Sad Day at LucasArts

[Klink]

Just came across this news now:

LucasArts President, Executives Out As Publisher Shakes Up Top Brass

Today is indeed a sad day at LucasArts. I admired Darrell Rodriguez for his commitment to old-school adventure games and his general interest in taking risks (ala Lucidity), in expanding and revisiting old properties (ala SoMI:SE and SoMI2:LESE) as well as an interest in trying to create new properties outside of Star Wars (Fracture comes to mind).

What exactly does this say about the future of LucasArts? I have no idea but if we don't get someone else with a mentality like that of Rodriguez's, we may very well be seeing a return to the Jim Ward era LucasArts.

[Wapcaplet]

My fear is that a second season of ToMI (or any other possible Telltale-designed LucasArts property like Maniac Mansion/DOTT) may be off the table now...

[jp-30]

Fracture wasn't really anything to do with Darrell, it was released just a few months after he took the helm.

But yes, I am really bummed out by this news, he was doing great things at LucasArts. I only hope his successor continues with the program.

[Everlast]

So can we expect another year span of 0 adventure games?

Lucas Arts its the most unstable company i've ever seen! The way they treat their franchises it's horrible. Lego's, Monkey Island, their lack of releasing their own IP. I will say this TTG rescued Sam and Max and i hope they rescue and take out of their hands Monkey Island!

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Everlast

So can we expect another year span of 0 adventure games?

Lucas Arts its the most unstable company i've ever seen! The way they treat their franchises it's horrible. Lego's, Monkey Island, their lack of releasing their own IP. I will say this TTG rescued Sam and Max and i hope they rescue and take out of their hands Monkey Island!

So wait, do you see intellectual property law as some form of tower defense game?

[Wapcaplet]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

So wait, do you see intellectual property law as some form of tower defense game?

Sounds more like a capture-the-flag-ish FPS to me!

[Everlast]

Originally Posted by Rather Dashing

So wait, do you see intellectual property law as some form of tower defense game?

So many people wanted to play their old games, and they've been reluctant to release them to sale. That is until Darryl Rodriguez came along and released the sale of old adventure games to Steam and thus was born TOMI too.

My question is Will there continue to be new releases of adventure games?
Sounds like MI2:SE will be one of the last releases of adventure games, in quite a while!

[Giant Tope]

Just for the record, the reason why Telltale got Sam and Max is because Lucasarts' rights to the game expired and was returned to Purcell who let Telltale develop. You can't really expect the same of Monkey Island. It would be a lot trickier.

And it's not the end of the world. We don't even know who the new guy's gonna be.

[coolsome]

Originally Posted by Wapcaplet

My fear is that a second season of ToMI (or any other possible Telltale-designed LucasArts property like Maniac Mansion/DOTT) may be off the table now...

I think Im going to cry!

[taumel]

Maybe i should apply for the position.

If this happens you can be asured that adventures as well as new IP and more experimental projects will be on top of my priority list again.

[Everlast]

Originally Posted by Giant Tope

Just for the record, the reason why Telltale got Sam and Max is because Lucasarts' rights to the game expired and was returned to Purcell who let Telltale develop. You can't really expect the same of Monkey Island. It would be a lot trickier.

And it's not the end of the world. We don't even know who the new guy's gonna be.

But how did TTG negotiated the Monkey Island franchise?

I also got another question maybe to one of TTG staffers: Does remaining an open forum for TOMI means theres more Monkey Island to come or not?

Is the change of president influence and affect other upcoming TTG projects or not? What does the resignation of the LA president mean to TTG?

[Rather Dashing]

Originally Posted by Everlast

But how did TTG negotiated the Monkey Island franchise?

Somehow, LucasArts got money for it, and Telltale got the rights to do what they did. LucasArts still owns Monkey Island, and they in all likelihood have full control over whether or not Telltale gets to make a new season.

I also got another question maybe to one of TTG staffers: Does remaining an open forum for TOMI means theres more Monkey Island to come or not?

No. They still have a forum open for Bone and Telltale Texas Hold 'Em, and those are probably not going too far. Bone has been half-complete for years, and Telltale doesn't have the rights to make a game anymore.

Is the change of president influence and affect other upcoming TTG projects or not? What does the resignation of the LA president mean to TTG?

It means the big business guys over at LucasArts are changing, including the executive staff that signed off on the Tales licensing. Depending on the viewpoints of the new executives in regards to LucasArts' adventure game holdings, Telltale could be denied the ability to make any more games based on LucasArts-owned worlds.

[GuruGuru214]

Originally Posted by Everlast

But how did TTG negotiated the Monkey Island franchise?

It was a licensing agreement. LucasArts issued Telltale a license to create Tales of Monkey Island, which would've been a legal agreement including many factors such as how much control LucasArts has over the development of the game and related products, what (if any) Monkey Island merchandise Telltale was allowed to produce, what amount of the profits LucasArts receives, and other things like that. LucasArts retained the rights to Monkey Island, they just allowed Telltale to add one game to the franchise.

I also got another question maybe to one of TTG staffers: Does remaining an open forum for TOMI means theres more Monkey Island to come or not?

The forums for all of Telltale's games are still open. The Bone forum is still open, and there's absolutely no indication of that series picking back up anytime soon. There's potential for discussion about these games no matter how much time has passed since their release. So no, the open Tales of Monkey Island forum doesn't indicate anything whatsoever.

Is the change of president influence and affect other upcoming TTG projects or not? What does the resignation of the LA president mean to TTG?

The only way this would possibly affect upcoming Telltale projects is if they were looking to license anything else from LucasArts. Telltale is independent from LucasArts, so the change in management only affects them in terms of how LucasArts might be willing to cooperate with them. So unless they're looking to make new games based on Monkey Island, Grim Fandango, Loom, Maniac Mansion, or any of the other LucasArts properties, this really shouldn't affect them at all.

Edit: Damn, ninja'd.

[glenfx]

May Grim Fandango, Maniac Mansion 1&2 (and any other adventure game) Special editions rest in peace now.

Lucas Arts is well known to cancel games over 90% done, I really hope they dont do that to Monkey Island 2 Special edition but its on shaky grounds, it woudnt be a surprise if it gets canceled now.



EDIT: OH!! and let the new era of even more starwars games begin.

[guitarsareboring]

Originally Posted by glenfx

Lucas Arts is well known to cancel games over 90% done, I really hope they dont do that to Monkey Island 2 Special edition but its on shaky grounds, it woudnt be a surprise if it gets canceled now.

Don't even think such a thing.

[Guybrush_Threepwood]

Let's face it: WE'RE SCREWED.

[snip3z4kills]

Let's hope LucasArts will actually notice the hundreds of emails and petitions if the worst happens.

[Irishmile]

Originally Posted by Wapcaplet

My fear is that a second season of ToMI (or any other possible Telltale-designed LucasArts property like Maniac Mansion/DOTT) may be off the table now...

That is what I worry about too...... I am so afraid that they will go right back to sitting on this stuff in favor of making another version of whatever other game is popular only with star wars.

[coolsome]

they cant just leave monkey island we can't have another monkey island end on an explaned clifhanger!!

[puzzlebox]

If that report is accurate, it's interesting that "several members of his executive team" went too. Either something is rotten in the state of LucasArts, or they're following Mr Rodriguez somewhere.