It's not a "few days" work. I've only done a little modding in my time, but I know it takes a lot of planning and plotting to get even the simplest jobs completed.
It's not a "few days" work. I've only done a little modding in my time, but I know it takes a lot of planning and plotting to get even the simplest jobs completed.
Tell me, do you take 8+ hours a day and do writing all day long? Do you code all day long? I exaggerated a bit, but they have Gaider, they have the programmers, they have the Project Managers. It's not a major project, compared to making a whole new game. I say this as someone who is a software engineer. I understand, to some degree, the LOE (level of effort) required.
The length of time is obviously directly related to the number of resources they'd throw at it. They could come up with a full solution VERY quickly if they wanted.
However, they have to ask the BEEF (Benefit vs Effort - got to love the buzzwords) of doing that.
Commercially, what would be the benefit? Are people likely to buy more SOD, or more BG2 if they do it? I'd hazard a guess and say doing it will not be worth the effort - it won't directly improve sales.
So goodwill to existing customers is the only real benefit it would bring. That's not a bad thing to aim for... however, there are plenty of more pressing things that could do with improvement first...
So goodwill to existing customers is the only real benefit it would bring. That's not a bad thing to aim for... however, there are plenty of more pressing things that could do with improvement first...
Not to mention that BG3/BGNext/Whatever is in the works.
It's highly doubtful BD will add content to released games. Just look at the history for the enhanced editions. They'll keep fixing bugs as they used to and work on some new large scale project. Also, BD works at a steady but easy pace, so it's unlikely we'll see anything besides patches before months.
Well there is a precedant for patches including new characters and new classes. That would count as content to me.
As for these things taking a few days I'd also factor in the fact that before any changes are implimented content wise it has to be signed off by WotC. How much has to be signed off (from the large content patches to the minute ganeplay changes) I'm not certain about but that added bureaucracy could make even the simplest changes take much longer than than the actual work effort.
If I were them, I'd never change Mizhena (even ignoring the principle of the matter). Given how much scrutiny any such changes would face, it just seems like a losing proposition. I mean, who is really clamoring for more Mizhena content at this point? The natural move is to avoid talking about her except for occasional vague noises about "making sure we get it right," until everyone hopefully forgets this was ever an issue.
To be clear, I feel the same regarding Mizhena - but that's not the point. Whether advisable or not, they still publicly committed to expanding her content, and haven't. So what grounds are there for assuming they're willing or able to expand content they didn't commit to?
As for these things taking a few days I'd also factor in the fact that before any changes are implimented content wise it has to be signed off by WotC. How much has to be signed off (from the large content patches to the minute ganeplay changes) I'm not certain about but that added bureaucracy could make even the simplest changes take much longer than than the actual work effort.
I don't know how true that is - they didn't seem to have to go through much of an approval process to get Baeloth added to BG1 as an easter egg, he was just included in the 1.2 patch and quietly sent out.
As for sources, I've got exactly as many as you do regarding the future of the EEs: none. What I do have are the following facts: the writing team that was actually responsible for SoD is gone, David Gaider and the upcoming new hires are working on the new project, IWD:EE still hasn't been patched to 2.0, and the next BG patch is, if not on hold, then not a priority (per dev comments that 2.4 won't be out anytime soon).
What exactly is needed from the SoD writing team in regards to the (potential) new BG2 content? What would Gaider have to play in that? I suggest to drop the jaded attitude.
They will have to re-write a lot of the content, given the huge plot-holes SoD added to the overall story.
They will have to re-write a lot of the content, given the huge plot-holes SoD added to the overall story.
And realistically, if they wanted to, Bioware could do that in a few days. The approval process from WotC will take longer, but let's be honest here. It's not some giant, long-term project on the level of making an EE game or creating an expansion game or making an entirely new game.
And realistically, if they wanted to, Bioware could do that in a few days. The approval process from WotC will take longer, but let's be honest here. It's not some giant, long-term project on the level of making an EE game or creating an expansion game or making an entirely new game.
"If they wanted to" being the key there. They clearly don't, or per your logic they would've done it by now.
I personally hope that they do, but I think in order to do it justice it would require more than 2 days of writing. Depending on how much SoD we're talking about bringing into SoA, there could be a lot of writing required. The Skie plot of course, but also Corwin, as presumably she would be the representative from BG involved in the soultaker dagger plot, adding reactive dialogue based on our actions in SoD (including new dialogue for Jaheira, Minsc, Imoen, Dorn, Neera, Rasaad, Viconia, and Edwin) possibly bringing the SoD NPCs into the game (if they're going to add some content from SoD into BG2 they should bring as much as they can reasonably include).
The actual writing might not take an extremely long time, but the writing process involves story boarding, creating new quests with branching variables and outcomes and import conditions from SoD, adding to existing game dialogue as well as brand new dialogues. I think it's a lot more work than people are assuming.
They will have to re-write a lot of the content, given the huge plot-holes SoD added to the overall story.
And realistically, if they wanted to, Bioware could do that in a few days. The approval process from WotC will take longer, but let's be honest here. It's not some giant, long-term project on the level of making an EE game or creating an expansion game or making an entirely new game.
Given the massive Irenicus plot-hole SoD created for BG2, they kind of would have to make very big changes to the BG2 story for it to make sense. That is not done in a few days. This is what you get when rotten writers are in charge, I suppose. With Gaider on board the writing will improve greatly.
I would settle for something being done about it at least, or in the worst case at least an official statement on why it won't/can't happen for various reasons.
Trent did state a few pages back that they consider SoD a success, so there's hope I guess.
I was not happy you could not get SoD through Amazon or through physical stores here in the USA.
It costs more money to create and distribute physical discs. This is why most companies will only include physical discs as part of the Collector's Edition. Just about every PC gaming company is going digital. It cuts costs and allows them to devote more effort to development.
Comments
I say this as someone who is a software engineer. I understand, to some degree, the LOE (level of effort) required.
However, they have to ask the BEEF (Benefit vs Effort - got to love the buzzwords) of doing that.
Commercially, what would be the benefit? Are people likely to buy more SOD, or more BG2 if they do it? I'd hazard a guess and say doing it will not be worth the effort - it won't directly improve sales.
So goodwill to existing customers is the only real benefit it would bring. That's not a bad thing to aim for... however, there are plenty of more pressing things that could do with improvement first...
Also, BD works at a steady but easy pace, so it's unlikely we'll see anything besides patches before months.
As for these things taking a few days I'd also factor in the fact that before any changes are implimented content wise it has to be signed off by WotC. How much has to be signed off (from the large content patches to the minute ganeplay changes) I'm not certain about but that added bureaucracy could make even the simplest changes take much longer than than the actual work effort.
The actual writing might not take an extremely long time, but the writing process involves story boarding, creating new quests with branching variables and outcomes and import conditions from SoD, adding to existing game dialogue as well as brand new dialogues. I think it's a lot more work than people are assuming.
Trent did state a few pages back that they consider SoD a success, so there's hope I guess.