Reason why K3 hasn't been confirmed/denied?

[The Source]

Just had a brainwave!!!(it doesnt happen often, so thought i would share it). Maybe K3 is in development with Obsidian, but as part of the agreement with LA of them doing it was that it wouldnt be announced. So they could take as much time as they wanted over it, and LA wouldnt be able to pressurise them into releasing it 3 months early thus cutting development time. So they could release a completed product, as while i think TSL is an amazing game. It would have been even better if all the cut content was in, would of liked to have seen vash stick up for you at the council meeting - which from the VO's from M4-78 i get the impression she would have. Anyways I think this could be a reason for no news as releasing an unfinished game does look bad for a development team, whatever the reasons. So by having an agreement like this the can produce a very good game, outside of LA's concerns of a good time to release a game.

 

I did read the before posted thread; RH et al, but didnt think you would mind me posting this as dont recall reading anything along these lines before. Sorry if it is/you consider it to be covering old ground.

 

I would have to say, if this isnt the case then i dont think K3 will be made, as if you leave it too long you will loose the fanbase who bought the first 2 games.

 

Anyways, what do you lot think?

There were hints to this several months ago. The only problem was that no one was able to prove it. I did speak to a developer (I can't say for what company) not too long ago, and he told me some tid-bits. However, I don't have any proof to show anyone. All I can say is that you are on the right track. (Don't focus on Obsidian).

[tbl]

It's because the heads of LA are angry at the world. It's the only logical explanation.

[Miltiades]

(Don't focus on Obsidian).

 

If what you say is true, then I can't help but feel a bit sad. Story-wise OE did better than BioWare IMO, and the story is the most important reason I like these games.

[ViperSkeele]

Just had a brainwave!!!(it doesnt happen often, so thought i would share it). Maybe K3 is in development with Obsidian, but as part of the agreement with LA of them doing it was that it wouldnt be announced. So they could take as much time as they wanted over it, and LA wouldnt be able to pressurise them into releasing it 3 months early thus cutting development time. So they could release a completed product, as while i think TSL is an amazing game. It would have been even better if all the cut content was in, would of liked to have seen vash stick up for you at the council meeting - which from the VO's from M4-78 i get the impression she would have. Anyways I think this could be a reason for no news as releasing an unfinished game does look bad for a development team, whatever the reasons. So by having an agreement like this the can produce a very good game, outside of LA's concerns of a good time to release a game.

 

I did read the before posted thread; RH et al, but didnt think you would mind me posting this as dont recall reading anything along these lines before. Sorry if it is/you consider it to be covering old ground.

 

I would have to say, if this isnt the case then i dont think K3 will be made, as if you leave it too long you will loose the fanbase who bought the first 2 games.

 

Anyways, what do you lot think?

 

ABSOLUTELY !!!!! This is what I've been saying all along, since well over a year ago. You see, Obsidian Entertainment was founded by a few experienced RPG game builders including a couple from Black Isle Studios (Remember Fallout and Fallout2?) This is Feargus Urqhart's Modus Operendi and I know he is one of the top people in Obsidian if not THE top gun. They had Fallout3 about 3/4 finished as it sounds before parent company Interplay went belly up from poor management way above Black Isle's heads (Hearve Caine, CEO, Interplay) Well, there never was an announcement that Fallout3 had even been started until recently screenshots and story bits have been showing up. These folks understand that it's a mistake to announce anything until tidying up the final loose ends of the 99% completed game. I imagine it's pretty embarrassing and time consuming explaining why your game isn't out months after it was predicted if you were foolish enough to say early on "yeah, we're gonna have something on the shelves by xx/xx/200x date" I know for a fact that these people prefer to release a fully completed work, and not one that was rushed like TSL, but in that case, LucasArts wanted to time the release to capitalize on the hype from the last Star Wars movie, combined with the upcoming Holiday Spending Season. The pressure must have been intense, just think about it.

Now, all that being said, we're no longer in the tailwinds of another Star Wars movie, and any spending season is suitable. I would guess by this time next year we'll see KOTOR 3. Also like I mentioned in another post, I wouldn't be suprised to see the eventual release of the next three Star Wars Movies, 7, 8, and 9, but I wouldn't think that will be for a few more years.

