Speaking as a writer and not someone who makes those high-level design decisions, I've played in the Forgotten Realms pretty much for as long as I've been a gamer. I love the setting and would be happy to make FR games forever.
If I was going to look at another D&D world, I have a soft spot for an older setting called Birthright. It would be cool to see a tactical army-controlling yet roleplaying type game where your avatar manages their lands and does diplomatic things in between clearing out dungeons.
and say THIS WOULD BE SO FREAKISHLY AWESOME GHIA;FJEISA;JGIE;SJAFIJEASLIFJELSIAJFEILJSAFILE;!!1!11!
[–]smeagolheart 1 point 13 minutes ago Will we ever be able to play bg through bg2ee in one game?
[–]DaigleDopple 3 points 10 minutes ago Yes, 1.3 patch should really help things out. We feel pretty bad* about the state of the initial release, as Trent can attest.
[–]smeagolheart 1 point 6 minutes ago Philip I was referring to an official BGT style thing where you don't have to quit out of one game to continue the adventure.
[–]DaigleDopple 2 points a minute ago Oh man have we got something in store for you.
deltago 2 points 4 minutes ago What? or whY?
[–]DaigleDopple 1 point 2 minutes ago You'll find out next year! We've got some plans BG:EE/BG2:EE that might relate to what you're asking about.
[–]smeagolheart 1 point just now that's great news
@wubble: I'll save you the trouble. (Oh, hey, that rhymes! Fun times!)
They're working on Adventure Y, which may or may not be an expansion that may or may not bridge the gap between BG1 and BG2. BG2:EE patch: maybe 2014, maybe not. IWD:EE upgrades will eventually, someday, somewhen, be backported to the BG games. Mark Meer is Baeloth. Edmonton is cold.
It's mostly just dozens of people asking whether they're going to do an Enhanced Edition to "Planescape: Torment". To which the answer is - wait for it - "maybe".
figured it would be, they do these to drum up publicity and to see if there's something that people really want them to do
Drumming up publicity tends to work best when you have something to drum up publicity for, though. By their own admission, they've got about as much to show for their hard work at the moment as a graverobber at a crematorium.
And, I mean... IWD2, PS:T. That's a very short wish list, and it's been brought out in practically every interview, Twitter exchange and forum since BG:EE was announced. 3E rules, different engine, complicated, maybe, etc. etc. etc.
You forgot that I like surfing and taking long walks on the beach
Shouldn't that be "I might like surfing, and I'm thinking about taking long walks on the beach someday"? :P
Actually no! Back in the 80's I was a professional surfer (briefly) in California. I do miss taking the walks though - not many beaches in Texas where I live now and I have little spare time any more.
I wish I could figure out why I keep doing this to myself. I mean, Beamdog is what it is, they can't/won't/don't want to do better, but every time they make a poor decision like faking a stat counter for a beta test or running a 500+ comment reddit thread when they have nothing of value to say, I end up channeling Tyra Banks all over again.
@typo_tilly: I think what I wanted to hear was some reason - any reason, really - to think they might be worth trusting again. But comparing this AMA to the one from two years ago and seeing how little has changed got me all riled up again.
Even four days ago we didn't expect any AMA or a direct dialogue with the Developers. It wasn't something promised long ago or in any way compulsory.
So the whole situation where one could ask nearly everything (including the chance to compose questions prior to the event, after giving it a thorough thought) came surprising and sweet.
When I was writing those questions I simply was thinking about anything that could be interesting for me to hear. I not only didn't expect the Developers to fully answer them, I didn't expect them to answer them at all because those were straight questions about something not officially announced yet. There was no obligation by the Developers to answer questions about things that are in the works so far.
And yet, they went on and answered them. They tried to be as diplomatic as it was possible but they still answered the questions I hadn't expect to be answered.
They for the first time revealed the Adventure Y will be about CHARNAME. They finally told us there will be a new NPC there. This is a new information, that can be compared with the screenshots Phillip posted more than a month ago by its importance.
This is an exciting news. I'm not only very glad to find it out but also about the information itself. Man, we will have an adventure about CHARNAME! Man, there will be a new NPC with his or her personality, abilities and background! I'm HAPPY!
