General:Ken Rolston's Posts

Ken Rolston's Posts
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Interviewee(s)	Ken Rolston
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These are a few notable comments from Ken Rolston on The Elder Scrolls setting. Rolston is known as Socucius Ergalla and kenrolston on the forums. These comments were originally archived by The Imperial Library.

Undated Posts

On the Akaviri Potentates (Archive)

Morag Tong agents assassinated Potentate Versidue-Shaie in 2E324. The Morag Tong was subsequently outlawed in the Empire, and reorganized as the Dark Brotherhood. [In Morrowind, the organization still operates under the title 'Morag Tong' under the terms of the Imperial Commission for the Armistice.] Then Dark Brotherhood agents exterminated Potentate Savirien-Chorak and his line, precipitating the succession crisis which historians traditionally recognize as the collapse of the Cyrodilic Empire.

[...]

My recall is vague, but I believe that after several successive waves of failed invasion fleets, the Akaviri abandoned an attempt to conquer Tamriel. However, the sophistication of their culture, especially their bureaucracy and legal system, and the superior education and training of the Akaviri captured during the failed invasions, eventually was expressed in a series of Akaviri-influenced Imperial administrations. Whether the emperors were pure Akaviri, or related through intermarriage with the Imperial line, or simply powerfully influenced by Akaviri disciplines and advisors, I don't know.

1998

Is it possible to find the traitors of Battlespire? (1998-01-12)

Here is Ken's reply to you:

1. The following note, found in the second half of Level 2, links the name Sirran Angada with Jagar Tharn.

[a neatly penned message on a small piece of paper, many times folded, and signed in a bold, formal hand]

Read this and let it be judged fair, nor doubted.

The bearer wears the form of Lomegan Mariel, Imperial Secretary, but is indeed Sirran Angada. Sirran Angada enjoys my countenance, and speaks with my voice.

Jagar Tharn

2. The Battlemage traitor, Paxti Bittor, is encountered as a wraith on the East Dock of the flooded passage in level 3. In his dialog, Paxti Bittor complains bitterly about how he betrayed Battlespire in hopes of reward, but how he was in turn betrayed by Angada and Dagon. The two most important Bittor dialogs follow, giving the essential exposition on the betrayal of Battlespire:

Bittor: "Sirran Angada? No, perhaps not. A leechcrafter retainer of Jagar Tharn, the Emperor's Battlemage. He set it all up. I open the gate to the Prince, he comes in, cleans out the Battlespire, and I just barely manage to escape with my life, bringing the tragic news to the Emperor and Tharn. I'm a big hero, a personal retainer of Jagar Tharn, close to the Emperor and his family. In time, I get my own province. A great deal. And I delivered! But the scum cheated me!"

Bittor: That's generous of you, but this Angada has a special Transmorph spell, so he could look like anyone. Angada was posing as Lomegan Mariel, the Emperor's Personal Liaison to the Battlespire, when the Daedra took the place, but he -- or she -- could look like anyone by now. I appreciate your help, but you might want to run away now, because I feel the hungry madness coming on again, and I'm not much fun to be around.

Those who have found the Book of Rest and Endings are able to destroy Paxti Bittor in dialog.

3. On Level 6, in the Observatory [the southmost of the chambers in Xivilai's complex to the east of the central grassy courtyard, with a big telescope-like object] is Sirran Angada. He is a flat. In dialog, he may either be slain, or left alive, at the player's option.

Bethesda Softworks

2000

On Paladins and the Dunmer (2000-06-01)

Stendarr is worshipped throughout the Empire -- including Morrowind -- in the missionary cults of the Eight Divines. All aspects of the Eight Divines have their paladins, and Stendarr is a likely patron for a Frankish-style crusader. Dark Elves have an insular, xenophobic culture, and their dour, judgemental, standoffishness makes them unpopular and poorly understood outside Morrowind. The Dark Elves did not have a war with High Elves; they split off from the High Elves in an ancient religious schism, and the relationship is scornful but not bellicose.

Vvardenfell vs. Morrowind - quite different than what appeared in the final game (2000-06-07)

The Dunmer [ie, the Dark Elves] of Vvardenfell are not physically different from mainland Dunmer.

There are far more Ashlanders [the nomadic Velothi Dunmer culture] on Vvardenfell than is common on the mainland; all but the south coast of Vvardenfell is rugged wasteland favoring the Ashlander lifestyle and economy. Dunmer Great House culture [the dominant culture of Morrowind and the mainland] is primarily confined to the more hospitable southwest coast of the island.

Vvardenfell is also atypically cosmopolitan by contrast with mainland Morrowind. Vvardenfell was only opened to general colonization after the Imperial conquest 400 years ago, having been for centuries for the most part a Temple preserve, with the exception of the sacred city of Vivec, and three small Great House settlements at Ald'ruhn, Balmora, and Sadrith Mora. Much of the development of the island in the past 400 years has been under Imperial pressure, and many newer Vvardenfell settlements [e.g., Caldera, Ebonheart, Seyda Neen] have as many Nord, Breton, Redguard, Altmer [High Elf], Bosmer [Wood Elf], and Imperial faces as they have Dunmer faces.

On speechcraft disposition (2000-06-07)

Disposition influence on speechcraft effectiveness is determined by inter-faction relationships. Speechcraft tests receive modifiers according to inter-faction attitudes; speechcraft tests between allied and friendly factions receive bonuses; tests between hated enemies receive penalties. So while the individual NPC's Disposition score is not affected by faction, Disposition gameplay is influenced by faction gameplay.

