Green Monster Games (Curt Schilling)

[Throag]

Originally Posted by Thoruk

He doesn't whore out his characters for cash, but his wife writes too much of his material now. His quality of writing has gone way down from his first series.

I was a huge fan of his. Ate up everything he wrote, but my past few experiences with him have left me feeling 'meh' but, oh well.

So true, I couldn't even finish the last book I started (The dreamers iirc) since I found it boring and written like shit, it felt like I was reading some novel from my little brother...
But maybe Ut is a blind fanboy eh?

I loved The Belgariad and The Malloreon, but that's about it. I find Robert Jordan, Robin Hobb or Martin much better than Eddings.

And for the obligatory Wikipedia quote

David Eddings' first books (which were general fiction) sold moderately well. Later he switched to the much more successful field of epic fantasy. However some of his more recent series, namely those after The Malloreon, received fairly widespread criticism from readers and critics alike due to the fact of his 'Re-hashment' of storylines and characters. Eddings, in a recent interview with sffworld.com, said "I don't take orders from readers".

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Yeah, complaining about Salvatore rehashing and then bringing up Eddings as a paragon is a bad move. Pretty much all the fantasy authors of the 80s were just getting let off the hook because fantasy was such a new field (it resurging in the last few years of the 70s) and now they all look like one-note, Tolkien worshipers compared to the newest authors (save for Pratchett), especially a lot of the up and comers the last couple years.

[Rythonn]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

I'm an idiot because I don't know when to stop. I keeps selling the same tired and old rants based on the same tired and old grudge.

Fixed it for you.

[Thoruk]

Now, Terry Brooks is someone whom I would say has maintained his level of writing. Undoubtably, his Shannara series was fantastic, Word of the Void was great (because it was a good step outside of the fantasy genre) and Kingdom of Landover was a good series as well. Of course, he has his books that I did not enjoy, but I would still maintain him to be a good author.

[Lost Ranger]

Salvatore might whore out his characters but Im failing to see how that makes him any less of an author? I do think his characters are a bit over the top but he can still put together a pretty damn good story. If Drizzt and company were toned down a little bit his stuff would be pretty classic I think.

If nothing else he did in fact create one of the most famous/loved fantasy characters out there. Most people, even those that dont read fantasy will of heard the name Drizzt before. He has the ability to take something simple and turn it into gold. Their MMO might be really good. /shrug

Edit*

It could be far far worst and we could get the author that wrote the Elminster stuff doing MMOs instead hehe. I dont remember his name, I only read one Elminster book but if you want to talk about over the top garbage.. that would be it.

[Lost Ranger]

dble post

[Rezz]

Ed Greenwood =/

I love me some David Eddings... up until the end of the Tamuli, his works from then on have been lackluster. A game with his style in it though, wouldn't be the best in the world. If people have an issue with "overpowered" characters, David Eddings is as close to a Marvel writer as most fantasy authors (sans Greenwood. I fucking hate Forgotten Realms =/) can hope to be. I mean seriously, Belgarath and Sparhawk? They worked with Gods to defeat other gods, and usually end up being superior anyway. He's a good author, but for a mmorpg? Can't see it going well.

Terry Brooks would be a better choice, though I would prefer a dark fantasy mmo with Moorcock at the helm. Anyone who has read any of the Eternal Champion novels knows the man doesn't deal with omnipotence without making it the most tragic shit possible. <3 Elric and the Von Beks.

[Utnayan]

Point stands. Salvatore is nothing but a name on a box. And another point stands, there are some designers that post here that don't know shit about their game that they develop where the players know more than they do.

Ravvenn Was Here

[Utnayan]

Originally Posted by Lost Ranger

Salvatore might whore out his characters but Im failing to see how that makes him any less of an author? I do think his characters are a bit over the top but he can still put together a pretty damn good story. If Drizzt and company were toned down a little bit his stuff would be pretty classic I think.

Don't get me wrong, I loved his earlier books. The Crystal Shard, Halfing's Gem, Streams of Silver, and I liked the Dark Elf prequel about Drizzt's upbringing, but after that it was all downhill.

Now his name is more of an endorsement - like Tom Clancy. What Peter Jackson as an executive producer is to Halo the Movie.

