Comments for Swen Vincke @ Larian Studios

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by Sean R.

Sean R. — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 23:25:00 +0000

Definitely looking forward to Dragon Commander, but I want the Victorian vampire RPG too. Yes, yes, very much.

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by martin k.

martin k. — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:37:00 +0000

I already had an image of whole scene and interface when I started reading the “Victorian Vampire…” sentence. People would sell kidneys for that kind of game. Now, seeing that you are an European studio (no discrimination meant ), I don’t think you could fail with the Vampires set in Victorian era.

With Tesla guns and magic. And steam trains and blade launchers. And all things mechanical and wondrous. And… Well, just make Arcanum with vampires and you’ll be worshiped as god. Seriously.

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:13:00 +0000

You nailed it. And I think considering twilight, some new users can be won over.
But there are so many more worlds to discover, I’m a bit sick of fantasy, modern and contemporary is much more attractive. (or at least something that simulates it) like Arcanum did

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by Arne

Arne — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:45:00 +0000

I thought people working in game studios were not only talented but also very creative and yet you claim your first indie game idea was kind of an accident… Well, I like it, you don’t start working on ip’s until finally a great one pops into your mind… Dragons with jetpacks!
I bet DC wíll contain a vampire princess though…

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by Wotan Anubis

Wotan Anubis — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:24:00 +0000

Pity the vampire idea didn’t work out. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines was the last really good vampire RPG even though it was a broken, buggy mess. Actually, it may have been the last vampire RPG period.

In spite of the baffling success of Twilight, no new vampire games are getting made. Kind of a pity.

Ah well. Yet more dragons is also good.

Comment on Organic development – how random ideas became strategy by Pavel

Pavel — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:02:00 +0000

“Victorian Vampire is a new mature-audience steam-punk RPG set in
1861 in which you take on the role of a young brilliant archaeologist
who becomes a vampire against his/her will, and travel the world of the
American civil war, Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin and Louis Pasteur in a
mad race against somebody who should not have been woken.”Ok I would love that. Seriously. I am a bit overdragonned, with all that DKS and DAO and Skyrim, however vampire games? The only good one I can remember is Bloodlines. I hope you make it one day.

Comment on How I tried to save Divine Divinity by Swen Vincke

Swen Vincke — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 18:07:00 +0000

It did very well – it’s just that we didn’t see any cash – one of the major ideas behind this blog is sharing the lessons learnt so others can avoid making the same mistakes (the other major idea of course being the shameless promotion of our games )

Comment on How I tried to save Divine Divinity by Swen Vincke

Swen Vincke — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:54:00 +0000

Here’s the two things that helped me tremendously during my darkest days:

Rule 1: Never give upRule 2: When you think of giving up, read rule 1That, and a bit of luck should see you through

Comment on How I tried to save Divine Divinity by Fabricio Nogueira

Fabricio Nogueira — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Hey there: You know, I’m starting the development of a game with some lads, and this comes to be really helpful since we are going to do a big investment and it’s really hard to manage the economic part of the project. We are quiting our jobs to do this so it’s a tough call. I played Divinity some years ago and was surprised it didn’t do as well as other titles. I’m glad you’ve gone from that complicated situation to what you are now, and hope you keep on it for a long time!

Comment on How I tried to save Divine Divinity by Rineybree

Rineybree — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:51:00 +0000

That is truly terrible to hear that you guys did not turn a profit from the original Divine Divinity game. I played the hell out of those games and loved them (my only gripe was how many trash mobs you had to wade through towards the end).

But by releasing such a deep, high-quality title, people now know what you are capable of and will be more willing to buy your products in the future. It never benefits a company to release a game where “laziness” or inattention to detail (by not incorporating beta tester feedback due to time, money, etc.) is clear. For example, people will probably forgive Bioware for Dragon Age 2 in time, but this is only because the first was good and the company had had a pretty good reputation up to that point.

Having to get rid of 90% of your staff is something that should be avoided at all costs, but so is missing an opportunity to establish a good reputation for your company (with gamers and critics).

I do not envy your position, as it’s a tricky thing you are trying to do. However, I’m sure your passion will eventually bring good dividends.