They also said they will try their best to release the BG2EE patch before Christmas.
This is more than enough for me in terms of new information. This alone is enough to say this AMA was useful and insightful.
But they didn't say only that. They talked about their sales, their concept plans, their Obsidian relationship. They said Dorn is named after Michael Dorn and Rasaad was a duergar in the start. They said there will be something like BGT but wit EEs in the future.
They talked about their favourite books, working process, they just chatted with people.
It was a great AMA. If you were expecting tons of secrets being revealed then you were wrong from the start: it was not a leak to the yellow press, it was a dialogue with the developers.
People would always want and demand more. There will always be someone for whom "it's not enough". But it's totally understandable and OK. Without curiosity there will be no progress. But we must always remember that it's also understandable we can't always get everything we want. We must wait and we must see. It's the natural way of things.
With this AMA Beamdog have tried to commucate with their supporters and IE games' fans and they have succeeded, I think. Now we better know them as people (there were even selfies there!), we know something about them as humans. And we know new facts. These facts are very exciting and I'm looking forward to them. So, thank you, Beamdog, for this AMA idea and its realisation!
P.S. I also thank all those people who asked them questions, including the ones that were in this thread so that even while I couldn't participate in the AMA because of the different time zones and parts of the world, I still got answers on my questions.
P.S. I also thank all those people who asked them questions, including the ones that were in this thread so that even while I couldn't participate in the AMA because of the different time zones and parts of the world, I still got answers on my questions.
My favourite answer from the AMA: [–]Kaeloree 2 pontok an hour ago Some of us made sensible life decisions and work remotely from locales diverse as Australia, the US, Russia, Hungary and more. I've yet to fit a dropbear into these games but by god one day I will.
Crevs: Are you planning in making a new engine or using an existing one (that is not the enhanced IE)? Also, if so, in which programming language(s) would it be written? And, would it be open source or not?
Trent: The days of engine writing are drawing to a close. We're looking at licensing for our next effort.
Crevs: Cool! (if my decoding from the cryptic answer is correct) Even if not open source (I feel it's ok given the effort will have to be huge to attain the functionality of the IE) I find it nice that you're making a new engine. Thanks for the answer!
@CrevsDaak My understanding of Trent's answer here is different. I think Trent says that today, in the modern circumstances, engine writing is not effective (thus "the days of engine writing are drawing to a close").
"We're looking at licensing for our next effort" - I think it means they are going to take an existing engine from the rightholder.
A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an of an agreement between those parties. This is what I think Trent means: they will become a licensee of an existing engine. The fact they had pre-talks about the Pillars of Eternity engine adds to my understanding.
"We're looking at licensing for our next effort" - I think it means they are going to take an existing engine from the rightholder.
A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an of an agreement between those parties. This is what I think Trent means: they will become a licensee of an existing engine. The fact they had pre-talks about the Pillars of Eternity engine adds to my understanding.
I too believe that they're planning to gain license for the PoE Unity Engine from Obsidian, and I believe this will be a good move for BeamDog.
Comments
Will we ever be able to play bg through bg2ee in one game?
[–]DaigleDopple 3 points 10 minutes ago
Yes, 1.3 patch should really help things out. We feel pretty bad* about the state of the initial release, as Trent can attest.
[–]smeagolheart 1 point 6 minutes ago
Philip I was referring to an official BGT style thing where you don't have to quit out of one game to continue the adventure.
[–]DaigleDopple 2 points a minute ago
Oh man have we got something in store for you.
deltago 2 points 4 minutes ago
What? or whY?
[–]DaigleDopple 1 point 2 minutes ago
You'll find out next year! We've got some plans BG:EE/BG2:EE that might relate to what you're asking about.
[–]smeagolheart 1 point just now
that's great news
(*edited by me)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH
SO MUCH READING
They're working on Adventure Y, which may or may not be an expansion that may or may not bridge the gap between BG1 and BG2. BG2:EE patch: maybe 2014, maybe not. IWD:EE upgrades will eventually, someday, somewhen, be backported to the BG games. Mark Meer is Baeloth. Edmonton is cold.