So. Disposition gameplay works both in the NPC individual AND through faction relations. The model is complicated and subtle -- but scripting and quests [and Persuasion dialog gameplay] will produce more dramatic and immediate effects on NPC Dispositions.

I care passionately about improving the quality of roleplaying in CRPGs. Even a modest improvement in roleplaying flavor exponentially can improve the quality of the powergaming experience.

What's with the King of Morrowind? -- different idea compared to later lore publications (2000-06-09)

THE KING OF MORROWIND

The Empire has revived an archaic titular "king" from early Chimer traditions of a "high chief of the clans," like the High Elven High King. This replaces the "military governor" of the early years of the occupation. The titular king is descended in line from Hlaalu Brevur, and he and his "court" are generally despised by natives. King Hlaalu Athyn Llethan resides in Castle Mournhold in the city of Narsis [on mainland Morrowind].

On the setting design of Morrowind (2000-06-15)

ON OBJECT MANIPULATION: I celebrate games that go Too Far in this department. Trespasser is a comic masterpiece.

I was initially intrigued by the rich inventory of Ultima Underworld and Ultima VII. It was sorta immersive, and being able to toss the stuff was excellent. It was an expensive form of cheap trick, and cool, but the novelty quickly faded.

Morrowind will have boatloads of inventory to play with. Many objects have no purpose other than to give a sense of place, and to trade for Real Money.

Morrowind will not let you interact as freely with the environment as, say, Trespasser. My remorse for this lack is not altogether sincere.

ON VAMPIRES: I am pleased to reveal that our resolute unwillingness to speak about vampires is unmistakeable evidence that we are going to do something cool with vampires, and that we are not going to tell you about it. **I HAVE A SECRET, AND I WON'T TELL! I HAVE A SECRET, AND I WON'T TELL! NYAH, NYAH!**

ON GUILDS AND FACTIONS: Factions and politics rock! They are hard to implement in a CRPG. Morrowind's systems modeling the effects of faction on NPC interactions are cool and complicated, and more thoroughly and ambitiously integrated into gameplay than in its inspiring antecedant, Daggerfall. Furthermore, the factions and politics are a fundamental part of the main quests sequence and of many other quests, and so are a fundamental part of Morrowind's drama. And furthermore furthermore, the whole damn mess is so exceptionally complicated that it makes my head explore. Which makes it exceptionally rich for a wide and deep game setting.

I reprint here some stuff I wrote for some preview or other...

ON GUILDS:

What guilds will be available, and how significant a role will they play? How many will there be, and what kinds of benefits will they bestow? Will it be necessary (either absolutely or effectively) to join a guild? Will it be possible to join multiple guilds and/or to switch?

In Morrowind, we will have ten-fifteen major factions which function more or less like the guilds in Daggerfall. The hero begins as an outlander, a stranger in a strange land, and making connections with various factions is the best way to overcome the initial hostility and distrust of Morrowind's Dark Elves. Factions are central elements in the main plot, and rich sources of gameplay and character power; however, it is possible, though torturously inefficient, to complete the main plot without joining a faction.

The three main factions are the Great House factions -- House Redoran, House Hlaalu, and House Telvanni. These are like the Capulets and Montagues of Romeo and Juliet -- hostile and opposed, but constrained from open war by the Empire and the Temple. It is not possible to belong to more than one of these factions, since they are enemies, and it is not possible to withdraw from one and join another -- such a turncoat could never be trusted.

There are four factions which are equivalent to the Fighter, Mage, Thief, and Dark Brotherhood guilds of Daggerfall. It is possible to be a member of more than one of these factions at one time.

The other factions are closely integrated into various elements of Morrowind's major plots; we can't discuss them without revealing plot details.

At lowest ranks, factions provide shelter, training, and wares at discount prices [or free], and unique quest opportunities. At higher ranks, members may gain special abilities, or gift of unique magic items, or borrow other even more exceptional magic treasures.

And did I mention that factions are cool? And an enduring legacy of Daggerfall? And that the factions in Morrowind are going to be larger and smarter and cooler and altogether more-lavishly-and-intelligently implemented than Daggerfall in a totally amazing and kick-*** way? Because I am a total fan of Live Action Role Playing games, which are the ultimate evolution of power-politics-and-faction gameplay, and because I intend to carry the fire of inspiration Prometheus-like from the lofty Olympus of LARP gaming to the yearning and benighted masses of computer role playing gamers.

On non-violent combat and quests (2000-06-15)

The main gameplay theme of Morrowind, and of all CRPGs, is murdering things and going through their pockets. I have unsuccessfully lobbied to make it possible to murder trees, fence posts, and cloud formations so that we could go through their pockets. *Sigh*

But, that said, the great joy of game design and drama is to reverse expectations, and to design quests and gameplay which involve the OPPOSITE of murdering things and going through their pockets. There will be many quests where murdering is spectacularly ineffective, and many alternatives to murdering in freeform gameplay.

Perhaps the most important not-murdering freeform gaming element is the ability to reduce an opponent to zero Fatigue, thereby rendering him unconscious, or sleeping, or helpless. This will often provide an alternate path for resolving conflicts with NPCs and creatures.

On the Morrowind Construction Set (2000-06-15)

Happily, I think folks will be able to customize dialog for NPCs fairly easily. The original design of any dialog will be very challenging, and best left to us Professionals. But once you have examples to study and modify in the editor, I think it will be pretty easy to add the color text you're talking about. And a plug-in called "Balmora_Pedestrians.esm" or "Dirty_Muriels_Patrons.esm" is a perfect implementation of Morrowind Editor Game Design Folk Art.

