The "I-hate-Interplay" thread

Cafe Society
1

The Dirge of Black Isle

I hate Interplay.

once, a just a few short years ago, they were the biggest, baddest publisher of electronic games on the block. And the star of their show was Black Isle. Black Isle single-handedly MADE the RPG genre once more. It had languished for years with no real, releases, consigning us poor folks to the icy depths of Final Fantasy.

Today, I come to you not to weep for their death, for I have finally gotten over my grief. I have come to accept that the group that gave me my most favoritest games, ever, is gone.

No, I will remember them fondly for giving me Fallout, its sequal, and the Baldur’s gate series, and Icewind Dale. True, at the end of their life, when they were being poisoned by Interplay, Black Isle did release the excreable Lionheart. but Lionheart was obviously the work of people who were under unfair pressures.

Lionheart had a very, very short development time. I think its obvious that Black Isle cut development short and gave them a deadline to shove it out the door, neccesitating turning into a hack & slash game, or simply made it clear that Black Isle had to “contribute more” toward the success of the company. In other words: get us more cash, you milk cows, or its off to the slaughterhouse with you.

And of course, there was the Neverwinter Nights debacle: Interplay grabbed some images and tried to do something they had no right to. it lost them the services of the world’s Second Best RPG development house (now holders of the title of First), and a very popular, profitable game.

But let us not be sad. let us haul out our worn copies of Baldur’s Gate or Fallout and revel, instead, in the short lived brilliance.

:frowning:

And if anyone remembers the old Baldur’s Gate II boards, I was that Smiling Bandit.

2

“And of course, there was the Neverwinter Nights debacle: Interplay grabbed some images and tried to do something they had no right to. it lost them the services of the world’s Second Best RPG development house (now holders of the title of First), and a very popular, profitable game.”

Uh, Interplay lost Neverwinter Nights for a much more down-to-earth reason: they missed a bunch of their payments to Bioware.

3

Really? From what I understood of the lawsuit, Interplay used Bioware materials paying for them, not that they missed payments.

4

My big disappointment with Interplay is the Descent series. The first two were really good - I still consider Descent 2 to be one of the best games made, ever - but the third installment was… eh. Not terrible - in fact, a little fun to play - but… well…

5

There were two lawsuits, one where Bioware charged Interplay with sublicencing Bioware games to third parties without the contractually required permission, and the second where Bioware (and Parallax Software) sued cash-strapped Interplay for not making required royalty payments.

http://www.insidemacgames.com/news/story.php?ArticleID=4390

6

You don’t even know the half of it. Black Isle had been working on a really innovative, intriguing forgotten realms game for a year and a half, then Interplay lost the license to Forgotten Realms. Goodbye actual moneymaking game, hello shovelware, goodbye Black Isle.

7

Don’t worry so much. As I said in another thread the talent floats around. It’s not like they killed the members of Black Isle.

I remember being upset when Looking Glass folded. Now Thief III is on it’s way and I’m sure System Shock III (or a game that would be System Shock III just named different) will appear someday.

8

Black Isle was saddled with a bitch of a genre. RPGs are hard to make and don’t sell as well as action games. That being said Black Isle (and Bioware) excelled in amazing ways. Fallout and Planescape: Torment alone are enough to cement Black Isle’s reputation as artists rather than just programmers.

A lot of the people who made the first Fallout are now, or at least were, working at Troika Games, who made Arcanum, which I’ve yet to play but have heard good things about. So there’s still hope that while Black Isle is dead the masters behind the games will continue.

9

I haven’t trusted Interplay since Descent to Undermountain.

10

Aaaaaaaah! It burns! It burns!

Geez, I only played a demo of the dang thing and I remember it as one of the worst games ever.