Sword Coast Legends Developer n-Space Closes Down After 21 Years

Thanks for the update. I really had hopes for this game but the more I found out about it the less I was interested. I loved the idea of a live DM running a digital game. I hope this doesn't damper future work on that kind of idea.

 

[doctorhook]

However, I hate to say it, but this is what happens to a game studio that releases a complete crap product and does everything possible to let down an entire generation of D&D fans.

I've gotta dispute this point: I'm quite sure they weren't trying to let down an entire generation of D&D fans.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I got that game when there was a -25% sale on Steam, and I haven't played it yet. I think about a month after Pillars of Eternity came out so I ended up playing that instead. The latter game really felt like D&D despite not being based on it's rules.

 

[sim-h]

I pre-ordered SCL but then cancelled and got refunded when I saw further details - such as per-encounter abilities, hugely limited class options and limited race options, and so on.

I bought Pillars of Eternity and both expansions and play them occasionally.

I have currently gone back to Baldur's Gate (EE). The new patch and update with Siege of Dragonspear has improved it even more. But the feeling of playing that game has not been recaptured since. Not even NWN which bored me to tears at the time, for some reason.

 

[Reinhart]

Tested developers make games from their own Intellectual Property. Untested developers licence IP selling that name since their own is unknown.
It's always a gamble. Sometimes it pays off (BioWare) other times not.

Absolutely. And n-Space wasn't even untested. They had over 20 years of working on licensed games. They just hadn't ever tried to make a mainstream CRPG yet.

I actually feel the problem with licensing right now is more that WotC/Hasbro is too restrictive. In a year we'll barely remember that Sword Coast Legends ever existed. And as thrilled as some sites seemed to be, most of the gaming media seems to have already forgotten about it. The real "problem" is that we still don't have many current D&D video games that are interesting and fun. Contrast this with the way that Games Workshop has opened the flood-gate on licensing. There's an abundance of Warhammer and 40k video games coming on to the market. Most of them are trash, but a few actually look fun! By next year the dust will probably have settled and Warhammer fans may have several "authentic" and fun adaptations of the table-top games and settings.

Clearly you can reach a point where the market is saturated and your brand is diluted. But I think there's nothing wrong with giving a handful of studios a chance with your IP. Just don't sell the game for what it isn't.

 

[Daern]

As a casual computer gamer, I actually like the game alright. As a tie-in to Out of the Abyss its neat to travel around the Realms. I'm in Gracklestugh right now, just like in my D&D campaign. I sort of appreciate that its less fiddly and faster playing than Baldur's Gate. I see where the potential was to have other modules available so we could bang around the Realms. The biggest problem I've had on my macbook is that its kind of laggy for a fairly simple style game.

 

[TerraDave]

Is it me, or is almost every computer project that takes up something with the D&D brand (or something similar, like Pathfinder recently) have a curse on them to either bumble up or outright fail hard?

There may in fact be a pattern.

 

[darjr]

Pattern? Do go on.

 

[Electryc]

I'm one of the rare people that played the game and enjoyed it. The art was gorgeous, the game play was not buggy at all, and the voice acting, and story was quite entertaining. (Yes I FINISHED the game) My only misgiving was N-Space overselling itself as a "Dungeon and Dragons" game. It may have been located in the Forgotten Realms, and game play based off 5 E, however the rules were pushed into Dragon Age, or Diablo like mechanics. Sad to see any company go bankrupt, or go this route. Perhaps given time they could have made something more to our liking's. I never tried the DM Client due to the game mechanics. Nothing will be as good as the NWN1 DM client in my opinion for a video game. There probably won't either due to the fact that Bioware did not make money on the overwhelming excellent fan community content NWN1 and to some extent NWN2 had.

 

[Tyranthraxus]

Id love to be on the board table discussions between WOTC and Nspace back in the day

WOTC: 'We would like to see you guys make a computer game based on the D&D 5th Edition Rulesset'

Nspace: 'Well first things first. Im sure you realise it has to be a multiple player game. And we are gonna have to do our own version of your rules. People just dont want to rest in games anymore. Its all go go go, and countdown timers.'

... Beginning of the end.