Continuing the guessing, I would imagine that Obsidian Entertainment will assemble more than one upcoming KOTOR game somewhat simultaneously so that a)the release dates can be closer together, building a momentum of spending amongst fans, say annually for maybe the next three sequels, probably near the holiday season each year. b)the reduced costs of simultaneous developement, c) keeping true to the storylines developed from K1 on (Think about The Matrix 2 and 3 which they did together for a lot of the same reasons) d) I think it would also be easier to keep story redundancy from happening as they would be comparing and contrasting storylines as they progress, making it easier to keep it fresh. I can imagine a conversation between dev team members; member1 "Here's a cool Idea I've come up with, blah blah blah...." senior team member "Yeah, I like that, I like it a lot, but I don't think it's gonna fit in sequel2, but if you're agreeable to it, we can definately us it in sequel3 since it's going to focus on blah blah blah..., by the way how about the twist in the blah blah segment on sequel4, any ideas for that? We're still a little stuck as to how we're going to go from this point to the next module."

It makes sense in maintaining continuity as well, from one story to the next. That would make five titles in all, and if I'm not mistaken, I read somewhere that sequels up through KOTOR5 were contracted out by LucasArts when they contracted for TSL.

NOW ONE OTHER VALID (I think) POINT: Do you think for a moment that if there was no plan on continuing the KOTOR series that someone from LucasArts wouldn't make that official announcement? Come on, the lack of media announcements about another sequel is proof enough in itself, they would be calling TSL the "Final installment in the series" You and I both know thats not the LucasArts way, they're not gonna quit until they've exhausted the profitability of the series, which to me seems like a time far far away.

The hope for a Fallout3 never died, and I don't think it has quite the following that the KOTOR series has, and lo and behold Fallout3 is finally beginning to trickle back into the press after almost a decade. I don't think KOTOR3 is a case of "IF" I think it's a case of "WHEN". Perhaps if Feargus Urqhart happens to read this forum and our strong support he'll feel compelled to give us a little nibble of optimism, just to confirm that we can look forward assuredly for the next KOTOR.

[Miltiades]

First and for all, forget about Episode 7-9, Lucas clearly stated there won't be 7-9, and that Ep.3 was the last SW movie he'd make.

 

Anyway, I don't think it would be a good idea to stretch the story because it would lead to more sequels. K3 should be the end of the trilogy. That doesn't mean they shouldn't make more SW RPGs in the future.

 

I hope that all those excellent RPGs that are now on the market (I'm thinking about Oblivion, NWN2, Gothic 3, Jade Empire) encourages LA to give it another shot with K3. It must give them confidence that the RPG-genre isn't done yet.

[SilentScope001]

First and for all, forget about Episode 7-9, Lucas clearly stated there won't be 7-9, and that Ep.3 was the last SW movie he'd make.

 

Lucas WON'T make Ep. 7-9, but one of his associates talked about how much money direct-to-video sequels would make, compared to making actual movies. I don't have the actual website that had this comment. However, this associate said that if someone "with Lucas' talent" would make Ep. 7-9 and sell them directly to video, he would be pretty, pretty rich.

[TSR]

supershadow strikes again...

[SilentScope001]

Actually, it wasn't from that idiot known as Supershadow. It was from the Washingtion Post. And that associate was not named Supershadow, it was...erm...someone else. I still got no proof, so don't believe me.

 

Here is a website that state that George Lucas won't be making any movies though. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news?id=24425

 

Judging from this URL and its story, get rid of my earlier speculation. There will be no more Star Wars movie. George Lucas might want it in the past, but not now.

[TSR]

Yes, i know he isnt making anymore movies, i was stating that the ubertw*t know as "supershadow" placed the "scripts" to ep 7-9 on his webby. stupid prat.

[SilentScope001]

Well, I wouldn't state that. I would diginfy him by calling him a skilled con-artist/rouge who manages to get people to come to his site (either because they believe him, or they hate him), thereby exposing them to banner ads and making him cash.

