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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
| EA's Project Gray Company Revealed |
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It seems EA has their Redwood Shores development studio working on an RPG with the working title of <a href="http://www.ea.com/official/projectgraycompany/" target="_blank">Project Gray Company</a>. There's an official (and obviously temporary) Flash-y site with some art, a dev video diary, forums and project overview. The working title probably comes from Executive Producer Steve Gray, who has previous credits with EA's Lord of the Rings: The Third Age at the Redwood Shores studio among others. No platforms are specified anywhere but here's the rather interesting overview:<blockquote><em>The action takes place in a massive open world where you can go anywhere you want, and the characters in the world are powered by an incredible simulation AI based on the same technology used by the makers of The Sims 2. The story of the game is built around a series of Story Quests. You can choose to follow specific Story Quests, embark on a range of other types of quests, or set off on your own adventures in the massive open world environment. To creat this amazing new world, we have assembled an all-star team of RPG veterans from around the world. By combining our talents, skills, and passion for all things RPG, we are committed to optimizing the most state-of-the-art graphics and animation technology, the best character simulation AI, and our powerful new story mechanic to create an unparalleled new RPG experience.</em></blockquote> |
Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:02 am |
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ElSebasti
Village Dweller
Joined: 02 May 2005
Posts: 14
Location: Lusitania |
When I opened their site I thought I was listening to Arx Fatalis. Even the hammering sound of the banners remind me of it.
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Swimming in stats |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:41 am |
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ikbenrichard
Guest
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EA, well then iam sceptic. maybe this time they are making something new in instead of a know formula. |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:18 am |
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slak
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 122
Location: Sweden |
EA has never made a RPG afaik, not since they changed their name from Electronic Arts atleast. |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 11:03 am |
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fluffy bunny
Guest
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This sounds very good, IMO. But will it make it to the shelves? EA isn't afraid of cancelling games if it suddenly gets cold feet, and proper RPGs are definitely new territory for them (it's been a while since they published an RPG now).
But it's good that the world's largest publisher suddenly feels that the genre is worth investigating again. It wouldn't surprise me if other companies follow suit (as they tend to look at what EA is doing for "inspiration"). |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 1:13 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
The last EA RPG was Ultima 9!! Nuff said.
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If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 1:17 pm |
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Maylander
High Emperor
Joined: 22 Mar 2002
Posts: 1712
Location: Norway |
The projects sounds very interesting, but like any game by EA I am very sceptical to this as well. EA games normally gets simplified to a degree where kids can stroll through them, so I would be surprised if they should suddenly make a great RPG. Still, I'll keep my eye on this title.  |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:14 pm |
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Carpathic
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 12 Feb 2005
Posts: 31
Location: Kitchener, Ontario |
cool, looks like a darker rip-off of oblivion...I would try it out certainly.
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The biggest rocks are but grains of sand to an ocean. |
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Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:25 pm |
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Wolfie_
Guest
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Are we starting to see computer game publishers get MTS? MTS, or also known as "Me Too Syndrome", refers to the phenomenon where for example, one person buys a super-mega-phonic seven speaker surround sound system for their home entertainment system, and soon after a number of their friends also start to sport similar setups (and there's always that one guy that just has to get the eight! speaker version, just because).
Reading the overview Dhruin posted, it could almost be used verbatim to describe Oblivion. I just wonder how many RPG proposals / design ideas etc like this "Project Grey" have been sitting on a shelf in EA, and it's only after the sales volume of Oblivion that they have been dusted off and re-looked at.
EA (re)entering the RPG market is not something I greet with enthusiasm, as Corwin already mentioned, Ultima IX, it was a game with massive potential, but as informed opinions have stated, EA pushed the product out the door some 9-12 months too soon. (The developers had spend most of their time on getting the various gaming engines, like graphics, sound etc) right, and had only really started in earnest with implementing the storyline, quests, balancing etc, when EA made the judgement that it “looked nice” so gave them just 2 months to get it shipped. If this attitude still exists within the company (and I see no evidence that indicates a fundamental change), then I fear we’re only going to see more low-quality, but graphically beautiful RPGs.
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 12:29 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
I would list EA's last RPG as Lord of the Rings: The Third Age - from this same studio. Yes, I know it was on console it was still an RPG - and even had turn-based combat from what I recall. 
So, in fairness this studio has some experience - although more in the vein of mass-market action/adventure stuff that reminds me of Fable than anything more "hardcore".
I think this would have been planned for a while - it's too soon after the release of Oblivion for EA to get the ball rolling from those sales figures. I certainly wouldn't be surprised if the hype and mind-share of Oblivion well prior to release played a big role.
Ultimately, I would be very surprised if EA created the sort of RPG I would be interested in but if publishers think open-ended RPGs are trendy it can only be a good thing - they'll pump out some mass-market crap but it also increases the chance of fringe projects getting the green light. And who knows - they might surprise us.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 1:47 am |
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Sid Fynch
Eager Tradesman
Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 29
Location: Chiba, Japan |
Despite what EA has become, they did publish Wasteland, Sentinel Worlds I and many other groundbreaking games.
We shall see.
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"No one can disgrace us but ourselves."
Josh Billings
"Nature uses as little as possible of anything.”
Johannes Kepler |
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:58 am |
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Sir Markus
Counselor of the King
Joined: 11 Jan 2002
Posts: 369
Location: Columbus, Ohio USA |
Something tells me this is going to be more like Fable than Oblivion. I'd bet money this is going to be another dual release on the XBox 360 and PC. |
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:20 am |
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Lucky Day
Guest
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Published titles by EA that are listed as RPGs. Its by no means complete. Does the Wing Commander series qualify? (I've never played it)
Adventure Construction Set
Age of Adventure
Black Crypt
Deathlord
Deathlord
Heart of Africa
Legacy of the Ancients
Legacy of the Ancients
Legacy of the Ancients
Sentinel Worlds 1: Future Magic
Starflight
Starflight 2
The Bard's Tale II
The Bard's Tale II
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Seven Cities of Gold
The Standing Stones
System Shock 2
Ultima IX
Ultima Online: Third Dawn
Ultima Underworld & Underworld II
Wasteland
Wasteland |
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 3:12 pm |
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slak
Keeper of the Gates
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 122
Location: Sweden |
quote:
Originally posted by Lucky Day
Published titles by EA that are listed as RPGs. Its by no means complete. Does the Wing Commander series qualify? (I've never played it)
Adventure Construction Set
Age of Adventure
Black Crypt
Deathlord
Deathlord
Heart of Africa
Legacy of the Ancients
Legacy of the Ancients
Legacy of the Ancients
Sentinel Worlds 1: Future Magic
Starflight
Starflight 2
The Bard's Tale II
The Bard's Tale II
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
The Bard's Tale III: Thief of Fate
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown Volume I
The Seven Cities of Gold
The Standing Stones
System Shock 2
Ultima IX
Ultima Online: Third Dawn
Ultima Underworld & Underworld II
Wasteland
Wasteland
That's not EA, it's electronis arts, there is a difference.
Under new leadership they dropped Electronic Arts and became just EA, and alot of crapy games followed. Well only crappy games imo. |
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 5:33 pm |
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TheMadGamer
High Emperor
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 487
Location: Southern California |
The single best thing developers developing a 'Next-Gen' RPG can do is to stop referring to it as a 'Next-Gen' RPG.
Gather up 100 developers, 100 publishers, and 100 gamers and ask them to define 'Next Gen' and we'll have 100^3 responses.
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The Poster Previously Known As NeptiOfPovar |
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Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:24 pm |
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