 

[Reinhart]

Id love to be on the board table discussions between WOTC and Nspace back in the day

WOTC: 'We would like to see you guys make a computer game based on the D&D 5th Edition Rulesset'

Nspace: 'Well first things first. Im sure you realise it has to be a multiple player game. And we are gonna have to do our own version of your rules. People just dont want to rest in games anymore. Its all go go go, and countdown timers.'

... Beginning of the end.

That's not really how it went down. This part has been revealed with various interviews and discussions with both Dan Trudge and Mike Mearls. Nspace was about a year into developing a generic fantasy CRPG and they were experimenting with multiplayer and the idea of having someone take control of the various encounters. The experience reminded them of how D&D DM's run dungeon encounters, so they pitched it to the WotC devs during a GDC event. WotC thought it sounded good so n-Space had to reskin their existing game to make it look more like D&D. Meanwhile WotC helped market it as the "first-time ever" that a D&D video game was going to have an authentic DM mode. And that was the beginning of the end.

 

[Jiggawatts]

I'll readily admit I was not a fan of SCL. If people assume you are going to give them a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights (whether that is a far assumption or not), you had best damn well deliver on that, and SCL had neither a super compelling story nor a reverence or accuracy to the D&D ruleset. With that all said, I really hate seeing anyone lose their job, or especially whole studios shut down, this is a real shame and I'm rooting for every single one of those displaced folks to be back behind an office computer screen working away in the near future.

Honestly, I'm hoping this means WotC will double down on their Beamdog partnership, because (with the exception of a few reported bugs that will soon be dispatched) all the early reviews I've read on Siege of Dragonspear have called it faithful and fantastic.

 

[Valetudo]

I dont want another baldersgate unless it has a real 5th edition rules for pc or has dark alliance after the title for consoles.

 

[aramis erak]

Digital Extremes would be foolish to even bother spending any time or money on SCL at this point. It was a dead game after only a month...releasing the console version will not suddenly raise nSpace from the dead and will only cost DE money.

I hope those who lost their jobs find new work elsewhere in short order, but I won't say I'm sorry SCL failed as spectacularly hard as it has.

If they're that far along, it's sunk costs and probably already pressed. Selling it would then allow some recovery of those sunk costs; sitting on it would instead have additional costs accrue (disposition of said pressed disks).

 

[trancejeremy]

Looking at their previous game development, it's really a puzzle that they were given such a complex game like Sword Coast Legends.

Their entire portfolio is either ports or games for handhelds (mostly the DS) and mobile. Their biggest previous title was a 3DS game, an action RPG.

Granted, these days there aren't many independent companies that make games like this. I guess Obsidian is probably the only one.

 

[ProphetSword]

I'm one of the rare people that played the game and enjoyed it. The art was gorgeous, the game play was not buggy at all, and the voice acting, and story was quite entertaining. (Yes I FINISHED the game)

I'm with you on this. I finished the game and really enjoyed it. I was actually looking forward to Rage of Demons.

I feel if they had finished up the toolset updates they were promising, they might have seen things turn around. There were a lot of people who were waiting to purchase based on what happened with that, and I think if they had just done what people asked, word might have start to spread about the toolset and at least the modders and those interested in playing the modded adventures would have purchased the game. I mean, if I could at least create conversations with NPCs, I would probably create some adventures myself...but the fact that you can't even create regular conversations with NPCs (something that existed in the base game) is really kind of boggling.

 

[Cody C. Lewis]

I'm know this is like kicking a man when he's down but frankly, I feel like they deserve it nonetheless-- I can feel no sympathy for ANY producer ever that actually puts users hardware at risk due to laziness.

Their software was blowing up 980's and they knew it.

The released their game anyway.

Thank God I still had a warranty albeit I was past my 90 days, so my brand brand new 980 gets junked and replaced by a refurb. Fine, whatever, it's not like I just paid over $1k (at the time) for my 2 GPUs. I only hope no one else lost a $500+ piece of equipment because they were out of warranty.

If a developer has a great idea that doesn't pan out, ok, I don't throw stones. But if a developer produces malware-- yes, this was malware-- then I just can't feel bad for them. Good riddance.

 

[Corpsetaker]

I saw this a mile away. I knew as soon as it left the gate that it was going to be a failure. You can't always BS your customers and think you are going to get away with it. What surprises me is that it took this long to happen.

 

[Kramodlog]

So... When will this section of the boards be closed down?

 

[CapnZapp]

Ask in Meta.