If you wouldn't be so blinded by your love for 4E you might actually recognize that the VG market can't be compared to 20 years ago, when turn based games still sold well, and that the name "D&D" doesn't have much impact there because of some very mixed games which were directly marketed with the "D&D" label (Dragonshard, DDO), while the good games are known by their own name (Baldurs Gate, Neverwinter Nights)
Not sure I said I loved 4E in my post.. but, oh well.. Games marketed with D&D might have an impact, I don't know. How you do know that D&D doesn't have an impact? Again, you are voicing your opinion as if it was fact without any form of reference to back it up with.
And turn based games till selling well on the NDS? Yes. Do you want a NDS only D&D game (forgetting for a moment that the 4E combat system is much more complicated than thuse NDS turn based games yet)?
Those turn based games on the DS are their versions of strategy games ane the never ending stream of pokemon games. Not quite sure what they have to do with and RPG system like D&D. Will answer your 4E part below.
A 4E game, similar in scope to Neverwinter Nights or Dragon Age must appeal to more people than some D&D Nerds willing to spend 2 hours for each combat. VGs of todays age are much too expensive as to produce them for small niche groups (and the "D&D player who plays VGs is very small) as to be profitable (unless they are very simple, somthing RPGs aren't.
You do know that Bioware targetted D&D players, exclusively, with NWN don't you? Also, with Dragon Age, they targetted the old school CRPG'er but going back some way to re-create the tactical feel of the Infinity Engine games? By what you said there, you didn't, or at least you didn't keep an eye on how they were being developed.
I can't remember the last time I ran a 4E combat that took more than 20 mins, compared to 4 hours of pure bordom that I've encounter with some 3E and 3.5 Combats, which excited the two 3.5E nerds (as you so gracefully put it).
Yes, NWNs and even Dragon Age combat is technically turn based. But they can be played in real time and that is the important part. 4Es combat system, with all its interrupts and pushing can't.
Not technically, are actually turn based. 4E will be purely turned based because of the amount of stuff you can do with the interrupts etc etc. That makes it, for me, far more exciting than merely giving a command to PC then sitting back and watching it do it's stuff no matter what happens.
A 4E based game can also be played in real-time, as you put it, with opportunities to activate a power when it's needed, either by auto-pausing, or giving you a stupid quick time event. In NWN and NWN2 you could do that to some degree by pausing the game and clearing the action queue, then adding a new action. So, not sure why you think it won't work.. Umm, don't the FF games use real-turn based combat?
So, to make the system workable, you have to heavily change the system.
No you won't at all.. I've just pointed out away, above, of how it could be done in a real-time esq environment.
And then you can simply create your own system anyway.
And they could've done that with the Infinity Engine (2E) and Aroura Engine (3E/3.5E) games, but didn't because of the D&D name and the license. It wouldn't surprise me if there was also a 4E game in the works. In fact, I remember Ubisoft, or someone like that, saying they had a new D&D game in the works. Will have to try and dig that out.
Except for the D&D name (which brings more angry nerds than blind fanboys to the table) 4E doesn't offer anything which would make it attractive. No well known setting (4E got rid of that), no hype (because of previous D&D flop titles) and an annoying IP holder (Hasbro) which can dictate you terms.
Balance? Scaleability? Probably easy to mod as well? 3 things that 3E/3.5E weren't. Not quite sure, but isn't Forgotten Realms a well-known setting? I mean, it's been around for years and several games have used it as their main world.
Terms can be dictated by any IP holder, no matter what it is. The last D&D title succeded, and I believe that was NWN2 and it's 2 expansion packs, Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of the Zehir. I believe they sold very very well, well over 500k units sold, according to my friend who works in the games industry. Wouldn't call that a flop, would you?
But you can of course close your eyes and tell yourself that Atari & all otehr publishers are stupid to not make a D&D game cause it will be the best game ever made and will sell billions.
Hmm.. not going to rise to that at all.
In closing, you have stated several things with is your opinion and nothing to do with facts. I haven't posted any facts, just what I know and which is my opinion. If I can dig out where I read the information, I will post it.
Again, you are informing of you opinion while saying it as fact. If you have any facts on what you are saying then please post the location on the high-speed intrawebs where we may read these facts.
Thanks
Thisto
