Lord of the Rings: The White Council - Project on hold ?!

[Gorath]

1Up writes (http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3156206) they have been informed by an anonymous source that EA has cancelled Lord of the Rings: The White Council. The rumor hasn´t been confirmed yet.
More information. (http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?newsbit=3368)

[Lucas]

Ahem...surprise surprise ? :P

[txa1265]

I had heard little about this but was cautiously optimistic ... then I read a newsbit (http://www.rpgcodex.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=14146)at goats ... errm, I mean the Codex that deflated any enthusiasm I had - so this is no longer a disappointment, nor a shock ... just a shame on several levels.

[Garrett]

good job, ea...actually, everybody wondered why it took you so long this time
what a pathetic company *pah*

[VPeric]

Ah, but it was a perfect game... in my mind, at least. Something Gothlic-like in ME? Sign me up!

:(

[Garrett]

I made a few jokes about that ea will cancel it sooner or later...i didn't expect them to care that little about their reputation...that's the third rpg they cancel...

well, it still has not been confirmed by ea of course...would (have) be(en) the first ea game i'd buy in a decade...

[doctor_kaz]

I would still want to see it come out. You'll never see me complain about an abundance of open-ended RPG's.

[Kalia]

Saw this at Shack News:

Last night, we reported on a rumor that EA's announced open-world RPG The Lord of the Rings: The White Council had been cancelled. While Electronic Arts has yet to respond to our inquiries into the matter, we have now received confirmation from a reputable source close to EA that the project has indeed been dissolved. Furthermore, executive producer Steve Gray--whose name was originally attached to the game's working title of Project Gray Company--is apparently no longer with Electronic Arts.

Our source, who requested to remain nameless, indicated that the project's collapse appears to have been in part due to management issues, which resulted in an overall lack of sufficient development progress. The team assigned to the game has been broken up and reassigned to other projects. The Lord of the Rings: White Company was in production for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

[ToddMcF2002]

I don't understand why anyone would actually wish a LOTR RPG, even an action consolish RPG to be cancelled?

[bjon045]

Maybe because Tolkien himself was against industrialisation/technology. I certainly wouldn't have minded a decent LOTR rpg though, but I guess we would have ended up with something like Fable or best case scenario something like Oblivion.

[Cormac]

Maybe because Tolkien himself was against industrialisation/technology.

LOL, as they say.

[ToddMcF2002]

This place is sounding more and more negative all the time :(

The DOT was never this negative.

[abbaon]

Not without cause. As the witty and acerbic gadflies of the Codex will tell you, or indeed as our homegrown wit Viking_Berserker puts it: it's all crap.

[ToddMcF2002]

There is a reason I don't frequent Codex afterall. I enjoyed his year in review somewhat - but the endless negativity gets old. This board has spiralled into the same pig headed negativity Codex suffers from. We would all like RPG's to be complex, consequential and free ranging but not every game will be. That doesnt mean everything sucks and nothing is fun. Its a GAME, most of the flawed games are still quite fun.

The negative pattern here and at Codex is just plain tiresome. Repeat after me:
- Oblivion sux. Every news item on it needs to get trashed.
- Gothic 3 is amazing. Any reviewer who disagrees is a moron.
- Bethesda is at fault for all RPG shortcomings, global conflict and world hunger.

Following the strict RPGWatch/Codex formula outlined above, Project Grey clearly fell victim to Bethesda.

[abbaon]

The bastards.

[Pfandpirat]

I didn´t follow the news on The White Council but i think it´s sad that the project is on hold (or even dead?) I would have loved to see a crpg in the LotR-setting.
I have nothing against all the action adventures and rts-games with the LotR-license but that´s just not my flavour.

[TheMadGamer]

I don't even know why EA starts an RPG project. EA should just say no and stick to FPS shooter game 1,987,874

[Lucky Day]

actually its this site that's in love with Gothic 3. Codex are basically an extension of that horrid Fallout fanbase. Although for some weird reason they think that diablo is teh bomb too.

its a shame taht EA cancelled yet another traditional CRPG. Since Ultima 9 their track record hasn't been great for actually getting published. Brian Fargo got the license for Bard's Tale but I think they published it themselves and did not go through EA.