[...]

I would think that the internet would be a more convenient way to distribute plug-ins than a CD. And it will take a while after Morrowind is released and folks get used to the editor and its conventions. But, yes, the Morrowind editor puts the design tools in the hands of the people. When that happened with D&D, it changed the world.

[...]

The editor is in development [ie, partial functionality], the scripting language is on development [ie, I'm making it up as I go along], and there is no manual for using the editor. That will be a terrifying challenge -- to release useful documentation and tutorial examples with the editor. We can't give it to fans before we can use it. And we'll certainly have to test it before we release it. Meaning it PROBABLY won't be available until Morrowind is released.

I don't know. Has anyone ever released an editor before releasing the project?

On the Tribunal (2000-06-19)

The gods of Morrowind are not much like the Eight Divines. In our world, certain Chinese and Roman emperors were worshipped as living gods. The situation is analogous in Morrowind.

On slavery in Morrowind (2000-06-19)

Of COURSE players may want to free slaves.

Of COURSE slave-owners do not want you to mess their property.

Slave ownership is an ancient tradition in Morrowind. Many ancient Dunmer traditions are regarded as barbaric or decadent by the free-thinking, worldly Imperials.

Resolving such conflicts plays a part in Morrowind quests and free-form gaming.

On the skills of Daggerfall being compressed (2000-06-19)

All speech skills have been subsumed into a skill called Speechcraft, which has many effects and applications in dialog.

Who needs medicine?

Backstabbing is subsumed into Sneak.

[...]

Persuasion is not a skill; it is a suite of strategies used in dialog to improve an NPC's Disposition, surrender, or accept surrender. The primary influence on persuasion is Speechcraft skill, with other attributes as secondary influences.

On realism and world interactivity (2000-06-20)

With an epic heroic fantasy power game like Daggerfall's sequel, the focus should remain on murdering things and going through their pockets for a Noble Cause. A higher level of interactivity with the environment, with extensive improvisation with objects, is more appropriate in a game with a different focus -- like Wilderness Explorer, or Survivor. Extensive improvisation with objects based on real-world expectations of physics and utilty seem more appropriate, too, for puzzle-based game challenges, like old-fashioned adventure games.

That's not to say that I wouldn't love to have it in a game I bought. Or that high interactivity with world objects based on real-world expectations fundamentally conflicts with the delicated and refined aesthetic values of hack-n-slash powergaming.

But I want Morrowind to focus narrowly on the things it does best, and on the things that made the Elder Scrolls games great. A key to high achievement is limit and focus. I want to do a few things, but VERY well. In light of the flaws of execution in past ES games, I am a passionate advocate of polish and refinement.

For example, I enjoy and admire the Ultima Underworld models of interactivity, and they are clearly very similar in interface and world metaphor to Arena and Daggerfall. But the Underworld games are much smaller in scale and scope, in systems and setting. With the narrower focus, they could prioritize object interactivity. TES games, on the other hand, feature vast epic scope, complex character systems, and classic paper-and-pen RPG-style powergaming. Those are the areas where we are focusing our scarce resources.

On clothing and conversation (2000-06-20)

NPCs judge the value of your clothing to determine whether you are worthy of their attention in dialog. Speak to a wealthy, well-dressed, high-ranking noble while wearing a thong, and he will decline the social opportunity.

One can also script NPCs reactions, though it is NOT easy. Simple, yes... but not easy. It is, in fact, a whole lot of typing and thinking. Modifying our examples in the editor will be much easier... but doing good models of dialog script for our characters will be a Herculean task.

Writing dialog is simple. Writing good dialog is very much not simple... which is why most game dialog blows.

The same goes for writing good scripts.

On artifact names (2000-06-21)

I'm doing research in personal use-names for favorite weapons.

For instance:

Daedra-Slugger

Fire-Brand

Back-Biter

Black Tooth

Stormbringer

Of course, many names would be names of friends, relatives, heroes, gods, and so forth.

Sotha's Scourge

Mother Courage

Julianos' Razor

On dialogue and CRPGs (2000-06-23)

Implementation of dialog in Morrowind is revolutionary, both in reference to Daggerfall, and in reference to other games in the genre.

It is also a revolution in knowledge management, which is a crucial feature with CRPGs. CRPGs are all about their settings. Their settings increase in charm and drama with the amount of detail they present -- and, as the amount of detail increases, the difficulty of managing that information increases proportionally.

Or, stated another way, if a game has all this cool setting stuff in it, it would nice if it were quick and easy to navigate through that stuff.

I can't talk about details yet. [*Visualize me doing the I-Have-A-Secret-and-I-Won't-Tell Tapdance.*] The details make my head hurt. But they are high-priority, high-expectation features for Morrowind.

[...]

Deux Ex is a whole different world and gamestyle from Morrowind. But i'm sure it will be a touchstone for dialog, NPC characterization, and immersive gameplay.

I loved Daggerfall's horse, too. It was crap, but GLORIOUS crap. The exception proves the rule. Awkward, silly implementations of minor cosmetic game features with almost no game value are always evil -- except when they are charming.

On Game Balance and Power Gaming, again (2000-06-28)

After following some topics on power gaming and game balance, I have the following observations: 1. Arena and Daggerfall are festivals of power gaming. Morrowind will also celebrate power gaming.

2. GOOD power gaming relies on good game balance.

3. Daggerfall's game balance was relatively easy. This was a GOOD thing, since it was easier for new players to learn the interface and world. This was a BAD thing, in that later levels of play offered less gameplay challenge.

