# Sword Coast Legends Developer n-Space Closes Down After 21 Years



## Reinhart (Mar 30, 2016)

The developer of _Sword Coast Legends,_ n-Space, is shutting its doors for good. Publisher Digital Expremes says "We are deeply saddened by the closing of n-Space.  Staying alive as a mid-sized independent developer in the games industry is no small feat.  Their passion for creating games never faltered and their dedicated team has ended on the high note of completing the console version of Sword Coast Legends.  We are working hard with them to realize as much as we can for their team during this difficult time and encourage players to keep an eye on the official website for more details on the launch of Sword Coast Legends on Xbox One and PlayStation 4."






_Sword Coast Legends_ was not received well by the gaming public, or by D&D fans (it is trending at only 20.5% here on EN World). The following was posted by SCL artist Ben Leary.








			
				Original Post said:
			
		

> We can be certain that the commercial failure of Sword Coast Legends is a major factor in this. What isn't certain is the fate of the products and content that their publisher Digital Extremes promised. Digital Extremes claims that they are still planning on releasing Sword Coast Legends for both Playstation 4 and Xbox One. One can only assume that they must be contractually obligated to do so at this point, otherwise why not put this mess behind them? Hopefully this means they'll continue to run the servers necessary to run SCL as a multiplayer game. Unfortunately Digital Extremes did not mention any intent to complete the promised expansions of Community Packet 3 and Rage of Demons.
> 
> The impact this has on Wizards of the Coast and D&D seems minimal, of course. But I can't help but remember that Sword Coast Legends and its Rage of Demons DLC was the recompense that WotC gave their customers last Gen Con. Those I.O.U's seem pretty worthless now.




From here.


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## JeffB (Mar 30, 2016)

Hate to hear about folks losing their jobs, but very glad  I  did  not buy into this.


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## EthanSental (Mar 30, 2016)

I guess I need to log into my account and make sure I have all the DLC for it.
I agree with darjr - hopefully someone picks up the ball and fine tunes the idea of a live DM running a digital game...if there's enough interest for it to make it commercially successful.


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## Mirtek (Mar 30, 2016)

Wasn't RoD sold as part of some versions of SCL?

Those customers should better file their claims quickly.


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## Jester David (Mar 30, 2016)

The last minute nature of this always surprises me. 
Given the announcement only mentions the console version (which was apparently finished but not distributed), Rage of Demons is unfinished (they just started giving out Beta keys) and now there's good odds it will never will be finished. But they were filming Twitch streams, still talking about Rage of Demons, and giving out said keys last Thursday when they absolutely had to know this was coming. It's one thing to keep the new quiet, it's another to act like everything is fine. 

Of course, this is a company that "announced" its closure via it's publisher, and artist's post, and the community manager's goodbye post on the forums. They haven't made their own announcement yet. Their website even still lists "Sword Coast Legends" as "upcoming". Their official Twitter channel has been silent since mid-2015, and their Facebook's last post was Halloween pictures.


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## Reinhart (Mar 30, 2016)

Rage of Demons eventually became a promised update for all PC owners of Sword Coast Legends. Unfortunately, RoD was already expected to be released by now. After delaying the release of Community Packet 3, n-Space promised that CP3 would be available after the release of the console versions and Rage of Demons. Digital Extremes seems content on fulfilling the release of the console game. That means they are likely contracting another studio to complete the project. Considering that most of the assets for Rage of Demons seem completed and it was also listed for console release, there may be hope for that DLC. I would not get my hopes up for the Community Packet 3 which promised to allow DMs and module creators the ability to actually edit maps and create interactive NPC dialog.


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## Kramodlog (Mar 30, 2016)

If D&D's financial vitality did not depend on SCL's revenues, than all is fine for 5e. 

I do not think they made that mistake twice.


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## ZeshinX (Mar 30, 2016)

Digital Extremes would be foolish to even bother spending any time or money on SCL at this point.  It was a dead game after only a month...releasing the console version will not suddenly raise nSpace from the dead and will only cost DE money.

I hope those who lost their jobs find new work elsewhere in short order, but I won't say I'm sorry SCL failed as spectacularly hard as it has.


