Something coming from Obsidian and J.E. Sawyer?

[Unaco]

There's a new page/quote up now:

"I recognize your pain. Your kind must learn it comes from straining against the turning of the world. It spins thus. You cannot stop it. One day, you will wake up. You will stop pulling. The pain will be gone. Until then, all your waking hours are suffering"

And the hidden message:

"In time, waves washing against the fingers of Geiran's Grasp will call them back into the sea. The difference between you and the sea is that the sea does not stop"

That first quote does sound something like the WoT, and someone just pointed out the Ouroboros to me. But, again, I don't recognise any of the names... unless it's from a different turning of the Wheel from the novels. Also, I'm kind of certain I've come across a 'bad guy' whose followers believe or they preach that we are sleeping/dreaming and being put to death will wake us up, be good for us... But I can't put my finger on it.

There's also another code being revealed, slowly. What originally started as

!--. X . X X . X X --

Has been revealing one letter a day, T and now I, with X's representing the still hidden consonants, and . the vowels. It's now:

!--. X . X X I T X --

[Prokroustis]

It's obviously Half Life 3.

[fiddlesticks]

Episode 3 will be released as a turned-based roleplaying game by Obsidian? Sounds amazing.

And it's nice to have you back Wizardry. This forum isn't nearly grumpy enough.

[LarsWestergren]

What we know so far: It is not one of their earlier cancelled projects being resurrected, they've been clear on that. "It's so secret it doesn't even have a codename" So it is not the Aliens:RPG or the dark-fantasy title bankrolled by Microsoft, it is also unlikely to be Wheel of Time.

As others have said before, it is also extremely unlikely to be a sequel to a property owned by someone else (Fallout 4, Jade Empire 2, Dungeon Siege 4...), because then the publishers would be the ones doing the announcement, not the development team.

Obsidian have a Kickstarter company profile now, and they have hinted that they want to do a spiritual sequel to Planescape:Torment. Not something that uses Sigil, The Nameless One or D&D rules, but something with a complex mature storyline in an original setting.

My anticipation feels stronger. I stand ready to update my journal.

The countdown quotes:

"What do the words mean?"

"Nothing. The Dirge of Eír Glanfath is sound without form, a lone voice crying out in mourning because it must."


"The book unread is unwritten. The reason we don't explain it is the reason we use it. Its power is in its mystery. That is the Leaden Key, in part, in whole. Is it clear?"

"Digging for truth buries the seeker."


"I recognize your pain. Your kind must learn it comes from straining against the turning of the world. It spins thus. You cannot stop it. One day, you will wake up. You will stop pulling. The pain will be gone. Until then, all your waking hours are suffering."


"This world wants to drag us down, it does. It made you a Watcher. No one asks for that. And the wight, that guilt they want to hang around my neck, you don't have to carry it one more step. You think they won't let you rest, but it's not up to them. It never was."

The hidden messages in HTML source:

To tenderness, fellowship. To fellowship, vigilance. So bring we all to the Night Market. I am the Spindle of Esenath. Know me by my light and stand with me in darkness.
Two centuries ago, your divine champion told the people of Dyrwood to grovel at his feet. If you've come on pilgrimage to the blasted crater that was our reply, Godhammer Citadel is that way.
In time, waves washing against the fingers of Geiran's Grasp will call them back into the sea. The difference between you and the sea is that the sea does not stop.
There is no sleep for the Watcher.

The ". T . X X I T X" stuff slowly being revealed could be "Eternity".

[Unaco]

It's revealed! It's called Eternity! It's an Isometric, Party-Based, Epic RPG! It's a new world, created by Obsidian! It has a tactical real-time with pause system for combat! It's being Kickstarted right now!!

They say they're going for the classic parts of Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape*. I think they're hoping to start a franchise, or a series of games (think taking a character from BG1 to ToB - they mention that with enough support/sales/money there would be future adventures). They're looking for $1.1 million, but I can't see much issues with them getting that. Very much going back to their roots, it seems. I am quite excited.

*"the central hero, memorable companions and the epic exploration of Baldur’s Gate, add in the fun, intense combat and dungeon diving of Icewind Dale, and tie it all together with the emotional writing and mature thematic exploration of Planescape: Torment."

[gundato]

I'm still very concerned as to whether or not they are capable of pulling this off, but for 20 bucks I'll bite. And as more details emerge, I might upgrade to the 35 mark for the soundtrack.

[Wheelsner]

Well, there goes my disposable income for the month.

Looks like there are a few interviews popping up on line now its been revealed. Brief Q&A with Chris Avelone here . EDIT ... and here

[Unaco]

PC only!!!

[Wheelsner]

I think this is my favourite bit of the Gamebanshee interview.

"Feargus: Our goal is to use voice over as flavor and not as something that exists for every written word in the game. We don’t want to cut down on the depth of dialogs or the number of choices that players have because we are counting voice over dollars. That means, like practically every Obsidian project to date, we are going to push the boundaries of reactivity in our dialogs. And, the more we get funded the more we can do that."

I'm slightly disappointed by the lack of concrete details regarding the setting and game design on the Kickstarter page, though I'm hopeful given their the quotes/ flavour text in the video and the presence of more info in the interviews that they have all this planned out and are just saving more details for later in the Kickstarter to maintain interest.

[Flint]

Really not happy about real time with pause, but other than that it sounds great. Will have to keep this under watch.

[ReV VAdAUL]

Well this is the fastest I've backed a kickstarter project. I am giddy at how cool this all looks. I've gone for the $20 option right now but I think I may be too tempted not to get the $35 one in the end.

[Serenegoose]

Really not happy about real time with pause, but other than that it sounds great. Will have to keep this under watch.

Yeah me either but I feel I've really got to encourage this sort of project anyway. Actually legitimately excited.

[ado]

The Infinity engine RPGs are by far my favorite bunch of RPGs I've played in my lifetime, so I have a big, fat hard-on for this project. Backed the game the second the kickstarter video was over. Can't wait!

[Wizardry]

"Feargus: Our goal is to use voice over as flavor and not as something that exists for every written word in the game. We don’t want to cut down on the depth of dialogs or the number of choices that players have because we are counting voice over dollars. That means, like practically every Obsidian project to date, we are going to push the boundaries of reactivity in our dialogs. And, the more we get funded the more we can do that."

This just means "MORE CONDITIONAL BRANCHES!"

[AlexClockwork]

So... They've almost reached 350,000$ already. Wow. O.o

EDIT: Reached.

[Battle Programmer Spike]

My only complains about BG, ID and P:T were always this: "Combat uses a tactical real-time with pause system" and its clunky feeling. If they were to use a turn based a proper turn based approach, and add a hex grid on top of that I would be happier... but I'm in for the KS, nonetheless as it doesn't deter my ability to enjoy those games.

[SirKicksalot]

NeoGAF has its sights on a 5k donation to design their own inn, NPC and items. I bet the Codex guys are thinking of something, they did it for Wasteland too. Hopefully one day RPS will be ambitious enough to follow their lead!

[pakoito]

I wish I could register in Neogaf :(

[Prokroustis]

GameBanshee has a similar thing.

[Drake Sigar]

$462,559 - Jesus. Does anyone know at what time today the project was launched?