4. The CRPG genre is peculiar among the various computer game genres in that it allows the player to balance the game to suit his own style, depending on how patiently and strategically he plays. That is, there is always plenty of opportunities to pile up loot and skills before embarking on the main quests.

5. The defining experience of a CRPG is a not-yet-dead character. The unique charm of both pen-and-paper games and CRPGs is the continuing character. CRPG players take their characters seriously, and are very indignant when they die. Therefore, a CRPG that kills you a lot is bad.

6. I have heard of a lot of CRPGs that are too long, or too boring, or too repetitive. But I can't think of any that are too hard. [I have heard that Battlespire is too hard. I am SURE that System Shock II is too hard. But they are not CRPGs.]

So. Have you ever found a CRPG too hard?

Is a difficult game balance the one unforgivable sin that NO CRPG ever commits?

[...]

Power gaming is simply making gaining power the point of a game. In a CRPG, gaining power is glorious and virtuous because it ensures the immortality of your character.

Power gaming is neither good nor bad in itself, as a gameplay style or a gaming genre.

We will, of course, make a GOOD power game. That is, a well-balanced game, elegantly scaled over time, with subtle and obvious shades of power acquisition, with good feedback on pace and rate of improvement, and with many, many different choices and paths on the road to Apotheosis.

However, because Morrowind is such a large game, open-ended, and dedicated to freeform gaming, and varieties of PC archetypes and play styles, it is gonna be a Mother of All Labors balancing the game for all players and play styles. If Daggerfall is perhaps guilty of a too-easy play balance, I can certainly sympathize, and celebrate the choice of being too-easy [and accessible] rather than too-hard.

Names for Magic Items (2000-06-29)

One of the great problems with cool magic item names is that they are usually intimately related to the exotic languages and names of their settings. Like the Ring of the Niebelungen [or whatever]. What I'm looking for here is names that use common, familiar words, but combine them in evocative ways. Like:

The Well of Souls
The Reliquary of the Dead Gods
Ice Wine
Doom Spoon

On magic systems (2000-07-19)

I've designed and implemented jillions of different magic systems in jillions of different settings.

I have a special affection for some of the concepts discussed here -- in particular, familiars [Maia], ley lines [Alweth], and deity-channeled powers [XandnotX].

Unfortunately, none of the features noted above have any precedent in the Elder Scrolls. That doesn't mean they couldn't be added; it just means that they could be awkward to introduce without weakening the focus of the setting.

I love elegant systems. In particular, Oddjob, I admire Asheron's Call's system. It lacks the lovably trashy, sentimentally familiar flavor of Everquest's magic, but it feels like it simulates at least some part of the process of magic. [Ultima's rune systems also had that feel sometimes.] Unfortunately, though Elder Scrolls magic systems are certainly elegant in their power, flexibility, and user customizing, they have been forced to constrain the set of implementable spell effects to those spell effects which fit best within the systems [for example, focusing on variable durations, magnitudes, and elemental fundaments].

At present, I am most interested in subtle evolutions of the existing system featuring minimum conflict with established setting conventions and maximum positive impact on choices and gameplay.

For example, I am most interested in having weaker spells faster to cast, and stronger spells slower to cast. As obvious as this seems, it isn't currently a feature of Elder Scrolls magic. All Daggerfall spells take the same amount of time to cast, whether by hand or through enchanted items.

There are serious practical impediments to implementing such a change, the primary one being the requirement of having an infinite number of spell-casting animations with the necessary variable rhythms of casting. If it weren't for the graphic assets problem, it should be a relatively simple system addition [though testing and balancing the revised system is certainly non-trivial]. But graphics are so important, and such a defining constraint, that I haven't given the issue a high priority.

I LOVE the Elder Scrolls system that improves all skill performance with practice. THAT is a profound and elegant feature of the system. But one feature I would like is a dramatic penalty for casting a newly learned spell, with rapid increase to full capacity. For example, you learn a Saint's Balm spell [healing]. With your current stats, once you've "learned" the spell, you have a 50% chance of casting success and a 3-7 range of healing effect. However, the first time you use a spell, you only have 20% of your ideal chance-of-success and effect magnitude. With each use of the spell, you add another 5% towards your standard chance.

This models something intuitive about magic -- you should be less effective with a spell until you've practiced it. It also has a charming effect on gameplay; you will tend to stick with old, reliable, well-practiced spells in a jam, and will play around with the new and dicey spells in less terrifying circumstances.

However... since my current design tasks [populating a VAST world with interesting people, cool cheese, and super-interacrtive, internally-logical tasks] are challenging and all-consuming, requiring fervent obsessive focus for the highest level of achievement, I ahve to exercise a little discipline to avoid getting distracted by cool magic systems. Later, however, when we return to actual implementation of magic effects in the game, that will be the time for WormGod and the rest of us to revisit some of these issues.

Considering capture or player death mechanics (2000-07-20)

In Morrowind, you can surrender, or pass out [because your Fatigue stat hit zero], or someone can beat you unconscious [reducing your Fatigue stat to zero], and put you to sleep [reduce your Fatigue stat to zero by magic]. There may be other ways, too -- I forget. But these are all ways you can be not-dead-yet.

The consequences of being not-dead-yet in the presence of a hostile enemy are unpredictable. You may go directly to a dead state, if the opponent is scripted to be ruthless. You may lose something, and wake up. You may lose EVERYTHING, and wake up. You may GAIN something you very much don't want, and wake up.

The consequences will depend on the circumstances and specific opponent scripts.

