GameSpy: How did you select the character archetypes?

Don Daglow: We started from two different traditions, working with R.A. Salvatore, to arrive at the final decision.

The first tradition was the character classes and character races of D&D, and especially of the Forgotten Realms. Then, with Salvatore, we worked on how to build natural contrasts and conflicts within the party characters that would make them feel alive and three-dimensional.

This process generated a lot of discussion and debate ... and was coincidentally a lot of fun. The problem was much less what we would include than it was "how can we possibly leave out this character class?" But with only three characters to work with, choices had to be made.

The choice of fighter, rogue, and sorcerer ended up excluding a cleric and some of the interesting specialized dual-class characters. Doing it a different way would have over-balanced the presence of spells in the game, or added complexity that didn't really enhance gameplay in this particular title.