Xiw

KotOR2 is just a clone of KotOR pushed out fast to make a quick buck. I don't think it reflects on Feargus in a positive or negative light, it was all about timing and luck. In what way is it about timing and luck?

Every time I stop and think about it, I am just amazed that Obsidian managed to get this game. I mean what a flipping coup for a new dev. house's first game. It's an absolute can't miss, connect the dots hit. All they have to do, is not f- it up and they'll get a guaranteed best seller under their belts for a first release. True, on the other hand bio didn't want to do it, and in Obsidan you have pretty much an established team, the key players of whom have churned out a number of titles, they are used to using bio engines, they have extensive industry contacts, and... and because its there first title as a new dev house, are probably very cheap. Seems quite attractive to me, I mean who else were they going to get Troika? Mind you there may be some quid pro quo, Feargus gave bio their big break when he (along with other ip top brass) comissioned BG, now bio are returning the favour. Well, the "established team" hasn't had much luck in bringing games to market as of late. What was the last actual Black Isle game published "IWD II"? Or does BGDA2 count? Unfortunately I can't check the website to find out... Frankly it would seem to me that ANY proven house would be more attractive than one that has exactly 0 games to its name. And as far as them being cheap, this is a money title, an almost can't miss hit. Not only do you get the revenue from the game, you get to put "from the developers of..." on your next game. I'm sure several established houses would have been willing to make themselves just as if not more inexpensive then Obsidian. Looking at this from the outside there is no way Obsidian should get this game. The only way they do is their prior relationships with BIO. Which says a lot for Feargus and company.

Every time I stop and think about it, I am just amazed that Obsidian managed to get this game. I mean what a flipping coup for a new dev. house's first game. It's an absolute can't miss, connect the dots hit. All they have to do, is not f- it up and they'll get a guaranteed best seller under their belts for a first release.

Word.

Isn't that how you order two bowls of clam chowder in Boston?

That's right Frank. Now just keep walking down the path. Don't look at you feet, just keep your eyes on the big pile of power and glory at the end of the road. Everything is gonna be OK.

Well yeah OK. If you qualify it like this then I agree. The IE market in it's heyday wasn't over saturated, and the D&D market could probably handle 6 or 8 developers working on products with staggered release dates. But that isn't issuing as many licenses "as there are people who can make quality product that fulfils the premise of rule 1." It’s controlling and marketing your franchise. I would submit that there are more then 6 or 8 developers out there who could release a fun and quality product. And if you allowed them all access to the D&D license without controlling when those products are released then you would over saturate.

I would agree with everything you say here accept this: What you end up with is market saturation and stuff like this: http://www.entertainmentearth.com/prodinfo...number=FGSWRRBF Just because people will buy something, doesn’t necessarily mean you should sell it to them. You have to protect your product from becoming a joke. Granted somethings are bullet proof...

That's an interesting point. How often does the average consumer re-play an RPG? Assuming most people who buy an RPG only play it once, is it more cost effective to actually give players options or only give them the impression that they have options? If only a handful of people are interested enough to scope out all the options, is it worth including them? Probably not. If you can trick joe shmo into thinking that it actually matters whether he kills the guard or sneaks past the guard and he never bothers to go back and try it both ways, why bother? Especially if joe is going to have much more appreciation for the cool particle effects you were able to include by cutting the "real options".

Hmmm...how to phrase this so it could be answered diplomatically... Would you say that, in your experience, when dealing with all the licensing and content players involved is making a D&D game generally more or less of a pain in the ass then dealing with other product licenses? Or is the amount of BS that has to be shoveled more or less the same?

You should've seen him before.

First state in the union. Will we have to go through all fifty before you'll tell us what the game is?

Canadians are a wily bunch. Fergus and co may be the perfect choice for KOTOR2 BECAUSE of the circumstances that led to your previous opinion. "Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success, inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid." John Keats

Close, but I was thinking more...thematically... such as “Parasites”. Project Tapeworm

The best code name all these creative types could come up with is Project X? They gotta be able to do better than that, but maybe they could use some suggestions. One game developer used to use presidents names, but that didn’t work out so good. How about presidential assassins? Project Guiteau.

I would but my house is glass.

Renton, WA. Just a stones throw away from what many consider to be all that is wrong with both the gaming and computer industries.