Troika closing doors?

No way...

Ok now we know its a rumor so no need to make assumptions. Besides all their games sold well. It cant possibly be true. Ive bought all the games they made or plan too and the people I know have done the same.

Sincerely,
The Vault Dweller
 
The_Vault_Dweller said:
No way...

Ok now we know its a rumor so no need to make assumptions. Besides all their games sold well. It cant possibly be true. Ive bought all the games they made or plan too and the people I know have done the same.
Click to expand...

What has me bothered is the lack of immediate denial by Leon. If Troika has a stable future, then why can't they just come forward and say they're unfounded rumours.
 
One of the guys working there has confirmed that there have been layoffs and things are looking grim, so it's not just the rumor mill.
 
Err... actually he just confirmed that he did not say that there are layoffs. Which leads us back to having no information except what we can infer.
 
Oops, my mistake. Don't read and post while under the effects of sleep deprivation, kids, take it from me.
 
Hmph. This does not come as a surprise to me. Pardon me for being the voice of discord, but a development company that produces nothing but three commercial flops in a span of six years can expect only to be eventually closed down. Let's face it, Arcanum, Greyhawk: ToEE and VtM: Bloodlines were financial failures, and in my opinion deservingly so. With their awful bugginess, clunky interface and crude technical execution, Troika's games occupy a lower echelon of CRPG genre and have little to offer but extreme frustration. Though biased Fallout fans love to exalt Troika to the point where it gets sickening, truth is their games are barely (if at all) better than mediocre BioWare crap. This can partially be blamed on publisher's greed, but it would be hypocritical to entirely pardon the developers for the bitter taste of disappointment their every game so far has left. Though it's sad to see former Fallout designers fare poorly with their new company, I can't help but remark that success requires more effort than simply dwelling on the glory of Fallout.
 
ToEE sold well enough, it was inside the publisher predictions and outsold the NWN expansions that got out that year. Arcanum payed the investement, it simply didn`t go beyond that. Don`t have data on Vampires though.
 
Ratty said:
I can't help but remark that success requires more effort than simply dwelling on the glory of Fallout.
Click to expand...

I may be putting myself out on a limb here, but I think Bloodlines is the best RPG to come out since Planescape: Torment. Obviously, they aren't the cultural blockbusters Half Life 2 and the Sims were, but every indicator points towards Bloodlines selling very well for a single player PC RPG.

Anyways, Bloodlines has the best dialogue in any game I've played since...2000 I think. I think it also has the best NPCs, no doubt thanks to the Source Facial system, of any game. I also think this game NAILED the dark humor that I remember from Fallout. It doesn't rely on amnesia or saving the world from ultimate-evil-apocalypse, in this day and age thats amazing!

I hope Troika is just having a cooling off period, or they are about to anounce a merger, if such things exist for game developers. Sigh...
 
Well, if you want to be hopeful, you can hope that their announcement is that they found a publisher for their Post-Apocalyptic RPG.
 
I find myself agreeing with a lot of Ratty's post. I heard so much negative stuff about Arcanum I never tried it. I did try ToEE because I needed a DnD fix and it didn't cut it. Haven't gone near VMBL. A lot of potential that didn't live up to the hype imo.
 
I don't know, it's hard for me to grasp that people who love RPG's don't like Arcanum or VTM:B. ToEE I can understand because everybody played it thinking there would be more to the game than what it delivered, but it's still the best D&D game around as far as combat goes. It sucks that Troika's games are so buggy, but writing off the content and gameplay because of sloppy programming/Q&A is stupid. Last time I checked no one was critisizing NWN because Bioware needs 5000 patches to keep it running.

I guess it's fairly stupid to argue about though since it's clearly just personal preference. I think anyone would have a hard time putting out a logical or semi-objective argument that would convince most people that any RPG's that came out in the past few years were better than VTM:B, or showing that more than a handful of RPGs were better than Arcanum. I'd be very interested in hearing the arguments though.
 
Montez said:
I guess it's fairly stupid to argue about though since it's clearly just personal preference. I think anyone would have a hard time putting out a logical or semi-objective argument that would convince most people that any RPG's that came out in the past few years were better than VTM:B, or showing that more than a handful of RPGs were better than Arcanum. I'd be very interested in hearing the arguments though.
Click to expand...
Um, what arguments? Sadly, there weren't any RPGs in the past few years that are better than VtM. Hell, I haven't had a decent CRP fix since 1999, if you don't count Torment which I played with a great delay. That doesn't, however, change the fact that VtM is one average game that left me thoroughly disappointed.
 
I haven't played NWN. Bio doesn't interest me in the slightest.

I rely on either my own experience or the opinions of gamers I have a lot in common with and if they tell me I won't enjoy a game, I usually don't try it. And for me, if it's too buggy, the story doesn't matter.
 
Josan said:
I haven't played NWN. Bio doesn't interest me in the slightest.

I rely on either my own experience or the opinions of gamers I have a lot in common with and if they tell me I won't enjoy a game, I usually don't try it. And for me, if it's too buggy, the story doesn't matter.
Click to expand...