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## Jester David (Mar 30, 2016)

Reinhart said:


> I would not get my hopes up for the Community Packet 3 which promised to allow DMs and module creators the ability to actually edit maps and create interactive NPC dialog.



Aka make the DM tools actually functional as DM tools. 
CP3 was supposed to be out in December. I imagine it's delay was likely moving people off that project and quietly packing up shop while they completed their contractual obligations.


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## Reinhart (Mar 30, 2016)

ZeshinX said:


> Digital Extremes would be foolish to even bother spending any time or money on SCL at this point.  It was a dead game after only a month...releasing the console version will not suddenly raise nSpace from the dead and will only cost DE money.
> 
> I hope those who lost their jobs find new work elsewhere in short order, but I won't say I'm sorry SCL failed as spectacularly hard as it has.




I think that the economic calculus on this decision is that releasing SCL on console will cost less than breaking a contract with both Sony and Microsoft at this point. And perhaps there's some consideration for "goodwill" and their reputation with both customers and distributors.


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## Dopkalfar (Mar 30, 2016)

goldomark said:


> If D&D's financial vitality did not depend on SCL's revenues, than all is fine for 5e.
> 
> I do not think they made that mistake twice.





Hasbro HAS made the same mistake twice.  

They promised digital tools for D&D - that Codename: Morningstar thing.  Those guys had plans to produce a digital marketplace for DMs to trade their own content (just like we have with DM's Guild) but mediated by a cross-platform app that also served as digital books for your D&D content (just like Fantasy Grounds has now).  

Either Morningstar did not get the licensing support from WotC that would let them monetize the app, or they bit off more than they could chew contractually; so they fell out with WotC and tried to branch out on their own.  Seems like n-space also had one or both of the same problems.

Hasbro's agenda with D&D is very clear:  The core RPG is _not_ their business model.  They made a system designed to focus on the core brand of Dungeons and Dragons to keep their hard core tabletop gaming base active, but they plan to make all their profit by licensing the IP.  

This business model is great for companies that play on nostalgia or geek culture without selling to the relatively small niche of actual D&D players.  TV, video games, movies, merchandise, etc. can all be made D&D-related without being limited to the core of people who currently play D&D.  This is the greater market for geek stuff.

This business model is not great for companies that want to use the IP to develop new innovative ways to actually play D&D.  Their market is much smaller - if you're not playing D&D because of job/kids/life/etc. you probably had no need for Morningstar and no interest in running D&D as a DM through SCL.  No more than you needed a copy of the Monster Manual.

So when expectations shifted for SCL to make it more of a DM tool (niche) than a D&D video game (greater market), they had to spend a lot of money for a little market.  Not a good business move.  

That's my theory anyway.


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## Zaran (Mar 30, 2016)

Especially when the DM tool was so limited.   I'm one of those who wanted a video game that made me feel like I was playing D&D when I couldn't play with my normal group.    This game failed on every level for me.  I wanted an awesome D&D simulator that I could make characters and play through a story without needing friends to play with.  That is something I did with Balder's Gate and Neverwinter Nights.  I feel sorry for N-Space but if they didn't intend on making Balder's Gate 3 they shouldn't have said that's what their goal was.


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## darjr (Mar 30, 2016)

They might not have a choice.


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## Morrus (Mar 30, 2016)

I just wanted a toolset and persistent world mod support like NWN (1) had. Heck, if NWN 1 still had persistent world server services around and mods which made it use 5E rules, I'd happily still use it.


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## ZeshinX (Mar 30, 2016)

Reinhart said:


> I think that the economic calculus on this decision is that releasing SCL on console will cost less than breaking a contract with both Sony and Microsoft at this point. And perhaps there's some consideration for "goodwill" and their reputation with both customers and distributors.




I suspect that's the case.  Though I'm a little leary about the "goodwill" element.  I find it decidedly not too good to release something that is, for all intents and purposes, dead before you even receive it...unless there is a giant sticker or label or online warning that indicates this is sold "as is" with no real support (beyond perhaps token efforts).

