What are you talking about? Because there are no interactions outside of cutscenes in Mass Effect

I only watched star trek for a couple of years in my life and I knew this. But I am smarter than you people.

Whoa, THE Will Hhhhhweaton?

Wil Wheaton was also a well known actor before he joined Star Trek: TNG. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hLCYkSNpPk has to be one of the best Stephen King adaptations of all time.

I cannot believe how he not only doesn't look the same, but he doesn't even sound the same.

Different seasons.. Great book. Also has shawshank redemption. Even if you hate Stephen king it's a must read

Cool interview, made even more fun by Wil Wheaton doing it.

"Having characters react to you in a way that you believe or is really meaningful with choices you made" - yeah Todd you guys BADLY need to work on that stuff. It's good to see you acknowledge you're not there yet.

Whilst I'd say its commonplace for an artistic type to be more acutely aware of their shortcomings than anyone else, I actually do agree; its very good to see he's not afraid to publicly admit to them.

thanks for sharing

Hey

I hope so too.

Voice

Kewl interview. Will did a good job asking interesting questions...

Enjoyed it... until the arrow in the knee bit. Dammit Crusher.

I have to admit, when the next TES comes out, which will probably be on the next gen consoles. Im really hoping for the AI to be that good.

Well you had to know that Todd Howard played Ultima, it was really the original Open World RPG, and the Elder Scrolls Series is really just this generations Ultima. I feel lucky that I have been around to play both of them.

I enjoyed watching The Great Battles of Skyrim, but the thing it really needed was the skeletal draugr animation in the official Skyrim trailer at 1:43. I've watched the official trailer countless times, and every time, for some unknown reason, I get a 'zing' when that draugr points his axe and marks the Dovahkiin as his adversary.

What is weird about this is, they did a better job in MW and OB.. in Skyrim there is very little NPC recognition of your accomplishments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUWXjs2jPQI

Good interview, both Todd and Will seemed to respect each other.

Awesome interview, I can't believe I missed that up untill now. All the old rpg references made me realize how damn old I am not to mention how far rpgs have come.

I love the reference to DM's.

I don't think Todd is talking about Bethesda specifically here, rather he's talking about the next wave, or the direction that RPGs are going in general. When he says "we're not there yet," he's referring to the collective industry. Which is great, because it sounds like he's interested in developing mechanics for interaction with NPCs that go beyond what you can see in other games today. Hopefully some of this might find its way into Fallout 4 - perhaps an updated version of the Story Manager?

Wheaton: You are clearly pushing the limits of what is possible for a role playing game on a console or on a PC. Where do you see RPGs going next?

Todd: I think the thing that in general in gaming affects RPGs more is having characters react to you in a way that you believe, or is really meaningful, with choices you've made. We can build pretty good environments, a lot of people can, not just us. In gaming, doing realistic, nice-looking environments, I think people are really good at that. I think the next wave is really, characters, how they respond, where it feels as real as the environments do, and we're not there yet.

That was probably one of the better interviews of seen of Todd.

And now I want a Wil Wheaton bobble head...

I'm not sure the distinction is really important, however the fact that he realizes the interactions with NPC's is subpar is. And again, if that is important to him, one has to wonder why Skyrim went backwards when compared to Oblivion and Morrowind. The new disposition method isn't very good in my opinion, the NPC's don't really track your renown very well and the ability to influence people via speechcraft is a thing of the past for the most part. I actually like the speechcraft mini-game in OB.

I think if you want to help the world feel more alive, the NPC's need to have access to your accomplishments and if those accomplishments would change the way they feel about you, and how they talk/interact with you. Right now, in all honesty, that doesn't seem to be happening much in Skyrim. Yes, I am Thane of Whiterun yet I have guards teasing me about hair growing out of my ears and sweet rolls. That doesn't really inspire me.

Will Wheaton is such a nerd! ... But he knows how to interview it seems.