[jonathan7]

hmmm, interesting points, found this regarding the force powers pre-vis and other stuff;

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_:_Force_Unleashed

 

i know some of you are allergic to wiki, but i think its alright - youve just gotta use your common sense when reading stuff on the internet, i wont believe kotor 3 is officially in production untill i see it announced/released but i hope its already in development ;-)

 

personally i think supershadow is a **** (insert ur abuse word there). i also think that episodes 7-9 will eventually be made, probably when good old george finally enters the netherworld of the force.

[The Architect]

Would you mind providing the date that Mr. Urquhart replied to you, for the historical record?

 

Not at all. He replied to me on the 25th of October this year...

[RainMan666]

This is amazing news. I think what they said about the storyline taking place 14 years after KOTOR II is still factual. They just haven't put any more thought into that other than the basic storyline.

[ViperSkeele]

First and for all, forget about Episode 7-9, Lucas clearly stated there won't be 7-9, and that Ep.3 was the last SW movie he'd make.

 

Anyway, I don't think it would be a good idea to stretch the story because it would lead to more sequels. K3 should be the end of the trilogy. That doesn't mean they shouldn't make more SW RPGs in the future.

 

I hope that all those excellent RPGs that are now on the market (I'm thinking about Oblivion, NWN2, Gothic 3, Jade Empire) encourages LA to give it another shot with K3. It must give them confidence that the RPG-genre isn't done yet.

Yes, I believe that is what was said...However, Remember when The Eagles said that hell would freeze over before they'd get back together? I'm just being optimistic is all. The stories for 7, 8, and 9 are written aren't they? If I were George Lucas, regardless of saying they wouldn't happen, I know I'd get the itch again, maybe in another ten years, who knows, we'll see )

 

I emailed Feargus Urquhart the other day. This is what I said...

 

Hi

 

I'm not entirely sure if this is the right place to ask this question so I apologize if it's not, however; regarding this piece of dialogue (cut-content)...

 

Mandalore: "You sound like Revan, at the end. Do you know what she told me, as I lay dying on the outer rim? That the Mandalorian Wars were our doom. That we had been deceived, that it had never been our decision to wage war on the Republic. Revan said the Mandalorians didn't invade the Republic's space because it was our choice. We were tricked; our entire people sacrificed as pawns, and never knew it! She said there was a war coming, that it was waiting in the unknown regions, in the dark, waiting for us to destroy each other."

 

Visas: "A war? This war?"

 

Mandalore: "No, not this one. Another one, more terrible, against an evil we couldn't begin to comprehend. A war of belief that had been fought for thousands of years. Revan went off to fight it..."

 

Visas: "... and left you here."

 

Mandalore: "Revan was one of the greatest military leaders in the galaxy. In history. She had no use for a people who had already been beaten once. She said the time of the Mandalorians was over. The Mandalorian wars had killed us. And she laughed."

 

Visas: "And that is what burns in your heart, and that is why clan Ordo was reborn; to prove Revan wrong."

 

Mandalore, "No, not Revan."

 

If you folks at Obsidian were given the go-ahead to make KotOR III (which I hope you do, because KotOR II absolutely ruled and was way better than KotOR IMO), would you elaborate on this piece of dialogue or not? In other words, would KotOR III be a 'trilogy wrapper upper' game or would it pick up in an entirely new timeline if you folks were making the game? What would you do if you folks were making the game? I'm no professional, but my piece of friendly advice (from a marketing perspective) would be to wrap up the cliffhanger ending of KotOR II in KotOR III if you folks get to make the game (if it ever gets made that is). Thank you for your attention...

 

Regards

 

The Architect

 

Feargus replied to me saying...

 

Hi,

 

I'll forward this to Chris Avellone who is one of the other owners of Obsidian and was also the Lead Designer on KotOR II. As for whether KotOR III is going to get done and will it be done by us - I don't really have any good or bad information. I can tell you we are not working on it as of right now and we are not in talks with LucasArts to do it. LucasArts may have another developer working on it, but equally possible, they may not. To get more information, you might want to contact them. Oh, and we would jump at the chance to do it and believe it would be an amazing product to work on.

 

Lastly, thanks for your thoughts on KotOR II - those are always appreciated.

 

Sincerely,

 

Feargus Urquhart

CEO

Obsidian Entertainment, Inc.

 

To put it simply, Obsidian are not working on KotOR III at the moment...

