Dragon’s Breath Forge has posted up an interview [archive.org backup ]with Feargus Urquhart, Division Director at Black Isle Studios. In it, Feargus talks about the possibility of a future MMORPG, working with BioWare on future projects, and more. Here’s a taste:
I’ve heard rumors that the contract between Wizards and Interplay is soon to end, are there any hopes for Interplay to try and extend this contract so we can continue to see great games on the market with the Dungeon’s and Dragon’s license?
Feargus: Actually with the available renewals in our current contract we can keep on making games until sometime in 2005 – at which point we have to stop starting new games, but can finish the games that we already have in development.
As the original source is unavailable, we’ve preserved the interview here for posterity’s sake:
H’rothgar Firehammer has had the honour to interview Feargus Urquhart, Division Director at Black Isle Studios! Read the full interview by clicking Read More below.
How did you get into the games business?
Feargus: Well I started off at Interplay in 1991 as a playtester during summer vacation away from college when I was 21. Now how I got the job was probably how a lot of people got their jobs in the games industry back then – one of my friends worked for Interplay. And funnily enough that person was Chris Taylor – the Lead Designer from Fallout that I’m sure a lot of people see bouncing around the net. Actually Chris and I went to High School together and had met in the our school’s gaming club.
What do your job duties entail?
Feargus: Hmmm… A whole bunch of things. My title is President, but I function as a combination between an Executive Producer and a VP of Business Development.
What that means is that I oversee all of the internal and externally developed products that Black Isle develops or manages. I also look for new developers to work with and help with the management of our licensors like Wizards of the Coast.
What are the specs of your personal PC?
Feargus: Well at home we have two PC’s. One is a server that is a 866 P3 with 256Megs of RAM that was my old 266 that I upgraded with a new motherboard and memory – all by myself. Since there was no IS department at Interplay back in the very early nineties, we all learned how to fix our own machines.
I actually still end up fixing and putting machines together at work every once in a while if the Hick (Black Isle’s own IS guy) is away or busy. Now, my gaming PC is a 1GHZ P3 with 256 Megs of RAM and a GeForce 2 GTS.
Do you have a Miniature Giant Space Hamster?
Feargus: Nope, but I have an Abominable Snowman on the top of my monitor.
If you read fantasy or sci-fi books, who is/are your favorite author (s)?
Feargus: Lately it has been LE. Modesti Jr., Terry Goodkind, Kate Elliot, Michael Stackpole, Chris Bunch, the Starfist series, Robert Asprin, and William Dietz. That’s probably not a very high brow list of authors – but I really read sci-fi/fantasy books for relaxation. I just finished a Trilogy by Deborah Chester called The Sword , The Ring, and the Chalice that was pretty good – not great, but pretty good. Oh yeah, I also like Robin Hobb’s books, and ones by C.J. Cherryh.
What are your thoughts on MMORPG’s and will Black Isle ever make one?
Feargus: I’d like to make one, but it’s just not in the cards right now. As a lot of people probably have read, Interplay has gone through some financial problems, and since MMORPG’s take a huge investment of time, resources, and money – it’s going to be a while before we can seriously think about doing one.
Have you played through Throne of Bhaal? If so, what do you think of it based on the series? Does it finish the story nicely?
Feargus: Actually I haven’t had the time to go through Throne of Bhaal yet. I’m hoping to do so in a few weeks now that it’s done. I did put about 150 hours into BG2 before it shipped, and still have my Save Games (I was playing a Monk), so I’m planning to take them into Throne of Bhaal.
Will we see more BioWare games published by Black Isle once Neverwinter Nights is released?
Feargus: We’ve certainly been successful working together in the past, so I’m sure we’ll keep on talking about working together in the future.
What’s your favorite Dungeon’s and Dragon’s race and class, and why?
Feargus: Dwarven Fighters. I don’t really know, but if given the choice I always choose to play a dwarf. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m Scottish and for some reason they seem the most Scottish to me. Maybe it’s because of Dwarves and the Scottish being stubborn bastards. 🙂
If you’ve ever played Pen and Paper who was your favorite character. Perhaps you could give us a short description of them?
Feargus: My favorite character of all time was a Dwarven Street Samurai from Shadowrun named Spud. As with most dwarves his whole focus in life was money – but he was possibly even more neurotic about it than most. Spud’s whole goal was to see exactly how much money he could extract from any given situation. I don’t think he was ever really looking to do anything with it – this was probably where the neurosis comes in. In fact it got to the point where his war cry as he ran into combat was the chanting of the word “Money” and it was pretty much the only word he ever used when interrogating someone.
Who would you rather have watching your back, an elf or a dwarf?
Feargus: Well I pretty much already answered that one. Elves break too easily.
How do teams like the teams behind Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Neverwinter Nights series come up with such great stories behind them? Is there a process or is it just thought up by an imaginative team member?
Feargus: I think the core story usually starts with a single designer, but it is often the whole team which helps tune the story. Then when all the other designers start designing the areas and fleshing out the characters that helps move the plot forward and the whole story really comes alive.
Who is your favorite Forgotten Realms hero?
Feargus: I really hate to say Drzzt like everyone else – so I’ll probably say Volo. What better life in the world but to run around the Realms, get drunk, and always leave someone else with the bill.
I’ve heard rumors that the contract between Wizards and Interplay is soon to end, are there any hopes for Interplay to try and extend this contract so we can continue to see great games on the market with the Dungeon’s and Dragon’s license?
Feargus: Actually with the available renewals in our current contract we can keep on making games until sometime in 2005 – at which point we have to stop starting new games, but can finish the games that we already have in development.
What’s your favorite game series out of Icewind Dale and Baldur’s Gate?
Feargus: As everyone probably expects, I’m going to say both. I like them both equally because they are very different games. I like the BG series for the Child of Bhaal story and the hundreds of quests. I really enjoyed Icewind Dale for the constant action and character development.
Thanks for your time Feargus!
Interview conducted by H’rothgar Firehammer
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