Morning Discussion
Amusingly, Barnes & Noble just threw it on the dedicated Jane Austen table with all of her other works. Knowing the general public, I'm sure this will lead to hilarity.
But enough about books and paper, let's see what's up in video game land.
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Looks like Thief 4 has been announced
http://eidosmontreal.com/-
Awesome! Sounds like it's just a title at the minute though:
"Were in the early development stages for Thief 4, but this is an incredibly ambitious project and a very exciting one. It's too early for us to offer any specific game details, right now we are focused on recruiting the very best talent to join the core team at the studio and help us make, what we believe will be one of the most exciting games on the market." -
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I do not get the point. I just don't. What attracts major developers who will be making their money on the consoles, and people generally far too young to give any fuck about Thief or even know about it? Is it "buzz"? I mean it's great to have a built in core of fans who will just not shut the fuck up about your game, while also talking to a lot of new people the way Star Trek just did but they must KNOW they can't manage that. We are cranky motherfuckers, we WANT to hate their shit, FUCK them for even trying, yet they just keep coming. And I really want to know why, because I'll be damned if NMA's anger and pissyness sold any copies of Fallout 3 for Bethesda.
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You'll be damned. People will buy it just to know what they should hate, there is only 2 or 3 regulars on the NMA forums that I know did not buy Fallout 3.
I've been posting there for a good 6 years and I hate what they did to Fallout 3 as much as any other NMA user, but I still bought the game... so go figure.-
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That's basically the explanation they give on the making-of DVD.
Also, notice I mentioned making good money. While there was certainly a substantial amount of personal interest in Fallout from the developers at BethSoft, I very much doubt they would've tried to make Fallout 3 without a solid business justification. Don't forget that they didn't just license the IP, they own it lock, stock, and barrel. That will let them expand on it in the long term for no additional expense.
Lastly, there are benefits to buying or licensing an existing (but defunct) universe. A lot of the world development is already done. It's easier to carry over the existing flavor and style of the universe. That can save a lot of time and effort.
I certainly believe that there were personal desires helping to drive BethSoft's purchase and development of Fallout, but there are business benefits as well.-
I think having a really solid IP, with an already setup universe is incredibly important. I imagine it would be easier for everyone involed making the game as there would be a very rigid structure already laid out, so you just have to go ahead and make it. When making a new IP i reckon there'd be a fair bit of going backwards and forwards trying to get things "right".
On the other hand you could just pay some scifi writer to come up with a great idea, but ideas cost alot of $$ and new ones dont have a proven track record.
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It really depends. I don't know what weird cultural ingredients have to mix in order to make an item reviled by a small, fanatical, base appeal to a much larger one because of that revulsion. This is especially apparent in geek culture for some reason.
I think it's because people want to belittle the nerd rage. The louder those groups complain the more interest the main stream has in checking it out. They want to be an opposing point of view. They want to mock their passion.
We've seen it in everything from Star Wars to Coca Cola. I'm sure some marketing people have the numbers to back this all up.-
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I'd go further to say most people who played Fallout 1 and 2 don't give a shit or know about NMA. No site like that is a majority representation, and as it applies to Fallout 3 there's also a significant number of people who may have never played the first fallout games, but were familiar with the franchise and drawn to try the third.
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The site itself? Of course not. My point wasn't that these "fan clubs" cause the ire of the average consumer to make them interested in the product. It's references to these fans, even a general statement like the ones made in all the Fallout 3 previews, is what gets people interested.
They want to see what all the hoopla is about. The media hypes up the fanatics more than anything else.
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I totally understand where you're coming from. I mean, Deadly Shadows sold pretty poorly compared to other games Eidos makes. I guess they saw some demand somewhere and thought it would be worth it. I don't know though, while I'm happy it's getting made just because I like the series and would hate to see it disappear, there is NO WAY IN HELL that they're going to make the die hard Thief fans happy. They're doomed from the start because, just like in Fallout 3's case, no matter what they accomplish, no matter what angle they take on the story/presentation/gameplay/etc. people will bitch, and bitch hard, probably even moreso because Deadly Shadows was such a "disaster" according to the fans.
The people in this particular studio must be gluttons for punishment considering they're also taking on Deus Ex. Jesus, I hope they don't have forums.
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I hope this has nothing to do with Garrett's story. It was meant as a trilogy, and it was finished with Deadly Shadows. If they decide to have a new story with Garrett's apprentice, I'd be ok with that. I'd feel even better if 2k Boston was working on it, but obviously that isn't happening. As long as they don't touch Garrett's story they can do whatever they want.