Whatever efforts are put into it at this point, to me at any rate, are wasted (beyond contractual obligations).  Better to hold hat in hand and apologize and move on than to limp pathetically forward for another month or so.


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## DMZ2112 (Mar 30, 2016)

This is unfortunate.  Sword Coast Legends is its own animal in the library of D&D video games, and it's one I've had a lot of fun with.  I'm genuinely disappointed that N-Space won't get the chance to make further improvements to the dungeon master tools.  They are the one place where the game really does fall flat.  I would have liked to see updates to the other game modes as well but they are not as necessary.

I really like SCL.  The Dungeon Crawl mode is the most fun I've had with a multiplayer video game in a long time.  Despite the streamlined rules and cooldowns the game feels like playing D&D to me, which is something Baldur's Gate never achieved.  Neverwinter Nights is definitely the holy grail of the genre but it required so much work to engage that I never found it worthwhile.

SCL is a medium between the playability of BG and the customizability of NN and it has the potential for far more mass-market appeal than either title.  I agree that the biggest mistake N-Space made was not calling more attention to what SCL is and what it is not (e.g., BG3).  

I would have liked to see it marketed toward the Leage of Legends crowd.  My friends and I have plenty of fun in the game with four players and a dungeon master, without using the much-maligned tools.  Dungeon Crawl mode, and the casual multiplayer with depth that it represents, was and still is the selling point of this game.  I don't know of any other title that brings this style of play to the table.


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## Zaukrie (Mar 30, 2016)

It was doomed, imo, when it was clear it was not using D&D rules.


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## neobolts (Mar 30, 2016)

Picked up SCL on Steam sale. As I had a full gaming plate, I was waiting on the expanded DM tools update before joining in. Sounds like I waited on something that will never happen now.


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## ShadowCat5 (Mar 30, 2016)

JeffB said:


> Hate to hear about folks losing their jobs, but very glad  I  did  not buy into this.




Yep +1

I made a mistake in buying SCL.  I really wanted 5E in a format similar to Baldur's Gate PC was for AD&D.  This game was not that.  Sad that the best FR game is still that old.  Neverwinter Nights 2 and Temple of Elemental Evil were good iterations of 3/3.5 but lacked a certain charisma and charm that the older games had-like good NPC's.

If I had waited for a 75% steam sale, it would not have stung as much.  Still an ok dungeon crawler, but not a D&D 5E game.

...on to Dragonspear.....


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## ZeshinX (Mar 30, 2016)

I avoided SCL precisely because it was, for all intents and purposes, not D&D.  It had the names, the places....but not the underlying rules (it was more Dragon Age than D&D....not surprising considering Dan Tudge was the lead on it).


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## Jabborwacky (Mar 30, 2016)

Plus, DMing is a higher pressure activity than being a player. This is why AL incentivizes playing as a DM. I think it is a positive and wonderful idea to try making DMing as attractive an activity as being a player, yet it is also highly experimental. They probably should have tacked that on as a later expansion and focused on the core experience first. 

And yes, its sad to see another mid-range studio go during a time when they are an endangered species. I hope they can find new work at other studios. They certainly have the talent.


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## Jester David (Mar 30, 2016)

ZeshinX said:


> I avoided SCL precisely because it was, for all intents and purposes, not D&D.  It had the names, the places....but not the underlying rules (it was more Dragon Age than D&D....not surprising considering Dan Tudge was the lead on it).



How much Dan Tudge was involved with DragonAge is questionable. 

As for the D&D rules, I always ask myself how well a football or baseball game that was *inspired* by those rules would do. That took the names and loose concepts but tweaked them to be faster and more action packed. How fans of baseball and football would react...


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## RedSiegfried (Mar 30, 2016)

Morrus said:


> I just wanted a toolset and persistent world mod support like NWN (1) had. Heck, if NWN 1 still had persistent world server services around and mods which made it use 5E rules, I'd happily still use it.



For myself, being 5e wasn't as important to me as the robust multiplayer and customizability.  But OTOH, I always go on and on about how much I dislike 3e, and somehow NWN is my favorite CRPG despite that.  Maybe having the fiddly math done behind the scenes made it more appealing to me.  At any rate, I'll go on playing NWN1 on the existing PWs out there, and locally with friends and family.  I'm actually looking forward to doing some 3 player + DM action next weekend in the NWN version of Eye of The Beholder on my LAN.

