will avadon be the last new series from spiderweb?

[apolloooo]

i heard somewhere jeff said it's probably the last new ip. creating new stuff takes alot of work, and he's too old for that right now. after avadon 3: warborn he said he's just going to remake old games like geneforge, then retire. he should have taken an apprentice or something to continue his legacy

 

or maybe one of his daughters decide to follow her father's legacy and keep spiderweb soft alive

[Lilith]

One of the reasons Jeff's given for being an independent developer is that he prefers to work alone as much as possible. I can't really see him being the sort of person to hire and train up a successor. I could see him selling off the IP when he retires, if anyone wanted to do anything with it and his family wasn't interested in keeping it going.

[Randomizer]

The last new idea that Jeff has mentioned was an Avernum prequel. However with all the remakes there is plenty of time for him to come up with a new series idea.

[ĐªгŦĦ Єяŋϊε]

well the inspiration for Avadon was a three hour long opera that his wife dragged him too, so maybe if she takes him to another one.....

[Randomizer]

Beware the ideas of March.

[cremornagainagain]

as I read through the Dragonbone Chair series of books, I started to see more and more of Simon Snowlock in Redbeard. At the end the description is a lot like a young Redbeard, I think. A kind of red-haired, beardy giant of a warrior, who never shrinks from hard decisions. So I think the inspires come from all around. Um, so you know, Jeff isn't old :-)

[apolloooo]

well yeeah, he actually isn't that old, but the way he speak about himself in his blog make him like an old wizard or something

[idonotexist42]

Now I'm going to have to re-read the Dragonbone Chair. If I can find it in my basement.

[Istara]

I really hope he does another series. Something based in the Vahnatai world would be amazing (though I guess that could be the Avernum prequel).

 

I love the remakes almost as much as the original games, since so much time passes in playing the different versions. But an entirely new series/gameworld would be overwhelmingly amazing.

[Blxz]

I'm a bit sad to think that this may be his last IP. I want to be selfish and keep consuming more stories from his wacky mind. (preferably of the geneforge persuasion)

[Slawbug]

Is there an actual citation on the "no more IPs" thing or is this just an unsubstantiated rumour?

[Lilith]

Is there an actual citation on the "no more IPs" thing or is this just an unsubstantiated rumour?

 

Well, I mean, he's said more than once that as he gets older and keeping up with new tech becomes more challenging for him, he never knows whether his next game will be his last: no more games would imply no more new IPs. I don't think he's ever outright ruled out starting on a new series, but he has said that new ideas good enough to hang a game on are getting harder to come by and he doesn't have any definite plans for what, if anything, his next IP will be (or didn't last time he talked about it).

[shout27]

Honestly, I would like to see him go back to Exile, dust off some of the elements in that game and alongside Avernum, put the story together in such a way that the entire series comes out as a single game. At the very least, have 1-3 done in this manner.

 

Have an element in there so that you can choose to have particular characters stop adventuring and 'settle down' (not just delete the character) to make room for new adventurers and give the 'retirees' the ability to affect the story in some way, the opportunity to pick up the 'retirees' children who are pre-made characters but have additional strengths/weaknesses, or give the adventuring party access to gear that otherwise doesn't exist.

 

Not positive about the timeline. But, if it's spaced far enough apart, then by the time the third part of the game starts the first adventurers will have died of old age. If the player didn't make any attempt to take advantage of the generational stuff, they could suddenly find themselves controlling a brand new party in the pits of a destroyed Avernum. Should they have elected to not fulfill any of the game winning quests for those parts of the game. Where the Vhanati are running around killing humans because of the actions of the Empire in stealing Crystal Souls, the demon of the pit is still alive and ruling most of Avernum, and what little strength Avernum had was crushed by the Empire. Leaving the player with the knowledge of the location of all his awesome gear and a very difficult, as well as unlikely, path of getting a hold of it all. Because he's back to level 1.

 

I bring this up, because I see the choices of what the player is able to do to be steadily dwindling . Potion Making is gone and the spell list is a joke of it's former length and breadth. Finding Arcane Scrolls, means nothing but money and xp rewards for successful quests, when I feel that my wizard/mage should be able to use them to advance his/her abilities in his/her craft.

 

Then there's the whole Erika situation. Maybe I want my wizard/Mage to work out a way to break the curse she is under?

 

I guess what I'm saying, is that I'd like to see 1-3 combined, and from that, sandbox elements introduced where the story and available resources can massively change. Instead of having 'auto-die' or even 'this will happen because the story-line I'm writing demands it' type events force certain things to happen. The player can do things like fight off the Empire Army at the front lines, assuming that he/she has the resources and levels to pull it off.