It doesn't sound like the issue this time was with deadlines. They have been so dogmatic about those thanks to their cash cow sports titles and this caused problems with developers. I am curious to know what those "management" problems were. If this source was in fact Steve Gray himself I wonder if we'll get a nice disgruntled report in a year or so when the non-disclosure agreement is over.

[ToddMcF2002]

They produced Ultima Online and the original Bards Tale.

[txa1265]

They produced Ultima Online and the original Bards Tale.

Yeah - Ultima Online just hit 9th anniversary ... to quote Real Genius "that was yesterday, what have you done for me today"

:)

[ToddMcF2002]

Yeah - Ultima Online just hit 9th anniversary ... to quote Real Genius "that was yesterday, what have you done for me today"

:)

Like I said, just like Codex this site has gotten overwhelmingly negative.

[Moriendor]

Like I said, just like Codex this site has gotten overwhelmingly negative.

Amen, frater! :)

[Maylander]

I have yet to play a decent LotR RPG, which is a shame, as it certainly has great potential. I'd really like to see either a solid LotR or Wheel of Time RPG.

[txa1265]

Like I said, just like Codex this site has gotten overwhelmingly negative.

So we're looking back on 2006, which looked to be a potentially historic year, and feeling a bit let down, voicing it, and we're the Codex? There is none of the vitriol, just some cynicism - which I think a company like EA (microtransactions and deliberate holdback of material has caused them to get slammed on console forums in a way that makes *anything* we say here look trivial) has earned.

[Lucky Day]

Ultima 9 was released after Ultima Online. They cancelled both attempts at spinning off UO with UO2 and UOX as well unfortunately.

As for not wanting a LotR RPG, as someone said, that is odd because its the main inspiration of all RPGs back in the day. ( "I don't care what it says in LotR this is D&D" as it says in the NWN Preview parody)

well the thread topic isn't good news so its hard not to be negative. What's the statistic? Bad news gets repeated 11 times good news 5?

however, I'll be positive and say 2006 was a pretty good year for major RPG's IMO. Oblivion? NWN2? They rock. So does Space Rangers 2 and Seal of Evil (although the latter is kind of linear: the crafting system is incredible)

[abbaon]

So we're looking back on 2006, which looked to be a potentially historic year, and feeling a bit let down, voicing it, and we're the Codex? There is none of the vitriol, just some cynicism - which I think a company like EA (microtransactions and deliberate holdback of material has caused them to get slammed on console forums in a way that makes *anything* we say here look trivial) has earned.
EA has certainly earned it. So have reviewers who don't read manuals (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=962). The tone of a forum is the sum of these little exchanges. None of them matters much on its own.

[BillSeurer]

I'd really like to see ... a solid ... Wheel of Time RPG.

The problem with a WoT RPG is that the first two or three chapters would be great and then the game would start running more and more slowly until nothing was happening except that you were stuck at your PC waiting to see if anything eventually would happen and it would never end...

[Cormac]

I would like a RPG set in Leiber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser world.

[Maylander]

BillSeurer - the clue is to make it in the same universe, just like D&D games, not follow the same plot. Nothing is worse than RPGs that are completely linear because they follow the plotline of the book/movie they're based on (lotr games anyone?).

[txa1265]

Apparently (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4478&Itemid=2)EA isn't saying anything ... but it is becoming increasing clear that Steve Gray has left EA.

Gray’s involvement in the project was such that it was originally titled Project Gray Company when it was first unveiled to an eager press. Online reports at Shacknews say EA canned the project because it was not hitting development targets. Although Gray has reportedly gone, other team members have been moved onto different projects.