SCL had the potential but I'm kind of glad I haven't taken the leap yet.  And if some magic happens and some real upgrades and improvements are released, hey, it's never to late to buy it one way or the other.  So the story isn't over yet.


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## indemnity (Mar 30, 2016)

Dopkalfar said:


> Hasbro's agenda with D&D is very clear:  The core RPG is _not_ their business model...they plan to make all their profit by licensing the IP...This business model is not great for companies that want to use the IP  to develop new innovative ways to actually play D&D.




That is actually a very good business model for both D&D players and 3rd party developers.    What does _Wizards_ know about programming a character builder?

_Hasbro_ does make D&D profit from selling the fanbase.   The RPG delivers the audience they on-sell.  Good RPG=more fans=more licensing.  The CEO of _Hasbro_ has directly espoused that model at annual reports time.

_Wizards_ can focus on creating and supporting content to grow the player base.  Regular publications, coherent rules, high quality books, social media.

3rd parties assume the risk of failure when they (try to) negotiate a license and buy into the existing fanbase (e.g. FantasyGrounds, HeroLab, minis/figs, movie studios, publishing companies/authors).  _Wizards_ gets cash up front or royalties and avoids lay offs.

_SCL_ is the perfect example of innovation in D&D.   Outsider with a novel idea paid the IP license (or took rates) and sadly could not make as much profit as predicted.  And business as usual continues at _Wizards_...


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## Barantor (Mar 30, 2016)

RedSiegfried said:


> For myself, being 5e wasn't as important to me as the robust multiplayer and customizability.  But OTOH, I always go on and on about how much I dislike 3e, and somehow NWN is my favorite CRPG despite that.  Maybe having the fiddly math done behind the scenes made it more appealing to me.  At any rate, I'll go on playing NWN1 on the existing PWs out there, and locally with friends and family.  I'm actually looking forward to doing some 3 player + DM action next weekend in the NWN version of Eye of The Beholder on my LAN.
> 
> SCL had the potential but I'm kind of glad I haven't taken the leap yet.  And if some magic happens and some real upgrades and improvements are released, hey, it's never to late to buy it one way or the other.  So the story isn't over yet.




There is hope that NWN could be redone. The company that has been redoing Baldur's Gate just came out with an expansion today Siege of Dragonspear Castle for Baldur's Gate 2, but also updates to Baldur's Gate 1 enhanced edition which Beamdog also did.

What does this have to do with NWN? Well one of the Execs at Beamdog was a team member at Bioware during the creation of NWN and they have said that he is "very interested" in it during one of their twitch streams showing off Dragonspear. Hopefully Beamdog can get the rights to update NWN 1&2 and we could possibly have a very good set of 3E game tools at our disposal. With as easy as the NWN game was to mod I don't doubt that someone could possibly make a mod to support 5E style as well.


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## Barachiel (Mar 30, 2016)

Is it me, or is almost every computer project that takes up something with the D&D brand (or something similar, like Pathfinder recently) have a curse on them to either bumble up or outright fail hard?


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## Uder (Mar 30, 2016)

This is sort of good news, IMO.  Looking at their history of crap games I can't bring myself to believe that SCL was going to be the one exception (eventually! We promise!)


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## ZeshinX (Mar 30, 2016)

Barantor said:


> There is hope that NWN could be redone. The company that has been redoing Baldur's Gate just came out with an expansion today Siege of Dragonspear Castle for Baldur's Gate 2, but also updates to Baldur's Gate 1 enhanced edition which Beamdog also did.
> 
> What does this have to do with NWN? Well one of the Execs at Beamdog was a team member at Bioware during the creation of NWN and they have said that he is "very interested" in it during one of their twitch streams showing off Dragonspear. Hopefully Beamdog can get the rights to update NWN 1&2 and we could possibly have a very good set of 3E game tools at our disposal. With as easy as the NWN game was to mod I don't doubt that someone could possibly make a mod to support 5E style as well.