I, too, have always wanted this feature, mostly because it produces more interesting outcomes of failure than death and reload.

On character creation (2000-07-21)

We revised our character creation and game systems to provide better differentiation between different heroic archetypes and gameplay styles -- in particular, the warrior/mage/thief archetypes. This also allows us to differentiate the types of challenges encountered when adventuring. Details of character creation and game system revisions will be available later. I don't know when Todd wants to reveal that stuff, but presumably in some press preview down the road.

On eating mechanics (2000-07-28)

Food restores fatigue fast. Food is good for you, but survival level of food and water is abstracted [that is, we don't worry about it].

On slavery in Morrowind, again (2000-08-18)

I confidently assume that most people will feel at least slightly uncomfortable roleplaying a person who buys or owns slaves. I also confidently assume that most people who play Morrowind will want to Free the Slaves.

At the same time, it's a roleplaying game, and it can be both interesting and enlightening to roleplay a world view that is unsympathetic. Also, there's a big difference between the cultural context of 18th century slavery in the US and slavery in the Roman Empire. The latter is a much closer analogy for the nature of slavery in the Morrowind -- yet not all that close, since most of the other provinces of Tamriel have outlawed traffic in slaves.

Admittedly, slavery, and racism, make me uncomfortable, even in a roleplaying game. Blowing the meat off guys with fireballs and going through their pockets also makes me uncomfortable. But, like most CRPG gamers, I play a Good Guy, and do Good Things. If I buy a slave in Morrowind, it is probably just so I can set him free.

As another poster observed, themes like this are fertile ground for dramatic conflict and moral challenge. It will be difficult, but worthwhile, to do such themes justice in a CRPG.

On Language and Physical Culture (2000-08-18)

Words like "katana" come from the Akaviri, a race which has, from time to time, unsuccessfully attempted to invade Tamriel. Imperial has many loan words from other cultures it has encountered or conquered.

The Akaviri weapons are somewhat similar in form and function to weapons familiar from historical Earth -- but the differences may be more significant than the similarities.

I sympathize with pedants who would prefer an exotic and accurate term over a familiar and misleading term. However, in practice, I stick with the well-worn and familiar usages, distracting and imperfect as they are, because most of these sloppy references have become comfortable after long use.

On Language and Physical Culture (2000-10-25)

There is a particular art in designing a setting so the player can write his own stories about himself through his choices and actions.

The most elegantly designed linear CRPGs are tailored to a single PC -- like the Avatar. That means all effort and assets are focused on the Avatar's story. That's fine -- if you find the Avatar's story compelling.

But I like games where you can play "The-Terrified-But-Resolute-Tourist-Who-Wants-To-See-All-the-Sights-of-Hell-Without-Being-Slaughtered." The most fun I had in Ultima Ascension was trying to go places where I wasn't supposed to go yet by absurdly tenacious climbing around in the mountains. And when I got over the mountains, everything there could whoop my *** , because I wasn't supposed to be there -- but I was Cool... a real Courageous Explorer.

Morrowind is gonna give you an Epic Narrative, sure. Because it's cool, and because it helps give structure and meaning to the game -- especially for beginners and casual players. But, at the same time, we know you will want to increase your stats, level, skills, spells, loot, and so forth. You will not be doing that while on the main story line. We leave you very wide latitude [and an embarrassingly huge variety of choices] in how you go about acquiring that Protection-Against-Sudden-Death-and-Reload

And we give you factions, each with their own agendas and politics, and you can align yourself with one, and end up enemies with others, and voila! You got your own new story -- I need to help My Pals [cause they will give me lots of cheese] and make the Enemies of My Pals Sad.

So linear plot lines is just one way to make drama for the PC. It admittedly is probably the most economical, assets and resources-wise. But with our elegant Editor tool, and with the riches of our Elder Scrolls setting [established in previous games], and with our Indefatigable Spirit and Low Cunning, we are going to make the freeform, non-linear aspects of Morrowind one of the features that makes our game Great, while the other games can only be Pretty Good.

Can you make your own guild line? (2000-10-26)

Sure, you can make your own guilds. If I can make them, you can make them.

My Lepers and Martyrs Guild is a serious model of a guild. I'm making guilds even as we speak, and that's a rough starting design sketch of a guild I'd make for a plug-in.

Go ahead. Improvise your own proposed designs. Try the format:

Title of Guild
Qualifications [how to decide if you get into the guild]
Examples of Guild Quests
Examples of Guild Rewards

At a higher level of detail, you'll want to give formal titles to the ten ranks on the ladders of advancement, and think of nice SMALL MODERATE perks for rewards, and special magical items given as boons for attaining certain ranks, and services offered by the guild. The services available will be pretty similar to daggerfall -- training, selling and buying stuff, spellmaking, potion making, item enchanting, and some other stuff. But the dialog system is so open-ended, there's no end to the fun you can have creating your own guild, with its own quests, challenges, and rewards.

On subduing an enemy (2000-12-20)

Hand-to-hand attacks reduce fatigue. Various spells reduce fatigue. Those are the ways to subdue an opponent. [I think there are some other cunning freeform tricks that will also reduce opponent fatigue.]

On roleplaying grounds, I admit to a preference for your toggle solution which permits using all weapons for subdual. I don't think we're going to do that -- for reasons which are so complex that I don't remember them. But in general, I think making subdual an elaborate and sophisticated part of both PC functionality and quest design is "outside the scope" of Morrowind. Morrowind is profoundly, lovably hack-and-slash in the Elder Scrolls tradition. Sophisticated subdual functionality and quest design is a feature of a more Thief-like focused RGP adventure genre. One design dictum I always follow is: "Don't try to do too much." I don't want to get distracted trying to make the perfect ground-breaking transcending-hack-and-slash game while trying to make Morrowind -- already an overwhelming challenge just to build, much less polish and refine to perfection.

