54 réponses à ce sujet

[foil-]

http://www.gamespot....e-dandd-dispute

Hopefully the news is accurate.

[Dorateen]

I'm hoping this means more people will be checking out the next NWN2 community project.

Seriously, if this is pushing back Neverwinter for a whole 'nother year, where else are hardcore DnD players gonna go for more cRPG content.

Harumph!

[dunniteowl]

I have no idea if we can get a patch out now, it's been so long. However, to this news I can only say, "YAAAAAYY!" It's about time they settled the dispute and I am glad that the D&D license is going back to Hasbro.

Wait a second, did I just say that I was glad Hasbro's got the D&D license back? Sounds oxymoronic, it does. I really wish someone could snap a cold wet towel across Hasbro's back and make WotC fling away the D&D license in shock and surprise and let someone who gives a rat's fart about RPGs take it over and do something good with it.

WotC only took it so that they could make a D&D CCG, I think. Hasbro bought WotC for Magic: The Gathering and their licensed use of Pokemon and dozens of other CCGs that were such a hit at the time. The fact that we got any D&D games in video game format, in retrospect, was a lucky boon for those of us who like to play them.

If you doubt what I say, simply go to the WotC website and compare how much space D&D gets versus all their other dreck. D&D was definitely milked for all they could get out of it. They banked on RPG loyal fans of D&D to just keep shelling out hundreds of dollars for Core Rules, Splat Books, Campaign Guides and what not, all revised and ramped up from AD&D 2.0 to D&D 3.0, then 3.5 and now 4.0. You know why they removed the word Advanced, don't you? 'Cause that word made it sound too hard to learn and they didn't want to scare off sales.

Now that the brouhaha is over, though, perhaps we can make another pitch to get a 1.24 final patch out to fix some of the things I know Obsidian was working on before the legal battle put the kaibosh on the whole affair. Whaddaya say, peopleoids, do we want that last patch and do you think we can reasonably pitch it to a successful outcome?

I think this is, on the whole, good news, even if we don't get a final patch.

dunniteowl

[Morbane]

(ahm neo horin-ge new patch kio) repeat...

[foil-]

dunniteowl wrote...
 Whaddaya say, peopleoids, do we want that last patch and do you think we can reasonably pitch it to a successful outcome?

Sure, why not.  The worst they can do is say no.

Although I imagine the deck is stacked against us.  But still.  Nothing to lose in trying.

And the Neverwinter delay after changing hands speeks volumes for the financial presure Atari was feeling resulting in them rushing out titles before they were ready.  That's hard on a developers reputation also.  Looks like Perfect World has enough in the bank to allow games to receive more of the polish they require.

Modifié par foil-, 15 août 2011 - 09:01 .

[painofdungeoneternal]

Sounds like we should organize a petition, to get Hasbro to give permission and request that Obsidian finish up what they started. ( perhaps getting some of the high level programmers in the community who have rolled complete bug fixes to ensure the next patch is the only one that is needed )

I imagine a new patch would drive more interest in the game, even if all sales now are going out via steam, quite a few folks have not updated and i am sure Hasbro and Atari can still milk this game for some more money.

[foil-]

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

Sounds like we should organize a petition, to get Hasbro to give permission and request that Obsidian finish up what they started. ( perhaps getting some of the high level programmers in the community who have rolled complete bug fixes to ensure the next patch is the only one that is needed )

I imagine a new patch would drive more interest in the game, even if all sales now are going out via steam, quite a few folks have not updated and i am sure Hasbro and Atari can still milk this game for some more money.

That's a good point.  When you started to say Hasbro should give permission my first thought was that they would never create more free gaming competition to their new 4edition D&D releases.  Then you brought up Steam sales.  There does seem to be a little bit of a small windfall oportunity there with Steam.

But what I think we should convince Wizards of is to do what the Witcher did with their first game.  Create an "ultimate" edition.  I forgot what they called it.  Have obsidian make some money off it by updating game components and adding in high rest textures (maybe even updating character animations).

That's a real long shot...but the payoff!

Modifié par foil-, 15 août 2011 - 09:21 .

