TheDom

I was about to type a rather long-winded, slightly bitter, but ultimately hopeful reply, beseeching Obsidian to ignore the calls revisit old territory. To instead go boldly forth, free from a Publisher's financially-motivated whims, and unbound by existing licenses or memes of genre. I wanted to ask them fondly, humbly, and longingly to produce something which really involves and challenges the audience, by leveraging their core strengths as a studio... But some smart bastard already did it. So I've truncated it here, for easier consumption: Dear god yes.

Eew, you got your Interplay in my RPG development studios! Stop it!

Wow, certainly a wide range of potential action heroes going on in this thread. Personally, I'd prefer somebody a little more like... Smiley.

I just finished Torment again (its 4am, dear god) and found myself nearly in tears. Wow, some of the plotting and writing in that game is fantastic. But then, I'm more than likely just preaching to the choir in these forums with comments like that anyhow. In any case, I understand (correct me if I'm wrong) that Chris Avellone was the lead on Torment, as well as KoToR II of course. The fact that Chris headed the team for KoToR II, along with Obsidian's previous comments with regard to internal rotation etc, implies that his team will be working the mystery third project (or, as the case may be, *are* working it). I don't know about everyone else, but the prospect of a new game with strong involvement by Chris and his team turns me on. Even more so, potentially, than the other games, because this one might not be restricted to a single year development time and/or probably won't be tied to a company which is slowly but surely sinking like the Titanic. Not, uh, that I'm referring to specific incidents here. Mind you, I'm also eager to see what NWN2 turns out to be like. It could, after all, impress me even more than the two afore-mentioned titles! It'd have to work pretty damned hard to outstrip Torment for me, but you never know. The future, it is exciting indeed! I don't suppose anyone wants to raise their hands as being involved with Jersey? Y

I'd note that Bioware have acquired the rights to use the upcoming U3 Engine to create an RPG of some type. I doubt that the company would select the engine if it was indeed totally unsuitable. In fact, they are releasing an 'RPG layer' for the engine which will be sold to other companies to assist in the easy creation of RPGs with this advanced engine. Commercial Games Using the U1, U2 and U2.5 engines which are NOT First Person Shooters: Lineage II, a MMORPG. Deus Ex, PC RPG. Sephiroth, a Korean fantasy RPG. A Magic game, allowing the control of multiple classes of character at once. 3D Adventure Pinball, what more can be said? Its Pinball. Non-commercial games using the U2 and U2.5 engines: Duffers Golf Simulation Top-down Alien shooter. Unwheel, a racing game featuring multiple cars, tracks and race-types. USkaarj, a top-down real-time strategy game with buildable structures, units, vehicles, tech-upgrades etc. Metaball, a puzzle game where you must achieve goals and navigate a wide range of different areas by taking on the properties of different materials, allowing your balls to bounce, roll, float etc. I do not mind which engine Obsidian use, as long as it serves their project to the greatest degree possible. I for one feel that they can be trusted to make the right choice.