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(Preparation for) Gav Thorpe interview article

Started by MarcoSkoll, February 27, 2020, 03:44:18 PM

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MarcoSkoll

To give people something to discuss, an article idea that's been floated for rebooting Dark Magenta is a chat/discussion about Inquisitor's design/development with Gav Thorpe. And it's a fair idea; it's not an interview that 28 MAG have yet done, so we're not retreading anything there.

Anyway, long story short, I've messaged Gav, and he's happy to do so.

However for this, I'll appreciate some help/suggestions putting together some interview questions/script to avoid it either being really mundane or me constantly skipping over things I assumed were common knowledge. Obviously, we've previously had an AMA thread with him; we don't want to completely redo that, but any good questions can certainly be reused.

What sort of things do we want to cover?

For a few basics, I'd throw in:
- How did Inquisitor get started?
- What challenges did you have with Inquisitor?
- What might you have done differently?
- What are you most proud of?
- Thoughts on how Inquisitor impacted the overall setting.

But do we have more questions to add to that?
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

MarcoSkoll

We've had a few interesting suggestions trickle in from elsewhere, so copying them here for reference:

- Thoughts on the current following and the various offshoots (e.g Inquisimunda).
- How well did Inquisitor do compared to expectations? Did that impact the production?
- What lessons would be learned from modern games in a remake?
- What was planned, but never happened?
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Dosdamt

Legacy - Inquisitor definitely generated a cult following. Is he surprised at the longevity and passion remaining for the game?

New 54mm - maybe wishlisting, but with the new plastic technology a new range of 54mm miniatures could be *incredible* - what would Gav like to see if he could re-release and expand the range of miniatures.

Where would he take the Inquisition next in the current 40k timeline?
It is never too late! - Mentirius

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mcjomar

- What lessons would be learned from modern games in a remake?

Also - would Inquisitor still sit in its current narrative wargame style, or would it slide more towards RPG, or Skirmish?
Would we see campaign systems be built up?
are there things mechanically that would change to reflect shifts in attitudes towards gaming and those types of games (both separately and combined)?
what mechanics are darlings that cannot be murdered, and which mechanics might be due to be firmly reviewed or even altered?  Would we see it all thrown out and started from scratch?

"New 54mm - maybe wishlisting, but with the new plastic technology a new range of 54mm miniatures could be *incredible* - what would Gav like to see if he could re-release and expand the range of miniatures. "
Or would we even see 54mm considered? Would it be 28mm ranges, to encourage compatibility and a wider range of conversions connected to the mainstream and other specialist games? (not to mention the constant discussion of terrain compatibility).


What is seen as being the core "ethos" or "atmosphere" of Inquisitor? a Noir style perhaps? How does a designer and writer hold on to or define that nebulous sense or experience of what it is that separates Inquisitor as a world (rather than a mere mechanical system), and what are the primary considerations necessary to ensure it is preserved?

Would we see changes to any of this, or would everything be retained, added to, and expanded on to try and hold on to that core?
And would we see updates to connect with the "current" state of the 40k universe? Riven factions? New ones?
Responses to the "Great Maw" or Guilliman's crusade? (or Guilliman himself? His connection to the eldar? The appearances most recently of Cypher? Cawl's advances? etc)
I'll see if I can think of more...
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MarcoSkoll

Quote from: mcjomar on February 28, 2020, 10:30:14 AM
Quote from: DosdamtNew 54mm - maybe wishlisting, but with the new plastic technology a new range of 54mm miniatures could be *incredible* - what would Gav like to see if he could re-release and expand the range of miniatures.
Or would we even see 54mm considered? Would it be 28mm ranges, to encourage compatibility and a wider range of conversions connected to the mainstream and other specialist games? (not to mention the constant discussion of terrain compatibility).
I'll see what I can work in, but obviously Gav isn't actually part of any team deciding this and I do want to move Dark Magenta to have a neutral editorial position on game scale*, so I want to make sure anything about this doesn't come across as biased on DM's part.