Siege of Dragonspear is an expansion to BG: EE, not BG2: EE (just in case any might run out to snag a copy lol).


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## MadmanMike83 (Mar 30, 2016)

Jester Canuck said:


> How much Dan Tudge was involved with DragonAge is questionable.
> 
> As for the D&D rules, I always ask myself how well a football or baseball game that was *inspired* by those rules would do. That took the names and loose concepts but tweaked them to be faster and more action packed. How fans of baseball and football would react...




Exaggerated sports games was Midway's wheelhouse for a long time. NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, NHL Hitz, and MLB Slugfest (and even Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey) were all fun in their own way.

Exaggerated D&D games can also work well. I have fond memories of the Dark Alliance games and Demon Stone, while not amazing, was still a fun experience. I enjoyed Turbine's DDO for a long time as well. Hell, even the old D&D arcade games were great in their own way.

The problem with WotC in recent years seems to be their willingness to throw the license to unknown or untested developers.


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## darjr (Mar 30, 2016)

To be fair the game was getting rave reviews from insiders and the 'industry'. Which probably helped convince WotC. What I can't seem to square is all that hype and reality.


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## flametitan (Mar 30, 2016)

I can't say I'm surprised. It was fairly obvious that SCL just couldn't bring in enough customers despite how low they cut retail price. A Lunar New Year Sale price of $10 from a $40 retail in October is a _really_ fast drop for a project of what I assume to be a fairly high budget project.

I just hope that whatever parts of the code can be opened up to the public will be, so that those with the know how can made more extensive mods for it.


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## chibi graz'zt (Mar 31, 2016)

I did not buy into SCL because of the very poor reviews it got.


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## Jester David (Mar 31, 2016)

MadmanMike83 said:


> The problem with WotC in recent years seems to be their willingness to throw the license to unknown or untested developers.




Tested developers make games from their own Intellectual Property. Untested developers licence IP selling that name since their own is unknown. 
It's always a gamble. Sometimes it pays off (BioWare) other times not.


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## TheSwartz (Mar 31, 2016)

I did buy into it. I bought the Limited Edition Collector's version. I very much wanted these guys to succeed.

However, I hate to say it, but this is what happens to a game studio that releases a complete crap product and does everything possible to let down an entire generation of D&D fans.

One good thing: The Belaphoss statue is badass... It's center piece in my collection of CE gaming figures. I don't mind buying what I did cause of this. But, in the end, I'd rather it came with a classic game like they promised.


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## EthanSental (Mar 31, 2016)

I don't think I ever saw the Belaphoss statue, just the mock up.  How tall is it?

just looked it - pretty nice statue!


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## Curmudjinn (Mar 31, 2016)

On a brighter note, Siege of Dragonspear comes out tomorrow for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. Me=Pumped.


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## Jhaelen (Mar 31, 2016)

Zaukrie said:


> It was doomed, imo, when it was clear it was not using D&D rules.



Unfortunately, yes.


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## TheSwartz (Mar 31, 2016)

EthanSental said:


> I don't think I ever saw the Belaphoss statue, just the mock up.  How tall is it?
> 
> just looked it - pretty nice statue!




I'm not at home to measure it, but it's definitely as tall as my Colossal Red Dragon. It's heavy too..


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## EthanSental (Mar 31, 2016)

What version or DLC has been put out for SCL?  I have the one that added the drow as a playable race....is there any other DLC besides that one?

I'll have to see if I can grab a Belaphoss statue on the aftermarket, really nice looking statue.


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## doctorhook (Mar 31, 2016)

DrGerm said:


> However, I hate to say it, but this is what happens to a game studio that releases a complete crap product and does everything possible to let down an entire generation of D&D fans.



I've gotta dispute this point: I'm quite sure they weren't _trying_ to let down an entire generation of D&D fans.


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## Kobold Avenger (Mar 31, 2016)

I got that game when there was a -25% sale on Steam, and I haven't played it yet. I think about a month after Pillars of Eternity came out so I ended up playing that instead. The latter game really felt like D&D despite not being based on it's rules.


