Obsidian Entertainment - Interview - on IWD3 and More

Please don't mention the 4th Edition rules…. I'll just be sad :(

From what I've seen it doesn't work too well for pen and paper, but it should be fairly interesting in a video game.

Edit: Especially since Obsidian are generally good at implementing D&D rules. IWD1-2 and NWN2 all had solid implementations.
 
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Despite the controversial Alpha Protocol, I wish Obsidian would produce more original IP's and talk less about doing one sequel/revival after another.

It's not like Obsidian doesn't want to create original IP - they actually have a couple of those they are working on, but original IP are a tougher sell to publishers, because it's a untested ground and there is no certainty this will be a success. Eck, even Bioware had yet to find a publisher for Dragon Age before the EA buyout!

To be fair though, Icewind Dale is somewhat different that say having Obsidian doing KOTOR2 or NWN2 - Icewind Dale was done at Black Isle so having Obsidian doing IWD3 would be more like them doing a sequel to a series they started a decade ago that taking up another's IP.

-Sergorn
 
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Are there people from the IWD team with Obsidian today?
Regarding sequels, I understand why they do it, or need to do it. It just seems that Obsidian is "the RPG sequel developer (the one with the QA problems)" these days - that seems a bit at sad considering their strengths in story and quest design.

The remake comment was specific to Ultima - it would just be weird to me to see the series continue now, but a professional remake could bring some of these great games to a wider audience, and that would maybe be a good thing.
 
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I can't account for everyone they have at Obsidian, but outisde of Feargus Uruhquart obviously, they do have Chris Parker, Josh Sawyer and Chris Avelonne who all worked on IWD I&II, and possible a few other.

Indeed if a IWDIII was being made at Obsidian, I'd suspect they would put Josh Sawyer in charge.

Regarding Ultima, I kinda agree. I think any return of Ultima would have to take the form of some kind of reboot - either by going back to the beginning and restart with the equivalent of Ultima IV with the Quest of the Avatar or such, or by making a big time jump after Ultima IX and reinvinting Britannian and the Virtues - basicall having the original core Ultima series existing as some form of myth/background for this new game.

It's been too long since Ultima IX for any other approach to make sense.

-Sergorn
 
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And most of us prefer to just forget Ultima IX!
 
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The thing is, regardless of what one may think of Ultima IX it did put a definitive end to the Avatar's stories, so any new Ultima would have to be a new beginning regardless.

And well, since reboot seems to be the trend nowadays...

-Sergorn
 
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Yeah, that was the only reason I played it. I never played II (well not much beyond loading it a few times when I was unemployed in '01), and by the time I got a computer that could play VIII, I couldn't build up the interest in it (am going to retry it I think), but I after playing all the others, I felt I needed to play IX just for 'closure.' Even with the fan dialogue patch, I ended up being angry by the end of the game. Really wish I had just not played it.
 
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IWD is stone age? The first was released in 2000 and the second in 2002. I know time moves quickly in computer games, but that's hardly stone age.

Not for me, mind you. But for the market where the money is. You have to consider that most people who bought FO3 never ever played (or in most cases heard of) FO1 or FO2 - the average console owner is still younger than most of "our" crowd. FO2 was released late '98 or early '99 overseas - that is quite similar to IWD1.

You also have to consider that fact that FO always was THE western CRPG - Choice & consequence, grim setting, tactical combat, skill based, lots of talking - and was always cited as a model for good games.

IWD on the other hand was always outshined by the Baldur's Gate games and the second game nearly got no advertising and suffered from its state at release. It never went as deep into public memory as FO or BG and so they are nearly completely unknown to the average gamer today.
 
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You also have to consider that fact that FO always was THE western CRPG - Choice & consequence, grim setting, tactical combat, skill based, lots of talking - and was always cited as a model for good games.

IWD on the other hand was always outshined by the Baldur's Gate games and the second game nearly got no advertising and suffered from its state at release. It never went as deep into public memory as FO or BG and so they are nearly completely unknown to the average gamer today.

I'm not quite certain about that.

Fallout was certainly a known game amongst RPG gamers and major influence amongst developpers, but it never went beyond having a niche market. I'm pretty sure that even if it never got Baldur's Gate's aura - Icewind Dale was a bigger commercial success that Fallout ever was, if only because of the D&D and Forgotten Realms license.

And I've actually often seen the games mentionned with fondness amongst RPGs fans.

Regardless, I also think if there is one thing Fallout 3 proved is that you CAN take a rather obscure (for the mass market I mean) IP and turn it into a highly successful AAA IP - so theorically this could probably happen for Ultima and Icewind Dale.

-Sergorn
 
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A WOT game would be a challenge to make but as a fan it would be worth it.

