Wizardry 8 - Designer Comments

Jay Barnson's Wiz8 articles have understandably touched on the pain of Arnika Road, so it's pretty nifty to see some comments from one of the developers, Charles Miles.  Here's a sample:

People have screamed bloody murder about the Arnika road since Wizardry 8 was originally released. This is what the Arnika road was *supposed* to teach you:

• To avoid monsters by either using spells like Chameleon or by staying out of their line of sight. You could often sneak around the monsters if you were careful.
• To be smart about where you rested. If you rested in the middle of the road, monsters are much more likely to wander by see you, and ambush you while you sleep. If you rested in a hard-to-see place like behind a rock or behind the house at the T-intersection it was much easier to get a full rest in.

To use the disposable items--potions, bombs, wands, etc.--we constantly gave you as loot.