Five Great Games That Killed Great Studios

[VentilatorOfDoom]

<p>ExplicitGamer <a href="http://www.explicitgamer.com/article/top-5-great-games-that-killed-great-studios" target="_blank">put up an article</a> about 5 great games that that ended up being the final nail in the coffin for the studios that developed them. Here's the Troika/Bloodlines part:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Their third game was far more ambitious. Using the underused and superb Vampire: The Masquerade card game license, they aimed to do Deus Ex with vampires. Bloodlines was a first-person RPG with shooting, sneaking and persuasion elements mixed in with horror, blood-sucking and big-breasted women with secrets to hide (and not many clothes to hide it in). The game also contained the single best haunted house recreation in gaming.

However awesome that sounds, there were two snags however. The first is that the game was using Valve's Source engine, and would become the only non-Valve game to do that. Half-Life 2 hadn't even been released, and Valve insisted that Bloodlines not be out first. So it was released on the same day as Half-Life 2, the most anticipated PC game of all time.

The second problem was that it was utterly unfinished, and despite being an excellent and unique game that is still one of the few games that attempted to "do" Deus Ex, it was lambasted as being unplayable. These two combined sealed the fate of both Bloodlines and Troika. Fan patches are still being released for the game now, illustrating just how much of a following the game has.

It should be noted that both major ex-Black Isle developers, Troika and Obsidian, are regularly criticized for releasing unfinished games. Let's hope that Troika's fate doesn't befall Obsidian too.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Spotted at: <a href="http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/98606-five-great-games-that-killed-great-studios.html">GB</a></p>

 

[Ogg]

"Vampire: The Masquerade card game license"

Where do you get all those Picard pics? I thiink I need one.

 

[Volourn]

BL is overrated. This is a game that could have been great but is destroyed by one of the worst combat systems ever. Great story, greatw riting, great C&C, great characters, great atmosphere, very shitty combat that brings it down to good but coulda been great. Otherwise it is a potential top 10.

Also, Troika was brought down by their arrogance. Not ebcause of a great game.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

I hate random top 5/10s about older games that anyone can come up with where the douchebag clueless mainstream blogger makes annoying authoritative comments followed by "let's hope" a bunch of times.

I especially do because I was one of those in the past, and now I'm fucking embarassed of it.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

Also, Troika was brought down by their arrogance. Not ebcause of a great game.

 

[Xor]

I think Troika was doomed regardless of Bloodlines' success or failure. As I recall, they closed down like a week after it launched. I remember reading somewhere that they finished and released the patch without being paid for it. Now that's dedication.

 

[Volourn]

Not dedication. More like idiocy, arrogant, and patheticness.

 

[Grunker]

"Vampire: The Masquerade card game license"

 

[Fowyr]

Not dedication. More like idiocy, arrogant, and patheticness.

r00fles

 

[Darth Roxor]

At least the series isn't dead yet, with Thief 4 in development right now. Let's hope the curse doesn't strike down Eidos Montreal too.

Let's hope it does.

 

[KalosKagathos]

However awesome that sounds, there were two snags however. The first is that the game was using Valve's Source engine, and would become the only non-Valve game to do that.

Huh? What about Dark Messiah?

 

[JagreenLern]

Bloodlines was pretty awesome, although the FPS combat was sort of lame. I can just imagine how awesome a turn-based isometric game using the VTM license could have been. Still, my major criticism of Bloodlines is that it wouldn't let me play a Tzimisce.

 

[ScottishMartialArts]

Article doesn't have it's facts straight -- no surprise there. Thief 1 and 2 were HUGELY profitable for LGS. It was lingering debt from Terra Nova, and an inability to secure adequate financing for their next project which killed them.

edit: An excellent account of what brought LGS down -- http://www.ttlg.com/articles/lgsclosing.asp

 

[Whipporowill]

I think Troika was doomed regardless of Bloodlines' success or failure. As I recall, they closed down like a week after it launched. I remember reading somewhere that they finished and released the patch without being paid for it. Now that's dedication.

Then again, they had to sit on the game for a few months when HL2 was delayed, if I recall matters correctly. They probably worked on the patch then and didn't get paid anything during this interval.

 

[hoochimama]

Fan patches are still being released for the game now, illustrating just how much of a following the game has.

The game's following is an obsessive compulsive who keeps rearranging chairs now?

 

[Turjan]

However awesome that sounds, there were two snags however. The first is that the game was using Valve's Source engine, and would become the only non-Valve game to do that.

Huh? What about Dark Messiah?

Or Zeno Clash.

 

[King Crispy]

Not dedication. More like idiocy, arrogant, and patheticness.

patheticness- no dictionary results

FFS!

Also, nice to see Whipporowill posting again.

 

[Volourn]

"patheticness- no dictionary results

FFS!"

New words are created all the time. Even current common used wordsm today had to be 'created' by somebody in the past. FFS

 

[King Crispy]

True. "Volournian" being a perfect example.

 

[CrimsonAngel]

OH God Hand i would fuck that game if possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAga2AjfZlg

 

[FeelTheRads]

Not dedication. More like idiocy, arrogant, and patheticness.

Is illiteracy a big problem where you live, Volourn?

Also, what arrogance... sorry arrogant?

 

[Fat Dragon]

People interested in Troika's fall should read this article, to hear about it straight from Troika's founders:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... -of-Troika

Interestingly, Jason Anderson thinks that it was mostly the publishers' fault.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Article doesn't have it's facts straight -- no surprise there. Thief 1 and 2 were HUGELY profitable for LGS. It was lingering debt from Terra Nova, and an inability to secure adequate financing for their next project which killed them.

edit: An excellent account of what brought LGS down -- http://www.ttlg.com/articles/lgsclosing.asp

It's a blogger retard, what else do you expect?

 

[Volourn]

"Interestingly, Jason Anderson thinks that it was mostly the publishers' fault."

And, this is why, Jason Anderson is a moron. Three different publishers, same developer, same result. See the pattern/ The developer.

He's about passing the buck, and that article just illustrates the bullshit arrogance Troika had as a company.

Fuck them. And, i say that despite overall enjoying 2 of their 3 games. They deserved to fail due to THEIR own failings; nobody else's.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Bloodlines isn't "great" it's a "flawed gem", by any non fanboy standard.

The same can be said for all of Troika's games. They never produced anything great, they always produced games with flashes of greatness weighed down by significant amounts of mediocrity.

Which makes it hard to call them a great studio, and probably explains their failure. (although to be fair, I'm not sure their type of game would have been profitable for too much longer even if competently executed).

Evil genius isn't a great game either... it's a stretch to call it good.

Bad article.