Development Info Divinity: Original Sin To Be Partially Funded via Kickstarter

[Excidium]

Let's nor compare a maker of action RPGs to Troika.

Heh.

Moreover, some of their reputation is due to rhetoric: what they say versus what they consistently deliver.

Sounds familiar...

 

[Metro]

I don't mean that in the common AAA sense of over-promising and under-delivering rather that Larian engages in a lot of the 'pro gamer/old school' rhetoric. I'm sure they're genuine in what they say but it also comes off as a marketing gimmick. CD Projekt is a better example of this: they constantly pander and use buzzwords but rarely deliver. A lot of people here tend to fap-fap-fap whenever Sven makes a blog post.

 

[zeitgeist]

How could they be short on money?

What makes you think they are?

 

[Black_Willow]

Let's nor compare a maker of action RPGs to Troika.

Because VtM:B was everything but an action RPG...

 

[General Maxson]

I will probably give them some money for Original Sin. If they aren't too greedy. Dragon Commander, meh, I don't know, probably not.

 

[Vicar]

Larian is definitely one of the last few developers worth supporting.

 

[Roguey]

How could they be short on money?

What makes you think they are?

I said it first and I'm basing it on how Larian has consistently run into financial problems on all their games (as detailed in the Divinity Anthology developer's journal) due to overambition and unrealistic schedules as well as Vincke's last blog post:
http://www.lar.net/2012/12/19/swens-2013-new-years-letter/

The first obvious slip-up is that back In December 2011, I expected Dragon Commander to ship in 2012 whereas now it turns out that it’s going to ship only in may or june 2013. Once again Larian’s ability to plan well in advance was put to shame, proving our complete lack of professionalism! But tbh, I’m afraid this lack of professionalism tag is going to stay with us for a long time because I don’t think we’ll ever learn to ship a game before we’re happy about it, and I actually also don’t think that we really want to be that “professional”. I am pretty sure that In Dragon Commander’s case, I’ll pick the game we’ll ship in 2013 any time above the game we would’ve shipped in 2012 , so even if we’re off schedule, I’ll maintain that delaying it and changing the gameplay were the right decisions.

Back then I also forsaw project E’s announcement, and that one indeed happened, even if in the end it was called Divinity: Original Sin instead of Eyes of a Child (which is where the E in project E came from). In case you are wondering (and you didn’t read the memo), Divinity: Orginal Sin was initially also scheduled to be released in 2012. Nobody believed us, but that didn’t really matter – we (well I) believed it until… well until we all fell in love with our own RPG and then went completely berserk on its features, leading to a big scale increase with all the inevitable delays as a consequence. Not that I’m worrying – the game really is turning out to be a gem and if we can manage to keep on finding the funds to support its development, so we don’t have to scale down again, we could have a hit on our hands. Obviously, we should aim to release it in 2013
...
The two obvious predictions are that Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Dragon Commander are going to ship. We have target dates for each and we’ll have to see if we manage to reach them. Obviously, the delays are costing us cash, so we cannot delay much more, but looking at the games, I don’t think the need to delay further will be there. Maybe we’ll have to scale up a bit more but we’ll see about that next year. Yes, I said scale up – not scale down
...
I assume everybody knows that we pretty much invested everything we have in Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Dragon Commander, meaning that we’re betting the entire company with these releases. That’s a risk but also vote of confidence in the abilities of this team to bring this to a good end. I’m really counting on writing about the fantastic reception both games had when the date will be december 2013 and I’m absolutely looking forward to the day that I’ll be playing the final versions of both games.

 

[villain of the story]

I'll fund that shit, as long as you offer dark magic as well (demon summoning for instance.) And katanas. And a Samurai class.

So you basically won't.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Divinity 2 sold well in the UK and other European countries, they have enough of a fanbase and their games generate enough sales for Dragon Commander and Original Sin to both be profitable.

 

[MightyHoax]

Maybe I'll throw them some money if they include the Dragon Commander board game as extra swag a reward at a reasonable pledge level.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Because VtM:B was everything but an action RPG...

Well, the game was too heavy on the action side, but it was a lot more than an action RPG. As good as Divine Divinity was it doesn't come close to Bloodlines.

 

[DeepOcean]

They maybe be are a little over ambitious for their own good, but its better to be ambitious than do the following: " On Oblivion, you can't levitate because it would be too much work to implement" or "Dragon Age 2 is a lazy ARPG done to atract the CoD crowd", they should have better budget management but they aren't completely corrupted by the popamole virus.

 

[Mangoose]

Because VtM:B was everything but an action RPG...

Well, the game was too heavy on the action side, but it was a lot more than an action RPG. As good as Divine Divinity was it doesn't come close to Bloodlines.

Yeah, but the action gameplay of VTMB was barely mediocre while DivDiv's combat is pretty decent. And why is only DivDiv up for comparison but not Div2, which had little bits of C&C sprinkled throughout its quests?

Honestly, Troika's games are the epitome of flawed gems. Very very good gems, but there are noticeable deficiencies (VtmB perhaps the more well rounded) and that's partly why they are where they are now.

 

[Jedi Exile]

I love Larian games, though they are certainly not perfect. Original Sin looks interesting, so it will be difficult to resist and not to give them some money.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yeah, but the action gameplay of VTMB was barely mediocre while DivDiv's combat is pretty decent.

In what ways one was barely mediocre and the other decent? Just curious.

And why is only DivDiv up for comparison but not Div2, which had little bits of C&C sprinkled throughout its quests?

I thought it was their best game. Div2 was too actiony for my taste.

Honestly, Troika's games are the epitome of flawed gems. Very very good gems, but there are noticeable deficiencies (VtmB perhaps the more well rounded) and that's partly why they are where they are now.

