Don't panic just because a laid-off designer says on his blog that the RPG got canceled. Maybe he heard the rumour and thinks that it is true.

 

I think it is naturally that the job offerings disappeared, since the game has been suspended.

 

Furthermore there were some layoffs recently, we can expect that obsidian has to make some economies and can't hire new people (specially for a suspended game).

 

We know that Alpha Protocoll has to get finished first, so please be patient an wait for an official statement from SEGA or Mr. Sawyer.

That quote doesn't mention Aliens at all. It was general context. Nice try, though. Nor does it state that it was a failure or canceled. Tsk, tsk.

 

Nice try, still fail

 

 

 

What xenO said seems reasonable.

for all the people that think this game is still in production

 

its not

 

Its in the same state that starcraft ghost is in right now ( yes , SC ghost is still technically in development )

 

So sega is going to ignore questions about these games and it will just fade into the mist.

Do you enjoy crushing dreams?

Do you enjoy crushing dreams?

yes , for all intensive purposes this never had to happen and the people denying it are retarded.

 

You should see the gearbox forum , the people in that place are so full of sh*t its rediculous , they still are hyping the game to be existant.

 

All sega had to do was show these games and then they would have realized from feedback at the communities that its a higher priority then sonic and the black night and the other shovelware garbage that company puts out.

...So Troika games made profit, but not enough to keep the company afloat even couple of months? Must be some new meaning of profit.

There's a long time between "unit sold" and "money received by developer". There's also no guarantee that profit received can amortize the burn of a studio that's losing money over the long run. I have no idea what Troika's general operating costs were, but even a healthy profit could vanish in a few months with no regular milestone money coming in. Getting a check for $500k two months after the studio's already run out of money doesn't do any good.

 

I think folks also need to realize that ToEE was developed by a grand total of ~19 people at Troika. Even if it's closer to ~25, we're talking about 2003 mid-sized-studio salaries. It wouldn't be that hard to turn a profit with a team of that size, even if they all worked for three years on the project.

 

EDIT: One final note: it's the blessing and curse of RPGs that they sell for a LONG LONG TIME. In many genres, the games sell in high volume initially and are subsequently forgotten about. RPGs often have lower initial sell-in and sell-through, but sell at decent prices, year after year.

EDIT: One final note: it's the blessing and curse of RPGs that they sell for a LONG LONG TIME. In many genres, the games sell in high volume initially and are subsequently forgotten about. RPGs often have lower initial sell-in and sell-through, but sell at decent prices, year after year.

 

 

I would think that sort of long-term return would make CRPGS a valuable asset to publishers, a steady bottom line over the long term is a great benefit to any business. Yet, it does seem that publishers generally look rather askance at crpgs versus other genre properties.

They're a great benefit to any publisher that doesn't need cash in a hurry and doesn't need to answer to stock holders.

stock holders.

 

 

mmmm...stock holders.

 

 

Still, any good asset portfolio should be balanced between short term gains and long term gains.

mmmm...stock holders.

 

Still, any good asset portfolio should be balanced between short term gains and long term gains.

Ha, ha, ha. Right, like 90% of "investors" have the mettle to follow that advice, cf. the recent real-estate market absurdity in the U.S.

 

But anyway, yes. This is why Feargus and others often say that Planescape: Torment was (genuinely) a success in the long term though it was obviously a slow seller when it launched.

Fallout 1 and 2 are still sold in shops with a special installer to make them work properly on XP and Vista . Dunno who picked up the rights but someone is still making money.

Edited February 25, 200916 yr by Gorgon

stock holders.

 

That's the common problem with stockholders, they desprately aim for quick short term profit instead of steady long term profit. The execs have to bend over to their demands resulting in rehashes, cancer I say!

Unless the game industry supports a smaller team/ smaller but possibly longer term sales model, game quality will continue to sink.

 

Edit: Also, someone explain to me, how can Uwe Boll obtain financing for crap movie after crap movie, but potentially great games can't find financing?

Edited February 25, 200916 yr by Wrath of Dagon

Unless the game industry supports a smaller team/ smaller but possibly longer term sales model, game quality will continue to sink.

I think XBLA and handhelds support (very) small teams, but I also think publishers are starting to recognize the inefficiency that comes with team sizes ballooning well above 60 people. At Obsidian we found that once you get over about 40 people, our standard production methods were no longer sufficient. To be honest, I can't even imagine what it's like on 100+ person teams.

Unless the game industry supports a smaller team/ smaller but possibly longer term sales model, game quality will continue to sink.

 

I wish I could get you in front of a podium at GDC so a lot of developers in the industry could here these true words.

