Curb your expectations.

[TheMake]

Hello everyone, long-time cRPG player / fresh new Obsidian forum user here. English is not my first language, but it is my hope that you'll brave this wall of text - I'd love to know others' opinion on the matter be it gracious or inflammatory (within reason ).

 

First I'd like to say that Project Eternity is like a wish come true for me - the promise of an old-school cRPG that is being developed by the industry's finest, and is backed and funded by the audience, the consumer, and not by a big company or investors whose first concern is the paycheck at the end of the whole ordeal.

 

It also warms the heart that the project has achieved it's initial goal in a matter of, what, days? hours? And is now well on the way of doubling the funding from its' initial goal - and beyond (and we've yet to add PayPal into the equation.. whew!).

 

And even though the game is in such an early development stage the devs are already sharing quite a bit of info regarding the setting, lore and such. And they even go beyond that - they promise to deliver exact amounts of content, like how many companions you'll have, how many playable races there will be, and so on. Now - don't get me wrong, it isn't all bad, but past experience teaches us otherwise. Take a look at older cRPG's and their development cycles, what was promised and what was delivered in the end (Multiplayer for V:TM Bloodlines? Radiant AI for Oblivion?) also, take a look at unfinished content that usually games of this exact type suffer from (Unfinished business for BG2? All the missing content from KotOR 2 aka HK factory? Gothic's bandit questline? And PS:T?)

 

Now, granted that almost all games that suffer from this have had a fair amount of "lost" content restored - but it makes me wonder, if those traces of content that hint at "what might have been" left by the developers were only the tips of icebergs? And what about the truest meaning of how some of that content should have been implemented? After all, what the community patches in may not mirror the image of what the developers had in mind.

 

The sad fact is it's nigh impossible to meet all the goals you set out to accomplish at the start, because of constraints like time and funding, logistics and developer tools constraints - and it's PERFECTLY OK, and UNDERSTANDABLE. I just wonder how the community might react when it is actually the funding body in this project, and feels at least somewhat entitled to the amount of content this game promises to deliver - especially since Obsidian is quite forthcoming with information.

 

What do you think?

[Ieo]

Per the unfinished content from previous games and promises: It's the publisher that would hold the dev to a more restricted release date and it's the publisher that asks for content to be changed or removed. With the publisher out of the equation for this, I think the game development cycle will be much smoother and flexible. The amount of content per funding level is purely conceived by Obsidian themselves, after all, and not constrained by publisher demands.

 

I'd expect fans of this project to be self-policing to some extent and forgive Obsidian room in case they do need more time.

[evdk]

Just as long as they do not make PE Kickstarter Part Zwei: Send More Money, We're Out.

[C2B]

Stuff will always get cut. In every game.

 

Sometimes cut content is just content that messes with the pacing and/or downright annoying.

[Luckmann]

Curb your expectations.

NO!

I REFUSE TO! I haven't been this excited about a game since I was 16 or something and oh my god I just realized that's 10 years ago so no, I will not curb my expectations! I want everything promised, all the stretch goals - even the ones I don't care about - and a chocolate sundae!

Edited September 27, 2012 by Luckmann

[rjshae]

Stuff will always get cut. In every game.

 

Sometimes cut content is just content that messes with the pacing and/or downright annoying.

 

Yep. I'm expecting they'll start off with a list of ideas, perhaps including many of those proposed here, then the list will get whitted down to a workable total. They obviously can't possibly satisfy everybody's wishes.

 

One possibility is that they will implement a set of goals with the first episode, then add more as new episodes are developed. They may even back-port the additions to the older releases (depending on the financial success of the release).

 

But still, it's interesting to read about everybody's varying preferences in a CRPG.

[Aedelric]

I am expecting a game equal to any one of the classic infinity engine games, no more.

 

Obsidian are great developers who have proven their ability to come up with great characters, story and game systems. Since this project has no meddling publishers and no Intellectual Property restricting its design or story direction, their is no reason to not at least be a bit excited.

[Monte Carlo]

I am expecting a small, well-polished gem upon which to build more awesomeness in the future. I do not think that I am being over-optimistic as I know Obsidian can do it, with aplomb.

[Amentep]

To my mind, I haven't been promised anything (cue Kresselak from IWD); so in that sense I don't think I can be dissapointed unless I hate the game.

 

But I prefer to always judge a game by what it is (when I play it) as opposed to what I wanted it to be. I figure that's fair.

[Ink Blot]

I'm very excited about this project, and I expect Obsidian to deliver on what they promise. I have every confidence they'll deliver on what they say they will though. I think the only expectations that need to be curbed are those that are requesting a whole lot of different systems/mechanics/options. So many people have requested so many different things be in this game that there's no way it can all happen. But again, I have confidence that Obsidian will take the best ideas into consideration while still staying true to their vision of the game they want to make.

[Luckmann]

I am expecting a game equal to any one of the classic infinity engine games, no more.

 

Obsidian are great developers who have proven their ability to come up with great characters, story and game systems. Since this project has no meddling publishers and no Intellectual Property restricting its design or story direction, their is no reason to not at least be a bit excited.

And more importantly; No arbitrary restrictions on the timetable, bar pure economical ones. And that's something that repeatedly has devastated most Obsidian projects (Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, etc).

[rjshae]

I am expecting a game equal to any one of the classic infinity engine games, no more.

 

Obsidian are great developers who have proven their ability to come up with great characters, story and game systems. Since this project has no meddling publishers and no Intellectual Property restricting its design or story direction, their is no reason to not at least be a bit excited.

 

...with the pathfinding fixed.

[Aedelric]

Quite right about the restrictions and timetable Luckmann.

 

We can only hope it has better path finding Rjshae, but it would be hard for them to make it worse to be honest.

Edited September 27, 2012 by Aedelric

[Cthulhu0316]

I want it all...

[Luckmann]

I want it all!

[Nonek]

For me every Obsidian game has been deeply satisfying, so I see no need to expect anything else from Eternity. The Sith Lords made the Star Wars universe bearable because it approached it with a mature and reasoned critical eye. Neverwinter 2 had a brilliant single player campaign as opposed to its predecessor, and some of the best expansions there have ever been. Alpha Protocol was an innovative and reactive marvel, that was unfairly castigated by a press all too happy to forgive big budget releases numerous problems. Fallout: New Vegas brought life and heritage to the Wasteland, making it so much more than an overpowered hiking simulator. Dungeon Siege 3 was a highly enjoyable game, with a reactive plot that made me actually take an interest in the gameworld, despite my utter disdain for it (and the automated combat) in the original.

 

Some of their games have had bugs, big deal, i'd rather see ambition and innovation than an annual dull as dishwater franchise rollout.