On purchasing homes and faction questlines (2000-12-20)

1. We got houses. We got gold. We got NPCs. No reason why an NPC can't sell you a house for gold. No reason why an NPC couldn't sell you a key to a house. Owning a house, however, is not a significant gameplay feature in Morrowind. Owning a stronghold, on the other hand, has various gameplay benefits, apart from its importance in climbing the faction rank ladders.

2. Imperial Fighters, Mages, and Thieves Guilds are major factions, with their own quests and objectives -- often ones which conflict with Great House agendas.

2001

On vampirism and diseases in Tamriel (2001-01-08)

The beast races are not immune to the diseases of the man and mer [ie. elf] races. Enlightened Imperials treat vampirism as an incurable disease.

Disease is Tamriel is recognized as a moral or spiritual taint - a magical condition that can be cured by various magical effects. Magic can readily cure most common, minor diseases. More terrible diseases require more powerful, specific magical effects.

It is rumored [and manifestly proven by player characters] that there is a cure for the vampirism disease.

On fauna and horses (2001-01-10)

Vvardenfell is a harsh environment. Native bugs and reptiles have survived successive eruptions and blights. Imperial attempts to introduce horses to the island have been a failure; horses seem particularly succeptible to blight.

On the Blight (2001-01-19)

The Blight is a weather phenomenon associated with Vvardenfell's colossal volcano, Dagoth Ur. Persistent within the ghostfence [i.e., within the crater and on the volcano's slopes], and intermittent near the volcano, the Blight is a health-threatening, ash-heavy volcanic cloud. Plants and creatures exposed to the Blight may contract a variety of blight diseases. Blight diseases resist common herbal and magical treatments, and are of two kinds: wasting diseases which attack one or more of an organism's systems, and abnormal growth diseases, which distort the organism's functions and structures. Natives avoid exposure to the Blight, and wear special protective garments when traveling in Blight-prone regions.

On disguises, conjuration, and bound weapons (2001-04-10)

Re: disguises
Modeling or implementing various forms of disguises was not the problem. Producing "handling" [intelligent NPC behavior and dialog] in response to disguise was the problem. Just to do a lame job, we'd need to double the dialog responses for many categories of interaction -- a resource nightmare. And then that just adds the feature -- it doesn't make it elegant and captivating. Maybe someday I'll come up with a cheap and persuasive gimmick for handling the various dialog and behavior reactions an NPC might have for disguise... but not this time.

Re: conjuration
For me, the summoning creatures is a critical gameplay feature. Maybe not sexy, in some indefinable way. But, for example, in Baldur's Gate I used my cleric to summon skeletons as mine detectors and moving walls -- used them in millions of improvisational ways. The creatures themselves are not the sexy bit -- it's the flexibility of their improvisational uses that appeals to me. [And their tragic impulse to do stupid and annoying things... that adds flavor for me.]

But the most original and striking features of the conjuring school [from an Elder Scrolls perspective] are summoning daedric weapons and armor, and commanding creatures, and humanoids.

Summoning super weapons and armor is particularly handy, since these items have zero encumbrance. With the new profound impact of fatigue on gameplay in the Elder Sscrolls, the super-light aspects of armor are as important as their great power.

The ability to command NPCs to protect you is handy, of course, but more importantly, it is a way of removing an opponent blocking a path. As an eccentric example, it will be added to my repetoire of techniques for non-violent problem solving. As a roleplaying tool as well as a gameplay tool, it is remarkably flexible.

In fact, I am moderately worried that conjuring as a school is unbalanced relative to other schools. Fortunately, becoming proficient and powerful with conjuring provides most of its most profound benefits at mid-level and high-level gameplay. I always look for some aspect of gaming that continues to reveal new subtleties and applications in later stages of play -- and conjuration fits that bill well.

[...]

The cheapest summon spell currently summons a ghost, and that costs no more than the cheapest firebolt spell. So you can get in on the ground level of Profane Necromantic Magics for a pittance in spell points. [Of course, many Dunmer strongly object to necromancy, and may have a few choice words to say about the topic.]

The cheapest "bound" weapon you can summon is a daedric dagger, which costs about the same as a Buoyancy or Water Walking spell.

It is perhaps ironic that only a spellcasting specialist would be likely to be able to summon bound weapons and armor with any facility at low levels. A bound-weapon-armed wizard is going to be a tough melee opponent -- for a very short time.

It may be, however, that Conjuration will become the second most popular minor course of sorcerous study for the Aspiring Homicidal Barbarian Maniac [right after the ever-popular Restoration college]. Perhaps it will become even more popular than Restoration. The best defense is a good offense, and it's better to deal them wounds early than to heal your wounds later.

And a little background on "bound" weapons:

A "bound" weapon is a daedra bound into the form of a weapon. A common magic in Daedric realms is the binding of lesser daedra into physical artifacts. Daedra Lords particularly like to have their minions and defeated opponents made into coatracks and fuzzy slippers.

Weapons and armor are the most commonly bound items, and at some point some mortal bargained successfully for the secret of summoning such items from the Daedric realms. [I don't know any of the technical details... I'm only a bushleague hedgewizard.]

