Dungeon Siege 3 - NA Release Date - May 31st
 

So, the NA release date for Dungeon Siege 3 is just a couple of days after the EU release. Here's the PR, along with the preorder bonuses:
Read the full press release for all the preorder offers from various vendors.
More information.

O_o

I didn't know this game was so close to be released…

Smart. Stay as far away from D3 as you can!

Why would I? I played all and while there not great games they were a time waster.
If you hate obsidian I can understand but they are the only true pc rpg making company left in the us. Other more prominent company's have already joined the console bandwagon by calling it streamlining. Evey game they make gets bashed by the gaming media and never given a chance.

I think he meant "Diablo 3" -- as in, smart for Obsidian to release DS3 before Diablo 3 comes out. ;)

Going to amazon to preorder I see it has a really cool cover. Yes, I am superficial like that.

My bad thought he was saying stay away from Dungeon Siege 3. I highly doubt Diablo 3 will be out anytime soon to be competition. We all know how blizzard is with release dates. Its damn well done when we say it done attitude.

Yeah sorry, Dhruin had it right. Like most who can dial their brain back and enjoy this type of game I'm more interested in Diablo 3, but will certainly take a crack at Dungeon Siege 3 if it is released first. I'm sure Obsidian and company are thinking along the same lines.

These type of RPGs are like crack to me , Love em .

I usually get tired of the endless grind in action-rpg's but I might give this one a try since it's Obsidian.

That's pretty much my thoughts as well. Diablo, Titan Quest, Torchlight… they tend to bore me, I don't care much about loot and leveling. Since this is Obsidian though it's a day-one purchase.

The Free Dictionary:
Wow…this might explain why the 1st one was perhaps the most boring game ever :)
Seriously thou, I don`t think it`ll apply to this iteration…not with Obsidian at the helm.

Me too, loot and leveling bore me… but fights can be very fun, Titan Quest doesn't shine in this area and bore me despite the incredible number of design innovation they introduced, but fights of Diablo 2 and even more Torchlight are quite fun and subtle.

On the subject of Obsidian, what are they working on now? FNV DLC and DS3? Any rumoured projects?

Codename Project Virginia, apparently.

hmm sounds like another 2011 release for Obsidian besides DS3. A smaller project apparently. Maybe something browser based?

I asked J.E. Sawyer on his formspring why Obsidian doesn't make small budget turn-based RPGs for the PC and smartphones and his response was "there's no publisher will to pay us to do that." So I would guess if they are doing a small project it would be for the console download services and maybe Steam, and probably an action game.

I recall an interview where obsidian said they would love to make make more games like Baldurs Gate but do to legal issues and lack of funding it will never happen. Its a shame I would gladly pay $15-20 for such a title.

There's one of the problems. Even Jeff Vogel charges more than that.

There's certainly a hard to get over perception that something like that should cost $20 or so at most, despite the fact we all paid $50 or more for them when they came out. Even I admit to grimacing a bit when paying out $25 for Avernum or Eschalon games.

That said $20 x let's say 200,000 copies is 4 million dollars. I'm sure they could budget that and make a profit.

Yes, you are right - Drakensang cost around half that, for example.

The devil is in the details, though. If you sell this game through Steam / Gamersgate etc, that will cost you 30-40%. If you try to sell retail, you'll need a publisher and after the retail and publisher cuts you'll have nothing left. In fact, few independent developers can stump up $2-4M of their own money - so you need a publisher. But a publisher isn't interested in a measly $4M revenue.

It's not as easy as it sounds. I'm not saying it's impossible but it's hard for a content heavy game like an RPG. That's why it doesn't happen very much.

In my dream alternate reality, someone like BioWare would "sponsor" indie/small/budget projects…but it doesn't happen in the real world.

If you have 12 minutes check out this demo from comic con…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c-DMZGIPuQ

This NEW engine, designed just for action RPGS like this, is indeed powerful and their art style is dark and gritty yet full of colours. It looks just awesome. Much better visuals than Diablo3 with its watercolour pastilles and rainbows or whatever they are.

Gameplay wise I see some very solid action gameplay. Maybe a little on the easy side, but its a bit early to tell and who knows what overpowered items he gave himself. Physics will allow you to smash monsters flying off edges. Should be a blast coop.

From my point of view the only down side are the 5 classes done much like Diablos with no stat rolling or perk picking, from what I can see. I guess thats fine since its action, but I tend to spend more time in character creation than the game itself. (especially true with NWN2)

Where do you have that information? Considering the first game we saw on it was a shooter hybrid (Aliens: Crucible) I would say the engine is mighty flexible in that regard. I would think they made the engine to their own likings. So, classical rpgs too.

From what I have read this is the main issue I think. Big publishers are all about big projects that have a chance for big profits.

In any event, as the tools get cheaper and easier like the comic con link above I am sure there will be indies making classic style RPGs out the ass, so I'm optimistic anyway.

Speaking of alternate realities, If I ever accidentally get unbelievably filthy rich, I will set up a funds for enthusiast gaming projects. :)
I am very curious how AoD and Dead State are going to do financially / saleswise. They are kind of the model I would like to see more of, but I think they would need to sell somewhat more than Jeff Vogel to be sustainable, and I have no idea how likely that is. Maybe the cards look better for Dead State, with Mitsodas name on it and with the current Zombie Craze…

My feeling says to me that this could've been the case in Drakensang 2, too.

I think it's rather the bigger publishers who aren't willing to publish games from smaller develöopers/Indies.

Smaller publishers might rather be willing in doing so.

Here in Germany, things re actually a little but better. Even an adventure game like Full Pipe gets published via retail, and Avencast, too, for example; other examples are Aztaka and Plants vs. Zombies. all are here in retail.


I think that the bigger the publisher, the less willing the company is willing to publish smaller games resulting in a smaller revenue.

What the U.S. and other markets need, then, are smaller publishers which are more willing to publish smaller projects via retail. And are willing to be content with a much smaller revenue.

We need a kind of middle class of game publishers, I think.

I will gladly invest in a company like that. Look at some of the indie games coming out funded by fans.