Journal Special

[atec123]

My jaw did drop and I didn't believe it when I 1st saw it would be free, I understand why, even if part 2-3 came out, they wouldn't be free.  I don't care though, I'd pay a ton for something as amazing as this, I wouyld totally ignore the price, I just want to see it, and if not, well, I think you guys should be a bit more excited, after all, you guys ARE GETTING TSL!  EVEN IF IT"S NOT WHAT YO THOUGHT IT WOULD BE, HERE, IT"S COMING YOUR WAY!!!!

[snabbott]

The closure thing is... complicated. The story as planned is (presumably) on an epic scale. Graham is facing his biggest foe ever. To resolve everything as an epilogue to chapter 2 (or 3) would trivialize it (as well as ruining the story in case the other parts ARE ever developed). On the other hand, resolving nothing would be a huge disappointment - kind of like when your favorite show gets canceled and ends with a cliffhanger. I'll be interested to see how the team will deal with this challenge.

[samthunder]

Hi team,

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year.  The journal series was great info, and feel free to enjoy some time off of this game to celebrate and take a break from the game. I bet it's been a rough time with all that you went through as a team and from the info you mentioned in the journal series, particularly no. 12    Hear's to a great 2009 and to TSL!

[Oldbushie]

I said this in another thread, just wanted to sum it up here:
If all else fails, I'd love to read the rest of the story in e-book form. I enjoyed the King's Quest books just as much as the games themselves, including the King's Quest Companion. I know turning a script into a more easily readable book form is a challenge in itself, but hopefully far more plausible. However, Yonkey makes a good point that we don't know what the future holds. I'll be elated to finally play what I've been waiting for for so long.

[snabbott]

It it were certain that the rest of the game would never be developed, I would settle for the script as-is! 

[jewelkid87]

I would like to read the rest if it is never released so more closure will be there. EVen if the rest ended up coming out and I had already read it, I would still love to play it. I play these games over and over I also love the Kings Quest novels and anything else KQ I can get my hands on!

[Rosella]

Does anyone remember when the King's Quest compilation came out? You know, the compilation that didn't have the original King's Quest in it? It was number one on Amazon for a while, with the other compilations not too far behind. Let's take a moment to think about this for a second. Number one, on Amazon. That's kind of a big deal. If there's still that big a market for old school Sierra games, imagine the market for a new one. Once Vivendi sees the full quality of chapters 1 and 2...once they see how much popularity this game is going to get (anyone remember the demo? XP)...I mean, if you guys keep track of the number of downloads, like you did with the demo, Vivendi will have a quantitative value of how much interest is in this game, and that's without any funded publicity. People want this game. People miss King's Quest. There is still a market for adventure games, because there is always a market for great plots. The reason RPGs are so successful is because of their characters, character development, and plot. TSL has all of this, and there IS a market for it, even in people who have never touched a Sierra game.

Am I being hopelessly optimistic? Probably.

But do I have a point? I think so.

What I have been looking forward to, all of these years, is the plot of TSL. I wanted to see what you guys did with the characters I loved, related to, felt for, and accidentally killed. I wanted to see them become three-dimensional (figuratively, though literally is pretty cool too. ) I wanted to see them become people, with strengths, weaknesses, pitfalls, goals. I wanted to see the characterization more than anything. A very close second was, of course, the plot. I wanted to know what happened, the explanation for everything, loose ends tied up, closure for the royal family. Of course, being a fairly morbid person, I certainly didn't mind the idea that the plot was going to be darker, more mature. Not only do I want more King's Quest, but I want this King's Quest. It may not be canon, but the idea was everything to me. If we can't have the game, then yes, I'm begging you for the plot in some form. I just still haven't given up hope to see this as it was intended to be.

I'm obviously upset that this is what it's come to, but I fully understand why. I'm a TSL fan through and through, and I'll continue to support the team, even though I'm disappointed by what had to happen. Make sure to keep us updated on games you produce (under whatever name ) in the future. You'll have me as a consumer.

[snabbott]

I'm not sure how well the number of free downloads would correlate to potential sales.

[Rosella]

It's interest. Obviously it doesn't directly mean this many people would buy the game. XP If people are interested in something enough to download it, there's a good, though obviously not solid, chance that they'll at least think about buying a full version of it. For all we know, this could be considered the shareware version of TSL in the future. Also, if Vivendi were to put money into advertising it, it would get to a far larger group of people, which would help even things out a bit. Personally, I would base possible sales of TSL more on the ones of the KQ compilation.

Only TSL would sell more, because it's new and amazing.

[snabbott]

Oh, I'm not saying that the market isn't out there - I'm just saying that I don't know that the number of downloads would convince Vivendi. The compilation would probably make for better estimates. There's still the question of the cost of development, though.

I hope SOMEBODY decides TSL is worth completing - it would be sad not to ever see the completed product.

(Posted on: January 01, 2009, 01:10:30 PM)

What I have been looking forward to, all of these years, is the plot of TSL. I wanted to see what you guys did with the characters I loved, related to, felt for, and accidentally killed.

[Rosella]

Well, ya know, it's true.

