Will Obsidian end up with another Jefferson?

[Oner]

He's posting slowly. : x

[Nathaniel Chapman]

I wouldn't worry about this negatively affecting Obsidian.

[Pop]

^ Pop, do you think that the vice-like grip D&D has had on CRPGs is finally on the wane? I personally think this would be a good thing, but without the brand how do developers get the suits to agree to big CRPG titles nowadays?

 

DA is a hit, especially on the console (where D&D has only ever been marginal). I'm hoping that other companies are looking at DA and thinking that maybe they could throw their hats into the ring. Of course, we've got Blizzard and D3 but that's aimed at a different audience (is D3 going out on console too?) and some indie Euro CRPGs, but what about the niche that Bio / BIS used to occupy?

I wouldn't count D&D out just yet. Yeah, they've got a ****e publisher right now (isn't Hasbro trying to get the rights taken away from Atari now?) but they've also got a new, more glamorous edition of the system that hasn't been tapped for a vidya game yet. Maybe a revamp is what's needed to bring D&D back on top again. But right now, yeah, D&D is on the wane. Swords and Sorcery has always been the genre du jour, but I'd go so far as to say that the wild success of Bethsoft and to a lesser extent Bioware's non-D&D RPGs going back to KOTOR have made the scene safer for games that deviate from the standard.

[Volourn]

"No clue if these rumours reflect reality, but i am kinda more inclined to believe them..."

 

I'd be shocked if SOZ sold more than MOTB. It be a rarity for a second expansion to outsell the first, and it doens't even matter about quality. It's alrgely basis on lessening return..

 

1. Buy NWN2.

 

2. Like it, buy MOTB. Dislike it, got to next game.

 

3. Like MOTB, buy SOZ. Don't like it, move to next game.

 

 

I'm sure there are exceptions to this 'rule'; but I'd definitely be shocked.

 

 

 

"Dragon Age and ME both had considerable corporate PR backing in the forms of EA and Microsoft, respectively. They were also created after Bioware's mythic reputation had already been forged, post-KOTOR. If Obsidz had made a LOTR-esque high fantasy in the vein of Dragon Age they wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as Bioware has."

 

Publisher is irrelevant here. ME and DA sold on the basis of BIO. It saysd a lot taht outside of JE 9which liekly sold between 1 and 2 mil copies) pretty much all BIO RPGs have sold between 2-3 mil (with probably a few just over 3 mil). BIO has an audience, and that doesn't really flunctuate much. It's that in built audience that has helped keep OBZ in business I think because the two companies share basically the same fanbase.

 

P.S. Atari is a good publisher. They did a fantastic job overall with NWN at leats until their new toy NWN2 came along but that was bound to happen. OBZ has had good publishers too so let's not make the same excuses that Troika tried to make up.

 

Atari has it sahre of success and failures as all publishes do since they release so many games. The difference a publisher can suvive releasing bombs, dev companies can't...

[Mamoulian War]

"No clue if these rumours reflect reality, but i am kinda more inclined to believe them..."

 

I'd be shocked if SOZ sold more than MOTB. It be a rarity for a second expansion to outsell the first, and it doens't even matter about quality. It's alrgely basis on lessening return..

 

1. Buy NWN2.

 

2. Like it, buy MOTB. Dislike it, got to next game.

 

3. Like MOTB, buy SOZ. Don't like it, move to next game.

 

 

I'm sure there are exceptions to this 'rule'; but I'd definitely be shocked.

 

I said bigger profit... You can have bigger profits with lower sales numbers...

[Monte Carlo]

I take Pops' point about a new iteration of D&D pumping the brand, but let it be put on the record that the first 3E D&D 'puter game (cue fanfare) was....

 

Pool of Radiance 2.

 

Ooops.

[Gorgon]

I'm all for new systems. I personally think they can be better, that is more precise and a lot more complicated without the player having to be too involved in the nuts and bolts of its operation.

 

D&D on the other hand can't impliment a combat system that has 4 or 5 different rolls for defences and resistances in every turn, it would be too time consuming for tabletop. Why pretend that a computer game has the same needs as a tabletop and try to shoehorn one into the other anyway ?

[Killian Kalthorne]

I'd buy an Obsidian original over any 4e DnD game.

[Morgoth]

Well, I'd buy any Obsidian game... but that's maybe just me.

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Which reminds me I really need to go play NWN2 and its expansions.

[Humodour]

Which reminds me I really need to go play NWN2 and its expansions.

 

Same.

