What in the hell has happened to the release of this game? I'm assuming Funcom will take a page out of it's "secret" marketing campaign for this game, and secretly drop it off the face of the earth.

Intro here: www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi

Originally posted by Craz_z

What in the hell has happened to the release of this game? I'm assuming Funcom will take a page out of it's "secret" marketing campaign for this game, and secretly drop it off the face of the earth.

Intro here: www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi

Lol.

Frankly I think they already have too much on their plate trying to get AoC into a state of completion without starting a brand new MMO. On the other hand, they might actually learn something from AoC and do things better second time round.

The game utilises the AOC engine.  Consequently it's success or failure is heavily dependant on the development of that engine.  I suspect Ragnar Tørnquist is still beavering away with his little troupe getting background stories, quest dialogue, lists of items, art and design ready in the background whilst the rest of FC are focused on getting AOC itself up and running to full potential.

No doubt the set backs on AOC would over shadow any announcement about a second MMO right now, and could possibly hurt the chances of either or both.

So once the AOC's engine reaches an acceptable state to ramp up development and AOC starts to pull back populations, I'm guessing it won't take long to get TSW to the beta stages as all the hard work concerning the engine is done.  And by that time, a lot of the artwork, quest dialogue and lore will have been written and designed.  Sat on the databasees awaiting use by the engine.

Gotta admit though, when I read the marketing they originally did for TSW I was certainly intrigued.  The whole "horror" genre will be a new niche for an MMO. Won't the launch of 2 MMO's using the same engine also be a first in the industry?

And to those sceptics amoungst us, as far as I can tell Gaute has not had ANYTHING to do with TSW.  This is Ragnar's baby.

After reading Ragnar's blog, I was eleated to find out this game was going to happen. There has been much speculation aobut it being in a playable state even now, as it was supposed to be demo'd last year.

From what I understand, most of the art dept has hopefully (not been laid off) been transfered over to work on the title. But still, I would have expected at least some sort of news or hype given the status of AoC. Even if AoC reaches a state of maintainable playability, it's not going to generate positive press for Funcom and the release of TSW. They should definitely focus on creating a new entity here and start eliminating obvious correlations with AoC and TSW.

Originally posted by Craz_z

After reading Ragnar's blog, I was eleated to find out this game was going to happen. There has been much speculation aobut it being in a playable state even now, as it was supposed to be demo'd last year.

From what I understand, most of the art dept has hopefully (not been laid off) been transfered over to work on the title. But still, I would have expected at least some sort of news or hype given the status of AoC. Even if AoC reaches a state of maintainable playability, it's not going to generate positive press for Funcom and the release of TSW. They should definitely focus on creating a new entity here and start eliminating obvious correlations with AoC and TSW.

Well, whilst all media attention is on AOC, Ragnar can quietly get a lot of the work done with TSW without unwanted pressure from players on forums and CEO's breathing down his neck.  So I suspect he's "gone dark" in maximise on this.  Then...given a few months (my guess is in the new year).....the world is stunned to find that it's near Beta stages and the latest version of the AOC engine just needs adapting slightly.

Quite a combination:   H.P. Lovecraft lore, Ragnar Tornquists storywriting abilities, a horror genre, BIG tentacle things, swords, guns, magic and the occult, AOC's melee combat, and Directx 10 eye candy.

Could certainly be interesting to say the least.

I can understand Ragnar's need to keep a low profile. I must say it's a big gamble taking on such an endeavor. The benefits of generating the story, art and the very cool viral marketing he did are that if it succeeds, he's a hero. If not, it's sullies his reputation as a great storywriter/designer.

From an industry statdpoint though, will it be enough time to generate enough buzz/hype before this game dops? I don't know, maybe I'm bitter...maybe I just want some screenshots, or a developer news release. 

Needless to say, I'm with you and I'm eagerly awaiting this.

I think they need to sort AoC, before they start even thinking releasing another game....................

I feel kinda cheated.... Im still waiting for Dreamfall: Chapters.

