Obsidian is making Wheel of time game

[Purkake]

Ok, Obsidianites, time to read the 12-book(+1 prequel), ~10,000 page series with two books still to come

 

If you are interested pick up Eye of the World and see if you like it, the audio book is especially good.

 

EDIT: There's some extra information on in the comments section from a developer(?).

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[Nepenthe]

Ok, Obsidianites, time to read the 12-book(+1 prequel), ~10,000 page series with two books still to come

 

If you are interested pick up Eye of the World and see if you like it, the audio book is especially good.

 

EDIT: There's some extra information on in the comments section from a developer(?).

 

Yeah, "we'll write it and let Obsidian handle the technical design." That's like "we'll let Infinity Ward handle the story and do the actual game design in-house."

[Pop]

Also, I think we can safely assume that this will be the first game to use the Onyx engine.

 

We can also assume that this game is actually pretty far along. The first talk of a "fantasy" game headed up by Feargus (on the Codex I think, by Alvin Nelson) was around the time of the Aliens cancellation, maybe even a little before that. On the other hand Onyx still needed time at the point the axe fell on Aliens. Maybe it isn't so far along.

 

However at this point I remain unoptimistic. While Obsidian almost certainly has some creative leeway, the final word does not rest with them. I don't trust it.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Pop

[Gromnir]

the wot setting is not our favorite. however, wot is big and diverse and mayhap it is possible to go the kotor route and set in an unfamiliar time period to further distance from canon. heck, we loathe the forgotten realms, but we has enjoyed more than one fr game. given the sheer size and scope o' the wot setting, no doubt the obsidians may find some way to make interesting... and if they cannot then they gots nobody but themselves to blame.

 

we didn't bother to read the linky material... am curious about how much freedom the obsidians have in making a rule system for wot. is there not already an Official wot rpg?

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Purkake]

Red Eagle is a totally new studio, they might have super special awesome writers.

 

Also letting Obsidian do the technical stuff is still probably better than having a totally new studio try their hand at it.

 

Dragon Age killer confirmed!

[Pop]

we didn't bother to read the linky material... am curious about how much freedom the obsidians have in making a rule system for wot. is there not already an Official wot rpg?

It's unclear. If you're referring to a PnP system I don't know. But by the sound of it, the guy making the decisions at the top of every department will be a Red Eagle dude, and most of the legwork will be Obsidz. Obsidz influence could be significant, hard to tell at this point.

[Purkake]

There's actually a WoT PnP ruleset based on DnD 3ed.

 

Oh, and for this game to actually work story wise, it has to have as little direct contact with the main story from the series as possible. Maybe small cameos and references.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[Tigranes]

We can also assume that this game is actually pretty far along. The first talk of a "fantasy" game headed up by Feargus (on the Codex I think, by Alvin Nelson) was around the time of the Aliens cancellation, maybe even a little before that. On the other hand Onyx still needed time at the point the axe fell on Aliens. Maybe it isn't so far along.

 

Woah, that's the thought. Is this going to be the Onyx debut?

[Gromnir]

There's actually a WoT PnP ruleset based on DnD 3ed.

 

perhaps this is why obsidian is involved? what other developer has more experience with d20?

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited February 12, 2010 by Gromnir

[Purkake]

I don't think they are going to use the d20 system, WotC probably still owns the rights.

[RPGmasterBoo]

I recall there was one first person Wheel of Time game ages ago.

 

I havent bothered to read the books because all my friends say they suck. Every one of them is enormous, stock fantasy stuff that never seems to end. You read one, you've read them all.

 

So I'm neither excited nor disappointed. The only thing that counts is what Obs will do with the license after all.

[Purkake]

The books might be a little long(to say the least), but the fantasy and the setting are excellent and pretty different from the LotR-style high fantasy.

 

No elves or dwarves there and the magic-y stuff is well realized.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[RPGmasterBoo]

I have trouble believing that an author can keep any sort of quality on a series that has fifteen books, where each book has about 800 pages.

 

Either way, I don't care. Its all up to Obs now.