* In practical terms, the scale used doesn't actually much affect most of our article content; the lore and rules are the same (and the editorial process will naturally remove any content more suited to other games). As such, I've been re-writing DM's article guidelines - I don't want DM to ignore or malign anyone because of the scale they choose to play the game.

Quote from: mcjomar on February 28, 2020, 10:30:14 AMAnd would we see updates to connect with the "current" state of the 40k universe? Riven factions? New ones?
A good question, but the answer may end up in another article! One of the things I've got in the pipeline is an article on Inquisitor gaming in the Age of the Dark Imperium, in order to help DM catch up with those lore changes.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Dosdamt

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on February 28, 2020, 10:25:05 PM
Quote from: mcjomar on February 28, 2020, 10:30:14 AM
Quote from: DosdamtNew 54mm - maybe wishlisting, but with the new plastic technology a new range of 54mm miniatures could be *incredible* - what would Gav like to see if he could re-release and expand the range of miniatures.
Or would we even see 54mm considered? Would it be 28mm ranges, to encourage compatibility and a wider range of conversions connected to the mainstream and other specialist games? (not to mention the constant discussion of terrain compatibility).
I'll see what I can work in, but obviously Gav isn't actually part of any team deciding this and I do want to move Dark Magenta to have a neutral editorial position on game scale*, so I want to make sure anything about this doesn't come across as biased on DM's part.

* In practical terms, the scale used doesn't actually much affect most of our article content; the lore and rules are the same (and the editorial process will naturally remove any content more suited to other games). As such, I've been re-writing DM's article guidelines - I don't want DM to ignore or malign anyone because of the scale they choose to play the game.


Sure, on his position in the decision chain, but surely he can wishlist with the rest of us?

Maybe a better way to phrase

Irrespective of scale, what additions, expansions or remakes would Gav like to see in a new Inquisitor range?
It is never too late! - Mentirius

http://thementalmarine.proboards.com/index.cgi <- The Mind, for all your irreverent nonsense needs

Inquisitor_Snarf

Quote from: MarcoSkoll on February 27, 2020, 07:29:27 PM
We've had a few interesting suggestions trickle in from elsewhere, so copying them here for reference:

- Thoughts on the current following and the various offshoots (e.g Inquisimunda).
- How well did Inquisitor do compared to expectations? Did that impact production?
- What lessons would be learned from modern games in a remake?
- What was planned, but never happened?

Great questions. I have always wondered about what the trajectory of Inquisitor was going to be long term.

My question would be:
"Do you see a niche that can be filled in the modern game ecosystem by Inquisitor, one of its descents, or a true successor?"



MarcoSkoll

Quote from: Dosdamt on February 28, 2020, 10:36:35 PMsurely he can wishlist with the rest of us?
Absolutely, but I do want to be careful around the minefield of scale discussion.

Questions like "why did you pick 54mm in the first place" are interesting history of the game, but things like "would you pick 54mm again" are less informative.

QuoteIrrespective of scale, what additions, expansions or remakes would Gav like to see in a new Inquisitor range?
... yeah, that works well. I like that more.
S.Sgt Silva Birgen: "Good evening, we're here from the Adeptus Defenestratus."
Captain L. Rollin: "Nonsense. Never heard of it."
Birgen: "Pick a window. I'll demonstrate".

GW's =I= articles

Dullmohawk

I would really like to know more about his work with John Blanche and the rest of the art-team in the beginning of the project, like how did the different ideas Gav had about the setting and the characters mesh with the visions of the art team. I'm aware that JB touches upon it briefly in WD257, but maybe a bit more detail on how the ideas of characters worked their way from sketch and back into the rulebook - were there any characters that were just too obscene or thought of as too outrageous to include?

Another thing I was wondering (and this might just be me, so feel free to ignore it) is, did Kessel ever get rescued from the clutches of Tyrus, and how did the whole Karis Cephalon-campaign end (if it ever did)?
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precinctomega

Has the battle for the Emperor's Soul been won our lost by Roboute Gulliman?