Originally posted by Zayne3145

Originally posted by Craz_z

What in the hell has happened to the release of this game? I'm assuming Funcom will take a page out of it's "secret" marketing campaign for this game, and secretly drop it off the face of the earth.

Intro here: www.funcom.com/wsp/funcom/frontend.cgi

 

Lol.

Frankly I think they already have too much on their plate trying to get AoC into a state of completion without starting a brand new MMO. On the other hand, they might actually learn something from AoC and do things better second time round.

AoC IS their second time around. The chances of them getting enough people to buy The Secret World after AO and AoC is laughable.

I am a fan of Ragnar Tournquist work, but I want nothing to do with it if it's helmed by Funcom. If another company buys the rights, then I'll consider it.

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

Originally posted by eruliafkrad

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

 

The only reason The Longest Journey is good is because it is not really a Funcom game. They did the development as far as the game controls and art, but Ragnar Tournquist was responsible for the story and was in sole charge of what went into the game. Funcom had no real say in how The Longest Journey was made. That's why it and the sequel Dreamfall were both extremely successful, while their mmos controlled and directed by Funcom ( most notably Gaute Goadager in both Ao and AoC ) were not.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by eruliafkrad

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

 

The only reason The Longest Journey is good is because it is not really a Funcom game. They did the development as far as the game controls and art, but Ragnar Tournquist was responsible for the story and was in sole charge of what went into the game. Funcom had no real say in how The Longest Journey was made. That's why it and the sequel Dreamfall were both extremely successful, while their mmos controlled and directed by Funcom ( most notably Gaute Goadager in both Ao and AoC ) were not.

Lol You make it sound like Ragnar doesn't work for Funcom. 

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by eruliafkrad

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

 

The only reason The Longest Journey is good is because it is not really a Funcom game. They did the development as far as the game controls and art, but Ragnar Tournquist was responsible for the story and was in sole charge of what went into the game. Funcom had no real say in how The Longest Journey was made. That's why it and the sequel Dreamfall were both extremely successful, while their mmos controlled and directed by Funcom ( most notably Gaute Goadager in both Ao and AoC ) were not.

 

Lol You make it sound like Ragnar doesn't work for Funcom. 

Being paid to do a job as a freelancer is different than being a company employee. Read his blogs sometime, it's very enlightening and entertaining at times. I've read/seen interviews done concerning The Longest Journey games and it was made apparent that ragnar was given free reign, whereas with the mmos Gaute took all the reigns for himself. Ragnar was the one who made the story lines for AO. When Ragnar left, the story quality went with him.

Which I think more than explains the disparity in quality and success between the singleplayer games and the mmos.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by eruliafkrad

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

 

The only reason The Longest Journey is good is because it is not really a Funcom game. They did the development as far as the game controls and art, but Ragnar Tournquist was responsible for the story and was in sole charge of what went into the game. Funcom had no real say in how The Longest Journey was made. That's why it and the sequel Dreamfall were both extremely successful, while their mmos controlled and directed by Funcom ( most notably Gaute Goadager in both Ao and AoC ) were not.

 

Lol You make it sound like Ragnar doesn't work for Funcom. 

 

Being paid to do a job as a freelancer is different than being a company employee. Read his blogs sometime, it's very enlightening and entertaining at times. I've read/seen interviews done concerning The Longest Journey games and it was made apparent that ragnar was given free reign, whereas with the mmos Gaute took all the reigns for himself.

Which I think more than explains the disparity in quality and success between the singleplayer games and the mmos.

It is true that there is a destinct difference between the MO's of Ragnar and Gaute.  Nevertheless Ragnar DOES work for Funcom (check http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868203/ )

On a different note, I have just been reading an interview with Ragnar that was published in August, but took place JUST prior to AOC's release:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/08/18/ragnar-t%C3%B8rnquist-on-storytelling/

RPS: What lessons have you learned from Anarchy Online?

Ragnar Tørnquist: Ship a finished game! Make sure it’s not broken. So people can actually log in and pay to play. [For those making peculiar conclusions based on this statement, it's in reference to Anarchy Online. Ragnar did not work on Conan, and as it says above, this took place before the launch of Conan.]
 

