George Ziets opening a new RPG studio - Digimancy Entertainment

[Roguey]

Perhaps it is open world not in the "big seamless world without loading screens" sense that is more about the technical and presentation side but in the "you can go anywhere" sense that is more about the world gameplay side, like in Fallout 1/2. BL1 wasn't like that since areas opened gradually but there isn't really much of a reason (aside from scripting) that it couldn't have been designed so you could visit all areas from the beginning of the game.

Back when Hardsuit was doing it, they said you could visit every hub from the start with no plotgates in your way.

It would be cause for alarm if they were making new levels for it instead of repurposing what they inherited.

 

[Diggfinger]

Full of soy, agenda, homo faggots and diverse cast. With a ton of balance and unnecessarily long, unedited texts. What else do you think we want in 2022? What are you some kind of biggots or racists over there at Digimancy?

Ironically, this is exactly what they'll deliver anyway, no matter what you tell them.

I've never played a Ziets game (Mask of the Betrayer, Dungeon Siege III, Wasteland 3) that had "unnecessarily long, unedited texts" or political lectures.

How much did Ziets do on WL3?

 

[Roguey]

It's not a gray area.

The only way it's a gray area is if you consider the megaman games to be open world too.

In Mega Man you select your levels from a hub, it's hub and spoke.

How much did Ziets do on WL3?

He was the lead designer, but he left about a year before it released.

 

[Modron]

Preserving skyway's old image:

Notice how he puts tires nearly front and center, truly the work of an artist.

 

[LESS T_T]

Are they teasing Darklands or what?



(First-person Darklands sounds pretty strange and/or expensive though.)

 

[Roguey]

The Senior International Brand Manager for the Anno series is mutually following them. An Anno RPG?

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

and then the company loses at least 3/5 of the writers who worked on it.

They did? Or this is just hyperbole?

Cash and Olga are Digimancers now. According to some paywalled article, Robert was fired and this is corroborated by ZAUM referring to Helen as "lead writer" even though she certainly wasn't https://twitter.com/discoelysium/status/1387417007562371076 https://twitter.com/atelierZAUM/status/1435177394516672513

Olga left over a year before the game came out. It sounded messy. She might not have been the only departure at the time—there was definitely a moment where they were very short-handed. I guess not everyone thrives under that Sendero Luminoso management style.

If anybody’s still in touch with Junta, he would know what, if anything, happened with RK.

 

[Nano]

It's a time traveling game. Calling it.

 

[KafkaBot]

I'd play a time traveling game written by George Ziets in a heartbeat. Like, I would tell the rest of my backlog to fuck off and get started on it immediately.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It's a time traveling game. Calling it.

Sounds like a hidden object game where you have to find the phylactery of Dorian Gray, to be honest.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

50 shades of Gray!

 

[Cyberarmy]

First-person Darklands sounds pretty strange and/or expensive though.

Maybe Ravenloft?

 

[S.torch]

I guess not everyone thrives under that Sendero Luminoso management style.

Elaborate. What does this means?
Is strange to say that not everyone thrives, when the game was one of the most successful RPGs in the past decade.

 

[Harthwain]

Are they teasing Darklands or what?

Sounds like Gothic Horror in a historic city (Constantinople?).

 

[Nano]

Jeez, running D&D campaigns at 9 years old?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Jeez, running D&D campaigns at 9 years old?

Yes, I too sacked the outpost of Venarium at the age of 11.
It helped that it had already been sacked centuries before, but don't let the details trouble you.

@GZiets might have mentioned that before though.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Jeez, running D&D campaigns at 9 years old?

That's around the age my friends and I started playing PnP. I wouldn’t say they were the most productive or mature tabletop sessions, and we were almost always playing published one-shots, but we were all capable of understanding the rules and participating.

 

[Ismaul]

Jeez, running D&D campaigns at 9 years old?

Well, yeah?

As kids not glued to screens we were motivated, man. You get yourself a starter set, and learn to play with friends. It's the perfect age to start.

If we can read CYOA books we can run simple campaigns, especially if there's a pre-written scenario to use as a starting point. I was reading The Hobbit, LotR and bunch of other books at that age.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I think people forget that basic D&D really was basic.

 

[Viata]

A kid could just read those adventure modules and get the basic idea and try his amazing imagination, thanks to a brain still not infected by the television and have lots of fun.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

I guess not everyone thrives under that Sendero Luminoso management style.

Elaborate. What does this means?
Is strange to say that not everyone thrives, when the game was one of the most successful RPGs in the past decade.

What does the quality of the game have to do with whether or not ZA/UM is a good place to work?

Lots of writers left the studio; two of them are now at Digimancy. Obviously not everyone thrives. I don’t know if this is still the case without Kurvitz, but it was an extremely high intensity workplace.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I think people forget that basic D&D really was basic.

We played AD&D2E because that’s what was getting pushed at the stores at the time, and as I’m sure you know it’s substantially more complex than the basic sets were. We mostly played at the hobby shop because only a couple of us had player’s handbook, and I think it was a Christmas or two before anybody got the DMG and the hobby shop guys would let us borrow one and also use their complete Monstrous Compendium. They were nice guys to let a bunch of snot-nosed punks hang out in their space and get their grubby hands all over their books.

I do remember us making fun of one of my friends’ younger brother when he kept asking us what THAC0 was again, but he was a year or two younger than us.

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[Abu Antar]

https://twitter.com/frailgesture/status/1513990835989217285?s=20&t=y_uzmcCBNGAdMEtXgZNOqA

Had a real good time catching up with
@gziets
and chatting about Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer the other day! This video is a lot of cave-delving but hopefully the conversation is interesting!

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/a-dev-chat-about-mask-of-the-betrayer/2970-21537

 

[Sentinel]

https://twitter.com/frailgesture/status/1513990835989217285?s=20&t=y_uzmcCBNGAdMEtXgZNOqA

Had a real good time catching up with
@gziets
and chatting about Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer the other day! This video is a lot of cave-delving but hopefully the conversation is interesting!

https://www.giantbomb.com/shows/a-dev-chat-about-mask-of-the-betrayer/2970-21537

I just watched this, and this was the gbomb guy monologuing about his gaming experiences for 1h20m. what a massive waste of time. And he never finishes a thought too, always goes off on tangents. Ziets barely got a word in.