THE CITY WATCH 2012 - News/Tweets -UPDATE: EM & Crystal Dynamics collaboration for TR

[Platinumoxicity]

And Kyle, does Eidos Montréal know which one of our anniversary questions won the popularity contest? Nevermind whether they'll answer or not. Do they know?

Because obviously the subject matter of that question must be one of the most important things to the fans, therefore it's something that the developers really need to think about. Will they change the direction of planned marketing, from promoting the short-living interest of the mystery and storytelling, to the longevity-increasing non-linearity and exploration? Have they learned from the mistakes of 21st century gaming that their own studio is already guilty of prepetuating in their debut title, and have they attempted to fix the problem with a "new old" approach, to offer the modern day gamers something different? An innovation that feels fresh to them, but what is actually an experimental return to something old and functional?

Or is this all just a binary choice between insanity and laziness? The insanity of not caring about source material or pre-established popularity but insisting on making a sequel, or the laziness of abducting an existing title not because of its popularity but because of the complete lack of imagination.

[Rockn-Roll]

Originally Posted by DarknessFalls

No, there was more. Just to help you out, I already scanned the forum for 30-60 minutes and had come up with the following additional info, which I summarized last week and referred to a few posts above. The bottom of my post here shows how the SE blame game all began:
http://forums.eidosgames.com/showpos...8&postcount=24

But, for the record, @m clarified today that EM is calling all the PR silence shots; not SE. So going forward, we should not blame SE. However, my earlier recommendation of how it might be productive to contact SE's board of directors and VP of PR still stands... since they are, officially, the bigger fish.

Ah...thanks...as I mentioned about 3 months ago I moved to Houston TX last year and then 6 months later moved to Massachusetts (most of my stuff is still in Houston), so when I returned to reading this forum I had to scan back through several months worth of posts where there was claims of news but which wasn't news about Thief 4 except in a round-about way (let's see...no news news not thi4f...yeah that's right).

So...how can we be sure that @m has it right?

@contrarian: Darkness Falls found the posts...it was most likely going by something that was heard from someone who claimed to know that they heard something from someone who thinks they know something. This thread opens a whole new dictionary entry for the word convoluted. I'll have to scavange a link from the wayback machine to a copy of this thread just in case someone claims to have seen a convoluted circular argument somewhere so I can set them straight on what a truly convoluted argument is. People...we are making history here!

And, I prefer to err on the side of sanity and say that there is nothing nafarious going on i.e. I don't think people are lying to us...they just aren't verifying the source of the information that they are spreading. And, I don't think a forum admin is privy to the details of the contracts between EM and SE, plus if he does have knowledge of said contract then he is most likely obligated to abide by a non-disclosure agreement which is typical of anyone allowed access to that kind of documentation. I had to sign a NDA when I was working with Gamespy in 1998 and given information on their business details.

I think D'Astous should release just one fact about Thief 4 so we can see if SE escorts him out of the building and/or puts him on administrative leave or something. Are there any traffic cameras near the EM building?

[contrarian]

I think I can claim that my prophecy has been fulfilled. Remember, I claimed that Eidos would acknowledge The Poll but would not address any question. Voting closed on the 11th and it is now late evening of the 15th with zip zero zilch coming out of EM.

This was one of my easiest prophecies. It was a lose/lose for EM. Answering a question would have indicated a cave-in to pressure, indicating weakness. Not answering paints them as the dismissive, condescending studio we have come to love to hate.

Answering now would not change the prophecy's outcome. It has been written. It is as it shall be. The time has past to alter what has already happened. Look to the future. Look to E3.

[joseywales1027]

Nice to know your still around........and btw I like your new sig.

[fbdbh]

Originally Posted by joseywales1027

Nice to know your still around........and btw I like your new sig.

That sig changes every day, like the glyphs on a taffed up keeper parchment.

[Viktoria]

Hehe, I'm actually beginning to look forward to each new day in anticipation of what contrarian's new signature will be.

[contrarian]

Thanks for the kind words.

23 days until E3 concludes and the veil gets lifted.

Btw, 23 is a significant number. Here are a few facts about that number:

The number 23 is sacred in religion because it belongs to a Greek Goddess named Eris. She is the Goddess of Chaos and her followers practice a form of ritual worship called chaos magick.

The number is seen as being the key to illumination and that major shifts in collective consciousness and world events can be seen in each cycle of 23.

23 is the lowest prime that consists of consecutive digits that are also primes.

Catastrophic events from the date that Tokyo's most damaging earthquake to the falling of the Twin Towers on September 11th adds up to the number 23 in terms of numerology.

Blood's circulation throughout the body occurs every 23 seconds. The human arm has 23 points of articulation. In addition, there are 23 chromosomes in the human reproductive cells.

W is the 23rd letter in the alphabet. It has 2 points down and three points up and is located on your keyboard below the 2 and 3.

