Why did this game fail?

[El goblin]

It's awesome, it's probably the best tool to play D&D online with friends. I'm amazed with the campaign creator mode, so many props and customization.
So, what happened? Bad marketing?

[Mad Hatter]

It wasn't a transparent enough translation of the 5th edition ruleset so the core demographic the game went after wasn't impressed by it.

On its own it doesn't have enough choice or reactivity to be considered great by the average RPG player.

The editor had serious limitations that weren't comparable to Neverwinter Nights. It's my opinion that if a D&D game claims that it will have a DM mode, it has to equal or exceed NWN's functionality or it will be rejected by the people who would want it.

I loved SCL (and spent a lot of time with it). It was unfortunate that it failed.

[El goblin]

Oh, I think I understand. I guess the target audience was "too demanding" and at the same time "too niche" to make it profitable.

[Mad Hatter]

I'm definitely not blaming the consumers 100% for this. If nSpace had been smart they would have either (a) made a single player D&D rpg, (b) labeled the base game as a starter kit of sorts and level capped at like... level 8ish so they could implement the rules better, or (c) figured out what fans of the genre were looking for.

nSpace dropped the ball but had some great ideas.

[Etophales]

It wasn't as good at release time. The creator was more limited and there were more bugs. I think that the end vision was quite good (but then, I'm not a hardcore D&D player), but an early bad impression can kill a product.

[Nina Williams]

Originally posted by Innadril:

It's it's probably the best tool to play D&D online with friends.

Facepalm.
Best online with friends = Divinity Original Sin II - it's even better than D&D or The Dark Eye 5th edition rule set, but perhaps a little worse than Pathfinder.
https://youtu.be/SNxDMZhiGtU

[El goblin]

Originally posted by Nina Williams:

Originally posted by Innadril:

It's it's probably the best tool to play D&D online with friends.

Facepalm.
Best online with friends = Divinity Original Sin II - it's even better than D&D or The Dark Eye 5th edition rule set, but perhaps a little worse than Pathfinder.
https://youtu.be/SNxDMZhiGtU

Can you create your own campaigns with your own story, dialogs, etc, in DOS 2? If the answer is yes then I might have to give it a look, but when I say "a tool to play D&D" I mean that, to create and play your own D&D sessions, not to play someone else story (like I assume it happens in DOS 2).

[Nina Williams]

Originally posted by Innadril:

Can you create your own campaigns with your own story, dialogs, etc, in DOS 2? If the answer is yes then I might have to give it a look, but when I say "a tool to play D&D" I mean that, to create and play your own D&D sessions, not to play someone else story (like I assume it happens in DOS 2).

Yes, i can.
https://youtu.be/YJyXQxgNVhU?t=6m36s

[El goblin]

Oh my, I need to have a look on that, thanks.

[Nina Williams]

If you want campaign exactly D&D rules, try use NWN 2 toolset.
https://youtu.be/9m6m0ia8COo

[El goblin]

not looking exactly for the same ruleset, just for a game that let's us create and play role playing stories with friends

[cgmullen]

Originally posted by Mad Hatter:

It wasn't a transparent enough translation of the 5th edition ruleset so the core demographic the game went after wasn't impressed by it.

On its own it doesn't have enough choice or reactivity to be considered great by the average RPG player.

The editor had serious limitations that weren't comparable to Neverwinter Nights. It's my opinion that if a D&D game claims that it will have a DM mode, it has to equal or exceed NWN's functionality or it will be rejected by the people who would want it.

I loved SCL (and spent a lot of time with it). It was unfortunate that it failed.

Why didnt they just fix it? I'm a video game designer myself AND YOU LITERALLY CAN DO ANYTHING...I agree if they would have stuck to dnd this game would have dominated for sure..theres billions of die hard nwn people looking for the next nwn..this game failed because it couldnt compare to the hype the MARKETERS gave it..The developers should have made it good from the get go..so im guessing it was a time restraint and they rushed it. You can cant claim a video game is something it wasnt..all the nwn die hards were dissapointed they wasted a ♥♥♥♥ ton of money...sorry :(

[ΛƘ 420]

At the beginning the editor was super limited. By the time the hype had passed, it was just then that devs began adding stuff and making it more malleable.
Plus, what someone had said, they didn't live up to what was kind of promised or hyped or whatever. I followed this game before releasing and it was like a top down NWN was coming or a new BG. Which was not.
It's ok as an RPG, I've enjoyed it, but it shows that they focused more on adding a multiplayer than making the singleplayer great. Which didn't work out.

