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GDC: Zam Interview with Gordon Walton and Matt Firor

Zam has a two part interview with BioWare Austin's Co-Studio Director Gordon Walton and President of ZeniMax Online Studios Matt Firor straight from GDC Online 2010. The interview covers a slew of topics on developing MMOs and offers a rare glimpse at how the industry approaches the genre.

ZAM: Fair enough! Gordon, BioWare has so much coming out, but the major game on most players' radars is Star Wars: The Old Republic. Can you give us any updates?

Gordon: We are getting toward the end of it, which is the good news. BioWare is known for extended periods of polish to really make the game all it can be. What you'll see us doing between now and next year is really working on making sure that we have not just a game, but hopefully the right game that really delivers not only on the BioWare brand values but on the Star Wars brand values. The shipping window is in the spring of next year. It' been quite a challenging project. I've never done one this big, and I don't think very many people have, either. If you think about the Mass Effect trilogy of games, we're basically building eight of those in one game. We're having fun with it, but it's also extremely challenging.

Catch the full interview in parts one and two at Zam.

Comments

  • Joerazz's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 84
    #13 Joerazz Posted 10/7/2010 4:25:41 PM
    I think what he meant was maybe a Mass Effect Trilogy's worht of content for each of the eight classes. That's probably how they're rolling it.
  • Kennerish's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #10 Kennerish Posted 10/7/2010 2:29:02 PM
    It's interesting they are staying on time, but we haven't seen any big beta pushes. I know a guy who knows a guy.... Anyway, those guys knowing guys once told a friend who wrote a note that said they had only really seen content up to lvl 10 thus far. An MMO needs a lot of people playing the content ahead of time to really polish it. 50 people playing thru all the classes will result in lot of problems in an MMO that you wouldn't see in a ME2 style game.

    avoiding spoilers. MMOs can die in the first 3 months if they don't have the polish. MMOs don't have the luxury of being a work in progress anymore.
  • Keyden's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #12 Keyden Posted 10/7/2010 3:14:55 PM
    I can agree that we haven't seen any big beta pushes but over the last couple of weeks we hear more and more that they are expanding testing. I'm not seeing this as too much of a problem as right now we are approximately 6-8 months out from release. the bigger betas and open betas usually don't get really cranked up until the the month or at the outside 2 months before release. We are about 2 months away from Cata releasing and still haven't seen a massive beta push from Blizzard, mind you they already have systems in place but just to use as a gauge. And you are completely correct without polish a game will die within three months, examples APB and STO.
  • Kennerish's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #14 Kennerish Posted 10/7/2010 4:49:29 PM
    I was in the friends/family beta for WoW 6 months prior to launch and it was all in place relative to what was released. We just ran around and found dead spots in the textures and had a blast. We could level to 40, then 60 with BRS available. Even with several thousand people playing the beta there were numerous bugs and glitches at launch....much less though then most MMO releases though.

    I get the impression that BW is Apple'esque in their paranoia about leaks and I can understand that (and enjoy the idea of experiencing all of it new), but it's a risk relative to bugs that only volume of playing would reveal.
  • Dalqak's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #8 Dalqak Posted 10/7/2010 9:52:05 AM
    Gordon Walton is an eight foot, two ton monster who can palm a medicine
    ball.

    Did I ever tell you about the time Walton was in a production of The
    King and I? Well anyway, before the show, Walton chloroforms the entire cast,
    and slowly eats them in front of the audience for two hours. The production got
    pretty good reviews.

    To Gordon Walton!
  • Wrack's avatar
    Gamorrean Thug
    • Posts: 51
    #7 Wrack Posted 10/7/2010 7:34:44 AM
    hu 24 mass effect would be nice but definitely not enough content for a mmo, i'm scared :(

    "Commentary: It is not possible to destroy the master. It is suggested that you run while my blaster warms up, meatbags."

  • JediJoeK's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 75
    #6 JediJoeK Posted 10/7/2010 4:01:06 AM
    Did I read that right? Did he say they're going to have content equivalent to eight Mass Effect trilogies in one game?

    Damn.
  • Chino's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #11 Chino Posted 10/7/2010 2:39:01 PM
    I'm not sure if he meant 8 mass effect trilogies or 8 mass effect games, still confused... im hoping for 8 trilogies :P
  • Invader Mig's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #15 Invader Mig Posted 10/8/2010 8:34:28 PM
    I think he meant 8 mass effect trilogies. 24 Mass Effect's seems alot better than 8. 8 Mass effects would be pretty weak to be honest. 24 doesn't really seem all that amazing either considering all the stories for each class are included in there. About 3 games worth per class.
  • Shardie's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #4 Shardie Posted 10/7/2010 12:15:55 AM
    I've wondered this for a while, but what is Zenimax up to? They've been very quiet since their foundation, other than their dispute over a fallout MMO. Maybe we'll hear something from them soon

    Good interview, thanks for linking, good to see that TOR is nearing its polish stage, but if it wasn't I'd be worried
  • xeridae's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #1 xeridae Posted 10/6/2010 9:54:23 PM
    I see Gordon Walton playing a Bounty Hunter for some reason.
  • Darth Ouranos's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #3 Darth Ouranos Posted 10/6/2010 10:49:14 PM
    Gordon Walton will play the Sith Assassin or Operative class, most definitely. How else is he going to be able to sneak into your house and dump Mountain Dew on your motherboard if you're caught cheating?
  • Ghost's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 118
    #2 Ghost Posted 10/6/2010 10:09:14 PM
    GORDON WALTON DOES NOT ASSOCIATE WITH SUCH MAGNINAMOUS BEINGS!
  • bjbrains's avatar
    • Posts: 0
    #5 bjbrains Posted 10/7/2010 3:50:32 AM
    I don't think that word means what you think it means.
  • stoffi's avatar
    Jawa Trader
    • Posts: 192
    #9 stoffi Posted 10/7/2010 12:56:18 PM
    I like your avatar, seeing Maul with hair is refreshing :P
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