They are where they are now because real RPGs don't sell well. You can't compare Fallout 1&2sales to, say, BG 1&2 and not because one was flawed and the other was perfect or because BG was a dnd game.

 

[Infinitron]

They are where they are now because real RPGs don't sell well. You can't compare Fallout 1&2sales to, say, BG 1&2 and not because one was flawed and the other was perfect or because BG was a dnd game.

Oh, get off your C&C-uber-alles high horse. "Real RPGs".

 

[Vault Dweller]

Whatever you fucking call games like Fallout, Arcanum, Planescape, etc. Real, classic, proper, full-scale, etc. Do you see the difference between Arcanum and Baldur's Gate? Well, that's the difference that I'm talking about. The difference that keeps such RPGs from selling well.

 

[Excidium]

Do you see the difference between Arcanum and Baldur's Gate? Well, that's the difference that I'm talking about. The difference that keeps such RPGs from selling well.

Being released in an unfinished state?

 

[Infinitron]

Whatever you fucking call games like Fallout, Arcanum, Planescape, etc. Real, classic, proper, full-scale, etc. Do you see the difference between Arcanum and Baldur's Gate? Well, that's the difference that I'm talking about. The difference that keeps such RPGs from selling well.

Fallout, Arcanum and Planescape are more classic than RPGs from the early 90s and 80s, gotcha

BTW, there was nothing in those games' mechanics or actual gameplay that caused them to sell poorly. If they sold poorly it was because they were quirkier (in terms of concept and setting) and harder to market than Baldur's Gate.

Being released in an unfinished state?

And that.

 

[Vault Dweller]

BTW, there was nothing in those games' mechanics or actual gameplay that caused them to sell poorly. If they sold poorly it was because they were quirkier (in terms of concept and setting) and harder to market than Baldur's Gate.

Right. So the reason everyone makes action RPGs today is not because non-action (better than 'real' or 'classic'?) RPGs sell poorly, it's because they are just so much fun.

 

[Infinitron]

Right. So the reason everyone makes action RPGs today is not because non-action (better than 'real' or 'classic'?) RPGs sell poorly, it's because they are just so much fun.

You're mixing two different time periods here. The reasons for one PC-exclusive game selling more than another PC-exclusive game in 1998 are different from the reasons why console-style games sell more than PC-style games in 2013. The industry has changed and gaming audiences have changed.

 

[Black_Willow]

Because VtM:B was everything but an action RPG...

Well, the game was too heavy on the action side, but it was a lot more than an action RPG. As good as Divine Divinity was it doesn't come close to Bloodlines.

Bloodlines had action combat with WASD movement and crosshair. That alone makes it an action RPG.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Do you see the difference between Arcanum and Baldur's Gate? Well, that's the difference that I'm talking about. The difference that keeps such RPGs from selling well.

Being released in an unfinished state?

First and foremost, I'd rather play unfinished or flawed games like Arcanum than finished and oh so awesome games like BG, Skyrim, and Witcher.

Second, I don't recall Arcanum being released in an unfinished state. It was a flawed game and had a number of issues, but I can't think of a game that didn't have them.

Third, there is a popular theory that Troika went out of business because their games had bugs and issues. The theory implies that only Troika games had them and all the other studios that are still in business are makers of fine and quality games. Like Obsidian, for example. Or Bethesda. No bugs whatsoever in Bethesda's games. The reason Obsidian is still in business is because they are more realistic and willing to make crap, like NWN2, DS3, and South Park, and action games like AP (Bloodlines it wasn't) and Aliens to stay in business, and they will never ever release an unfinished game like KOTOR 2.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Bloodlines had action combat with WASD movement and crosshair. That alone makes it an action RPG.

It's a dumb way to define action RPGs. Kinda like defining RPGs as games where you play a role.

 

[Mangoose]

In what ways one was barely mediocre and the other decent? Just curious.

No, stop trying to sidetrack points so you can run away from the main topic and play your quote-ad-nauseum strategy.

And why is only DivDiv up for comparison but not Div2, which had little bits of C&C sprinkled throughout its quests?

I thought it was their best game. Div2 was too actiony for my taste.[/quote]
That's nice, but the reason I brought up Div2 was that it t through in a lot of RPG elements on the non-combat and dialogue side. And while the gameplay mechanisms of Div2 were twitchy, it honestly depended a lot on stats, to the point where I didn't like the game because most if not all attacks and spells were auto-aimed. If you've played through both Div2 and VtmB you'd realize they're comparable on the action - - - - - RPG spectrum.

On the non-combat side, a lot of the sidequests had skill checks and C&C, and there were quite a few hidden areas. The main RPG aspect it lacks in compared to VTmB is RPG elements in the main storyline, which is linear with IIRC not many choices.

Honestly, Troika's games are the epitome of flawed gems. Very very good gems, but there are noticeable deficiencies (VtmB perhaps the more well rounded) and that's partly why they are where they are now.

They are where they are now because real RPGs don't sell well. You can't compare Fallout 1&2sales to, say, BG 1&2 and not because one was flawed and the other was perfect or because BG was a dnd game.

A) Talking about the sales was just a sidenote. The point of those two sentences was just to highlight how Troika's games are really good in many ways but then have noticeable letdowns in a few ways, enough so that for some % of the population, those flaw(s) are a dealbreaker.

Talking about me comparing sales is just retarded aspie nitpicky shit.

(B) That's taking a single-minded perspective. I said that their flawed gems are partly why they are where they are now. Yes, "real RPGs" not selling well is also part of the reason.

Sometimes, you know, events have multiple causes.