Planescape: Torment - Brian Fargo to Secure Rights to Torment

[Brother None]

Let's put it differently : it'd be akin as annoucing "Hey, we secured the Baldur's Gate IP so we're doing a new Baldur's Gate… except it really wouldn't feature the city of the Baldur's Gate, or the Forgotten Realms setting, or any plot or story or characters from the original game because we couldn't manage a deal with WotC."

It would? But Baldur's Gate is a place, a location. Torment is not, Torment is a notion.

Interplay still owns the Dark Alliance rights, but no Baldur's Gate rights. If they ever do a sequel it will be "Dark Alliance 3" or something similar. With AD&D or BG. That's more comparable.

And it's not really about managing to do a deal. WotC has 0 interest in doing a Planescape title. The setting is retired as far as they're concerned, and they're not going to make any more titles in it. Planescape is dead. inXile does not believe that means you have to kill Torment with it, as a notion, as a thematic franchise. Can they sell that idea? Remains to be seen.

I just don't like that kind of stuff, and if it was was big publisher doing this instead of Fargo and inXile people would be bitching about this, with good reasons.

Correct, with good reason. Because we know a big publisher wouldn't make it an isometric game with the style of PS:T. We know a big publisher wouldn't give Colin McComb creative control and get Kevin Saunders (of MotB fame) to produce, as well as get more people involved who worked on PS:T that I know are working on this but that they haven't announced yet. Brian Fargo was the only publisher CEO who would possibly rubber-stamp something like Torment in the late 90s. There are no such CEOs with publishers anymore, now.

I just don't like the whole Torment IP thing.

Again, there's not much of an option here. Fargo registered Torment coz it was abandoned. But Planescape is in WotC's control and they're not relinquishing it.

And they're going to be very detailed and very explicit about this not being a direct sequel to Torment. McComb has already said so more than once, without any project being announced yet, it's only going to become more clear. The game won't be called Torment 2, for example.

 

[rjshae]

Personal "opinions" be damned, PS:T is a classic game and a genre-definer. You can piddle and babble about your tastes and how you feel it's not "the ULTIMATE RPG" and you can be as right as you want to be about it. It doesn't change what it is and what the purpose of getting the name is. Crass or not, it'll put the asses in the seats. Or, in this case, the $ into their KS.

I'll be curious to see if it succeeds. Does fanatical support by a relatively small gaming faction translate into millions of dollars for a KS?

Would an Arcanum-themed KS fly?

 

[Brother None]

I think WL2 and P:E already showed it can work. The question is not so much if it's possible, but more if it can keep happening. I definitely think pitchers need to become more polished and detailed, but don't see it "drying up" as a whole.

Arcanum tho? Still owned by Activision. And getting a big name to grab press coverage and attention has proven to be pretty vital. Something with the same theme/style though? Heck yeah.

 

[darkling]

I'll be curious to see if it succeeds. Does fanatical support by a relatively small gaming faction translate into millions of dollars for a KS?

Would an Arcanum-themed KS fly?

That's the thing. Planescape: Torment's notoriety is more than just 'fanatical support by a relatively small gaming faction'. Namedropping PS:T all over had to have helped PE a lot. When it came out, PS:T was the underdog of the IE games but times have changed. It's been rendered a classic by time. The gaming press is what pushes these KS's and they'd eat this up. "Lead design by Planescape pen-and-paper designer and Torment co-writer Colin McComb with production by inXile! WOW BRIAN FARGO! Yay!"

I don't think an Arcanum one would do so well. It isn't a "classic" (in the sense of the word that I'm using) and just wouldn't draw very much attention. I'd imagine one centering around Arcanum would die a death like Shaker or Thorvalla.