How buggy is too buggy? I've encountered few problems with Troikas games that seem to justify "not worth playing."

Troika's games are good, they just never end up being what they could be. But even without living up to their potential, they still best everything else in the marketplace.
 
Ratty said:
Um, what arguments?
Click to expand...

Stating an opinion in a manner that suggests it is a fact is an argument, more or less, or at least it comes off as one. :P

Ok, so you didn't say that any RPG's in the last few years were better than VTM - but calling Troika's games mediocre, technically crude, extremely frustrating, occupying the lower echelon of the genre, etc, would seem to imply that there are many, many games better - after all, if they are that bad how could the majority of games not be better without the video game industry collapsing into a black pit of negative profit and nerdy despair? And if they are the lower echlon, that obviously impies a higher echelon, right? etc, etc.

How many RPG's would you say are excellent or perfect examples of the art? And how many games in that genre are there, total? And finally, with those numbers in mind, do you really think that Troika is bottom of the barrel in the field? You have this intense dislike for them that doesn't seem to make sense, especially sense you don't really rant about other companies.
 
lilfyffedawg said:
Troika's games are good, they just never end up being what they could be. But even without living up to their potential, they still best everything else in the marketplace.
Click to expand...

Thats the heart of it, right there. Bugs can be lived through, there was once a time when patching over the internet was unheard of, and Quality Assurance was the original developers playing through it. Fallout and its like from that era weren't good, they were the best! If you are going to dismiss games for not being on that level, you are going to be waiting for the rest of your life, probably. So when a good thing comes along, play it! If, that is, you have 512 RAM, preferrably 768.
 
Montez said:
Ok, so you didn't say that any RPG's in the last few years were better than VTM - but calling Troika's games mediocre, technically crude, extremely frustrating, occupying the lower echelon of the genre, etc, would seem to imply that there are many, many games better - after all, if they are that bad how could the majority of games not be better without the video game industry collapsing into a black pit of negative profit and nerdy despair? And if they are the lower echlon, that obviously impies a higher echelon, right? etc, etc.

How many RPG's would you say are excellent or perfect examples of the art? And how many games in that genre are there, total? And finally, with those numbers in mind, do you really think that Troika is bottom of the barrel in the field? You have this intense dislike for them that I doesn't seem to make sense, especially sense you don't really rant about other companies.
Click to expand...
Obviously, I mean to say the upper echelon of post-1999 CRPGs is empty. Absence of excellent games in no way makes mediocre games seem excellent, nor does it mean I have to lower my standards (defined primarily by Fallout and Fallout 2) all of sudden. As far as I am concerned, Bloodlines and Arcanum are in the league with KotOR and Baldur's Gate, and far below standards set by Fallout.

The reason why I rant so much against Troika is because I expect much more from people who worked on Fallout. I approached Arcanum and VtM expecting RPGs that would shadow all of their predecessors, only to discover they are major let-downs. I don't much care when BioWare produces yet another mediocre title, but when I play a new Troika game and learn it's frustrating and unremarkable, I feel like somebody stabbed me in the chest. Especially since it leaves me without ammunition in long-winded arguments against retarded BioFanboys:

Me: Neverwinter Nights is a hollow and repetitive experience, far beneath the level of profound roleplaying masterpieces designed by Mr. Timothy Cain and Mr. Leonard Boyarsky of Troika Games.

Fanboy: Troika who?

Me: Troika Games... You know, the company by former makers of Fallout.

Fanboy: What?

Me: Fallout. You know, the post-apocalyptic turn-based CRPG. The greatest roleplaying game ever made.

Fanboy: Is that the one where you have to play through that incredibly tedious temple in the beginning? Boooriiing... Baldur's Gate is much better. It has fast-paced real-time combat, which is clearly superior to stupid and outdated turn-based. What 'great' games did, pray tell, your beloved Troika develop?

Me (vigor diminishing): Troika developed Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura, an excellent RPG that continues in Fallout's path, featuring a highly-sophisticated combination of unique style and open-ended gameplay.

Fanboy: Yeah? Have you finished it?

Me: (cue anime character falling over)
 
I can't stand when people hate on Arcanum :evil: :evil: :evil:

I admit I didn't like Temple of Elemental Evil, or Vampire Bloodlines. At all.

But Arcanum is one of my favorite games of all time. I played through it atleast 6-7 times, without experiencing any bugs. So, I really don't understand where the "buggy" argument comes from.

It really depends on the person I guess. I felt like Arcanum definitely lived up to all my expectations and much, much more.

Of course nothing can stand toe-to-toe with Fallout. Why? Because this is a Fallout Fansite, we are all worshippers of that game.

If this was a Arcanum fansite, we'd be saying things in reverse.

I don't think Arcanum can touch Fallout, but I'll take Arcanum over 99.999% of the other CRPG's.

I do agree with you on one thing though.
Past Arcanum, the games have been a major let down for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top