that are roaming about, half the Chosen are cannon fodder or her own power which while great has distinct limits as the Circle has demonstrated. 3) Modifying magic which I'll grant works fastest by killing her but every time the lady of magic is replaced, the Weave changes and therefore a permanent death is unnecessary.
ORC_Paradox 11-24-07, 06:07 AM	Questions should be posted on the linked thread. :)
Lord Karsus 11-25-07, 04:05 AM	-It'll be interesting to see when/if/what questions are answered, and to what degree. Obviously, "Don't worry", or a "I can't say" answera are useless...
MerrikCale 11-25-07, 01:20 PM	-It'll be interesting to see when/if/what questions are answered, and to what degree. Obviously, "Don't worry", or a "I can't say" answera are useless... then expect a lot of uselessness
Sir_Shadow 11-25-07, 02:40 PM	I doubt most of those questions will even be asked just on the basis of being not the questions they have in mind.
Lyvannalas 11-25-07, 04:42 PM	I doubt most of those questions will even be asked just on the basis of being not the questions they have in mind. Yeah, I guess it´ll be the usual fawning "Are you the coolest or just the most rad designer of WotC?" or "Is the 4E Realms going to rock or be just incredibly cool?" questions. :rolleyes: Man, just once I´d like an interviewer to really grill an interviewee...it´s not as if there ain´t enough dissatisfaction by the fans. So some critical questions and follow-up questions would be something to see.
johnkretzer 11-26-07, 02:12 AM	Man, just once I´d like an interviewer to really grill an interviewee...it´s not as if there ain´t enough dissatisfaction by the fans. So some critical questions and follow-up questions would be something to see. The problem with that is interviewers who ask the hard uncomfortable questions aren't going to be people who go to get interviewed by. I mean think about it if you are say trying to promote a game would you rather go to a person throwing softball question or would you rather the guy who asks the hard questions? Even in politics people who ask hard question and follow up questions are rare because they get blacklisted and and loose their jobs because no one wants to do a interview with. It is even worse in fields outside of politics. Personaly I would love to saee some hard questions and follow up questions about 4th ed and the new realms but that isn't going to happen because the designers don't have any real answears. All they have is "IT IS COOL!!!" and "IT IS AWESOME!!!".
Lord Karsus 11-26-07, 02:35 AM	-Gamer 0, when do you expect you'll get a sit-down?
18DELTA 11-26-07, 02:41 PM	Yeah, I guess it´ll be the usual fawning "Are you the coolest or just the most rad designer of WotC?" or "Is the 4E Realms going to rock or be just incredibly cool?" questions. :rolleyes: Man, just once I´d like an interviewer to really grill an interviewee...it´s not as if there ain´t enough dissatisfaction by the fans. So some critical questions and follow-up questions would be something to see. Yeah while Shar is doing Kick-Flip 540s Over the Realms!!! The 900 McShar air into a stalefish grab!!!:P
Uzzy 11-26-07, 03:08 PM	Oh come on. It's a tad unfair to be criticising this before the interview has even taken place. Why not be productive and post some questions for Gamer Zer0? Then if they don't get answered, or if the interview isn't what you expect, criticise it. But this is a good chance for the community here to get some answers on important questions, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth here.
johnkretzer 11-26-07, 08:19 PM	Oh come on. It's a tad unfair to be criticising this before the interview has even taken place. Why not be productive and post some questions for Gamer Zer0? Then if they don't get answered, or if the interview isn't what you expect, criticise it. But this is a good chance for the community here to get some answers on important questions, so let's not look a gift horse in the mouth here. I was simply stating a trueism about interviews. We might get some answears but it will be soft ball question that get choosen. It wasn't a criticism of this particular interview it was a criticism of all interviews.
Uzzy 12-05-07, 02:50 PM	The Interview is up. http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=grz First two quotes. 'Changes are dramatic. Too early to say (About the Year of the Setting)'
MarkusTay63 12-05-07, 03:09 PM	As was guessed at earlier - the answers are useless - these guys should be politicians. :rolleyes:
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 12-05-07, 03:17 PM	I'll have to listen later. But those two posted answers? Useless.