[Volourn]

NWN2 OC = Good

 

MOTB = Awesome

 

SOZ = Sozzy

[Darth InSidious]

Quite honestly, I wouldn't worry myself about that.

Well, I'm sure you're right, Hal.

 

What I wouldn't give for a well made Warhammer (fantasy or 40k, take your pick) crpg...

Yeah, roleplaying with angry, militant Inquisitors and Space Marines....think of the possibilities!

Yeah, roleplaying with angry, militant Sith and goody two-shoes Jedi... think of the possibilities!

[Kelverin]

NWN2 OC = Good

 

MOTB = Awesome

 

SOZ = Sozzy

"2 out of 3 ain't bad"

 

But seriously SoZ>Volourn

 

Well, I'd buy any Obsidian game... but that's maybe just me.

Me to. Why else would I be here?

Edited December 22, 2009 by Kelverin

[Humodour]

But seriously SoZ>Volourn

 

That's not terribly difficult.

[Blarghagh]

Obz reminds me of those expert, but not-very-well-known screenwriters they parachute into ailing movies to sharpen things up, or make the sequel more awesome.

You mean script doctors?

[Kalesar]

P.S. Atari is a good publisher. They did a fantastic job overall with NWN at leats until their new toy NWN2 came along but that was bound to happen. OBZ has had good publishers too so let's not make the same excuses that Troika tried to make up.

 

Atari has it sahre of success and failures as all publishes do since they release so many games. The difference a publisher can suvive releasing bombs, dev companies can't...

 

Atari is apparently doing something wrong. This is the second time this year they are getting sued over something to do with D&D. If you read over the court docs that describe what Turbine sued them for, it sounds like they not only failed to help fund the release of DDO in North America, but then again in Europe.

 

Turbine is apparently capable of surviving a release bomb... considering they spent their own money on the two major releases of DDO without help from Atari.

 

http://www.courthousenews.com/2009/08/26/Atari.pdf

[Volourn]

"Atari is apparently doing something wrong. This is the second time this year they are getting sued over something to do with D&D."

 

Fallacy. Being sued isn't proof of being guilty of doing soemthing wrong. Afterall, Bethesda is suing Interplay and so far they have been on the losing side. Interplay and BIO both sued each other with Interplay trying to destroy NWN and BIO with it. Seems Interplay failed there.

 

Lots of people have been sued and have not been in the wrong. Nice try, though.

 

Atari, btw, is the publisher of BIO's most successful game. They musta done something right.

 

On top of this, being a good puyblisher (or good anything for that matter) doesn't make you perfect. Nobody - lest of all me - claimed Atari was a PERFECT publisher.

Edited December 22, 2009 by Volourn

[Zoraptor]

Atari, btw, is the publisher of BIO's most successful game.

Nope. According to Bioware themselves Kotor was their most successful game and that wasn't published by Atari.

[Kelverin]

Please do not bring facts into this.

[~Di]

Obz reminds me of those expert, but not-very-well-known screenwriters they parachute into ailing movies to sharpen things up, or make the sequel more awesome.

You mean script doctors?

 

You might be surprised at who those script doctors are! Some aren't nearly as not-very-well-known as you believe. For example, Carrie Fisher has spent most of her career as one of the top script doctors in the biz! Acting was not her first love; writing was. She once spoke at a writers' conference I attended, and spoke candidly about her life and her various careers. At that time, script doctoring was her career. Writing books was her passion. Unfortunately, her books were not as successful as her career as a script doctor.

Edited December 23, 2009 by ~Di

[Blarghagh]

I knew about that. Isn't she called upon for female character dialogues a lot? I think she doctored Rene Russo in Lethal Weapon. But mostly it's just novelists, screenwriters and directors. Joss Whedon and Kevin Smith do a lot of script doctoring I think.

[Dark_Raven]

Please do not bring facts into this.

Volo knows nothing about facts.

 

Well he did say SoZ was sucky and indeed it was a black stain against Obsidian.

[Oner]

Being a human, law #1: Never let superstitions like 'logic' or 'fact' ever get in the way of your opinion.

[jaguars4ever]

It's like that girl down the street. You know, the one your parents are always trying to set you up with. She's not overtly objectionable or anything, and she's pretty homely so she'll cook and clean for you and mind the kids. The problem, of course, is that she's boring as sin and would rather chore away at her fetch-and-carry daily routine than embark on any real adventure. She won't instill within you that passion that'll keep you up all night into the wee hours of the morning begging for one more kiss.

 

For me, Storm of Zehir is like that.