[steelfire_dragon]

Modifié par steelfire_dragon, 15 août 2011 - 09:23 .

[painofdungeoneternal]

foil- wrote...

painofdungeoneternal wrote...

Sounds like we should organize a petition, to get Hasbro to give permission and request that Obsidian finish up what they started. ( perhaps getting some of the high level programmers in the community who have rolled complete bug fixes to ensure the next patch is the only one that is needed )

I imagine a new patch would drive more interest in the game, even if all sales now are going out via steam, quite a few folks have not updated and i am sure Hasbro and Atari can still milk this game for some more money.

That's a good point.  When you started to say Hasbro should give permission my first thought was that they would never create more free gaming competition to their new 4edition D&D releases.  Then you brought up Steam sales.  There does seem to be a little bit of a small windfall oportunity there with Steam.

But what I think we should convince Wizards of is to do what the Witcher did with their first game.  Create an "ultimate" edition.  I forgot what they called it.  Have obsidian make some money off it by updating game components and adding in high rest textures (maybe even updating character animations).

That's a real long shot...but the payoff!

Ultimate edition that includes content by kaedrin, hellfire and some of the other folks in the community. ( where such work is free and clear ip wise of course )

That is a good option, they could likely charge more for that, include Ossians version, and even provide a updated mac version that runs on lion ( and you can get from the new mac store ). There is a lot left to milk from this game, assuming the end product "just works" which it really should without too much more effort.

[nicethugbert]

Remarkable

[kamal_]

Well I was going to post this but I see it was already done. I wouldn't get your hopes up for another patch or an ultimate edition or anything, nwn2's long been turned over to the community's hands.

[foil-]

nicethugbert wrote...

Remarkable

Haahaha.  Little Rascals.  I completely forgot about that show.  Watched it as a kid (in reruns obviously).

[Rex Radar]

I'm in regardless of how the patch arrives.

[kamal_]

Back in Little Rascals day, if you wanted to play an RPG, you Larped.

/cops and robbers 3e or advanced cowboys and indians!

[Kaldor Silverwand]

Not sure I want a patch at this point. If a patch is released for Windows then Windows will be ahead of the Mac and I don't see any possibility that Aspyr is going to release a Mac patch. That would result in Windows and Macs being unable to run the same version and therefore no mixed platform multi-player. I see that as a greater problem than the remaining bugs because it would lock out a (granted, probably small) population of players from MP and PW play.

Regards

[dunniteowl]

I think, if we could get traction on a patch, we should request that the Mac version also be brought up to date. Of course, we get what we get and this is up front. If we could convince Hasbro/Atari top provide an Ultimate Edition, then I think it wouldn't be that tricky to do so across the board for both Mac and PC to be at the same level. In this instance, it would be understood by all that this would be the absolute last patch the game would officially recieve.

In that light, it shouldn't be too difficult for the Powers That Be to go that tiny, little extra distance.

dno

[foil-]

For the record, after a little checking on line it looks like The Witcher used the moniker:

Enhanced Edition (which is very appropriately descriptive since they enhanced the original game rather than just packing in expansion packs).

Sorry about the original misnomer.

Modifié par foil-, 16 août 2011 - 02:19 .

[LordNyvek]

What no one is saying is that Atari can still develop "a selection of games" with the license. Including "Heroes of Neverwinter". I'm sure that this means that they can still do Neverwinter games in the future. They didn't fully give up the license. Only specific parts which aren't fully clarified in the article.

[nicethugbert]

Spanky the Halfling Barbarian Rogue(LARP)

[foil-]

LordNyvek wrote...

What no one is saying is that Atari can still develop "a selection of games" with the license. Including "Heroes of Neverwinter". I'm sure that this means that they can still do Neverwinter games in the future. They didn't fully give up the license. Only specific parts which aren't fully clarified in the article.

Heroes of Neverwinter releases today apparently.  I think they maintain the ability to keep running what they already developed, released, and marketed.  Which is a good point you bring up since it probably means that NWN2 is still under their control.

I suspect we won't see any future D&D projects from them.

