RPGWatch Forums - Spiderweb Games

RPGWatch Forums (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/index.php)

- News Comments (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=10)

- - Spiderweb Games - Blog Update (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7211)

Spiderweb Games - Blog Update

Jeff Vogel continues Guessing What is Going to Kill Me. Here's a snip that includes reference to his new IP:

Quote:

I Write a Bad Game - Next year, I'm going to make a whole new series, with a new game engine and IP. This is always risky. I might sink a bunch of money and time in it, and it will fail. Remember, anything new will make you lose a chunk of that reliable customer base that keeps you alive. If I don't replace what we lose? We have a pretty good cash and sales cushion here, but it will never be enough to survive one big flop.

Likelihood - Inevitable.

More information.

Does Jeff Vogel ever anticipate that perhaps doing something different might draw in new customers? I tried a demo for one of his games once, couldn't stand it. So there's one regular RPG-loving customer who's giving JV exactly zero dollars per game.

If you're so terrified of failing, why not just give up now, produce another 200 versions of the same old thing and maybe pass the franchise on to your grandchildren?

He's not terrified of failing, he's just reminding us all that it pays to consider your potential pitfalls. And exactly what do you think he can do that will be so different it would attract new customers without alienating his core base? Considering his skillset, experience, existing engine and tools, and his desire to make a certain kind of game… I think it's silly to expect him to change too much. But a new IP is something, isn't it?

I don't play the games either. I've come to realize that I find the "go everywhere, talk to everyone, and interact with every possible object" nature of classic CRPGs to be… annoying. I learned that from the Avernum IV demo, and I admit it was a shocker.

Anywho, the whole post was worth it for the OLD MAN MURRAY link. That will forever be the finest site in the video gaming world, and now Jeff V is on my A-list.

As he has said repeatedly, every time he makes a change he gets a sh!tstorm of hate piled on him … regardless of the change.

Sopunds as if people were REALLY only caring for the BEEP, not for any change at all.

Art pour l'art - shit pour le shit.

iam gonna be positive, cant wait for his new IP. looking forward to it!
that he may get alot of new costumers!

If he was thinking he would go with a scifi style game(how many decent rpg's out there in scifi?) NOt much to lose and he can still sorta stick to the style he has from the previous games.

If he'd just add a layer to his type of gameplay it'd help. Add alchemy or crafting or deeper skill trees, anything. His games feel exactly the same except for minor story variations. I'm one who used to love Jeff's games but I fell off the bandwagon a few years ago. Hope to jump back on with a new IP.

He does have crafting. ;) He also added Battle Disciplines in Avernum V, which are essentially an additional skill tree.

@screeg, if you can't stand his games, move on and don't waste your time looking at the new IP. It will be a new setting and so on but his core gameplay approach won't change.

Re: His core gameplay approach won't change.

Geff has previously admitted he likes playing other rpg's so he can 'steal' ideas from them, yet he does this for financial gain as well as blogging to increase media contact/awareness to spiderweb games yet it still remains a fact Geff hates fantasy rpg's and hates himself for making them.

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/763/763050p1.html

So whatever new setting Geff may choose to use, by his own admission he is probably going to hate it.

Quote:

Geff has previously admitted he likes playing other rpg's so he can 'steal' ideas from them, yet he does this for financial gain as well as blogging to increase media contact/awareness to spiderweb games yet it still remains a fact Geff hates fantasy rpg's and hates himself for making them.

But surely we can all agree that there are few better endeavors to hate one's self for than programming old school CRPGs? Surely?

Don't take him so literally. He doesn't literally hate fantasy RPGs…he thinks the genre is full of time-wasting filler content (his games included) and they should do a better job of the content. It was a mea culpa post. From an interview I did with him:

Quote:

RPGWatch: Before we talk about your upcoming projects, I’ve got to ask about some of the comments you’ve made in your RPG Vault column. Your last Why I Hate Fantasy RPGs piece created quite a bit of debate, with some disagreement over what you really meant. I take it to be a bit tongue-in-cheek but let’s clarify some things. Were you seriously railing against any character progression, wanting to see RPGs transformed into action games or were you giving the industry (including yourself) a prod about mundane content design?

Jeff Vogel: Mainly the third one. I think that game developers need to be far, far more respectful of the time of the player. Leisure time is precious. We should not waste it. We shouldn’t burn time at the beginning making the player grind out levels before he or she can get into the plot. We shouldn’t burn time with faction grinding and trash clearing. We shouldn’t pad the game out with tons of B material.

Part of the reason I wrote those articles was to flog myself for my failures in the past. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve padded. I’ve wasted the time of the player. I want to get better.

And my time is much shorter now. I won’t play any game that wastes my time. God of War 2 gave me 13 hours of first rate material, and I was done. If a game doesn’t give me something like that, I’ll read a good book instead.