Bioware Interview

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(Originally posted by Darien)

RPGVault has posted the first in a 3 part series of interviews with Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, joint CEOs of Bioware.

Jonric: In your minds, what qualifies a game as an RPG? Do you have a static or fairly static definition, or is it more fluid and subjective? How important or unimportant is this genre label to you, and how do you feel about genre labels in general? Are they useful to you personally?

Ray Muzyka: Very difficult question. If one needs to define such things, I think that an RPG can include any number of from a list of "RPG-like" features. When it includes enough of these features, then people start referring to it as a "roleplaying game". At its simplest, an RPG includes a character with whom you identify, whose abilities progress and develop during the course of the game based on your efforts; of course RPGs also include a deep and immersive storyline. But there are many different ways to build a roleplaying game - I'd argue that games like Metal Gear Solid, Deus Ex, Diablo, Baldur's Gate, EverQuest, Neverwinter Nights, and Silent Hill are all RPGs, but different types of RPGs.

Greg Zeschuk: I don't really have an answer to this question - in my opinion games don't really need definitions. I don't like to get involved in the endless newsgroup discussions about whether or not a game is an RPG. There's no right answer and, more importantly, it doesn't really matter. What matters to me is if a game is fun. If it is, then I care about it.

Read the interview.