Uzzy 12-05-07, 03:22 PM	They have a plan to reveal information in both Dragon and Gamer Radio Zero, but they don't want to reveal the information now to avoid spoiling some of the secrets of upcoming novels. Rest of the key points coming up asap. Overarching Goal for The Realms: 'All Campaign Settings will need to change to adopt 4th Edition'. One of the key things that defines the Realms is magic. Wanting to make the setting more accessible to a broader audience. The setting comes with '30 years of baggage, a lot of it is good stuff to have around, a lot is not so good to have around.' Wanting to stop people being daunted by the Realms. How Drastic are the Changes: Changes are Dramatic, most having to do with rebuilding some of the gods, cosmology, pantheons. There is a time jump, but it won't be revealed how much of a time jump till the new year. Ed's Involvement: Pretty much in every stage. Tackling the most interesting new material in the book, in new places. Writing novels in the new timeframe. Some of Ed's backlog of information may be put on the FR Wiki. Broad Themes to keep the Realms the Realms: First discussion about FR was what makes it so likeable. 'Setting that has a thousand.. a million stories to tell' Lot's of things going on all around the world. High magic setting. 'A place with a feeling of age and legacy to it'. All those in the new setting. Side Areas: Maztica, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim. Not exploring those areas specifically, but taking a more holistic look at the world in the new setting. Will go beyond Faerún. 'A glimpse of the whole world'. Ed taking the lead on this, focusing his work on the world beyond Faerún. High Level NPC's: Goal to remove them. 'There is a feel in the current game that High Level NPC's save the day'. Mystra's Chosen will not be around. PC's accomplishing the epic goals. Good for the setting that PC's feel like the movers and shakers in the world. Threats at all levels. High Level threats and high level organisations that the PC's can join, but those new organisations aren't going to get in the way of the story, the way some of the current ones do. 'New' Realms: Decision to make the Realms new again taken at the Corporate level. Doesn't mean someone from Hasbro came in and told them to do it, but it was talked about all the way up the chain internally. Initiated by the Team. The Weave: 'We understand what the Weave does'. Weave didn't fit in 4th Edition though. What steps in is new, but not something completely alien. 'It will work really well within the setting' Realms Campaigns run by the Designers: Internal Realms game was going for a while, stopped about a year ago. Realms info plundered for their own campaigns, so lots of FR in all their campaigns. 'Lot of stuff within the FR world that can easily be imported over (into their own campagins)' Didn't run FR campaigns due to thinking that they couldn't absorb all the information to run a true FR campaign, which influenced them and gave them an awareness of this 'problem'. Other Designers working on the Realms: Eric Boyd, Brian James working on stuff. 'As FR continues we will need more folks in.' Rob Heinsoo with Logan Bonner working the mechanical design, the players content. New races, new powers.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 12-05-07, 04:11 PM	Ed's Involvement: Pretty much in every stage. Tackling the most interesting new material in the book, in new places. Writing novels in the new timeframe. Some of Ed's backlog of information may be put on the FR Wiki. I was hoping he'd get to write more novels set in the past.:( High Level NPC's: Goal to remove them. Yuck! So blunt, such a turn-off. Thanks for the information, Uzzy.
MarkusTay63 12-05-07, 04:26 PM	They have a plan to reveal information in both Dragon and Gamer Radio Zero, but they don't want to reveal the information now to avoid spoiling some of the secrets of upcoming novels.Once again, the novels are interferring with the gamers. If I promise to never buy another novel, do you think they will at least tell ME their secrets? :P Overarching Goal for The Realms: 'All Campaign Settings will need to change to adopt 4th Edition'. One of the key things that defines the Realms is magic. Wanting to make the setting more accessible to a broader audience. The setting comes with '30 years of baggage, a lot of it is good stuff to have around, a lot is not so good to have around.' Wanting to stop people being daunted by the Realms.HATE this attitude, but I've come to understand it DOES indeed exist, probably perpetuated by those of us who try to sound like "know-it-alls" - we may have no-one but ourselves to blame for creating this false impression. How Drastic are the Changes: Changes are Dramatic, most having to do with rebuilding some of the gods, cosmology, pantheons. There is a time jump, but it won't be revealed how much of a time jump till the new year.This could be a good thing, if the RELIGIONS are detailed, rather then the gods. Not liking the timejump, but if they keep it SMALL it could work. Ed's Involvement: Pretty much in every stage. Tackling the most interesting new material in the book, in new places. Writing novels in the new timeframe. Some of Ed's backlog of information may be put on the FR Wiki.This is probably the one, single statement that has me looking forward to 4e FR - the man's mind is a veritable storehouse of creative ideas. Broad Themes to keep the Realms the Realms: First discussion about FR was what makes it so likeable. 