Tyrion

Well, all my skepticism about Obsidian has abated. An Icewind Dale dungeon crawler type expansion? Absolutely awesome. I'm probably one of the few people who have IWD2 in my top 10 RPGs so a game like this is exactly what I've been waiting for. The new additions to the game seem to be really nice touches and I'm really looking forward to this. Keep up the good work Obsidian!

It does. Go here. Enjoy. J. Har Har very funny... not. That quip has been used so many times. I agree, however, I don't think NWN sold because of it's combat system. I think it more likely sold because of it's online potential and modding community. Had ToEE had an online side as well with an editor, then it's likely we would have seen more sales. But yeah, the suits will be put off by the mere mention of turn-based combat. Like you said, Hammer and Sickle was hardly a good game, so that's not a great example for the supposed financial failure of TB games. However, publishers will use that as an example to discourage TB games. This of course will occur while they are asking their developers to make another 100 Diablo clones, some of which have been terrible financial failures i.e Titan Quest. Good to hear it. Having your own engine gives you a nice degree of autonomy which is excellent. Look at Bioware and all the Infinity and Aurora games they and others produced. Quite a few. I agree that middleware is good, It cuts costs and saves time on projects and that is very important for making sure that you include most of the things that you want in the game.

I think the whole "Turn-Based doesn't sell" stuff is baloney. I think that a Turn Based game could definitely sell if it was marketed properly. Anyway, according to Leonard Boyarsky, ToEE was by far the biggest seller of the three Troika games and yet it had one of the best and most complex tactical RPG combat systems developed. Of course it was rubbish in the roleplaying department, but still the potential for a Turn Based RPG is there. I've always said that ToEE's combat and engine combined with Arcanum's plot, meaningful choices and non-typical setting would have made an RPG that would have dwarfed even the big shots like Fallout. I'd really like to see a similar Turn-Based RPG developed by Obsidian. Besides, it's not like RTwP games are renowned for their awesome combat (NWN2 was rubbish in this regard.) I think it's an awful design choice personally. Like you said, I'd like to see some more hardcore RPGs developed by Obsidian even if they are lower budget then the AAA titles like Alpha Protocol. Hell, if Stardock -a company that produces 4X million sellers- thinks that a hardcore Ultima-like RPG has the potential to sell decently then I'd trust them on that account. As for settings, I'd really like to see a Wild West/Weird West cRPG. I know that there are a few PnPs that have covered it but as of yet no cRPG has. It has great potential for a setting. Aside from that, a Steampunk-Fantasy setting like Arcanum or Wizardry 8, a cyberpunk setting, or a hard Sci-Fi rpg (no Space Opera stuff) would be nice. Obsidian's direction isn't concerning me too much, although I am worried that Alpha Protocol has been compared to Mass Effect more times than it should have. However, I'm still hoping that it will have a Deus Ex, SS2 or VTMB vibe. Regardless, I pray that they won't forget the more hardcore fanbase in their attempts to appease a different audience. Certainly Bethesda have long dumped that section of their audience since Daggerfall and BioWare seem to be going in a similar direction. However, Dragon Age will be an indicator of BioWare's intentions and I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Let's just hope that Obsidian haven't forgotten their core fans and will bring some more grassroots stuff out in the future.

This is my first post here so I may as well say where I stand. Personally I think Obsidian has a lot of potential as a developer and it's very good to see them finally stepping out of Bioware's shadow and doing some things of their own. I'm sceptical about Alpha Protocol but the Aliens RPG -in theory- is a quirky but great idea and I'm looking forward to seeing what Obsidian can do. The only reason I'm interested in AP (I hate Spy Settings) is that Mitsoda and Avellone are working on it. If anybody can make a spy setting interesting for me it's those two. As for what I'd like to OB do in the future, I'd really like to see them do a traditional party based cRPG based on a totally new franchise. I'm talking Arcanum, BG2 or Fallout-like games but with the modern stuff like improved graphics, 3d camera and maybe even some introduction of physics such as weather storms that effect the combat e.t.c. Anyway I'm digressing, I think the guys at OB could really pull a good one off, MoTB and KoTOR 2 proved that to me. Also, I agree with Starwars that OB's biggest strength is their writing. We've yet to see them do a game not based on a Bioware model. This is why Aliens and AP will be interesting: they will show us the quality of Obsidian's game designing. Meh, I'd like to see a new Dark Sun, Spelljammer or Planescape game to be honest. Too bad those settings were discontinued long ago. But yeah, no more Forgotten Realms stuff please. Something a little more interesting than generic high fantasy would be nice.