Edited February 12, 2010 by RPGmasterBoo

[Gromnir]

I don't think they are going to use the d20 system, WotC probably still owns the rights.

 

can be... complicated. look to star wars for reference. am doubting jordan and publishers gave up future digital publishing rights to wotc.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[HoonDing]

A game set during the Trolloc Wars could work very well. Trollocs + Ba'alzamon/Ishamael = darkspawn + Archdemon. With the difference that the WOT setting beats Dragon Age's setting by a few parsecs.

 

Heh, practically everything is possible. A game set during the time of Arthur Hawkwing, or even in the Age of Legends (magic + sci fi) would be interesting as well.

Edited February 12, 2010 by virumor

[Purkake]

I don't think they are going to use the d20 system, WotC probably still owns the rights.

 

can be... complicated. look to star wars for reference. am doubting jordan and publishers gave up future digital publishing rights to wotc.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Hmm, it would be nice to know who actually holds the rights. The PnP system had some good ideas mixed in with all the usual 3ed stuff.

 

@Boo: suit yourself, but don't knock it until you try it. It's certainly not great all the time, but the series overall is very good.

 

@Virumor: woah, no need to go all crazy and scare everyone off.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[Tigranes]

Age of Legends (magic + sci fi)

 

It'd be the closest thing to Arcanum 2, where do I donate my kidneys

[Purkake]

I hope they manage to tune down the "epicness", this has to be a side story not a second Rand, whom no one has heard about, strolling around.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[Raithe]

I have trouble believing that an author can keep any sort of quality on a series that has fifteen books, where each book has about 800 pages.

 

Either way, I don't care. Its all up to Obs now.

 

There are slow bits, and a lot of people don't like that the author introduces a lot of characters as the series progresses... But it really gives the detail and character development of the main "hero" types, that start out from the typical back-of-beyond-village.. and over the course of the series grow into positions of major consequence, influence and having to deal with the "bad guys". Throw in the politics, manipulations, countries going to war with each other, people not truly believing in the big bad, and thinking that the hero's are the big bad...

 

It can go off the rails in way too much details of certain things, and following minor characters (but then, even minor characters cab do stuff that turns out to have serious consequences that affect the main characters 8 chapters later...).

 

Personally, I found it a lot more fun then reading LoTR

[Purkake]

Actually, contrary to most fantasy, the normal people in WoT have to be beaten with a stick to actually acknowledge that something really bad is going on. They don't really care about the heroes or the bad guys, they just want to live their lives.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Purkake

[Morgoth]

I'd like to have confirmation from an Obsidan dev whether this is really the Onyx fantasy RPG Fergie spoke about last year, and whether Obsidian is in charge of design and writing as well. George Ziets and Chris Avellone would be a dream team.

[Tigranes]

Personally, I found it a lot more fun then reading LoTR wink.gif

 

Tolkien spent 3 pages talking about the colour of the leaves in Elven forests. Jordan spent 300 pages talking about Elayne being pregnant, and the other 500 pages of that particular book were about Rand being lost, some other characters being similarly indisposed and some even more minor characters doing things that won't be explained for another 2 books.

[Rostere]

I've read the books and I'm very excited over this, however I'm unsure about the role of this other developer. Those guys could really **** this up if they prove to be a pain in the ass.

[Flouride]

I have trouble believing that an author can keep any sort of quality on a series that has fifteen books, where each book has about 800 pages.

 

Either way, I don't care. Its all up to Obs now.

 

Books 1-6 or 1-7 (can't rememer any longer been so long since I read them) were good. Better than your average fantasy series, then the pace slowed down for like the next 3-4 books (pretty much no one likes these books). The last book (written by Brandon Sanderson) was great and there's still 2 more to come before the series is officially finished. The setting and the world itself are pretty nice and I've always liked it more than say for example Forgotten Realms.

[kirottu]

The last book Robert Jordan wrote was also great and Brandon Sanderson continued from there.

 

WoT is a great series, but it definately could have used some thightening.