And just to follow-up:
The negative pattern here and at Codex is just plain tiresome. Repeat after me:
- Oblivion sux. Every news item on it needs to get trashed.
- Gothic 3 is amazing. Any reviewer who disagrees is a moron.
- Bethesda is at fault for all RPG shortcomings, global conflict and world hunger.
I would augment that based on my personal view:
- Oblivion is an amazing technical achievement and a great action game, but is highly over-rated and lacking as an RPG.
- Gothic 3 is a buggy mess and my 'disappointment of the year' by a large enough margin that 2nd place is irrelevant ... but it is much better than many who play for an hour before trashing it in a factually incorrect review recognize.
- Bethesda is simply the RPG representative of the general trend to move towards huge console and casual / action gaming audiences ... so as our hardcore wants continue to not be met while former hardcore properties become crossovers (i.e. Dark Messiah), we curse that trend ... and Bethesda gets hit with a lot of that because of Oblivion. A couple of years ago it would have been Deus Ex Invisible War. If Bioware - which has produced solid PC games while also doing console duty - falters this year, expect then to get a full colonoscopy with a +4 greatsword ...

[txa1265]

Like I said, just like Codex this site has gotten overwhelmingly negative.

I was thinking of this when I saw a thread (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=32405)that referenced the "J.E. Sawyer & The Black Hound Mod" here ... and that thread devolved into hate and trash talk faster and deeper than we *ever* get here ... and that site is heavily frequented by journalists, developers and publishers!

[ToddMcF2002]

I was thinking of this when I saw a thread (http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showthread.php?t=32405)that referenced the "J.E. Sawyer & The Black Hound Mod" here ... and that thread devolved into hate and trash talk faster and deeper than we *ever* get here ... and that site is heavily frequented by journalists, developers and publishers!

Mike the first few posts HERE on that topic were pretty negative. I read them and decided to bite my tongue and just move on. Thankfully it turned around later with a few of the regulars and mods saying some positive stuff. I just don't get how you could take a free BG3 mod in a negative light. I mean really - who cares if it takes 3, 4 or even 6 years? Just bring it on!!!! What the hell is there to be negative about???

[KazikluBey]

I seriously think you're overreacting. Someone made a joke about vaporware and went on to note the increased adherence to the D&D ruleset. Being positive about all game news would just mean swallowing a lot of hype(-rbole).

[txa1265]

Mike the first few posts HERE on that topic were pretty negative. I read them and decided to bite my tongue and just move on.

I have to agree that you are out on a 'negativity hunt' ... look again at that thread:
- first reply *laughingly* says vaporware - he was poking fun at a mod that is a few years away. Then he talks about the rule-set and ponders the adherence to strict 3.5 rules.
- the next reply is saying that given it is a few years away it will seem brand new when it releases since these discussions will be long since forgotten.
- the third is just fun - looks at the success/failure aspect: either Jefferson fails twice or is successfully resurrected. At this point nobody knows.
- next is me (it can only get better ;) )
- then there is speculation of the time aspect - having barely fiddled with the NWN2 tools, I can appreciate that!

So I just don't see *ANYTHING* approaching negativity. Sure there are threads where stuff gets negative - plenty of tough Oblivion talk, and I've certainly beat up on Dark Messiah more than once ... but I think overall I just don't see what you are saying. Especially about the Dot never getting like this ... this type of discussion - largely respectful, some 'teh hatez' and some 'teh fanboi' stuff - was certainly there. How could it not have been, it was mostly the same people!

[ToddMcF2002]

Mike I'm old like you and I guess I'm just gettin crotchety. ;)

[txa1265]

Mike I'm old like you and I guess I'm just gettin crotchety. ;)

Hehe ... it happens to all of us. I actually think it is good to get 'reality checks' every now and then because of the feeding frenzy internet mentality ...

[zakhal]

EA bought Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning so they dont need to develop their
own mmog anymore. I bet it was the reason for the cancelling.

After all their main business strategy is to consume outside games/companies while been extremely conservative and careful with their own development costs. Generally they try to avoid innovation because its too expensive.