You are now caught up.
Dude, if I ever go back to school, can I borrow your notes?
(I'm 64 - I don't have a lot of time to waste!) ;-)
And, I mean... IWD2, PS:T. That's a very short wish list, and it's been brought out in practically every interview, Twitter exchange and forum since BG:EE was announced. 3E rules, different engine, complicated, maybe, etc. etc. etc. Shouldn't that be "I might like surfing, and I'm thinking about taking long walks on the beach someday"? :P Just do like Beamdog and copy-paste the same vague answers for two years straight. Voila, instant diploma.
Had to resist asking a question already asked...
Or if they would put a mummie into the new game... I did it. It is still ongoing... But bed for me now.
I just don't get it.
essentially all that did was not tell me anything, and get me pissed of again that they added Hexxat to the game.
So the whole situation where one could ask nearly everything (including the chance to compose questions prior to the event, after giving it a thorough thought) came surprising and sweet.
When I was writing those questions I simply was thinking about anything that could be interesting for me to hear. I not only didn't expect the Developers to fully answer them, I didn't expect them to answer them at all because those were straight questions about something not officially announced yet. There was no obligation by the Developers to answer questions about things that are in the works so far.
And yet, they went on and answered them. They tried to be as diplomatic as it was possible but they still answered the questions I hadn't expect to be answered.
They for the first time revealed the Adventure Y will be about CHARNAME. They finally told us there will be a new NPC there. This is a new information, that can be compared with the screenshots Phillip posted more than a month ago by its importance.
This is an exciting news. I'm not only very glad to find it out but also about the information itself. Man, we will have an adventure about CHARNAME! Man, there will be a new NPC with his or her personality, abilities and background! I'm HAPPY!
They also said they will try their best to release the BG2EE patch before Christmas.
This is more than enough for me in terms of new information. This alone is enough to say this AMA was useful and insightful.
But they didn't say only that. They talked about their sales, their concept plans, their Obsidian relationship. They said Dorn is named after Michael Dorn and Rasaad was a duergar in the start. They said there will be something like BGT but wit EEs in the future.
They talked about their favourite books, working process, they just chatted with people.
It was a great AMA. If you were expecting tons of secrets being revealed then you were wrong from the start: it was not a leak to the yellow press, it was a dialogue with the developers.
People would always want and demand more. There will always be someone for whom "it's not enough". But it's totally understandable and OK. Without curiosity there will be no progress. But we must always remember that it's also understandable we can't always get everything we want. We must wait and we must see. It's the natural way of things.
With this AMA Beamdog have tried to commucate with their supporters and IE games' fans and they have succeeded, I think. Now we better know them as people (there were even selfies there!), we know something about them as humans. And we know new facts. These facts are very exciting and I'm looking forward to them.
So, thank you, Beamdog, for this AMA idea and its realisation!
P.S. I also thank all those people who asked them questions, including the ones that were in this thread so that even while I couldn't participate in the AMA because of the different time zones and parts of the world, I still got answers on my questions.
[–]Kaeloree 2 pontok an hour ago
Some of us made sensible life decisions and work remotely from locales diverse as Australia, the US, Russia, Hungary and more.
I've yet to fit a dropbear into these games but by god one day I will.
Trent: The days of engine writing are drawing to a close. We're looking at licensing for our next effort.
Crevs: Cool! (if my decoding from the cryptic answer is correct) Even if not open source (I feel it's ok given the effort will have to be huge to attain the functionality of the IE) I find it nice that you're making a new engine. Thanks for the answer!
@CrevsDaak My understanding of Trent's answer here is different. I think Trent says that today, in the modern circumstances, engine writing is not effective (thus "the days of engine writing are drawing to a close").
"We're looking at licensing for our next effort" - I think it means they are going to take an existing engine from the rightholder.
A license may be granted by a party ("licensor") to another party ("licensee") as an of an agreement between those parties. This is what I think Trent means: they will become a licensee of an existing engine. The fact they had pre-talks about the Pillars of Eternity engine adds to my understanding.