[Froofy-D]

/disagree on Terry Brooks. Elfstones was decent. I think his stuff after got progressively more mediocre just like Salvatore and Eddings. Most authors seem to be like music groups - they put out solid material for a while, but eventually start fucking up. Most authors eventually have the literary equivalent of a "Black Album" where everything before that was genius, but everything including and after that is just mediocre at best, if not downright bad.

Very few authors (or bands) avoid this and continually put out material of utmost quality. But there are some.

Michael Moorcock is no exception either IMHO. The main Elric books are masterpieces, I wasn't into the later stand-alone Elric books he added at all though.

"The challenge is not simply in publishing a game but in publishing a game that changes the landscape of the online marketplace," said Schilling. "Our company motto is 'If you can't do it better than it's ever been done before, work for someone else.'"

Hehe so they are basically promising a revolutionary MMOG that changes the online market place? BTW McFarlane on your art team doesnt mean good game art unless you have 3D artists that can actually execute his designs. You could have Leonardi DaVanci as your concept artist but still have shitty 3D modelers.

[Lost Ranger]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Don't get me wrong, I loved his earlier books. The Crystal Shard, Halfing's Gem, Streams of Silver, and I liked the Dark Elf prequel about Drizzt's upbringing, but after that it was all downhill.

Now his name is more of an endorsement - like Tom Clancy. What Peter Jackson as an executive producer is to Halo the Movie.

I think his latest series is really good to be honest though its about Artemis not Drizzt. If you havnt read The Sellswords trilogy yet you should pick it up. It starts with Servant of the Shard which is also the 3rd book in the Path of Darkness series.

I just finished "Promise of the Witch-King" and thought it was excellent. If you havnt read em I recommend it.

[Lalala]

Originally Posted by Kuro

What's their stance on Performance Enhancing Potions?

Of course he is for them, he is a professional sport player after all...

[Deris]

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Point stands. Salvatore is nothing but a name on a box. And another point stands, there are some designers that post here that don't know shit about their game that they develop where the players know more than they do.

Looks like there are just as many Salvatore fanbois here as SOE apologist faggots. The two obviously go hand in hand.

Salvatore played EQ for quite a while, I never heard if he quit or not. I'm sure he would love to get into some of the Design aspects of an MMO, being around high fantasy series and pnp DnD for so long, along with enjoying MMO's.

A Moorcock MMO would have to be done perfectly or there would be some REALLY pissed fans. I hope to god they do the Elric movie right , and pray for a Multiverse MMO someday.




p.s
Ut why don't you fucking design a game already since you're so pro at it.

[Daerath]

Originally Posted by Nebuchadnezzar

Besides working for WOTC? Well, he killed Chewie too.

Just because someone works for a company or kills off a well-known character doesn't make them a sell-out.

You do know what it means to be a sell-out, right? Selling out means you sacrifice the thing that made you special/liked/etc. for a reward (usually money).

Neither of your examples supports the statement that Salvatore is a sell-out.

Originally Posted by Utnayan

Salvatore is a sell out because he doesn't know when to stop. He keeps selling the same tired and old stories based on the same tired and old characters.

He doesn't know when to stop? He's a writer. That means he writes for a living. By your definition, anyone who continues to write after getting some notoriety is automatically a sell-out.

You know what. Fuck it. You are too fucking stupid to deal with. Arguing with you is like trying to negotiate peace in the middle east. Fucking pointless.

[titan_atlas]

Originally Posted by Rezz

Ed Greenwood =/

I love me some David Eddings... up until the end of the Tamuli, his works from then on have been lackluster. A game with his style in it though, wouldn't be the best in the world. If people have an issue with "overpowered" characters, David Eddings is as close to a Marvel writer as most fantasy authors (sans Greenwood. I fucking hate Forgotten Realms =/) can hope to be. I mean seriously, Belgarath and Sparhawk? They worked with Gods to defeat other gods, and usually end up being superior anyway. He's a good author, but for a mmorpg? Can't see it going well.

Yeah working against the gods that worked horribly in that everquest game.

Originally Posted by Rezz

though I would prefer a dark fantasy mmo with Moorcock at the helm.

Moorcock coming your way.