And perhaps the most significant one of all.....Take the letters T,H,I,E,F, assign each letter a number, corresponding to it's place in the alphabet. T=20, H=8, I=9, E=5, F=6. Now, arrange the numbers thusly: 20-8+9-5+6. Add them up and you get 22. Boooo, not our number. But wait! If you add 1 to it, you get 23. The number 1 indicates the game will actually be Thief 1, aka a PREQUEL. It will be like The Phantom Menace Episode 1, which was actually the fourth installment.

As a practicing numerologist, this is very exciting! A prequel is shaping up!

[antonius_marcus]

Originally Posted by contrarian

Thanks for the kind words.

23 days until E3 concludes and the veil gets lifted.

Btw, 23 is a significant number. Here are a few facts about that number:

The number 23 is sacred in religion because it belongs to a Greek Goddess named Eris. She is the Goddess of Chaos and her followers practice a form of ritual worship called chaos magick.

The number is seen as being the key to illumination and that major shifts in collective consciousness and world events can be seen in each cycle of 23.

23 is the lowest prime that consists of consecutive digits that are also primes.

Catastrophic events from the date that Tokyo's most damaging earthquake to the falling of the Twin Towers on September 11th adds up to the number 23 in terms of numerology.

Blood's circulation throughout the body occurs every 23 seconds. The human arm has 23 points of articulation. In addition, there are 23 chromosomes in the human reproductive cells.

W is the 23rd letter in the alphabet. It has 2 points down and three points up and is located on your keyboard below the 2 and 3.

And perhaps the most significant one of all.....Take the letters T,H,I,E,F, assign each letter a number, corresponding to it's place in the alphabet. T=20, H=8, I=9, E=5, F=6. Now, arrange the numbers thusly: 20-8+9-5+6. Add them up and you get 22. Boooo, not our number. But wait! If you add 1 to it, you get 23. The number 1 indicates the game will actually be Thief 1, aka a PREQUEL. It will be like The Phantom Menace Episode 1, which was actually the fourth installment.

As a practicing numerologist, this is very exciting! A prequel is shaping up!

Jim carrey go out this body ^^.

I hope we will have news for T4 during the E3. If not I will go to Eidos Montreal and kis some asses
/me is an impatient Thief gamer from France. As our new president say : 'the changement, it's now'

[Meridius]

Hi everyone. Long time lurker here. What is the latest news? I ask because everything seems kind of disorganised. Am I missing something?

[Platinumoxicity]

Originally Posted by Meridius

Hi everyone. Long time lurker here. What is the latest news? I ask because everything seems kind of disorganised. Am I missing something?

The latest news were released on May 11th.

May 11th 2009 mind you. The latest news is: "Eidos Montréal has officially announced that Thief 4 is in development. A discussion forum has been opened on Eidos forums."

[george12123]

Originally Posted by Meridius

Hi everyone. Long time lurker here. What is the latest news? I ask because everything seems kind of disorganised. Am I missing something?

Here is the short answer: No

And the long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

-Edit- made the no longer.

[Rockn-Roll]

Most of the discussions are about the fact that there's no news or discussions about the meanings of the vague comments by EM management during an interview which was supposed to be about Thief 4, but was just EM patting themselves on the back for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, or discussions about the resumes updated by developers who are on the Thief 4 project.

Maybe if we could just find out what brand of toothpaste the Thief 4 developers use after lunch tomorrow we would learn more than we have learned in the past three years.

[contrarian]

I'd be willing to bet that everyone at Eidos Montreal looks forward to checking out this forum, first thing in the morning, before they begin their long, demanding 6.5 hour Canadian workday slaving away on Thief 4. I'll bet they just laugh their heads off at what gets posted.

Long, long ago, this forum ceased to be a source of info for them, now it's like reading the National Enquirer or The Sun. We exist only to amuse them. After an arduous 34 hour Candian work week, I'll bet a full 90% check this forum out at home, just to speed the recovery.

[contrarian]

Excellent post DF. Entertaining and probably not too far off the mark.

You one-upped me with that one.

I kind of like my "long, demanding 6.5 hour Canadian workday," though. I laugh everytime I read that.

[Blue Sky]

Hurray for xenophobia!

[Rockn-Roll]

I'd like an opinion. Let's say my boss...you know...the people where my money comes from...came to me today and asked about progress on the new project I started (I'm a computer engineer doing some software development)...I've actually finished most of the architecture...made decisions on how the application will work...prototyped every class that I'll need, and have the main GUI working.

But, I didn't tell him any of that...instead, I spent half an hour telling him about my achievements on the previous project that I finished and made vague references (more like snide remarks) about the general conception of the current project. Would he think it was funny?

I doubt it...more than likely he would suspect that I had made no progress at all and just stalling for time. Sound familiar?

[contrarian]

Well, that's what I get for not digging deeper and getting the most recent facts. I stand corrected. The average Canadian workday is 7.25 hours.

In 2003, the average Canadian workday was 6.5.

Way to go, friends to the north, but Thief 4 ain't gonna get done this decade if you don't start putting in some OT.

Btw, I vacation in Victoria, British Columbia every 5 or 6 years, so it's not like I hate Canada.