A shame my favorite series, the malazan books of the fallen by steven erikson, will probably be impossible to recreate in any other media.
 
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A WOT game would be a challenge to make but as a fan it would be worth it.

A shame my favorite series, the malazan books of the fallen by steven erikson, will probably be impossible to recreate in any other media.

You know I really wanted to get in to the steven erikson books...I found they were very hard to get into though. I'm not sure why, he did comment though in the front of the book that it was a love/hate with his stuff.
 
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IWD on the other hand was always outshined by the Baldur's Gate games and the second game nearly got no advertising and suffered from its state at release. It never went as deep into public memory as FO or BG and so they are nearly completely unknown to the average gamer today.

Was released the same day as Diablo II.... lol ;D In retrospect, I kind of like IWD2. However, when I first bought/played it, it took me a while to get over how they recycled all the artwork from the first one. It's pretty apparent that Interplay, in its floundering glory, gave BIS practically no money to work with; nevertheless, they did an AWESOME job with 3.5 rule implementation.

I'll reiterate that a hack/slash game with a BIS/Obsidian-worthy RPG foundation, ie. the IWD games, would work really well in today's market.
 
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I'll reiterate that a hack/slash game with a BIS/Obsidian-worthy RPG foundation, ie. the IWD games, would work really well in today's market.

I agree. Given how much the landscape has changed since IWD2, a modern take on it - and I mean same gameplay style, but with actual improvements and perhaps updated visuals - would sell quite well, IMO. There seems to be quite a market for a true Infinity Engine-era reboot - so long as it doesn't go the "streamlined" route and stays true to what made the Infinity Engine games special. Perhaps I'm being too optimistic, but if Obsidian did a great job on IWD3 (assuming that it ever even gets made), this might be the game that proves that "hardcore" RPGs that are unapologetic about their depth and complexity can still sell well.
 
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Why recycle that tired shallow setting? I wish they would go back to the Dalelands and environs, if they must recycle a Forgotten Realm setting... There is a lot more history there, lots of factions, and some interesting geography.
 
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I gotta say I'm getting kind of tired of the Forgotten Realms setting. It's not a bad setting and it can offer more original stuff when you move away a bit from the most "generic D&D fantasy" areas of Faerun... but I just wish we could have more games with other D&D settings.

I mean... back in the SSI days, granted Forgotten Realms was still the most prominent setting, but we also got games based on DragonLance, Mystara, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Spelljamer, Al Qadim... quite a bit of different settings, which was cool.

Since the end of the SSI days, we got like... one Birthright game, one Planescape game, one Greyhawk game (and Greyhawk ain't exactly -that- different from the Forgotten Realms) and one Eberron game.

The rest? All Forgotten Realms. Enough to get a overdose of Faerun :p

I'd kille for a new DragonLance or Dark Sun CRPG.

-Sergorn
 
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Since the end of the SSI days, we got like… one Birthright game, one Planescape game, one Greyhawk game (and Greyhawk ain't exactly -that- different from the Forgotten Realms) and one Eberron game.

The rest? All Forgotten Realms. Enough to get a overdose of Faerun :p

I'd kille for a new DragonLance or Dark Sun CRPG.

What game took place in the Birthright setting?

I definitely agree with the idea of a new Dark Sun crpg. I've always been interested in the setting, but Shattered Lands and WotR were too dated and still buggy by the time I got around to trying them.

As far as Forgotten Realms crpgs go, I'd like to see something that allows you to explore Kara-Tur.
 
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What game took place in the Birthright setting?

I definitely agree with the idea of a new Dark Sun crpg. I've always been interested in the setting, but Shattered Lands and WotR were too dated and still buggy by the time I got around to trying them.

It was called "Birthright: The Gorgon's Alliance" - a strategy game released by Sierra in 1996. I never played it so I don't know if they are any good.

I loved the Dark Sun games. They looked pretty nice back at their release, and I feel they really were some of the forerunners in term of actually offering choices in CRPG games. The beginning of the Shattered Lands was pretty awesome notably in how it offered real multiple ways to escape from the Gladiator's arenas.

I really was dissapointed that the engine never got used much after that, especially since after all the Gold Box games I expected they would make lots of game like Dark Sun in different settings. Well they did reuse the engine for Al Qadim, but it was more an action/adventure game (though a pretty great one), and I'd assume its spiritual sequel Entomorph (in the short lived World of Aden setting) used an improved version of it but these aren't that many games. I remember they had sci-fi RPG called "M" using Dark Sun's engine in the works, but I don't think it was ever released. Oh well...

At least I guess Dark Sun remains somewhat a possibility down the road since it's one of the rare old settings which got official D&D4 support.

-Sergorn
 
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