D&D Video Gaming News - Hasbro sues for breach of contact by Atari

[ProfessorCirno]

You know, after a while you think that Atari would get the point and let the development teams actually finish the games they're making instead of pushing them out the door just to grab whatever sales they can.

Of course, that goes for the whole industry, but ToEE not getting the attention and praise it deserved because it wasn't given enough time to be properly finished and debugged is a terrible shame.

Neither Atari nor Troika were alone in that. In fact, Troika's lifespawn was more or less having one producer after another rip their development time months short.

For a lot of beginning developers, or even somewhat seasoned ones, you still have producers up top that feel they know best. ToEE being rushed, or Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines being rushed...it happens the same reason Titus or why The Sarah Connor Chronicles are canceled. Producers who feel they are infallible and can never make a mistake think they know more then the developers do. People who don't know video games feel "they know the business."

And now, in an industry known for it's ability to flourish in times of economic depression, the video game industry is hurting bad and faltering.

So hey.

 

[Hussar]

Heh, Aaron Williams of Nodwick fame takes a stab at this:

Funny.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

You know what's sad?

Reading this thread makes me want to pull out the Gold Box Dragonlance game.

And, for the record, I miss Troika.

The Auld Grump, who still has Arcanum on his drive....

 

[Garmorn]

You know what's sad?

Reading this thread makes me want to pull out the Gold Box Dragonlance game.

And, for the record, I miss Troika.

The Auld Grump, who still has Arcanum on his drive....

I thinking of pulling out my gold box collection also. Had loads of fun with it.

 

[Drkfathr1]

I'm still fond of the old Pool of Radiance games.

 

[Umbran]

For a lot of beginning developers, or even somewhat seasoned ones, you still have producers up top that feel they know best. ToEE being rushed, or Vampire: the Masquerade Bloodlines being rushed...it happens the same reason Titus or why The Sarah Connor Chronicles are canceled. Producers who feel they are infallible and can never make a mistake think they know more then the developers do.

It is my experience that most people know their own side of a business, and think they know some other sides as well. The call is as old as business - "Those other guys there! They screwed things up for us, who know what we are doing!"

The statement you are making above is a common one - developers griping that the management didn't give them the chance to do the job right. Usually, there's another side to that coin - the producer (or product manager outside the game industry) is likewise grumbling that the development team couldn't do an accurate time estimate or hit a development milestone to save their lives.

It seems to me that both jobs are difficult, and that small errors on both sides make for extreme difficulties when put together.

 

[Turtlejay]

I like that we can talk about the OP now. Very nice

While Hasbro might just be suing to protect their IP, which is smart, I'd hope that at least some people over there are trying to get the licence away and to someone eager to actually develop good games for D&D. Not just a slap-the-name-on-the-box, Super Mario Bros 2 kind of game, but an honest to goodness game. I don't care if it is 4e or any e at all, I like the default setting, the implied setting, I like FR and Dragonlance and Eberron, and there is so much story just waiting to be mined from D&D properties. Why not a God of War style Drizzt game? Or a Mechcommander 2 style RTS? Or a Fallout 3 type FPS/RPG? The universe can support all of those kinds of games, and the talent is out there to make them *awesome* with the in-universe touches us geeks will appreciate.

Atari has really lost face judging from this thread (granted, the opinions of a dozen or so geeks) and I am in favor of them getting voted off the island.

Jay

 

[Hussar]

One thing this thread has kind of revealed to me is an interesting switch.

For a while, it was "4e is too videogamey - it's designed to be a video game!" Now, it's "It's not good enough to be a videogame and it's not good enough to be an RPG!"

Damn, got them going both ways.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

TOEE, when patched, is absolutely bloody awesome sauce!
I preffer 4th ed now, but since the CPU takes the boring stuff out of 3rd ed (for my tastes), it leaves you with all the great tactical fun, so combat is really, really sweet.

if they could take Dragon Age origin graphics + voice work + plotting + turn based D&D, you wouldn't see me for months, lol

 

[smetzger]

1) I don't think a D&D game is going to topple WoW or have that kind of success.
2) I do think a PC based D&D game can make money
3) It would be interesting to see a bunch of smaller games for DS, iPhone, and Android.
I'd be seriously interested in a game on iPhone or Android.