So, for its brief period of service in the world of Tamriel, a bound weapon is actually a Daedra [albeit a spectacularly weak and stupid one] in a magically constrained form. When the duration of the spell ends, *poof* the bound daedra returns to the Daedric realms, there to wait patiently for the next summons of a Master. [Imagine little stinkers bound for a fair portion of Eternity to sit an a dusty armory somewhere waiting to Serve a Lord.. or worse yet, a mortal wizard... and you can imagine how much fun it is to be a lesser daedra.

[...]

The key to successful Conjuration is DOMINATION. A good conjurer is skilled at arcane domination of both his own summonations and other entities. That's why Turn Undead ["Dominate" Undead] and Command Humanoid ["Dominate" Hapless Fool] are taught in Conjurer College.

On Indoril and Dres (2001-08-06)

Before the Empire, all of Vvardenfell was held in trust for the people of Morrowind by the Temple, with a small settlement for each of the local Great Houses -- Hlaalu, Redoran, and Telvanni. Neither Dres nor Indoril had settlements on Vvardenfell, for reasons of logistics and principle. [Indorial and Dres Districts are located in the far south of Morrowind, and they had strong political and religious objections to taking Vvardenfell from the Temple and opening it to colonization.]

Following the opening of Vvardenfell to settlement in 3E 414 by the Empire, the Temple no longer had sole jurisdiction over the territory. Hlaalu and Imperial interests immediately moved to colonize Vvardenfell. Redoran and Telvanni were slower, and consequently they have fewer holdings.

Neither Indoril nor Dres have holdings on Vvardenfell. Both houses strongly objected to the Imperial opening of Vvardenfell to colonization, and both are reluctant to join the land rush at this later date for fear of being seen as hypocrites.

[Actually, Redoran also objected to opening Vvardenfell, but have, after considerable soul-searching, and after reflecting on the political and economic advantages they'd be ceding to House Hlaalu, decided to sacrifice their principles and expand their holdings on Vvardenfell.

The Telvanni are another story. They are passionate isolationists, and initially disdained to claim Vvardenfell holdings. However, after a group of relatively young and ambitious wizards offered to risk themselves on Vvardenfell, House Telvanni agreed to let these young wizards move to Vvardenfell, on the theory that these young wizards were expendable, and would be less trouble to the establishment if they were off on Vvardenfell island stirring up trouble with the other houses.

On the age of Vvardenfell cities (2001-08-06)

Vivec City is over a thousand years old. The three district Great House seats -- Balmora, Ald'ruhn, and Sadrith Mora -- were founded centuries ago. It is only the new settlements that have sprouted in the last decade. And Balmora has grown dramatically since Vvardenfell was organized as a Provincial District under Duke Vedam Dren.

2004

On the design of Caius Cosades (2004)

To have weight, a primary character requires exposition.

Obvious methods of exposition, like dialogue, are perceived and resented by the player as awkward and manipulative. Dialogue, in particular, appears awkward and manipulative because it is, in a game, so far inferior in flavor and freedom to its real world counterpart.

Visual cues to character are discovered by the player through the player's free and unconstrained exploration and observation, and, as such, are more subtle, less awkward and obtrusive, and more unconsciously acceptable in shaping the player's response to the character.

Caius Cosades is the player's first and most important informant and patron in Morrowind. He is a spymaster, an agent of the Empire and Emperor, and your primary quest giver.

Three visual details define Caius Cosades: his bare chest, the skooma pipe beneath his bed, and the book he is reading.

Caius Cosades is the only character in Morrowind with a bare chest. He is an old man, which makes his bare chest seem more peculiar. And it is a strongly muscled chest, which is even more peculiar. He will be your boss. He is an old, creepy guy who lives in one room but he looks like an old creepy guy who could kick your ass.

The skooma pipe openly visible beneath his bed reveals that Caius Cosades is a drug addict. A spymaster who is a drug addict? That does not inspire our confidence in his judgment as our spymaster.

The book, "The War of the First Council," a historical summary of the political and religious conflicts of Morrowinds major factions, presented in the voice of a serious and reflective Imperial scholar, introduces the major characters in the backstory of the ancient events inciting the major action of Morrowinds plot. The old man is a creepy crack addict, but his bedtime reading is serious history.

Thus, by looking at Caius and exploring the items by his bed, we get the impression that Caius Cosades is an eccentric, creepy old man, with a disordered but fundamentally earnest and serious mind.

At first, we have a strong emotional reaction to what we see. The bare chest is odd, vaguely sexual, and repellent in an old man. The skooma pipe is worrying I'm taking orders from a drug addict?

But the book tempers our uneasy response with a reflection of Caius's mind-a serious mind studying the exotic culture of the foreign country of his posting. Thus we begin our relationship with a strong, at best ambivalent, emotional response to Caius Cosades, tempered by an intriguing hint of his mind's inner workings.

These are the features I'm proud of in his exposition.

On the other hand, I'm sorry we didn't take the same care with the other 3,000 characters in Morrowind. If we had, we would have rewarded the inquisitive and observant player every time he encountered a new character, and would have taught him to explore and savor their intriguing personalities before he killed them and went through their pockets.

2010

On writing Vivec, and Elder Scrolls lore in general (2010-09-15)

Kirkbride is definitely the ecstatic voice of Vivec's sermons. Great stuff. I wrote the dialog that Vivec speaks to the Nerevarine. Wow. That was ages ago. I also vaguely recall that Michael wrote the voice of Vivec in an bulletin board trial of Vivec for the murder of Indoril Nerevar. [I have no idea how to locate that, and it is not textual (i.e., not 'in the game'), though I'm sure it would be interesting.]