[RPGmodsFan]

Although not a great game, Sword Coast Legends (SCL) was NOT a bad game either. I thought it was good game, and I am sad to see it fail.

As a single player game, my wishlist would have been:
1) a Keep/Stronghold (yes, I know the Adventure's Camp serves the same purpose, but it would have been nice to have a 'home' later on in the game),
2) a STORAGE CHEST (I tend to be a hoarder)
3) Crafting (but not too complicated as some games go overboard with this).

As a DM?
#) it would be too numerous to list.
The best thing SCL could have done was partner with Fantasy Grounds (FG).
FG has features that SCL does not have, and
SCL has features that FG does not have.

[RPGmodsFan]

Originally posted by cgmullen:

Originally posted by Mad Hatter:

It wasn't a transparent enough translation of the 5th edition ruleset so the core demographic the game went after wasn't impressed by it.

On its own it doesn't have enough choice or reactivity to be considered great by the average RPG player.

The editor had serious limitations that weren't comparable to Neverwinter Nights. It's my opinion that if a D&D game claims that it will have a DM mode, it has to equal or exceed NWN's functionality or it will be rejected by the people who would want it.

I loved SCL (and spent a lot of time with it). It was unfortunate that it failed.

Why didnt they just fix it? I'm a video game designer myself AND YOU LITERALLY CAN DO ANYTHING...I agree if they would have stuck to dnd this game would have dominated for sure..theres billions of die hard nwn people looking for the next nwn..this game failed because it couldnt compare to the hype the MARKETERS gave it..The developers should have made it good from the get go..so im guessing it was a time restraint and they rushed it. You can cant claim a video game is something it wasnt..all the nwn die hards were dissapointed they wasted a ♥♥♥♥ ton of money...sorry :(

What I liked about Sword Coast Legends (SCL) is that it simplified the D&D Rules for a Video Game.

Playing Baldur's Gate (BG) was fun, and I remember having my Monsters Manual, Player's Handbook, and DM Guide Books beside me when playing the game.

But in the future, I do not want a D&D Video Game where I need to refer to various tomes in order to play. What I want is the ESSENSE of a D&D Game:
A] Venturing forth with a party (i.e. do not what a FPS),
B] Story Driven (with minimal to no 'railroading'),
C] Role Playing (e.g., Banter between party members, Banter with NPCs, 'living' world (NPCs shop/farm/work/play/etc.), 'cheesy' romances, etc.)
D] Quests (whether it be personal or epic),
E] Combatting epic monsters (again, using simplified rules).

[cgmullen]

Originally posted by earl528:

Originally posted by cgmullen:

Why didnt they just fix it? I'm a video game designer myself AND YOU LITERALLY CAN DO ANYTHING...I agree if they would have stuck to dnd this game would have dominated for sure..theres billions of die hard nwn people looking for the next nwn..this game failed because it couldnt compare to the hype the MARKETERS gave it..The developers should have made it good from the get go..so im guessing it was a time restraint and they rushed it. You can cant claim a video game is something it wasnt..all the nwn die hards were dissapointed they wasted a ♥♥♥♥ ton of money...sorry :(

What I liked about Sword Coast Legends (SCL) is that it simplified the D&D Rules for a Video Game.

Playing Baldur's Gate (BG) was fun, and I remember having my Monsters Manual, Player's Handbook, and DM Guide Books beside me when playing the game.

But in the future, I do not want a D&D Video Game where I need to refer to various tomes in order to play. What I want is the ESSENSE of a D&D Game:
A] Venturing forth with a party (i.e. do not what a FPS),
B] Story Driven (with minimal to no 'railroading'),
C] Role Playing (e.g., Banter between party members, Banter with NPCs, 'living' world (NPCs shop/farm/work/play/etc.), 'cheesy' romances, etc.)
D] Quests (whether it be personal or epic),
E] Combatting epic monsters (again, using simplified rules).

I agree..I liked that as well and thats why I liked nwn..it was hugely versitile and a creater of a server could literally due anything the builders could do anything. customization was huge and the community.. was massive..I liked sword coast legends..but they left out so much as far as choices in single player mode..classes to play was very limited when there was a ton of classes and a ton of other stuff they just left out of the mix..but at the same time I'm more in the aspect of the actual rp community rather than the hack and slash....