Company News JoWood in trouble?

Tags: Gothic II

It would seem so, per this <a href="http://www.jowood.com/investor/index.php?site=1?=en&ScreenID=6080">announcement</a> on <a href="http://www.jowood.com">JoWood</a>'s web page. Here's the scoop:
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<blockquote>Due to a postponement of several releases into the forthcoming two quarters - especially the release of Gothic II - and the general diffficult market environment JoWooD Productions Software AG is obliged to decrease its sales and earnings forecast for the business year 2002.
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Faced with the sector's weak business development in the longer term initial measures of a cost reduction programme have already been implemented. The basis of these measures will be JoWooD's focus on its core competences - the publishing and development of titles with chart topping potential. In the course of this programme the areas of publishing as well as development and distribution will be subject to extensive rationalization measures.
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The company will publish detailed information regarding these measures, the third quarter results, the outlook for business year 2002 and the further strategic position of JoWooD at a press conference on November 14th, 2002.</blockquote>
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Ye-ouch! That's kind of a shame, because they publish some interesting titles, such as <a href="http://arxfatalis-online.com">Arx Fatalis</a> and <i>Gothic 2</i>.
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Spotted this at <a href="http://rpgdot.com">RPGDot</a>.
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Guh, I dont see why anyone would purchase Arx Fatalis, when they could be playing Morrowind which is basically the same game and a helluva lot more enjoyable.

Morrowind has a dialogue system, good graphics and a non linear world. Where as Arx has scripted conversations, tediously repetitive graphics, combat that is incredibly boring and abysmal sub quests {fetch and return}}

 

Morrowind has a shitty "dialogue" system. The combat's basically the same as Arx Fatalis, with the exception of AF's B&W-esque magic casting system, which they came up with first, by the way. I hope that you point that out in your review, instead of going with the usual Ben Rudick style "they ripped it right out of B&W because B&W came out first" type deal.

Arx too has good graphics, but I don't know why you call it 'tediously repetitive'. I like dungeons and underground just fine. Besides, why the heck are you complaining about the graphics? We don't review the graphics at the RPG Codex to that length, now do we? It's not as if Avernum and Geneforge look like the Mona Lisa.

As for the scripted conversations, every game has that. It's just that Arx Fatalis is so much more limited than Morrowind or other RPGs in that area, but it's really no more 'linear' than Icewind Dale 2 or Baldur's Gate 1/2. Besides, the conversations are quite nice.

Concerning the combat, it's okay. It's like Morrowind for the most part, but the AI is a lot smarter. Weakened enemies run away in fear, scream funny things, and bring back support. Oh, and they even know how to open doors. That's fun.

I agree that the quests could have done with more variation, though. That's a big issue I have with the game.

 

Oh, and by the way, I'm liking Arx FAtalis a lot more htan Morrowind, for some reason. It's probably because Morrowind plays like a slow ass motherfucker on every computer I've tried it on. God I hate that.

 

I didn't care much for the dialogue browser in Morrowind either. However, it beats having automaton dialogue.

"Gesture recognition" wasn't really new when B&W did it either. It's also a pathetic system to use as well. It certainly doesn't work well in a first person action situation, nor does it work well with trackballs.

I actually brought up the graphics as a tidbit in the Geneforge review. However, there are a lot of reviews that have said the graphics rival Morrowind, so that's probably why he brought it up. I don't think they rival Morrowind at all, either.

 

Yeah. I have to admit that while Gestures are a nice implement, they can also be tedious. They do however make you feel like you're actually casting spells though, which is probably the reason why they were implemented in the first place. After all, we always complain about games not being 'interactive' enough. In most games, spells are just a different form of machinegun. Having the system in place really gives you a sense of interaction with the world, though it causes plenty of problems with trackball users.

As for the graphics, it's certainly not as good as Morrowind's. Nothing beats Morrowind in that department, except for maybe Unreal Tournament 2003, because that game doesn't actually slow down in large areas. Morrowind still looks better, though. With its skies and weather effects, nothing even comes close to being that beautiful.

In any case, the graphics aren't bad. They look quite nice, really.

 

Interactive? I really wouldn't call them that. That's kind of like saying LARPS is more interactive than PnP because you actually walk around and physically hit pillow covered "ogres" with wooden swords.

Interactive is how much you can do with your character and how often, it doesn't mean having to fight an interface that works well on some input devices and not others. As the addage goes, you're supposed to be fighting the monsters, not the interface.

 

As much as the game itself was kind of annoying, I really liked the varying forms of magic in Ultima VIII: Pagan. It was frustrating at times trying to place reagants and candles around a pentagram, but the general ideas and distinctions between the schools of magic was good.

 

I was probably a bit harsher than i intended to be, but Arx just isnt that good!

And you have to admit scripted conversations remove virtually any chance of role playing {Other than playing as a mage or a fighter}.

 

My main grudge with Arx Fatalis was, for the most extent, the fact that the world was rather predictable. O, good god, evil wererats! Better look out, that is a new one!
And on the other hand, Morrorwind, dispite it's abundance of Orcs&Elves was able to create quite a nice quasi original atmosphere. Not I used quasi.
Anyway, why are people complaining about the death of JoWood? These are the people that brought us the famed "TechnoMage", mind you.

 

Yea, but they're also bringing us Gothic 2, which has alot of potential.

 

They deserve doom for TechnoMage, dispite how good Gothic 2 could have been.

 

I didn't realize how great an idiot you could be, Constipated, until I read what you just wrote.

JoWood is releasing several upcoming games that we should all look forward to, most notable is Gothic 2. TechnoMage might have been a ton of crap but the death of a publisher doesn't exactly help all of the studios who have their projects published by it. What's going to happen to those games if JoWood expires?

I'd really hate for Gothic 2, or Spellforce (which I'm personally looking forward to) not to see the light of day.

 

It was an overstatement. Of course I want to see Gothic 2 out. What do you think I am? Can I not make a sarcastic comment without unleashing the hounds of ignorance? I just would like to point out that JoWood, as a company, has only recently began to make non craptastic games.

 

For sarcasm to work, that assumes any competence of communication is used as a base.

 

There was a Settlers clone they released a year or so ago that I liked, Aliens and Amazons. That's the only one I can name that I liked. You're right about JoWood though, they primarily publish budget titles from European developers. Really, that's what a new publisher has to do, publish what the big boys won't publish and hope it works until you have to enough clout to get in some of the bigger and better things.

 

True, for the most part. Though was IP not in it's infancy with FO?
Or DreamCatcher with Syberia or Haegemonia? Though those are little more than noteable exceptions.

 

Interplay is an old company. I started out as a developer in the old days of computer gaming. I would guess IPLY is nearly as old as companies like Activision or Electronic Arts.

Then again, I could be completely and utterly wrong.

 

IPLY has been around since the 80's.