Developer Reaction Interview: Dan Whiteside & Cori May
Profile by Jay Watamaniuk
Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker was recently nominated by the prestigious Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences for the RPG of the Year award. The Eighth Annual AIAS Awards will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 1st, 2005. Voting is done in secret by carefully screened industry professionals who have demonstrated a minimum level of experience and professional credits, and the awards are dedicated to recognizing outstanding products, talented individuals, and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the $30 billion worldwide entertainment software industry. We waded through the paparazzi and blinding flashes to get reactions from Kingmaker developers, Dan and Cori.
Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker has been nominated for Role Playing Game Of The Year by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS). Can you explain what AIAS is?
Cori: Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. Hey, don't you know this already? I'm told it's the like Oscars for video games.
Dan: Wow, really? How cool! Okay, so I already knew, but the news just keeps blowing me away. The AIAS is the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, a group that monitors video games and the market, and sponsors a yearly conference (DICE) that's all about gaming. I sort of feel like we made a home video and suddenly got nominated for best documentary. So cool!
How did you learn about this nomination for your work and what was your first reaction?
Cori: Dan messaged me about the news. I think 'Wow!' was my first reaction, followed by 'are you sure'? I think it took an hour or two before I stopped fearing it was a hoax.
Dan: Darcy popped his head in and congratulated me. I didn't believe him. Not even a little. Then I found a copy of the list of nominations and it blew my mind.
What makes Kingmaker a great roleplaying game?
Cori: Dan's writing and story. He makes you laugh, he makes you cry, he makes you want to rip people apart with your bare hands. (Well, at least Ellysia.) The work done by Rob and Keith was critical, too; I wish I could take more credit, but everyone on the project has done amazing things with the module.
Dan: I think the henchmen are the secret sauce that pulls the game together. Between them and the multiple paths through most of the quests, you can clock quite a few hours in replaying the module.
If Kingmaker II were being developed, would this nomination make the development job more difficult or easier?
Cori: BioWare has been nominated for these sorts of awards so many times; I think we were always acutely aware of the standards to which we were being held. I don't think this nomination would change development at all. We would try to make it the best game we possibly could, and I'm sure the resources would be provided to help just as they were in the past.
Dan: I think it might help in lining up extra resources, possibly. It would also make the writing easier in that I do better writing when I feel inspired and getting this nomination is inspiring.
Now that you are drunk with power, can we expect millionaire heiress-level scandalous behavior to be smeared across the tabloids from you both?
Cori: I think it would be fun to have a tiara'd chihuahua running around the halls of BioWare during crunch time, don't you? But, I think a reality show on our lives would be awfully dull. 'See BioWare employee stare at a monitor and/or television screen all day. See BioWare employee grow increasingly addicted to coffee. See BioWare employee go home late at night and sleep. See BioWare employee wake up. Rinse and repeat. (Rinsing optional, depending how late I wake up.)'
Dan: You mean you haven't heard about me and J-Lo? I thought for sure that one was going to blow up in my face. But both of us in scandals? Nah! Cori is too good at hiding her crimes behind a mask of angelic innocence. No one would ever believe the stuff she pulls.
"Well, of course the part about the Loch Ness Monster is true, but this article about Cori May involved in...no way. I just can't believe it. Oh, did you hear they spotted Elvis at BioWare?"
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