[Yonkey]

I actually agree with snabbott that the number of people that download a free file doesn't exactly translate to the number of people who would potentially purchase the game.  Plus, the download count itself will never be 100% accurate, especially if the files are hosted on a mirror site, torrent or equivalent.  You're right about the interest though.  If hundreds of thousands of people download something, there's definitely a market for it.

Personally though, rather than number of downloads, I'd say the popularity of the game will be based on the game itself.  If fans like it, they'll encourage others to get it.  If critics like it, more will be likely to try it.  And if the quality of the game itself speaks for itself, it won't be a hard sell for those who will market it.  Basically, I'm saying rather than downloading it out of curiosity, they're downloading it because bottom-line: it's worth downloading it.

It's obvious to me it is, as well as many of our fans, but it won't be obvious to everyone else until it's released and out there.

[snabbott]

As long as people have been waiting for this, I think it will probably generate a fair amount of publicity when it is released.

Personally though, rather than number of downloads, I'd say the popularity of the game will be based on the game itself.  If fans like it, they'll encourage others to get it.  If critics like it, more will be likely to try it.  And if the quality of the game itself speaks for itself, it won't be a hard sell for those who will market it.

So it's our job to make sure that the game is as good as it can be when it is released! 

(Posted on: January 01, 2009, 10:10:48 PM)

What I have been looking forward to, all of these years, is the plot of TSL. I wanted to see what you guys did with the characters I loved, related to, felt for, and accidentally killed.

Well, ya know, it's true.

Actually, I have to admit - it wasn't always an accident! 

[johnkooistra]

I'm curious if any consideration has been given to the possibility of 'passing the torch', so to speak.

If the current POS "staff" were willing to dedicate years of their lives to create chapters 1 & 2, certainly there exist other young up-and-comers out there willing to take over the project.

What are the legal implications of this scenario with respect to POS having a non-commercial agreement with Vivendi? Would a new team need to take ownership of POS, and would such a transfer of ownership void said agreement?

Thanks,
John

[atec123]

See John, the owner of POS is Cesar Bittar, (correct me if I'm wrong, Neil) I think that they could do it with the same owner, or another member of the [current] team as the owner, and the same essential people, but with a new company.  But you are right, that isn/t a bad idea, what you have siad could be possible, (for all I know) but don't mistake me as a team member here, you should ask Neil (Yonkey) I like your idea there, nice.

thanks,
atec123

[Yonkey]

The license we have with Vivendi was modified to only cover Chapters 1 & 2, so a new license would need to be negotiated for future chapters regardless of whether POS develops them or someone else.  A transfer of ownership wouldn't be necessary, since it would be a separate license.

And POS is actually owned jointly by Cesar, Rich, Mike, Katie, Petter and myself.

[tessspoon]

*edited*

be back in a few minutes to finish what I was going to say

(Posted on: January 02, 2009, 01:47:44 PM)

I haven't yet read all of this thread, or any of the other threads yet, but I want to say that I 100% agree with everything Rosella said here.

I haven't posted about this yet because it upset me quite a bit, even though I understand completely why. I was really looking forward to seeing the story and how the characters were portrayed and developed, particularly as I've known for a while now that I have a very unhealthy obsession with one of them (three guesses who ).

Just like Rosella said, I still remain in full support of you guys, and am looking forward to this summer for the release!

That's all I'm going to post on the subject for now, until I've looked through everything else.

[darthkiwi]

I don't normally post around here, but I figured this was a suitably important moment. So, casting off my lurking cloak...

This is fantastic news. Even if this isn't the whole game (or the whole of Part 1 as we thought it would be), it's at least a great big 3D showcase for all the hard work the team has done over all this time. They deserve to be given pats on the back for making something concrete, and we'd like to see what it's like (though we all know, of course, that it will be the epitome of brilliance).

Not so good is the fact that chapters 3-9 look shaky, to say the least. I'd kind of hoped that I'd one day be able to play all 9 chapters one after the other and have a complete story. (Heck, maybe even play KQ1-8 and then 9 over the course of a month or something.) But, well, this is the real world unfortunately and your decisions have to be realistic. So, though I'm saddened by your decision, I fully support it. I still think you should try to persuade Vivendi to give you financial backing, though, once chapters 1 and 2 are out: after all, if you can get that then everything will become a lot, lot faster and easier and you can finish the whole thing. I'd be more than willing to buy KQ9 if it was put on sale and I suspect there are enough people who'd be willing to do the same, as long as it got some publicity on enough websites. I'd also be gladdened by the thought that, rather than just going into some faceless company's bank account, my money was in some way helping you guys.

But, whether Phoenix does end up on that road or strikes out on its own as a new company with its own original ideas, you guys have my full sympathy and support. In this industry filled with WW2 shooters and party games (poor, poor Wii, what have they done to you?) it's genuinely uplifting to see a company doing something because it loves games and has creative vision.

[jewelkid87]

I know you have said you are going to do original games and you have probably answered this question before, but I can't seem to find it. Are your original games going to be anything like KQ or other adventure games?

[atec123]

I don't know if they'll be like KQ, I know they won't BE KQ, but they might be good adventure games on other consoles, that have a nice story like that..