Freelancer Information
Heya! I'm a fan of both WC (as well as a lurker of these forums, heh) and FL, and I'd like to correct some statements made here about FL. I'll go from point to point, to hopefully clear up these misunderstandings!
But since we already know of Chris Roberts recent work, (not wingcommander series), can we be sure of that the game will not be out of date, or simply put: nothing special?
Chris Roberts had little to do with Conquest or Starlancer. They were made by different people (and even different companies! SL was 98% developed by Warthog in UK I believe). In fact, Starlancer was produced by Erin Roberts, not Chris Roberts. Freelancer has been mostly independant from both of these games, and I can guarantee FL will not be out of date, and there is a lot special about it!
But of course..there is really not many canditates for the kind of game that Freelancer promises to be. The only one I can think of is that Westwood game: Earth and Beyond.
Freelancer are E&B are ENTIRELY different. The only similiarities are that it takes place in space, in the future, it involves humans, and some combat. Everything else is almost entirely different, including the fact that E&B relies mostly on skill-less RPG elements like experiance and levels.
But even here we have to consider that Chris left Digital Anvil some time ago, so who knows what they've changed since then.
Not quite true. Phil Wattenbarger (the new producer who has replaced Roberts') is dedicated to making sure that FL stayes true to Roberts' original vision. He was also previously the lead designer, which said position is now being filled by Jörg Neumann, who is equally devoted to making sure FL is true to Roberts' vision. Trust me, FL is not in the hands of some careless newbies, they know what they're doing, and are doing a superb job thus far!
No, not all of us, maybe Freelancer can be cancelled or not finished
Most definitly not. It would be a huge business mistake to cancel FL at this point in development. Fact is, thousands of man hours and quite a good bit of money has been invested in FL, and who in their right mind (even Microsoft) would pull the plug? Besides, they have pledged to give FL all the money and time it needs to get finished right.
my personal, unproven guess is that it'll be released for X-Box only, anyway.
Don't worry, this is definitly not true. You should start reading up on what you talk about and not repeating what rumor-filled PCGamer and Voodooextreme will report before they even know if its true or not. Doing this can ruin someone's credibility. DA doesn't want to make FL X-box only, MS doesn't want to make it X-box only, and fact is, it won't be. Not only that, but the unique control method FL uses would make it near impossible to achieve with any effect on the awkward (and absurdly large) controllers the X-box has. (Speaking of the control method, before you go claiming it will suck, please read up on it
here for a few minutes)!
Regardless, it's *not* a Chris Roberts game anymore -- he developed the original concept half a decade ago, and it's been 'cut down' since. The PR-speak from Microsoft when Chris left DA was that Freelancer as imagined was impossible, and that it would be "toned down". Which is to say they've turned it into a typical Privateer/Elite copy.
Regardless of what you read in PC Accelerator, it *IS* a Chris Roberts game, regardless the fact that he left a little while ago, and FL was late in development even then. Say, where did you hear that FL has been 'cut down'?! Thats news to me. The only thing thats been cut is the fifth house 'Hispania' and that was for time constraints. Besides, four houses are quite plenty. Again, I stress you start reading up on what you're talking about before you completely ruin your credibility! The PR-speak from Microsoft when Roberts left DA was that Freelancer would be given the money and time it needed to be finished as originally planned, quite the opposite of what you state. Would you point me to the press release that says FL will be cut back? Because it definitly hasn't been "toned down" lately, definitly not turning it into a typical Privateer/Elite copy, though I will admit FL borrows quite a bit from the concept of Privateer (less so from Elite). But the fact that you can trade, fly in space, and land on planets is merely a drop in the bucket. PLEASE take the time to inform yourself on the topic of discussion before someone actually believes this stuff.
But heck, I'll keep my fingers crossed -- if it sells incredibly well, EA might bring back WC.
Yes, of course, Sivar forbid somebody actually hopes the game succeedes for the game itself, and not the near-dead franchise from which it was born.
Essentially nothing is known about the game's story other then a few rumors. An official plot synopsis has not even been released yet. Virtually, all that is known is the basic setup -- the houses and such. Thus it is a little early to judge in that department. Still, the game has been under devolopment for so long one can only wonder how its shaping up.
Quite wrong. What we know is official, and I'm not going to bother to post it here (you can read up on it
here if you so wish). It is in fact not too early to judge FL in that department. The game is nearing completion and pretty much everything concept-wise has already been made concrete. We also know this because the webmaster of
Lancers Reactor has had hands-on experiance with the game on a trip to Austin to visit DA themselves. Yes, we can only wonder how its shaping up, but we also have a lot of evidence to support that it is in fact shaping up quite well!
certainly hope the game is not canceled. Space sims are suffering as it is, and if we are ever to see another WC game, the genre is also going to have to become a profitable and popular one. Freelancer might be a masterpiece and the game to reinvent the genre. Or ... it could become one of the largest fiascos in gaming. And if E&B also turns out to be a flop. There goes the the idea of a glorious Wing revival right out the window-- atleast for a long long time.
Don't worry about it being canceled, chances are it won't be for reasons I've already said. Besides, have you ever thought that FL's success could ignite the growth of the Lancer series and make everyone forget about WC? It seems EA already has...
With E&B there is going to be a monthly fee you pay to play it... I was looking foward to it until that little thing came up.
Again, like I've said before, E&B is not comparable to FL at all, nor is Independance War 2, both in quality (as far as features and new ideas go) and the people developing it, not to mention actual game type. After all, E&B is just a RPG in space.
can't wait for Freelancer, if only because of the promise of what it might offer. (I'd like to see if they pull through.) While it might not be a CR's game, at the very least, it might respawn an interest in Space Flight Sims.
Why not look forward to Freelancer FOR Freelancer? And where did you get the idea that it isn't Roberts' game anymore? As I said earlier, FL STILL has Roberts' spirit in it
And the fact is, there wasn't enough time between when he left and now (it is nearing completion) to change anything major.
As for the story, that's not entirely true. There has been a story in one of the Freelancer Vault sites, made from DA and Microsoft during one of the showcases. (Whether they change it is up in the air, however, as that was about 4 years ago.)
Like I've said, pretty much everything concept-wise can not be changed now, so what we do know is pretty much what will be in the final game. Besides, we have received a lot more info since four years ago
However, as I said, that's still a pre-story, and is subject to a good amount of change
Not quite. It is subject to stay as it is! Since the game is nearing completion (as I've said a few times before) this isn't likely to change.
Anyways, that about covers it. I'd really like everyone who is looking forward to Freelancer to come to
TLR and kill the time with us until it comes out! I'd also like to ask that everybody read up on their topic of discussion before they go blabbing about it. Stating rumors as fact ruins credibility and hurts the reputation of the said game. You would be REALLY pissed if a new WC game was in development and people went around stating mistruths and dissing it when it would just take five minutes to read a FAQ and have their information straight.
-Tachyon
But I thought I'd share that with ya!
Anyways, you openly admit that you no longer follow the news, though you claim that Freelancer has been "cut back" and could not live up to it's original vision. Ok, so you read the news a while back, but you still claim that it has been cut back and what not. Have you even bothered to check up on it? Obviously not, or you would have known that it is progressing quite well as I state.