I particularly admire the conceit of the Dragon-Break, which I think was Kirkbride's scheme, probably collaborative with Kurt Kuhlmann, who was his passionate partner in design thought crimes. What a wonderful designer response to the criminally irresponsible design scheme of having Daggerfall's multiple endings in an epic heroic fantasy setting certain to be followed by sequels.

Morrowind, and all the Elder Scrolls titles, have been intensely collaborative projects, and I can't recall who actually spewed ideas, or who polished them for publication. And it doesn't really matter... it was a profoundly collective effort, with the enthusiastic internal ears and responses of designers being an integral part of the authoring process.

For all its many warts, Morrowind remains my favorite CRPG experience. I certainly admire the authorship and coherence of Planescape: Torment more... but the open-endedness and sheer vast glory of Morrowind made that experience far cooler and satisfying.

I've always wondered what it would have been like to experience Morrowind as a player rather than as a developer. And I look forward to TES V as my first chance to experience a modern Elder Scrolls title that way.

On the medium of Morrowind (2010-11-30)

Wow.

Lucid.

Extra-lucid.

Thank you for the considerable effort, energy, and insight spent on this presentation.

Deee... lightful.

There sure is a lot of text in Morrowind. I hadn't thought about it in a long while... but that leaves Morrowind in the literary mainstream... more or less. Text is certainly a fine medium for presenting a character like Vivec and his metaphysical riddles. Text is also a pretty dubious medium for today's console games. So we won't be seeing any more Vivecs any time soon, I suspect.

I've mentioned it elsewhere, but I had originally thought that Morrowind's hyperlinks for topics might produce an epic, naive hypertext novel. 'Naive', in that the novel would just grow, like Topsy, as an organic and non-deliberate c0mpositional process of writing lots and lots of text with lots and lots of hyperlinks in it.

That was, in retrospect, a pretty stupid thing to think.

But it makes me wonder what a modder could make of all those hyperlinks and various ways of displaying and linking in the Journal.

Ah, well. Another future project for an idle eon.

your servant and admirer,
Socucius Ergalla

2012

On unsolvable mysteries in the Elder Scrolls setting (2012-02-02)

We now call them 'franchise mysteries'. And as a Visionary, I preach that your setting should always be filled with franchise mysteries. And people in the setting should constantly argue about the Truths of those mysteries. And internally, you should have strong advocates for each of the 'One True Ways', and they should squabble like real scholars competing for tenure and grants.

Why don't the Elder Scrolls games use procedural content? (2012-02-02)

Elder Scrolls games DO use procedural content. Perhaps not much of it, and certainly not as a major percentage of total content. Oblivion has the charming Wandering Adventurer. And Skyrim has its Radiant quests.

But Daggerfall is an excellent case in point of why procedural content is not suitable as a steady gameplay diet.

On the level up skill system of Elder Scrolls (2012-02-02)

I love the Elder Scrolls 'learn-by-doing' system. It was stolen from the P&P RuneQuest system, in which I was once the RuneCzar.

Why did you decide to make a game like Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, which is so drastically different from your previous work? (2012-02-02)

No point in doing stuff I already know how to do.

That's why I was silly enough to retire after OBLIVION. I thought I'd run out of new things to do.

SKYRIM clearly proves there was LOTS of new stuff to do in the Elder Scrolls setting.

But I've always wanted FUN COMBAT, and a great console RPG. So that's why I wanted to do a game like RECKONING.

What are your thoughts on flying mechanics in RPGs? Also, I loved Morrowind to bits (2012-02-02)

I doubt I'd ever put flying in another game... unless it were the core experience of the game, like Flying Carpet.

On the other hand, vertical traversal, as in Viking: Battle of Asgard, or Assassin's Creed... THAT I'd be excited to include. Though probably not for an open-world, choose-your-own-hero game, because without vertical traversal, you'd cut out of a lot of content... and climbing is NOT a familiar component of most fantasy RPG character archetypes.

I think flying solves too many problems, and is too poorly simulated, to be fun in games I'd make. Flying in Morrowind is like horse travel in Daggerfall... good for its time, but silly but not quaint in our time.

I am sad that it is so hard to recapture the delight I once had in playing Morrowind. I'm not even sure it could be remade with modern tools and presentation.

Sigh I don't mean to get depressed. Thanks for the appreciation.

And we'll always have the memories.

What are your thoughts on the current state of RPGs? (2012-02-02)

I think there is still a large under-serviced market for RPGs. And that's even in a Golden Age of RPGs, when there are lots and lots of them, many of them with high budgets and high aspirations.

However, I feel that the challenge of starting a new studio to develop RPGs is overwhelming. Other than an RPG MMO, a single-player RPG is the hardest computer gamer to develop, and extremely hard to produce in AAA quality.

I can think to at least two RPG settings and experiences that don't exist in the market space, but which I'd LOVE to do. But the impossibility of assembling a great team to build them suggests to me that these two speculative projects must remain forever as closet designs.

I must also gracefully disagree, because I think Skyrim is a Very Good game. I cheerfully agree that it has faults. But I also cheerfully agree that Shakespeare's plays also have faults.

Design Visionary Ken Rolston, why did you decide to depart BGS? (2012-02-02)

Why leave Bethsoft?

Because, like an idiot, I thought I was done. I thought Oblivion was the End of History.

Yeah. Some visionary.

But more practically, my home was in New Jersey, and I was commuting to Rockviille, MD, to work. I wanted to spend more time with my home, friends, and family in NJ.

And with Big Huge, I managed to wrangle a more favorable balance of work-from-the-NJ-office against time spent in the Baltimore office.