'Setting that has a thousand.. a million stories to tell' Lot's of things going on all around the world. High magic setting. 'A place with a feeling of age and legacy to it'. All those in the new setting. Good to know that they actually DO understand the Realms - more hope here. Side Areas: Maztica, Kara-Tur, Al-Qadim. Not exploring those areas specifically, but taking a more holistic look at the world in the new setting. Will go beyond Faerún. 'A glimpse of the whole world'. Ed taking the lead on this, focusing his work on the world beyond Faerún.I've had a feeling we would be seeing more of the world (because of all the attention other regions got in the GHotR), and the fact that Ed is handling this just makes me want to touch myself. :D Sorry for the visual. High Level NPC's: Goal to remove them. 'There is a feel in the current game that High Level NPC's save the day'. Mystra's Chosen will not be around. PC's accomplishing the epic goals. Good for the setting that PC's feel like the movers and shakers in the world. Threats at all levels. High Level threats and high level organisations that the PC's can join, but those new organisations aren't going to get in the way of the story, the way some of the current ones do.If this can be done in an Epic way - don't just say the Chosen all got headaches and died - then we 'may' be able to live with this as well. I miss Khelben - but he had a 'good' death, whereas Halaster was treated without the respect a Realms icon deserved. Give us more Khelbens and less Halasters (death-wise, I mean). If they are going to die, make it MEAN SOMETHING. 'New' Realms: Decision to make the Realms new again taken at the Corporate level. Doesn't mean someone from Hasbro came in and told them to do it, but it was talked about all the way up the chain internally. Initiated by the Team.Obviously... you don't take on something like this without asking the higher-ups. No useful info here. The Weave: 'We understand what the Weave does'. Weave didn't fit in 4th Edition though. What steps in is new, but not something completely alien. 'It will work really well within the setting'Personally, I like what I've been hearing about 'traditions' and magic based on other sources, such as the Feywild and the Shadowfell. I prefer a world where magic has more sources, so for me, this isn't so bad. I'll miss the Weave, but I could never quite quantify it in game-mechanics terms in my mind. It was self-serving, and would Mystra gone it just makes more sense NOt to have one. Realms Campaigns run by the Designers: Internal Realms game was going for a while, stopped about a year ago. Realms info plundered for their own campaigns, so lots of FR in all their campaigns. 'Lot of stuff within the FR world that can easily be imported over (into their own campagins)' Didn't run FR campaigns due to thinking that they couldn't absorb all the information to run a true FR campaign, which influenced them and gave them an awareness of this 'problem'.Most folks do this, and there's nothing wrong with it. It's much easier to run a game 'based on' FR, then to run one with all the RSEs and 'meta-plots' flying around. You distill out what you like - this has been something gamers and DMs have done since the beginning, way before Ed ever sold FR to TSR. Other Designers working on the Realms: Eric Boyd, Brian James working on stuff. 'As FR continues we will need more folks in.' Rob Heinsoo with Logan Bonner working the mechanical design, the players content. New races, new powers.Eric is good, and Brian is a well-received addition to the team... I know personally that he still has a passion for what the Realms are all about. The others I don't know well enough (except, for perhaps Ed, but I've never spoken to the man personally) to know what their driving force is for working on D&D and FR in particular. Sometimes I think some may just be "chasing a paycheck", which would be sad, but I know Brian (and of course Ed) BOTH still feel VERY passionate about the Realms. What about George Krashos? I know that he still feels strongly, as Brian does - the 'new' Realms needs that kind of love and commitment to make it work. Although he is busy with personal "love and commitment" ATM, so perhaps focusing more on his 'new addition' is better then having him worrying over the new edition. ;)
Alediran 12-05-07, 04:32 PM	Hughhhh, most of what they said I was expecting and it still smells too funny to be nice.
Stigger 12-05-07, 04:42 PM	My future with WotC looks even bleaker... oh well, my checking account will be happier for it at least.
Rinonalyrna Fathomlin 12-05-07, 07:24 PM	Good to know that they actually DO understand the Realms - more hope here. I wasn't reassured by that statement, personally (about the flavor of the Realms) because it was so general and vague it could be applied to so many other settings out there.