[Meridius]

Originally Posted by Rockn-Roll

I'd like an opinion. Let's say my boss...you know...the people where my money comes from...came to me today and asked about progress on the new project I started (I'm a computer engineer doing some software development)...I've actually finished most of the architecture...made decisions on how the application will work...prototyped every class that I'll need, and have the main GUI working.

But, I didn't tell him any of that...instead, I spent half an hour telling him about my achievements on the previous project that I finished and made vague references (more like snide remarks) about the general conception of the current project. Would he think it was funny?

I doubt it...more than likely he would suspect that I had made no progress at all and just stalling for time. Sound familiar?

I think you hit it right on the mark. I've noticed that people tend to act that way when they try and cover something up, and bs their way through it when they haven't got anything.

Originally Posted by Viktoria

Hehe, I'm actually beginning to look forward to each new day in anticipation of what contrarian's new signature will be.

Wow, that sounds like you're pretty desperate for entertainment. You guys must be seriously info deprived.

[Viktoria]

LOL, it's not that bad hehe

[Blue Sky]

Originally Posted by Rockn-Roll

I'd like an opinion. Let's say my boss...you know...the people where my money comes from...came to me today and asked about progress on the new project I started (I'm a computer engineer doing some software development)...I've actually finished most of the architecture...made decisions on how the application will work...prototyped every class that I'll need, and have the main GUI working.

But, I didn't tell him any of that...instead, I spent half an hour telling him about my achievements on the previous project that I finished and made vague references (more like snide remarks) about the general conception of the current project. Would he think it was funny?

I doubt it...more than likely he would suspect that I had made no progress at all and just stalling for time. Sound familiar?

Fun fact:

We are not Eidos Montreal's boss.

[zcapp96]

Originally Posted by Rockn-Roll

I'd like an opinion. Let's say my boss...you know...the people where my money comes from...came to me today and asked about progress on the new project I started (I'm a computer engineer doing some software development)...I've actually finished most of the architecture...made decisions on how the application will work...prototyped every class that I'll need, and have the main GUI working.

Sorry, but that analogy really doesn't work at all. We are not EM's bosses. We have never given them a penny for T4. We are people who might one day buy the game. A more accurate analogy would be if some random stranger walked into your office and demanded to know all the details because he was considering one day applying for your boss's job! Would you be so keen to share all your new ideas with him then?

[Platinumoxicity]

Speaking of giving pennies for game development... Stainless started a Kickstarter to fund the development of their Carmageddon: Reincarnation. There are already thousands of donators and it's already halfway through the projected 400000$ goal.

Independent developers that do stuff like this have total freedom in what they are making. Nobody would back something like Carmageddon these days of maniacal self-destructive political correctness. Except the most important people of them all. The players. The paying customers. I would gladly pay extra 20 bucks to get a game that was developed with absolutely no arbitrary restrictions. Just like I would never pay even the initial price for a game that has been intentionally split up into the main game and DLC to artificially inflate the price. DLC publishers deserve to get decimated with protest piracy.

Thief was originally made by independent developers who had no restrictions. Deadly Shadows imposed restrictions on itself, and it got criticized for it. I wonder why nobody can see what the problem is?

But Viktoria...

Originally Posted by Viktoria

Just because we didn't get the question answered doesn't mean they don't care.

Double negatives are a no-no. The sentence: "doesn't mean that they don't care" is not the same things as "means that they do care.". -Meaning that there is no evidence that they do care.

[auricgoldfinger]

I'm just bewildered as to why nobody is worried about the promises of "more than just stealth", and that they think there's something wrong with repeating the formula that made the original a success. "Just stealth" was good enough for the originals. To me that sounds like a nice way of refering to dumbing it down, or making it into something unrecognisable. It's happened to other franchises lately (Syndicate). I'll have to wait to hear more details as everyone else, but I fear the worst. I also wish it wasn't a reboot as that very concept seems inherently disrespectful to the original material, and they talk of respecting the spirit of the originals, which is loosely worded enough to be not committing to anything (that same sentence could be said of the Syndicate adaptation, which carried nothing over except the setting and plot elements). Dragon Age: Origins was supposed to be in the spirit of Baldur's Gate and yet it didn't live up to its predecessor, as another example. Spirit to me means 'not the substance'.

If they retell the exact same plot as the original it will be more forgivable, though they'd probably say 'remake' rather than 'reboot' if that were the case.

[DJ Riff]

Originally Posted by auricgoldfinger

"Just stealth" was good enough for the originals.

No. Thief never was "just stealth". Maybe someone tried Bafford's mission for 20 minutes, got killed at front door several times and thought "Ah, the only way in is by using stealth, that's boring".

[contrarian]

Worried about more than just stealth? True fans are rejoicing that there will be more.

Is there something wrong with repeating the formula that made the original 2 a success? Other than it will yield a stale, stagnant, boring, financial and critical disaster for EM.....No, there's nothing wrong.

"Stealth" was optional. It was like spicy seasoning on your steak. It wasn't necessary to employ stealth to win or to have fun. I found only a small amount of stealth palatable...I prefered to stealthily kill everything.