[Slawbug]

Then there's the whole Erika situation. Maybe I want my wizard/Mage to work out a way to break the curse she is under?

And while we're at it, let's create a quest to revive Aeris, a way to allow Rogue to embrace people without killing them, and offer a resolution of Mount Doom where Frodo and Gollum both resist the Ring.

 

These are isolated, tragic details that give real power and meaning to the stories they are in. Erika's curse, background detail though it may be, drives the story of A1-3 as much as anything. I'd argue that her eventual fate is the most powerful moment in any SW game, let alone in the First Trilogy.

[cremornagainagain]

Now I'm going to have to re-read the Dragonbone Chair. If I can find it in my basement.

 

Advisable. You have until January 3rd. He's cranking it up again:

http://www.penguin.com/book/the-heart-of-what-was-lost-by-tad-williams/9780756412487

[shout27]

And while we're at it, let's create a quest to revive Aeris, a way to allow Rogue to embrace people without killing them, and offer a resolution of Mount Doom where Frodo and Gollum both resist the Ring.

 

These are isolated, tragic details that give real power and meaning to the stories they are in. Erika's curse, background detail though it may be, drives the story of A1-3 as much as anything. I'd argue that her eventual fate is the most powerful moment in any SW game, let alone in the First Trilogy.

 

I understand what you're saying, and on some level I can agree. But, at the same time, the more I play these new games the more I feel like something is lacking that was present in the original Exile Trilogy, and is steadily leaking away. I mean, I like Avadon 2 much better than I liked the first one, broken tinkermage and all else included, but I haven't finished it so I'm withholding final judgement. So far, I really get the impression that the first game was just a prologue to this one.

 

I'm not sure how to explain it, but I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'd like to see a more dynamic world around me, and not just have the games devolve further into straight combat simulations. I'm probably using the wrong words, but an example are all of these arcane scrolls I'm finding, as well as everyone I encounter in-game who is researching magic. But at the same time, I have no means of reaching higher levels in spells by researching or even finding spell tomes like in Avernum. Though I find it wierd that the Corruption is such a problematic area, but the highest tier spell the player can get emulates it's effects on his/her enemies and doesn't seem to taint me in any way.

[Galactic Maiden]

I'm a bit sad to think that this may be his last IP. I want to be selfish and keep consuming more stories from his wacky mind. (preferably of the geneforge persuasion)

 

Me too. I'll love his old stuff forever and I'll always buy his remakes but I love the excitement behind a new story and getting to know new worlds and characters from Jeff's mind.

[apolloooo]

reading his last blog post:

 

I Also Have Reached My Own Limits

 

However, the Avadon games have also reached the limits of what I am capable of holding in my single brain. They are the limit for how complex I game I can make without going mad. There's just too many characters, story threads, and so on. After a few months of keeping everything balanced and in my head and making sense, it gets exhausting.

 

One of the great pleasures in my job is finishing a game and being able to forget everything I've had to hold in my mind, ready for fast access. It's like putting down a heavy weight. I'm really looking forward to letting Avadon drift away. It's been like having to have a second family, only in my head. A weird, dysfunctional, non-existant family. I want it to fade away and leave a blank canvas, that I can fill with other fun stuff.

 

And, in Avadon's sprawling messiness, I think we made something really neat. Among all of the treasure hunting and epic battles, this is a story about running a fading Empire. You have borders to protect and unlimited power to do so. Will you be cruel or merciful? Will you be dutiful to your country, or will you focus on power for yourself?

 

Avadon 3 is full of choices, and your decisions will lead to a multitude of possible outcomes. No cop-out twist endings. It won't all have been a dream. We will make sure that the series caps off with a satisfying ending.

 

We'll be starting an all-new series soon. When we do, it will still be a big, complex game, but it will be big and complex in a different way. At the very least, there will be fewer than 11 countries for you to keep track of.

 

i think his problem is trying to solo everything. i dunno, it is his business model, fast and cheap and that allow him to survive for 20 years, while raising a family of 2 daughters. that is really respectable.

 

but then again, as a selfish fan, i'd really like him to up the ante. it doesn't have to be big, maybe a team of 3-4 people working full time instead of going solo with freelance help. he as the main designer/writer to think up the general direction, lore and mechanics, while the rest take up the detail works, which as years goes by, he will be less and less capable. plus listening to the young minds and ideas might give him something fresh, and having people to help keeping the detail will be less taxing to his mind and health.

 

didn't he said he might do a kickstarter campaign someday?