Pheonix on 16/1/2005 at 22:05
From what I've read and seen, I find it extremely unlikely that any future patches will ever come out. As soon as TDS was released, every team member that worked on it was "let go" from the company. So, nobody that really knows the code for the game is left to work on fixes. When you also factor in the total dead silence concerning the possability of future patches, I'm only left with the feeling that EIDOS and Ion Storms have decided to just forget the whole thing.
While I'm still doing some guessing, lets take a look at what actually happened.
1) LGS goes under, largely due to actions taken by EIDOS - from what I understand. EIDOS now owns the rights to Theif, and they get Ion Storms to produce a 3rd in the series, after petitions and demands come flooding in that they do so (I signed that petition, and I also sent one of those demanding e-mails.)
2) Ion Storms starts production of the game, a strong debate occurs concerning "The Vision" and whether or not they can meet it. Ion Storms hires several of the original creators of Theif.
3) Ion Storms announces that the game will also be released on a console (this may have actually happened before 2, it is around the same time.) The fan base raises a fuss about consolitis and their fears that the game will suffer. Ion Storms eventually states that the game will be designed for the PC first, then ported (dumbed down if necessary,) to a console. Those fears subside (for the most part.)
4) About a year and a half pass, and trailers appear. They look good, people start holding their breath.
5) About another year passes and the game is released. Ion Storms imediately fires (or lays off,) the entire staff that worked on it. Many fans are disapointed with the final results. The game includes signs that indicate that it was actually designed for the console first and then ported (without smartening it up any,) to the PC (in direct contradiction to their stated promise.)
6) Bug reports start flooding in. Hundreds at a time, no word from either EIDOS or Ion Storms concerning them. Collections are made listing them. One glaring and highly disabling bug appears (the AI difficulty bug.) People start throwing a fit about the bug and the silence coming out of EIDOS and Ion Storms.
7) Fans hack the code and figure out the location and several methods of fixing the bug (doing all the work,) 3rd party programs are released that correct it without illegally altering the game code itself. Fans are still sending a barage of complaints to EIDOS and Ion Storms concerning this.
8) A patch is released ficing the AI bug only (after all, no real work was needed to do it, they could easily use the information provided by the fans.)
9) People are still complaining about the remaining problems/bugs with the game, but silence reigns from EIDOS and Ion Storms.
Ok, that's a bit of a slam on both game companies, and I may be missing some announcements (though I tried to find any that I could.) I may have also put some of the entries in the wrong location, and I'm not completely sure as to production times involved.
The conlculsion, that scares the crap out of me, that I came too, and this is only an opinion (or a feeling,) is that because of the high e-mail volume demanding a Thief 3 EIDOS recieved, they decided to make one with the express purpose of killing off that demand. That's just the feeling I get, and I hope to God that I'm wrong. It's like they said, "We don't want to do Thief any more, but we have all these demands for it. I know, lets make a new Thief game and make it just barely good enough to get by. Then all that demand will fizzle out and we won't have to worry about it any more." If this is the case, then they don't have to wory about any real patches, as they don't plan to continue it anyways.
Again, this is a slam on the companies, and it really paints them in a bad (ok, awefull, terrible, hateful,) light. However, this is nothing more than a feeling I get when I look at how things fell out. I'm freely willing to admit that I may be completely off base here.
Holywhippet on 17/1/2005 at 02:07
Did the entire team get laid off? I thought there was a fair quantity but not all of them. The game did feel a little bit rushed at the end. It was playable and there weren't any real showstopper bugs but I felt it needed a bit more polish.
What concerns me is the the rumours of Warren Spector leaving Ion Storm popped up at about the same time as the layoffs occured. Now Warren has moved to a different company but still there is no word from him as to what happened. Did he get sick of working for Eidos or where they unhappy with his work? Certainly his choice to make Deus Ex 2 and Thief 2 console and PC games doesn't seem to have worked out well. Why hasn't he done an interview to present his point of view? An NDA?
ZylonBane on 17/1/2005 at 02:28
Quote Posted by Holywhippet
Certainly his choice to make Deus Ex 2 and Thief 2 console and PC games doesn't seem to have worked out well.
I very much doubt it was his choice.
Tortus on 17/1/2005 at 03:13
If by "doesn't seem to have worked out well" you mean sold poorly, you're wrong. DX2 did really well, especially on Xbox.
Phoenix (sic) that's a ridiculous theory.
It might not have been Spector's choice but he was fine with it.
Ladron De La Noche on 17/1/2005 at 08:40
Yet another vague response....nice :erg:
These people don't know how to answer one simple question.
LordK2002 on 17/1/2005 at 10:44
Quote Posted by Ladron De La Noche
These people don't know how to answer one simple question.
Or are not allowed to.
Tortus on 17/1/2005 at 12:14
Quote Posted by Grey Mouser
just be patient for a little while longer....good things will come
Would you like it deciphered?
SJamieson on 17/1/2005 at 12:48
What about the unavailability of TDS compared with DX:IW?
IW is over a year old now and I can walk into any local retailer and buy it for the Xbox.
TDS is not available for the Xbox (PC copies are still there), now judging from other posts on the board that holds true for lots of other countries too including Canada, and parts of Asia. The only versions I have seen, have been preowned. Online retailers do still stock it, but they are less likely to run out than chain stores if supplies run out or production is stopped.
Is it possible Eidos withdrew production of the game either hoping to re-release it patched or release it under an X-Box classics label, which the Microsoft negotiations have prevented happening?
Holywhippet on 18/1/2005 at 01:26
Quote Posted by ZylonBane
I very much doubt it was his choice.
One of the interviews I've seen with him had him saying he's long been interested in doing console games despite being known as PC guy. Perhaps this was a case where he should have ignored what he wanted and went with what he was good at.