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by skip 02/06/2014, 7:36pm PST |
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To the surprise of no one, this asshole, Jeff Skalski, was the producer of Ultima Forever. It was another transformation of an IP associated with some past good games into some shitty F2P mobile game that gouges players. This ass has been giving the same answers to the same questions and he has his talking points memorized. Compare his prior interviews about U4E with IGN and VG47 vs. his current one about DK.
Free to Play is Good!
IGN: What's exciting to you about going free-to-play with this title?
Jeff Skalski: The amount of players who will be able to experience Ultima Forever and perhaps even their first Ultima game. For those reading, you have no reason not to jump in and have a look!
TabTimes Games: So let’s start with a little background. How do microtransactions work in Dungeon Keeper?
Jeff Skalski: With Dungeon Keeper, and just about any free-to-play title, the burden is on the developers to ensure that we’re giving players the most entertaining mobile gaming experience that’s as true to the franchise as possible. The benefit of free-to-play games is that it empowers players, there’s no risk involved to download it and try it out. They can experience the game and determine what level of commitment they want to make. We specifically chose to make the game this way so the classic franchise would be accessible to as many people as possible.
Fans just like to bitch.
VG247: Ultima is a long-standing and revered franchise. What key facets of the series’ lineage did you absolutely have to bring back to keep fans happy?
We know we can’t make all Ultima fans happy, but we hope they can enjoy the nostalgic elements that are clear nods to the past and new components introduced as we usher in the series to a whole new connected generation of players. We’re aiming for more stimulation over simulation.
Right, but it’s not just critics, fans have been making the same complaint.
I think any time you re-make anything that is much beloved and has a great sense of nostalgia for people—be it a game, a movie, or whatever—people are going to be very protective of it. They have fond memories of it. We, as gamers, have our own fond memories of it. For a lot of gamers, the original Dungeon Keeper was one of their first experiences with great strategy games. Our intention with the mobile version was to give as many people as possible a taste of that original Dungeon Keeper experience, and for some people, that’s not the way they want to re-visit the franchise.
Everybody else likes it and can't stop playing.
All of what we’ve spoken about has come together now in your alpha test build. What can you tell us about the alpha feedback and how will this determine the format of the eventual beta?
Well, over 80% of the players did not want to stop playing, which was great to see they were all engaged. We had some players put some crazy hours into the game during alpha even though it was only open for three days. The feedback really helped us identify areas we could better leverage the Ultima IP, and influenced changes to several game mechanics.
Right, but it’s not just critics, fans have been making the same complaint.
We’re still figuring that out. One of the important data points we’re looking at is our store ratings and downloads. At the time of this interview, App Store ratings currently sit at 4 out of 5 stars and Google Play ratings sit at 4.5 out of 5 star
I really love this IP I'm shitting on.
It sounds genuinely intriguing, particularly the collaborations with other adventurers. But what about Ultima purists? What would you say to them to convince them that their favourite series is in safe hands?
In my honest opinion, there are only two companies in this world worthy of touching this franchise respectfully. I’m happy to be at one of them, BioWare. My first Ultima experience started back when I would sneak over to my friends house to play on his Apple II and continued all the way through the 80’s and 90’s until I was one of the early testers for Ultima Online.
As you’re hopefully aware, this has become a point of contention with fans. Some have said there’s too many microtranscations, that the game is structured in such a way that you have to buy stuff to make any real progress. Do you think these criticism are fair?
We’re very aware. The team that worked on the game has read pretty much every tweet, article, Facebook post, and blog comment that’s been written about the game since it launched. Most of us spent our weekend scouring the Internet. We’re huge fans of the PC game, and like everyone on the Internet who’s commented on our mobile version, we’ve played the original version and we get pretty nostalgic about it.
I, like you, hate microtransactions, so we made these ones to be less shitty.
We understand that Ultima Forever will not use the energy system employed by other F2P titles, is that right?
Yeah, I don’t know about you, but being limited to play a game in 2 minute intervals is not really my definition of a gaming experience. It’s kind of like saying the ad that appears before your YouTube video is really the content you’re looking to watch.
Yeah that’s a bloody pain actually.
We never want to tell players, ‘Stop [insert big colourful window], pay now or get the hell out!’ Players can play as much as they like in Ultima Forever, and our approach to how we monetise the game is what I would call a fair handshake. Having fun in the game? Throw some coin our way, so we can continue to make the game even more awesome.
. . .To that end, yes, we’ve designed the game to offer players the option to spend money if they’d like to speed up their gameplay.
As for whether we think the microstransactions are fair? Well, most of the team, including myself, played as free players all throughout our 15 week soft launch. It was important for us to know that even a non-spender could enjoy our game and make progress.
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