I don't know if I'm completely sold on this or not...Feargus was very careful with the wording he used, the same kind of phraseology he used when persistently asked about Fallout3, when in fact it was in developement full steam ahead at the time.

"As for whether KotOR III is going to get done and will it be done by us - I don't really have any good or bad information." Sounds like a nice way to plead the fifth...

"I CAN tell you we are not working on it as of right now and we are not in talks with LucasArts to do it." Umm notice how specific...he doesn't say "we haven't spoken with LucasArts about it" the talks may have been done at this point, and if the hiring they are doing is by chance for KOTOR3 then they may not be actually "working on it as of right now" and you have to wonder what the "as of" is hinting at, as well as if he CAN tell us this, what CAN'T he tell us?.

"LucasArts may have another developer working on it, but equally possible, they may not." C'mon obvious smoke screen material you sly devil, Feargus (by the way, LOVED FALLOUT & FALLOUT2, GREAT WORKS)

And last, perhaps the most interesting thing Feargus said was this:"I'll forward this to Chris Avellone who is one of the other owners of Obsidian and was also the Lead Designer on KotOR II." There's only one reason I can think of for forwarding the message, and thats if more information is available that Feargus didn't feel comfy offerring "as of" right then when he responded.

 

I have the HIGHEST respect For Feargus Urqhart, and for Chris Avellone, and I'm not suggesting in any way that any mis-truths were given, however I think it's still highly possible that K3 is slated for production by the good folks at Obsidian although I'll move MY guesstimated release date back to fall or winter 2008. I think it's VERY cool that the CEO of Obsidian is willing to speak to us little people personally, even if K3 really isn't in the works.....WE'RE NOT WORTHY. I wrote Mr. Urqhart many moons ago myself to probe for info about Fallout3, and he responded back then with a similar answer....I'm not losing hope, I never lost hope for Fallout3, and it's finally happening, I'm not losing hope for KOTOR3 either. Keep the faith, and to YOU Mr. Urqhart You have class and genius, keep up the good work )

[Jediphile]

I think there are several reasons why Episodes VII-IX won't be made:

 

1. One point of the "third trilogy" was to find out who the "there is another" mentioned by Yoda in Ep. V was, because it was originally not meant to be Leia. But Lucas changed it so that it was Leia because he wanted to end it all with ROTJ, and now he's stuck with that choice.

 

2. The Expanded Universe. Lucas has approved it all and it is all canon. It would be very difficult to do a succeeding trilogy that does not conflict with the myriad of plots already established in Expanded Universe.

 

And the big one...

 

3. Lucas has no interest in doing a third trilogy.

 

Just my two credits...

[jonathan7]

Hmm, personally i think eventually they will be made only because lucas arts are a buisness and they will be able to make alot of money from another trilogy... i dont think lucas will make them though. Although EU is canon at this point, the prequel trilogy stamped all over original accounts of what happened during the clone wars etc, so I dont think LA would have a problem doing this again, personally i think some stuff in the EU is too far fetched anyways, dunno what some of you guys think, for example the in NJO you have palpatine coming back (which to me is stupid in itself) but then he can summon a force storm great enough to attack whole fleets of spaceships, i know its sci-fi, but personally i dont like people having that much power and more than that if palpatine can do that, why didnt he just do that in the prequels to assume power instead of all the behind the scenes manipulations?

[Miltiades]

Another reason why Lucas won't make a third trilogy, is because the PT and OT tell the story of Anakin falling to the dark side, assuming his role as Dark Lord of the Sith and eventually being redeemed by his son.

[Jediphile]

Another reason why Lucas won't make a third trilogy, is because the PT and OT tell the story of Anakin falling to the dark side, assuming his role as Dark Lord of the Sith and eventually being redeemed by his son.

 

I don't see your point. Wasn't that always his intention?

[Prime]

Yes, but the story was completed in the 6 films, so there is no reason to make another three since there is nothing left to tell.

[Jediphile]

Yes, but the story was completed in the 6 films, so there is no reason to make another three since there is nothing left to tell.

 

Maybe not after Lucas changed his plot, no, but we actually don't know precisely what Lucas had in mind for Episodes VII to IX. And Vader was always supposed to meet his end in Episode VI, AFAIK.