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## sim-h (Mar 31, 2016)

I pre-ordered SCL but then cancelled and got refunded when I saw further details - such as per-encounter abilities, hugely limited class options and limited race options, and so on.

I bought Pillars of Eternity and both expansions and play them occasionally.

I have currently gone back to Baldur's Gate (EE). The new patch and update with Siege of Dragonspear has improved it even more. But the feeling of playing that game has not been recaptured since. Not even NWN which bored me to tears at the time, for some reason.


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## Reinhart (Mar 31, 2016)

Jester Canuck said:


> Tested developers make games from their own Intellectual Property. Untested developers licence IP selling that name since their own is unknown.
> It's always a gamble. Sometimes it pays off (BioWare) other times not.




Absolutely. And n-Space wasn't even untested. They had over 20 years of working on licensed games. They just hadn't ever tried to make a mainstream CRPG yet.

I actually feel the problem with licensing right now is more that WotC/Hasbro is too restrictive. In a year we'll barely remember that Sword Coast Legends ever existed. And as thrilled as some sites seemed to be, most of the gaming media seems to have already forgotten about it. The real "problem" is that we still don't have many current D&D video games that are interesting and fun. Contrast this with the way that Games Workshop has opened the flood-gate on licensing. There's an abundance of Warhammer and 40k video games coming on to the market. Most of them are trash, but a few actually look fun! By next year the dust will probably have settled and Warhammer fans may have several "authentic" and fun adaptations of the table-top games and settings.

Clearly you can reach a point where the market is saturated and your brand is diluted. But I think there's nothing wrong with giving a handful of studios a chance with your IP. Just don't sell the game for what it isn't.


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## Daern (Mar 31, 2016)

As a casual computer gamer, I actually like the game alright.  As a tie-in to Out of the Abyss its neat to travel around the Realms.  I'm in Gracklestugh right now, just like in my D&D campaign.   I sort of appreciate that its less fiddly and faster playing than Baldur's Gate.  I see where the potential was to have other modules available so we could bang around the Realms.  The biggest problem I've had on my macbook is that its kind of laggy for a fairly simple style game.


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## TerraDave (Mar 31, 2016)

Barachiel said:


> Is it me, or is almost every computer project that takes up something with the D&D brand (or something similar, like Pathfinder recently) have a curse on them to either bumble up or outright fail hard?




There may in fact be a pattern.


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## darjr (Mar 31, 2016)

Pattern? Do go on.


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## Electryc (Apr 1, 2016)

I'm one of the rare people that played the game and enjoyed it.  The art was gorgeous, the game play was not buggy at all, and the voice acting, and story was quite entertaining.  (Yes I FINISHED the game) My only misgiving was N-Space overselling itself as a "Dungeon and Dragons" game.  It may have been located in the Forgotten Realms, and game play based off 5 E, however the rules were pushed into Dragon Age, or Diablo like mechanics.  Sad to see any company go bankrupt, or go this route.  Perhaps given time they could have made something more to our liking's.  I never tried the DM Client due to the game mechanics.  Nothing will be as good as the NWN1 DM client in my opinion for a video game.  There probably won't either due to the fact that Bioware did not make money on the overwhelming excellent fan community content NWN1 and to some extent NWN2 had.


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## Tyranthraxus (Apr 1, 2016)

Id love to be on the board table discussions between WOTC and Nspace back in the day

WOTC: 'We would like to see you guys make a computer game based on the D&D 5th Edition Rulesset'

Nspace: 'Well first things first. Im sure you realise it has to be a multiple player game. And we are gonna have to do our own version of your rules. People just dont want to rest in games anymore. Its all go go go, and countdown timers.'

... Beginning of the end.


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## Reinhart (Apr 1, 2016)

Tyranthraxus said:


> Id love to be on the board table discussions between WOTC and Nspace back in the day
> 
> WOTC: 'We would like to see you guys make a computer game based on the D&D 5th Edition Rulesset'
> 
> ...




