Sidian

Rolls get me laid all the time.

Hi Pim.

1. Do you have rich parents? What do they do? I ask because almost everyone I see in your position has rich parents who helped them start, and usually went to the fanciest private schools and whatnot.

2. What did you contribute to the Ebola-proof tablet? Are you good with engineering? If so, how did you acquire such skills?

3. How have your conditions affected you and how have you managed to succeed despite them? Have you faced any other obstacles on the road to success?

4. Do you have any general advice, any talks, any books, whatever that represent your outlook that you'd like to recommend to inspire others to follow in your footsteps?

Thanks.

Why's that - aren't you happy in your current job? What are you going to study? Marketing?

You guys are my heroes. My favourite game of all time is Planescape: Torment, swiftly followed by Fallout 1. Fallout New Vegas was also an incredible game. I hope you guys keep up the good work and deliver a well-written modern classic with real choices and consequences, not plagued by the illusion of choice found in most recent RPGs.

1. Do you think the game will suffer as a result of a large choice of characters? In a game like Planescape: Torment, the entire game is tailored to TNO, but in a game like Project Eternity with wildly different races and backgrounds etc available, you can't make the game in such a way. Do you think the latter design holds games back from reaching the storytelling level of PST?

2. You've said there will be limited voice acting but will there be talking heads like in Fallout? I have always felt that it was the best way to do it. You get the bonuses of full voice acting by only having the most important lines acted, and you also get big, well-written and lengthy discussions without the huge cost of having every line voice acted.

3. Why did you go with a fantasy setting? I'm really pumped for the game but this is definitely the thing that I'm least excited about. There have been so many fantasy settings and so few (in comparison) sci fi settings. And, no offence or anything, but it doesn't instantly strike me as an incredibly interesting and weird fantasy setting like Planescape Torment either; at first glance, it's just your average elves and dwarves setting. I mean, if anyone, I know you guys can make it really interesting, but I'm still curious as to why you chose this.

A fantastic MoTB review summed up my general feelings towards the typical fantasy setting you find in RPGs and how great interesting and unique ones like PST's are:

Fantasy RPGs often suck because the fantasy aspect isn't overly "fantastic". In fact, usually it's generic, boring, and bland. Let's say that you’ve bought a new fantasy RPG and have just installed it. What do you have there? A young guy/gal in a small place is forced to get the fuck out and explore a very predictable world and eventually save it. When you see a town, you know pretty much what to expect. It's not a place of wonder and strange customs, it's a place to get quests and buy/sell shit. You can easily replace a town with 3-4 NPCs standing in the middle of fucking nowhere offering quests and shopping. In fact, that probably would be more interesting than a generic and boring as fuck fantasy town #3471.

Now, compare it to Planescape: Torment. You wake up in a mortuary. Dead. Yes, DEAD. A gravity defying skull starts chatting with you.

WHAT! THE! FUCK!

That alone throws you off. Suddenly, you realize that you are definitely not in Kansas anymore. The rules are completely different and you have no idea what they are. Where are the familiar elves and orcs – the foundation of quality storytelling? Why aint the ancient evil stirring? Where is a kind lord of the realm to send you on a mission of great importance (usually involving killing some poor fuckers)?

You open the door. OMG! Zombies are everywhere! Ok, I know where this is going. Where is my trusty weapon... WAITAMINUTE! The zombies are not attacking. You can kill them, of course, but you can also walk around studying them and even get some unusual items from them. You finally manage to leave the mortuary. You are in a city, and what a city it is! It's a city of doors, filled with portals that can take you anywhere, assuming you have the right key. You see a bar, a familiar place in this strange land. The first thing you see is a floating, burning, yet still alive body - a lovely conversation piece of decor. Some ugly looking demons are having a drink; they greet you as an old friend. Great, that's just fucking great. Wait, it gets better though. The bartender casually informs you that he still has your eye - my WHAT? - and if you have the money, you can have it back. You buy the eye, mostly because it's so different from the usual selection of RPG goodies, wondering what the fuck you should do with it. An insane option to rip out your existing eyeball and shove in the new one, which was floating in a jar like a pickled egg a minute ago, presents itself. You do it and your old memories start pouring in. At this point you are absolutely lost. You, the player, are a stranger in a strange fucking land, and that's the fucking beauty of it.

Your quest? To find out who you are. sigh What, did you guys run out of demons to kill and worlds to save?

Thanks for your time, and I really hope you guys reach $3.5m. I've pledged $250 - really wish I could go for the $500 but $250 is already pushing it a bit.

Jesus, what precautions should be taken to avoid this? Other than not getting drunk.