Sir_Brennus
Scholar
Yeah, I know, we had a lot of threads about MotB for about a year now, but the thing about my personal best game of 2007 that strikes me most, is: Why the fuck noone bought it?
We have discussed the similarities between PS:T and MotB extensively, but we never asked, what have those games in common, that made them uninteresting for the masses and a commercial failure? And what is the lesson to be learned?
I've made some speculations:
1. The rulseset:
Both games used D&D - a ruleset widly known for heroic fantasy, but both games didn't
feature anything "heroic", so expectations did not match what was given. No matching of expectations = no buy.
2. The setting:
Planescape and FR: Rashemon are mostly unknown to computer gamers and most of the p&p crowd. PS is discontinued and the only link CRPG players had to Rashemon was Minsc. And there was (reasonably) no cameo of him in MotB. So no hook to relate to in both games for the majority of potential buyers. No relation - no buy.
3. The twisted ruleset
PS:T featured death as an action and allowed the change of classes, while MotB incorporated the spirit meter. Both features turn the ruleset upside down and leave known territory of gaming. Although the spirit meter is quite similar to the blood hunger of the VtM games, it destroyed a lot of popular tactics from both NWN and NWN2. The reaction of the casual players were quite negative, as most of the online reviews indicate. No known territory in the ruleset = no buy.
4. The main character
PS:T featured the Nameless One, who by defintion has no backstory, but discovers that former incarnations of himself did some very disturbing things to other people. He feels to be manipulated and remote controlled all around, but discovers the one true answer only in the last part of the game - "everything can change the nature of a man". In MotB the backstory of the main character does not really matter and the he/she is manipulated from the beginning by the betrayer/the hunger and the main character feels remote controlled right from the beginning. So, most players felt a lot of baggage in their relationship with the main character, even if they imported their lvl 20 Paladin from NWN2. The estrangement leads to disinterest. Disinterest = no buy.
5. The artwork
PS:T featured the NMO (aka a twisted version of Guido Henkel's face) on the box cover, while MotB featured the eye and tentacles of the Betrayer on the box cover. Let's be honest - both look ugly and spooky and simply not inviting. No attractive box = no buy.
6. No hype.
Let's amdmit it: MotB came totally out of the left field for most of us - and we actually CARE about CRPG related information. The vast majority of potential buyers weren't hyped about that game - I never saw it in any "waiting eagerly for" chart lists. It was released to little or no fanfare, maybe because it was "just an expansion". PS:T was previewed a bit in those days (I don't know about the Internet, only about magazines), but not half as much as BG1 or BG2 did. Leave it to Bioware: They are much more professional in hyping than Black Isle/ Obsidian will ever be. The only talent they had, "good" ol' Ferret didn't leave for Bioware for no reason. No hype = no sales.
Lesson learned: Both games were superb hardcore gamer's dreams. But as MCA once stated: It was too much in one game. I think both games coud've been much more successfull if they reduced the "originality" factor just one bit: I think a MotB in a more known region of the FR would've been more "accessible" and better business for Obsidian. More hype by Obsidian and Atari coud've worked too.
So what we have now: Two brilliant games that noone bought and very little chance to have another one of those games produced in the future. We're screwed.
Or what do you think?
We have discussed the similarities between PS:T and MotB extensively, but we never asked, what have those games in common, that made them uninteresting for the masses and a commercial failure? And what is the lesson to be learned?
I've made some speculations:
1. The rulseset:
Both games used D&D - a ruleset widly known for heroic fantasy, but both games didn't
feature anything "heroic", so expectations did not match what was given. No matching of expectations = no buy.
2. The setting:
Planescape and FR: Rashemon are mostly unknown to computer gamers and most of the p&p crowd. PS is discontinued and the only link CRPG players had to Rashemon was Minsc. And there was (reasonably) no cameo of him in MotB. So no hook to relate to in both games for the majority of potential buyers. No relation - no buy.
3. The twisted ruleset
PS:T featured death as an action and allowed the change of classes, while MotB incorporated the spirit meter. Both features turn the ruleset upside down and leave known territory of gaming. Although the spirit meter is quite similar to the blood hunger of the VtM games, it destroyed a lot of popular tactics from both NWN and NWN2. The reaction of the casual players were quite negative, as most of the online reviews indicate. No known territory in the ruleset = no buy.
4. The main character
PS:T featured the Nameless One, who by defintion has no backstory, but discovers that former incarnations of himself did some very disturbing things to other people. He feels to be manipulated and remote controlled all around, but discovers the one true answer only in the last part of the game - "everything can change the nature of a man". In MotB the backstory of the main character does not really matter and the he/she is manipulated from the beginning by the betrayer/the hunger and the main character feels remote controlled right from the beginning. So, most players felt a lot of baggage in their relationship with the main character, even if they imported their lvl 20 Paladin from NWN2. The estrangement leads to disinterest. Disinterest = no buy.
5. The artwork
PS:T featured the NMO (aka a twisted version of Guido Henkel's face) on the box cover, while MotB featured the eye and tentacles of the Betrayer on the box cover. Let's be honest - both look ugly and spooky and simply not inviting. No attractive box = no buy.
6. No hype.
Let's amdmit it: MotB came totally out of the left field for most of us - and we actually CARE about CRPG related information. The vast majority of potential buyers weren't hyped about that game - I never saw it in any "waiting eagerly for" chart lists. It was released to little or no fanfare, maybe because it was "just an expansion". PS:T was previewed a bit in those days (I don't know about the Internet, only about magazines), but not half as much as BG1 or BG2 did. Leave it to Bioware: They are much more professional in hyping than Black Isle/ Obsidian will ever be. The only talent they had, "good" ol' Ferret didn't leave for Bioware for no reason. No hype = no sales.
Lesson learned: Both games were superb hardcore gamer's dreams. But as MCA once stated: It was too much in one game. I think both games coud've been much more successfull if they reduced the "originality" factor just one bit: I think a MotB in a more known region of the FR would've been more "accessible" and better business for Obsidian. More hype by Obsidian and Atari coud've worked too.
So what we have now: Two brilliant games that noone bought and very little chance to have another one of those games produced in the future. We're screwed.
Or what do you think?