hawkinsthedm 12-05-07, 07:46 PM	My future with WotC looks even bleaker... oh well, my checking account will be happier for it at least. Lol. I couldn't agree more. I wasn't reassured by that statement, personally (about the flavor of the Realms) because it was so general and vague it could be applied to so many other settings out there. I know...*pout* I think the only thing we can do is keep putting our faith in what Ed has promised, and then vote with our wallets on the final product. I am still looking for them to give us something positive about the "new" Realms to look forward to. So far the only thing I can think of is that Ed may be able to detail the other continents in the 4e FRCG. I still do not think that the designers realize that the large and diverse pantheon of the Realms is part of what made the it the REALMS to many (I might even dare say most) of us. Plus, less high-level heros, but more high-level villians just chills my blood. What do they expect us to do? Leap with joy that the bad-guys are winning and only the PCs can bail the Realms out? Who will train those PCs? Who will be the role-models that those PCs want to grow up and be like? Bloody Nine Hells! :rant:
Dark Wizard 12-05-07, 11:24 PM	Heh, he answered a bunch of my questions, but none of the ones about 4E FR details. Chris Perkins sounded careful in his wording, sounds like this info release schedule of theirs just isn't ready to allow for him to make this interview worthwhile in regards to meaty 4E information (not even the basics really). I'm interested to see what Ed comes up with for the non-Faerun areas, I guess someone had to grit their teeth and do it. :D My only fear is that he will not have the space he needs to really give those places traction, so instead we end up with something midway, locking something vague into canon but really not giving much to go on, then it's probably better to just leave it blank so DMs can do what they want with it. Essentially the same thing that happened to the non-Faerunian places in the first place. The Weave - I guess we'll see in 4E how incompatible the concept is with the new mechanics. WotC Realms games - I'm really saddened to hear that some of the staffers felt that the Realms were so difficult to run, but I really don't see a reason for this. One of the main things numerous designers for the Realms (including Ed and the contributors to the FRCS 3e) is that the Realms is the setting of the game group, it is the sandbox of the DM and the players (a sandbox that happens to sit in the playground owned by WotC, so that's a reasonable degree of distance). The moment I heard "a true Realms game" I felt the staffers bought into the same misunderstood dogma that some people complain hardcore Realms fans spread. I would think as designers of the company that owns the property they would have some resistance to these beliefs. They should have realized this and found ways to counter this perception. Instead, by making these changes they further strengthened this perception of the Realms. I'm not sure any amount of changes will ever remove that perception now. I mean, they might have ripped wholes in the setting and shoved the time forward a generation or more, but all that "baggage" is still attached, it's just a few feet behind them and likely they're still dragging it with them buy a string. They practically turned a mild PR problem into a major stain on the setting's image but didn't do a good job of cleaning up. The Chosen and other High-level NPCs - You know what would be interesting, if most of these characters took a severe drop in power but still lived on to struggle and find their place into this new Realms in a truly dramatic way, not to put them through torture to appease the people who hate them, but with a real story to tell. Is there going to be any effort to 'redeem' these characters, or is a quick, sloppy death the only way, should we toss the carcasses into the bloodthirsty rabid throng?
Mula 12-06-07, 12:27 AM	Plus, less high-level heros, but more high-level villians just chills my blood. What do they expect us to do? Leap with joy that the bad-guys are winning and only the PCs can bail the Realms out? Who will train those PCs? Who will be the role-models that those PCs want to grow up and be like? Bloody Nine Hells! :rant: [/rant]They'll still be there - just dead! :D
Mula 12-06-07, 12:29 AM	The Chosen and other High-level NPCs - You know what would be interesting, if most of these characters took a severe drop in power but still lived on to struggle and find their place into this new Realms in a truly dramatic way, not to put them through torture to appease the people who hate them, but with a real story to tell. Is there going to be any effort to 'redeem' these characters, or is a quick, sloppy death the only way, should we toss the carcasses into the bloodthirsty rabid throng? I'd love this approach.
Fingoldfin 12-06-07, 12:36 AM	I was going to write a long post, but the only thing I can think of now is :yuck: :pbbbtt: :raincloud .
msatran 12-06-07, 04:38 AM	Yeah, basically we got a fifteen minute runaround with no useful information. This is the kind of thing that makes gamers say "Sorry. We've been lied to."
Fire_Wraith 12-06-07, 07:18 AM	The Chosen and other High-level NPCs - You know what would be interesting, if most of these characters took a severe drop in power but still lived on to struggle and find their place into this new Realms in a truly dramatic way, not to put them through torture to appease the people who hate them, but with a real story to tell. Is there going to be any effort to 'redeem' these characters, or is a quick, sloppy death the only way, should we toss the carcasses into the bloodthirsty rabid throng? I'll third this idea. I don't have to have them be ultra-powerful, I just want the characters and their stories, strong or not.
Lord Karsus 12-06-07, 07:35 AM	Yeah, basically we got a fifteen minute runaround with no useful information. This is the kind of thing that makes gamers say "Sorry. We've been lied to." -Really? That's a shame. I'm on my way to watch it now...
Lord Karsus 12-06-07, 01:07 PM	-DELETE-