[GW] Blood Bowl Jervis interview
Playa
Gamespot interviewed Jervis:
+++
GameSpot: It's been more than 20 years since you created Blood Bowl.
Are you surprised that the board game is still popular today?
Jervis Johnson: Surprised and delighted! I recently attended a 'World
Cup' for Blood Bowl, where several hundred players from all corners of
the globe gathered together to play the game. It was a strange and
rather humbling experience to watch them all intently playing the
game--it makes you realize that the thing you helped invent now has a
life of its own. I have a feeling that people will still be playing BB
long after I have gone.
GS: For those of us who played the tabletop game back in the day, can
you give us any indication of how much the game has grown and evolved?
JJ: To be honest, there have been very few changes to the game since
the third edition came out in 1994. All we've done is to tidy up the
rules a bit, add a few new teams to the game, and tweak the original
teams to make them more balanced. The only really major change has
been to the league rules. The 1994 version of these rules meant that
you could get 'run-away-leader' syndrome, so that a team that did well
just got better and better until no one could really beat it. To get
around this, new league rules allow underdog teams to select special
bonuses that help balance a match. But, to be honest, these changes
are mainly cosmetic, and in actual play, the latest version of the
game feels almost identical to the version released back in '94. If it
ain't broke, don't fix it, as the saying goes.
GS: We're told that the game's turn-based mode will use Blood Bowl's
current rule set. Will any subsequent changes that you make to the
tabletop rules be implemented in the video game after it's released?
JJ: You really need to ask the Cyanide game development team about
this rather than me. Having met them, though, I think they'd be keen
to keep the turn-based version as close [to] the current rules as
possible. That said, I have absolutely no plans at all to modify the
board game rules for Blood Bowl, at least for the foreseeable future.
I'm very happy with them as they are and really don't feel the need to
add or change anything.
GS: What are your impressions of the real-time Blitz mode that Cyanide
has implemented? Presumably Games Workshop had some input there?
JJ: I think it's great. It was a very strange experience to see Blood
Bowl players actually moving about, throwing the ball, and scoring
touchdowns. I had little direct input on this myself--I'm a board game
designer, not a computer game designer, after all. But I know that
people, like my colleague Nelson, have been closely involved in making
sure that the real-time version of the game remains true to the
background and imagery we created for the game.
The first skaven team ever to play Blood Bowl was made entirely of
paper. True story.
GS: Assuming you've had a chance to check out both, do you prefer to
play the old-school turn-based game or the more frantic real-time
version?
JJ: I must admit I stick with the turn-based version. I just don't
have the twitch factor any longer to play the real-time version with
any type of competence.
GS: Star players appear to have become a pretty big part of what Blood
Bowl is about nowadays. Are the characters being released as
miniatures--Hthark the Unstoppable, for example--likely to find their
way into the video game at any point?
JJ: Again, this is something you really need to ask the Cyanide team
rather than me. However, I understand that there are plans to release
additional content that will be available for download.
GS: Are you at all concerned that the Blood Bowl video game could
ultimately replace the board game?
JJ: No, not at all. In my own experience, miniatures games and
computer games 'push different hobby buttons' even when based on the
same background. Dawn of War certainly hasn't resulted in Warhammer
40,000 being less popular, for example. Quite the reverse, in fact. So
I'd say that the two things complement each other nicely, rather than
compete with each other in any meaningful way.
GS: Any words of advice you'd like to offer for newcomers to the Blood
Bowl sport?
JJ: When in doubt, go for it!
GS: Thanks for your time.
+++
The screenies look sweet.
Playa
Insane Ranter
Ahh I love BB!!!