Sarkus

New Orleans has been mentioned a few times by Obsidian as possible future Fallout locations, so it would be an easy troll. Or it could be real. Who knows? That said, I doubt Obsidian is doing another Fallout. First, go look at the interview Feargus did last month. They have other things going on and not enough people to be really focusing on a AAA title right now with Armored Warfare (which he calls 'the big one") in full production and with Tyranny coming out this year. This is relative because Bethesda operates on a three year dev cycle normally (Fallout 4 was a four year exception to their recent history) and that means the next Elder Scrolls is probably a 2018 title. They aren't going to want a competing Fallout game that year, so the next Fallout title will probably drop next year, in 2017. There is no way Obsidian can be in a position to do that. Second, my feeling from all along is that people aren't thinking about the bigger picture. Bethesda is owned by Zenimax, and at this point Zenimax owns like six or seven studios. Why would they contract out for a Fallout franchise title? They'd be more likely to have one of their other studios do it. And it may very well be that the next Fallout title isn't an RPG anyway, it could be a shooter.

MCA not done?! Shocking! I like the guy, but AFAIK he never finished the promised Wasteland 2 novel/novella he was doing either. I do wish the extras were released early, but at this late hour it doesn't really matter.

"Betrayed" is too strong a term, but the lack of communication is something I've seen some complaints about on several game boards. There seems to have been an assumption that Obsidian would communicate when the keys would be available and that has not happened. While the word is getting around, I get the OP's point, which is that there should have been a Kickstarter update sent out today, if not last night, explaining the whole process. There are backers who've not done anything since they sent in their money and who ignored earlier updates with directions.

Indeed it is. I don't mind that the game was delayed, but I do think a backer update was warranted and not some forum post or, apparently, and announcement from Paradox. The Kickstarter backers funded this game, they should have been told directly and not found out through outside sources.

I specifically referred to the core game, i.e. what those of us not pledging $165 or more are getting. I just see a lot more focus on peripheral stuff in these latest updates rather then on showing people who are unsure about the game that they should make a pledge. PE is already averaging a higher per pledger committment then other big Kickstarter projects ($45 compared to $38 for Double Fine), but it seems like the focus is on getting people to increase their pledges rather then on getting more people to pledge.

Up front, I'm pledged on the game and that isn't going to change. That said, some of the recent announcements not only have me rolling my eyes, they have other "old school" RPG fans I know laughing at how stupid they seem. Asking for Facebook likes to get another dungeon level? Giving away Wasteland 2 now if you pledge above a certain amount? Promising an expansion to pledgers above a certain amount? How about they just focus on things that will expand PE, not other stuff like that? Am I the only one who thinks they've gone a bit too far with this?

They keep repeating the April 2014 release date so I'm sure they are confident they can reach that. Plus, Sawyer has said in several interviews that people should not view the money raised by each stretch goal as having a "1 to 1" relationship with what is being added. Even if they reach $3m this is still a small game (as noted by others) and one well within Obsidian's capabilities. To be honest, my biggest concern with PE is not that they will have to delay the game, its that something will happen at Obsidian that will endanger the project. If they suddenly get a big project from a major publisher, that could impact how much time guys like Avellone and Sawery can spend on this. And the flip side is what happens if they don't have anything lined up after South Park ships - can they keep the studio going.

A lot of people bash "generic fantasy" settings but they keep making them because they keep selling. The reality is that a lot of people still like the setting - hence more LOTR movies coming. That doesn't mean their isn't room for something different, but honestly most of the something different fantasy variations I've seen are rather dull and lifeless. We get cat and lizard people instead of dwarves and orcs. Whoopee. So while I'd love to see more sci-fi and other settings explored in an RPG (I'm still mad that Sega pulled the plug on the Aliens RPG Obsidian was doing), its not like there aren't any of those coming - Wasteland 2 kickstarter, Shadowrun kickstarter, Fallout 4, and the Cyberpunk based game coming from The Witcher developers. So the people that can't stand another "generic fantasy" game need to stop whining - its the best time in years if you want something else. And meanwhile I and a bunch more of us will be more then happy to see more elves and dwarves in a medieval-type setting.