That's not really how it went down. This part has been revealed with various interviews and discussions with both Dan Trudge and Mike Mearls. Nspace was about a year into developing a generic fantasy CRPG and they were experimenting with multiplayer and the idea of having someone take control of the various encounters. The experience reminded them of how D&D DM's run dungeon encounters, so they pitched it to the WotC devs during a GDC event. WotC thought it sounded good so n-Space had to reskin their existing game to make it look more like D&D. Meanwhile WotC helped market it as the "first-time ever" that a D&D video game was going to have an authentic DM mode. And _that_ was the beginning of the end.


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## Jiggawatts (Apr 1, 2016)

I'll readily admit I was not a fan of SCL. If people assume you are going to give them a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights (whether that is a far assumption or not), you had best damn well deliver on that, and SCL had neither a super compelling story nor a reverence or accuracy to the D&D ruleset. With that all said, I really hate seeing anyone lose their job, or especially whole studios shut down, this is a real shame and I'm rooting for every single one of those displaced folks to be back behind an office computer screen working away in the near future.

Honestly, I'm hoping this means WotC will double down on their Beamdog partnership, because (with the exception of a few reported bugs that will soon be dispatched) all the early reviews I've read on Siege of Dragonspear have called it faithful and fantastic.


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## Valetudo (Apr 1, 2016)

I dont want another baldersgate unless it has a real 5th edition rules for pc or has dark alliance after the title for consoles.


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## aramis erak (Apr 1, 2016)

ZeshinX said:


> Digital Extremes would be foolish to even bother spending any time or money on SCL at this point.  It was a dead game after only a month...releasing the console version will not suddenly raise nSpace from the dead and will only cost DE money.
> 
> I hope those who lost their jobs find new work elsewhere in short order, but I won't say I'm sorry SCL failed as spectacularly hard as it has.




If they're that far along, it's sunk costs and probably already pressed. Selling it would then allow some recovery of those sunk costs; sitting on it would instead have additional costs accrue (disposition of said pressed disks).


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## trancejeremy (Apr 2, 2016)

Looking at their previous game development, it's really a puzzle that they were given such a complex game like Sword Coast Legends.

Their entire portfolio is either ports or games for handhelds (mostly the DS) and mobile. Their biggest previous title was a 3DS game, an action RPG.

Granted, these days there aren't many independent companies that make games like this. I guess Obsidian is probably the only one.


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## ProphetSword (Apr 2, 2016)

Electryc said:


> I'm one of the rare people that played the game and enjoyed it.  The art was gorgeous, the game play was not buggy at all, and the voice acting, and story was quite entertaining.  (Yes I FINISHED the game)




I'm with you on this.  I finished the game and really enjoyed it.  I was actually looking forward to Rage of Demons.

I feel if they had finished up the toolset updates they were promising, they might have seen things turn around.  There were a lot of people who were waiting to purchase based on what happened with that, and I think if they had just done what people asked, word might have start to spread about the toolset and at least the modders and those interested in playing the modded adventures would have purchased the game.  I mean, if I could at least create conversations with NPCs, I would probably create some adventures myself...but the fact that you can't even create regular conversations with NPCs (something that existed in the base game) is really kind of boggling.


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## Cody C. Lewis (Apr 3, 2016)

I'm know this is like kicking a man when he's down but frankly, I feel like they deserve it nonetheless-- I can feel no sympathy for ANY producer ever that actually puts users hardware at risk due to laziness. 

Their software was blowing up 980's and they knew it. 

The released their game anyway.

Thank God I still had a warranty albeit I was past my 90 days, so my brand brand new 980 gets junked and replaced by a refurb. Fine, whatever, it's not like I just paid over $1k (at the time) for my 2 GPUs. I only hope no one else lost a $500+ piece of equipment because they were out of warranty.

If a developer has a great idea that doesn't pan out, ok, I don't throw stones. But if a developer produces malware-- yes, this was malware-- then I just can't feel bad for them. Good riddance.


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## Corpsetaker (Apr 3, 2016)

I saw this a mile away.   I knew as soon as it left the gate that it was going to be a failure. You can't always BS your customers and think you are going to get away with it.   What surprises me is that it took this long to happen.


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## Kramodlog (Apr 14, 2016)

So... When will this section of the boards be closed down?


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## CapnZapp (Apr 15, 2016)

Ask in Meta.


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