 

Honestly, why is it that developers feel the need to spend millions developing games with OMG TOP NOTCH GRAFIX!1!1!1 instead of a long game that doesn't lack in the originality department? Let's look at Crysis for example, ****ing amazing graphics (along with the outrageous system requirements.) but gameplay wise it's no different than any other FPS out there. To make matters worse the developers of the game don't seem realize that not everyone is wiling to build a couple $$$$ machine to run it at decent settings, so they find the easiest scapegoat there is and blame it on piracy. Needless to say it's definitely not one of those universally acclaimed games that will be talked about for many years down the line.

 

Now let's look at another game but with a very small budget (according to the developers only $1,000,000). That game is Sins of a solar empire.

Small budget, no DRM (except for the standard CD key if that's even considered DRM,) standard graphic quality. According to Stardock the game sold over 200,000 units in the first month alone, quickly earned back their development budget and earned a nice profit.

 

Moral of the story: smaller budget, longer lasting games profit more quickly.

Edited February 25, 200916 yr by Syraxis

I wish I could get you in front of a podium at GDC so a lot of developers in the industry could here these true words.

 

Honestly, why is it that developers feel the need to spend millions developing games with OMG TOP NOTCH GRAFIX!1!1!1 instead of a long game that doesn't lack in the originality department?

Developers aren't the target audience for this talk.

I wish I could get you in front of a podium at GDC so a lot of developers in the industry could here these true words.

 

Honestly, why is it that developers feel the need to spend millions developing games with OMG TOP NOTCH GRAFIX!1!1!1 instead of a long game that doesn't lack in the originality department?

Developers aren't the target audience for this talk.

 

My mistake, is it publisher demands?

*hint* I think he means us, gamers.

If you're aiming for 5,000,000 gamers to buy every game you sell, that's true. If you're aiming for 500,000, I'm not so sure. Of course it would help if the more "select" audience would quit whining so much about every detail they disagree with and actually support the less mainstream games.

It's safer to apply the Hollywood formula, that's why it's done to exhaustion. Unfortunately it takes more to make an 'independent' game than it does a movie, you can't get by entirely on passion and faking it till your are making it.

My mistake, is it publisher demands?

Pretty much. Very few developers have the necessary capital to entirely fund and release a project on their own. That's why you see a lot of experimental games on XBLA: small capital investment means a) easier funding and b) less risk overall.

What I still don't get is that while a boatload of internet denizens(this isn't necessarily targeted towards anyone in particular) moan about substance over style and how it was better before, they do nothing to support indie projects or small time devs that aim to provide just that. The fact that you can't walk into a store to pick a particular gem off the shelves is a silly excuse for anyone, sorry. Most indie devs provide several ways to pay and register, it's just your patience on the line.

My mistake, is it publisher demands?

Pretty much. Very few developers have the necessary capital to entirely fund and release a project on their own. That's why you see a lot of experimental games on XBLA: small capital investment means a) easier funding and b) less risk overall.

 

Ah. I wasn't deliberately pointing the blame at individual developers (programmer, designer and so on) in my rant post. Error in wording on my part, sorry! But to get back on track, more along the lines of business managers of developer houses and publishers big and small that like to have tight control over development. Giving insane demands on how the final product should be and blaming the actual developers if it doesn't sell well.

 

Perfect example is past CEO's of EA, some might know who I'm referring to. The one's responsible for killing the Ultima series and the closure of Westwood studios.

"What I still don't get is that while a boatload of internet denizens(this isn't necessarily targeted towards anyone in particular) moan about substance over style and how it was better before, they do nothing to support indie projects or small time devs that aim to provide just that. The fact that you can't walk into a store to pick a particular gem off the shelves is a silly excuse for anyone, sorry. Most indie devs provide several ways to pay and register, it's just your patience on the line."

 

I don't trust internet geeks so I don't have a habit of buying stuff online. I've only done so once, and that isn't likely to change any time soon. No Indy game has motivated me to do so either since they tend to be overhyped and overrated (amongst the internet geek crowd). *cough* Spiderweb games *cough*

 

 

AOD might actually be able to prove to be the exception as it looks to be awesome.

"What I still don't get is that while a boatload of internet denizens(this isn't necessarily targeted towards anyone in particular) moan about substance over style and how it was better before, they do nothing to support indie projects or small time devs that aim to provide just that. The fact that you can't walk into a store to pick a particular gem off the shelves is a silly excuse for anyone, sorry. Most indie devs provide several ways to pay and register, it's just your patience on the line."

 

I don't trust internet geeks so I don't have a habit of buying stuff online. I've only done so once, and that isn't likely to change any time soon. No Indy game has motivated me to do so either since they tend to be overhyped and overrated (amongst the internet geek crowd). *cough* Spiderweb games *cough*

 

 

AOD might actually be able to prove to be the exception as it looks to be awesome.

 

Damn. I can't imagine what my life would be without being able to buy stuff online. I'd probably spend less money, though. Oddly enough the only time I've ever gotten my credit info stolen was at a physical store.