That opening line is a real slap in the face for certain people.  Why do I get the feeling that Ragnar and Gaute DON'T see eye to eye?

Ive played the previous two Dreamfall titles and i gotta say they were really great, the storyline, the way the character interacts withs the world and even the puzzles were really entertaining.  I really rate this guy Ragnar Tornquist and if he has anything to do with the next Funcom mmo title then you never know, he might be able to pull it off.

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by Tarka

Originally posted by Zorvan

Originally posted by eruliafkrad

Funcom is bad development company..  Their engine is a pile of junk..  the only game they made that was any good was that adventure game called The Longest Journey...  after that success they took the company public and got stupid investors to buy shares in their company by over hyping Age of Conan... then they used that $ to build AoC.. 

 

The only reason The Longest Journey is good is because it is not really a Funcom game. They did the development as far as the game controls and art, but Ragnar Tournquist was responsible for the story and was in sole charge of what went into the game. Funcom had no real say in how The Longest Journey was made. That's why it and the sequel Dreamfall were both extremely successful, while their mmos controlled and directed by Funcom ( most notably Gaute Goadager in both Ao and AoC ) were not.

 

Lol You make it sound like Ragnar doesn't work for Funcom. 

 

Being paid to do a job as a freelancer is different than being a company employee. Read his blogs sometime, it's very enlightening and entertaining at times. I've read/seen interviews done concerning The Longest Journey games and it was made apparent that ragnar was given free reign, whereas with the mmos Gaute took all the reigns for himself.

Which I think more than explains the disparity in quality and success between the singleplayer games and the mmos.

 

It is true that there is a destinct difference between the MO's of Ragnar and Gaute.  Nevertheless Ragnar DOES work for Funcom (check http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0868203/ )

On a different note, I have just been reading an interview with Ragnar that was published in August, but took place JUST prior to AOC's release:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/08/18/ragnar-t%C3%B8rnquist-on-storytelling/

RPS: What lessons have you learned from Anarchy Online?

Ragnar Tørnquist: Ship a finished game! Make sure it’s not broken. So people can actually log in and pay to play. [For those making peculiar conclusions based on this statement, it's in reference to Anarchy Online. Ragnar did not work on Conan, and as it says above, this took place before the launch of Conan.]
 

That opening line is a real slap in the face for certain people.  Why do I get the feeling that Ragnar and Gaute DON'T see eye to eye?

Ah, i had always thought he was paid "per job" as it were. Wasn't aware he was actually employed by Funcom.

I agree with you about that opening line. It's apparent they don't see eye to eye. Hmmm, wonder if that has alot to do with Ragnar leaving the AO storyline ( obviously, Ragnar couldn't have stated anything to that effect )?

Originally posted by darkcoud9

 

Ive played the previous two Dreamfall titles and i gotta say they were really great, the storyline, the way the character interacts withs the world and even the puzzles were really entertaining.  I really rate this guy Ragnar Tornquist and if he has anything to do with the next Funcom mmo title then you never know, he might be able to pull it off.

I agree.  "Prophet without Honor" was quite simply an amazing prelude for an MMO.

I read it at work during the "slow" periods and was thoroughly engrossed at the time.

It's certainly interesting though that he's stayed WELL away from being involved in AOC.  I wonder what the reasons were?  Was it simply because he was developing TSW, or were there more personal reasonslike a clash of personalities between him and Gaute?

The interview also hints that he LOVES being the director as well as a storywriter. Which to me says that perhaps in the past he hasn't liked the direction in which his previous projects have taken.

Nevertheless, in the interview he tells how he read Lovecraft, Stephen King and Poe novels at an early age and used to scary the kids with horror stories.  I think he's going to take the world by surprise if he pulls this off.  A new "niche" in the form of a HORROR mmo that has background based on H.P. Lovecraft.

It's a big gamble but could open up a WHOLE new area in the MMO industry.