Greetings, Vault Hunters! In this inaugural episode of Echoes from the Borderlands, we’re talking about the game that managed to fit 17 million weapons onto an Xbox 360 disc, the one that started it all: the original Borderlands. Host Joel Watson sits down with Gearbox Software co-founder Randy Pitchford and Borderlands Writer Mikey Neumann to discuss the origins of Pandora, the Vault Hunters, Claptrap, and much more. Catch a riiiiiiiiiiiiiide!
Table of contents
Speakers
- Joel Watson – Creative Producer
- Randy Pitchford – Founder Gearbox Entertainment
- Mikey Neuman – Former GBX Chief Creative Champion and Writer
Topics
- 01:20 – Randy, What was the state of Gearbox Software before Borderlands, what was the studio known for?
- 05:55 – Mikey how did you join Gearbox Software?
- 07:05 – What was your experience starting writing and how did that reflect on Borderlands?
- 08:18 – When did you have the “elevator pitch” for Borderlands?
- 10:37 – Did you get pushback from the industry?
- 12:36 – What was the process of making the character?
- 17:05 – What were the inspirations for Borderlands and did Mad Max have a part in that?
- 17:45 – What is the role of the corporations in relation to world-building?
- 19:30 – What is the key to Claptrap?
- 20:55 – What is a Borderland?
- 23:05 – What was essential to Pandora to make this game work?
- 25:25 – Vault Hunters aren’t the good guys, are they the better guys?
- 27:30 – Where on the scale of “Survivor versus Opprotunist” are the original Vault hunters?
- 28:34 – How did the Marcus intro come about?
- 29:45 – Was the intro the most punk-rock element of the game?
- 32:40 – At what point did you decide Tannis was a trauma survivor?
- 34:07 – How did you come up with Claptrap?
- 37:35 – Both of you play characters in Borderlands, where did they come from?
- 42:35 – Funny Pandora’s Box Advert
- 43:03 – Is Pandora a place for outcasts?
- 44:10 – Was the Angel character also born out of gameplay necessity?
- 45:32 – When did you decide on the Hyperion Satellite?
- 47:53 – The rock&roll intro is iconic, how did you pick that number?
- 53:38 – Did you set a bar with that intro song?
- 56:05 – Did the story end after the final boss or did it continue in the DLCs?
- 57:06 – How did the Interplanetary Ninja Assassin Claptrap come about?
- 57:39 – Was Borderlands (1) more focused on fun instead of building a franchise?
- 59:28 – Was there an “old guard versus new guard” when developing Borderlands 2?
- 1:00:14 – What led to the art style switch?
- 1:05:32 – What has the new art style done for the franchise?
- 1:08:40 – What did you do after launching the first Borderlands?
- 1:09:15 – When did you realize it was something special, before or after the release?
- 1:11:11 – When did you know Borderlands was huge?
- 1:11:41 – When did you know when to do Borderlands 2?
- 1:12:04 – How did Borderlands change Gearbox?
- 1:12:57 – Did opportunities come your way after Borderlands?
- 1:13:20 – Mikey, what was your experience with the fans?
- 1:14:00 – Did you actually marry two Borderlands fans?
- 1:15:20 – What is your biggest signature on the franchise?
- 1:16:45 – Borderlands Trivia
My Reactions
- Quality Episode. Joel is on point as a host and experiencing these stories. Randy knows how to articulate very well. I was surprised that Mikey is on this episode! Awesome to hear these folks talk about the franchise.
- There are a lot of interesting facts about Borderlands in this Podcast but as a longtime fan, I have heard some of these stories before. That said, there was still a lot of good stuff in it.
- A Scooter DLC could be cool but that would mean we need to travel back in time. Another Pre-Sequel that reveals Scooper?
- WOW, Zombi Island was made in 45 days! I had the feeling that the Borderlands (1) DLCs were made as the community expressed their desire for more content back in the day. These days you know studios have a plan regarding post-launch content. Back then GBX was really testing the waters and pushing what they could do with DLC.
- I didn’t know Randy designed the Vault Symbol.
Behind the Scene Heroes:
- April Johnson
- Dakota Warren
- Robert Fernandez
- Hannah Terry
