The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Team Q&A #1

RPG Vault has published the first installment of a new team Q&A feature for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In it, fifteen members of the game’s development team reveal what aspect of Oblivion they’re most proud of. A snippet:

Emil Pagliarulo, Designer: I was primarily responsible for the Dark Brotherhood and Arena, had a lot of input in determining Oblivion’s stealth system, was the primary designer for the lock picking mini-game, and wrote most of the combat dialogue. I guess for me, my greatest personal achievement has to be the Dark Brotherhood quest line. Really, for years, I’d been wanting to make a medieval or fantasy-themed assassin game. It’s something I had thought a lot about and sort of put on my wish list of fantasy design projects.

I had worked on the Thief series prior to working on Elder Scrolls, and as much as I loved that series’ sense of moral ambiguity, I really wanted to explore the more sinister side of stealth gameplay. What if you weren’t just an anti-hero thief; what if he were a cold-blooded, remorseless killer? So, when I got the chance to write and implement Oblivion’s Dark Brotherhood quest line, it was the fulfillment of my deepest, geekiest designer dream. It became my passion during Oblivion’s development, and overall, I’m really happy with the way it came out and the reception it’s received.