I don't see how they can satisfy both approaches, so that means choosing one or the other. In a single character RPG the companions help tell the story, in that it is written that way. In a party RPG the story is told outside of the companions. Both approaches work, of course, but I don't see how you can satisfy both approaches with one game. I voted to stick with the devs intention.

I don't know about the others, but IIRC Wasteland 2 is supposed to be on par with Wasteland in length, and that wasn't a short game. The whole idea with these retro projects is that the devs are supposed to be saving money by not targeting "AAA" level production values when it comes to things like 3d environments and full voice for every character. As I said, I don't expect the game to be on par with the truly monster length games in the IE series, but the shorter length games were in the 40-50 hour range as I recall, so that's where my expectations are coming from. Some of the budget tiers should add to that.

I hadn't really given this much thought until recently, pretty much assuming that a minimum 40 or 50 hour game was the least we could expect. I don't know if a BG2 style 100 hour epic is reasonable for this budget. But I'm seeing some people on other boards reluctant to kicstart this because they are concerned that if they put in $140 or one of the other large tiers they aren't going to get that much gameplay. This line from the Eurogamer piece isn't helping convince those doubters: Now my interpretation of what Tim Cain said is that they want to do sequels and even expansions for this world, which is fine by me. But many people seem to think like the article writer that its confirmation that the first game isn't going to be as big as they think it should be to justify more then one of the smaller kicstarter amounts. Anyone seen anything that clarfiies this?

At this point I accept that guns are going to be in the game, though I voted that I prefer they not be. And as long as they are implemented in the way we've been told, then I'll live with them. That said, I do think it is a little misleading to promote the game as being a spiritual successor to classic fantasy setting games and then not offer a classic fantasy setting. Note that we'd not really know anything about the guns if someone hadn't found that artwork and had Sawyer not confirmed it was PE related. Historical arguments aside, the truth is that we associate the gun with the modern world. And one of the big reasons Tolkeinesque fantasy is popular is because it reflects Tolkiens own dislike of the modern world. So from that standpoint I find the idea a bit unnecessary, and for the same reasons found the old Might and Magiic games introduction of guns late rather pointless. I guess what I'm saying is that if you are going to implement guns then go all the way and do a steampunk game like Arcanum. If you want fantasy go classic fantasy. Trying to blur the lines may be artistically interesting, but runs a high risk of alienating some people as well. And from a pure marketing standpoint, the upcoming Hobbit films will likely create another boom for classic fantasy anyway.

Maybe as a long down the road stretch goal, but not anytime soon. Mainly because the number of people who actually end up using it is a minority.

Since its really all we have right now about the world setting. My first impression was that it looks a bit like Europe. Probably because that bit stretching off to the north looks like Denmark. Then I noticed the LOTR elements. But upon further consideration, especially of some of the names, this world reminds me a bit of the Dalelands part of the D&D Forgotten Realms setting. You've got a big forest with "Ruins of" as part of the name, and you've got an area called the Free Palatinate of Drywood, which has me thinking of loosely allied smaller states. Which then leads to me wondering if we are finally going to get some of the stuff that was supposed to be BIS long-ago Baldur's Gate 3, the loosely defined sequel that was supposed to be set in the Dalelands. While Sawyer at one time said he was thinking of doing something with NWN2 to tell that story, it never did happen. And we know Obsidian incorporated elements of the BIS Fallout 3 into New Vegas, so recycling some of that hard work that was never seen makes sense for a project like this. This is going to be fun, I think. ;-)

If it's a KS project I'm in, but I'm going to be disappointed. Mainly because even the "big" successes aren't really much money in game development terms. Wasteland 2 is not a cutting edge game and neither is what Doublefine is doing. Nor is either of those big team AAA developers. Even with $2-3 million I don't know what Obsidian could really produce. I mean I'm sure it will be good, but its not going to be the scale of anyhing like the Southpark title, which I'm sure has a much bigger budget then what KS is likely to produce. I guess what I'm hoping is that they got some big money behind this. And I'm a little pessimistic about how much support there is. Argue about it all you want, but what I'm seeing on more then a few message boards where this is being discussed is a general opinion that Obsidian makes good games that are always too buggy at release. And a lot of people are now in the "wait and see" camp on their games as a result. Those people aren't going to be rushing into a KS campaign.