[The Fred]

Kaldor Silverwand wrote...

Not sure I want a patch at this point. If a patch is released for Windows then Windows will be ahead of the Mac and I don't see any possibility that Aspyr is going to release a Mac patch.

I was going to post some anti-Mac sentiment, but really the biggest problems with Macs are that you can't run the NWN2 Toolset on them. True NWN-ists should shelve their Macs at once and go buy something else.

[dunniteowl]

IN response to LordNyvek:

...If we could convince Hasbro/Atari top provide...

indicates that Atari still has a hand in all the things it's already released or was ready to release (like Heroes of Neverwinter.) It's not as germane to the many questions surrounding the lawsuit as the license. It's clear in any legal issue that what was at stake was not Atari's ability to continue to develop and support titles already released or nearly completed, but it's continued difficulty in supporting the brand and it's exclusive license to do so required that they do so in a manner consistent with the top notch brand they were promoting. Or, as the case may be, failing to support and promote in a "professional manner consistent with today's practices" as the filing stated.

I'm really just glad it's over and we can all sort of breathe again, knowing that any future D&D releases post License Argument can now start developing a head of steam without Atari's further involvement. Don't get me wrong, Atari's definitely put out some great games and titles over the years, but ever since they became part of Infogrames, they started raiding the corporated cookie jar for CEO and Board Member largesse over using good and prudent financial planning to make their personal fortunes soar while running the company against the shoals of mismanagement.

We'll be better off without Atari as the albatross of D&D.

dunniteowl

[VeeVito]

Well, Perfect World could possibly have just saved Cryptic from themselves this time. And possibly salvaged their reputation regarding releasing unfinished, shallow games. Although that may be somewhat unfair to say since there were probably other forces at work that have hamstrung Cryptic in the past.

However, and this is all speculation obviously (aint it fun!), if just after the acquisition PW decided to delay the game a year for more immersion, then I somewhat cringe at the thought of what was possibly about to be unleashed onto the gamers this year.

I know nothing of PW or their games yet so maybe they just want to revamp it into something completely different.

Modifié par VeeVito, 16 août 2011 - 11:10 .

[dunniteowl]

Excellent point VeeVito. I would also point to another Atari faux pas in regards to Cryptic. It bought them so they could "in house" NWO, but, due to their financials, they really couldn't afford to do that. The timing of their purchase couldn't have been worse, either. They were still reeling from the Turbine lawsuit, they were once again on the verge of being delisted on the NASDAQ and their quarterly earnings reports were basically just starting to show some traction. And of course, in the background, unbeknownst to the public, Hasbro was already having issues with Atari's handling of the D&D license. So what do they do? They take a big wad of cash and plunk it down on Cryptic to make an online game of D&D in the hopes that Hasbro will see this as an act of good faith and hopefully also put some lead back in their financial pencil.

And their sale of Cryptic to Perfect World? Can you say, "Show me the money?" This, of course, leads to a delay (*which is probably just what Cryptic needed to save itself from one more PR disaster in the online gaming world) in what was purported to be an Atari label game. Their remanding the D&D license honestly couldn't have come at a better time for Cryptic. They're just lucky that Atari couldn't fight it out another six months or they'd have had to release an unfinished game for Atari to show any kind of return.

With this delay, though, Atari might be able to be convinced that making a last patch and rebundling of the NWN2 brand franchise could be worth the time versus what they could get back out of it. I'm certainly going to be pitching this idea over the next few weeks to see what interest the Community might have. After all, the worst that could happen is they'll say, "No." We really wouldn't be out anything other than time and some willingness to support an idea.

I've been attempting to promote the last patch since before the Atari Hasbro debate on the license and we were gaining ground. There really was no more chance of a third expansion, but I do know that Obsidian was working on bug fixes for an 'unofficial' patch before the lawsuit totally quashed it.

Look for a new thread in the next 24 hours or so regarding this thrust for a new patch. I also please ask that no-one start one without me, just yet. I've got some hammering out to do on my Wordsmith 2014 forge to get the shape all nice and sparkly. Stay tuned.

dunniteowl