Neverwinter Nights 2: NWN 2 Interview with Annie Carlson

NWN 2 News has posted an interview with NWN 2 developer Annie Carlson covering a myriad of topics:

On a related note, do you feel the clock is winding down on BG and NWN style games?

In the sense that PC games are falling out of favor or in the sense that long-form RPGs are falling out of favor? I'd kind of counter either argument. The PC as a platform is actually proving to be pretty resilient - consoles are creeping up to try and mimic many of its functionalities, but I think there will always be titles that are best suited to the PC's particular interface and methods of distribution (this is to say nothing of the glory of ease of online connection, bedroom developers, casual gamers, and the rich modding community!) And even just watching all the posts in the NWN2 forums and the excitement of many to check out new mods, new custom content, and other such elements... it'd be tricky to convince me that interest in NWN style games is really truly diminishing.

That being said, I do recognize that RPGs are somewhat problematic in many ways. They're expected to have such a long gameplay time (which means longer development times), and typically have very involved systems which are difficult to create (licensing issues with existing systems aside) - I think many people also tend to view them as being for a very niche market, which is rather unfair. They're difficult to get made, yes, but in terms of interest I think they're still holding on. There is the benefit of their expansions and modules dovetailing with the fashionable new micropayment systems leaping up all around, which might cause renewed interest in the powers-that-be to make them - I wouldn't ring their death knell yet, by far. Which I think is good news to all of us.

Head to the link above to read the rest.