Red Eagle Forms Studio For Wheel Of Time Games

[TDF]

 

Production company Red Eagle Entertainment is launching Red Eagle Games, a Malibu, CA-based game publishing studio devoted to creating video game adaptations of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy series.

 

Along with Universal Pictures, Red Eagle Entertainment plans to create multiple films based on the books, starting with a major motion pictured based on the series' first novel, The Eye of the World.

 

There are 11 books in the series so far, selling over 44 million copies worldwide so far. A 12th novel is coming from a new writer, since Jordan passed away in 2007.

 

Former IBM executive and Red Eagle Entertainment producer Rick Selvage says that the company will launch the games alongside similar film adaptations. Red Eagle Games intends to release the titles for all major platforms -- consoles, PC, handhelds, and mobile devices -- and is also planning a massively multiplayer online game based on the Wheel of Time universe.

 

"We’ve got a huge running start with this property," says Selvage, according to a report from VC news weblog VentureBeat. "We expect to have a game based on every movie, and we expect no less than three movies, though that depends on how well each does."

 

Though Red Eagle Entertainment expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on the films and games, the company has not yet started raising money for Red Eagle Games. Selvage, however, believes that investors will see the rights to the series as valuable.

 

The company has reportedly picked out key game developers for the launch and plans to hire staff soon. Says Selvage, "We want to hire the rock stars."

 

see original article: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21067

 

 

just spreading the news, think WoT could work well as an MMO

[pxnsolid]

As an avid MMO player, and an obsessive WoT fan, this is something Ive been hoping for for years. But there has already been on MMO that was canceled, so I wont be holding my breath.

[Tyrell]

How would an MMO be workable?

 

Either everyone plays a channeler, channelers get beaten repetedly around the head with a massive nerf stick to make them 'balanced' or noone gets to play a channeler -> mass whining.

[pxnsolid]

Theres alot of ways to make it function, there are a few well made, popular MMO's that have magic and non magic using classes, all of which have something in their talents that counter the magic/non magic abilities. How to make it actually true to the WoT is the harder part. It would almost have to be loose base on WoT to make it playable. Gleeman dazzling with music, warders as tanks deadly with weapons. aiel as melee damage class al la rogue classes. Different ajah focused on talents i.e. yellow healing class, green maybe damage class. wisdom type healers that use herbs instead of power, different approach with same outcomes. windfinders to use elements to fight, wise ones as hybrid minor heal, minor damage utility types. wolf brothers as pet utility class. asha man as hybrid tank types, combo of magic and weapons to fill various roles, jack of all trades master of none. lots of ways to make it function, but no real way to make it totally true to WoT.

[Tyrell]

That is really rather my point.

 

In the WoT universe Channelers wipe the floor with everyone else. They're epic boss level hero whatevers. Either you compromise the universe to pander to game balance and end up with your typical mmo heroes with HP that ensures they can take five lightning bolts to the face, dodge, block, stun and whatever else is necessary to get close to a 'mage' in order to defeat him. Magic resistances? :(

 

The universe is NOT balanced and games need to be.

 

Besides MMOs are largely pointless nowadays; every newly released MMO is basically trying to be World of Warcraftanyway.

[Fryn]

I played EQ for years (raids with 54 people are still fun, but the timesinks are too massive; 20 - 40 hours a week if you wanted to play EQ seriously - once you were max level ><). And frankly I am rather sick of MMOs. Usually you end out with games full of nothing but timesinks. I would rather a good rpg type game ala FF. That way the story would be good without thousands of hours of timesinks to see the plot line. And no WoW is even worse on Timesinks; but then I went for field marshal so I can't blame anyone, but myself.

 

MMOs aren't overly bad, however when 90% of strategy or rpg games are being made into MMOs so companies can charge an extra $15 - 30 a month it makes it hard to find decent games to pick up for when you want to play on your own. Many MMOs could easily be made into great single player games, and in many players spend much of their time with minimal exposure to other players.

 

But ya the main issue is always the class balance. The only option I see to make it balanced would be to only allow channelers and the rest are fodder or mercs you could use. However ... you then miss out on all the political subplots that could actually make teh game interesting.

 

Or everyone could have a talisman to cancel channeling !

[lordofsoup]

ballefire > than all

 

not fair I just got balefired, now I have to make a new Character

 

make an RTS I frankly am sick of WOW and RPG's I played WOW for a bit just cuz some friends did, but stopped and went back to War 3 RTS where u can make custom multiplayer maps and is epic fun

[pxnsolid]

Hence why i said

lots of ways to make it function, but no real way to make it totally true to WoT.

 

As i said, im an avid player, and huge WoT fan, while ive wanted a good mmo wot game for years, im not holding my breath.

[Jethro]

I can already feel the disappointment.

 

okay, gaming has been one of my things for a long time. My gaming preferences were shaped by Final Fantasy 7 and Baldurs Gate-anyone familiar with these will know that a Wheel of Time game would be right up my street. Yet I think there will be too many things missing from a game, if they ever make it. I think they will cut out the bits that arent necessarily "important" for it as a game and through that the series will lose a hell of a lot of its depth. Also, they say they might make three films, with one game per film. How can the series be broken down into three parts? I feel that the way they will divide them will add to the ruining.

 

If Im honest I would rather they left it as books, to eliminate the chance of it being ruined. Dont get me wrong, I would play any Wheel of Time game or watch any film given the chance, but the nature of this series specifically is that there are way too many tiny details to include-important details-and I just think too much of it will be left out.

[pxnsolid]

better would be to sitck to the single player rpg setting, could keep much more of the ideas that way, no need for balance. but it would have to be one epic game to make it worth while.

[Hero of Satsuma]

Not a big fan of games based off of movies.  If you've seen the movie, you know what is going to happen in the game.  If they want to make a game out of it, I would like to see something more along the lines of LotR The Third Age RPG.

[hapazard]

That is really rather my point.

 

In the WoT universe Channelers wipe the floor with everyone else. They're epic boss level hero whatevers. Either you compromise the universe to pander to game balance and end up with your typical mmo heroes with HP that ensures they can take five lightning bolts to the face, dodge, block, stun and whatever else is necessary to get close to a 'mage' in order to defeat him. Magic resistances? :(

 

The universe is NOT balanced and games need to be.

 

Besides MMOs are largely pointless nowadays; every newly released MMO is basically trying to be World of Warcraftanyway.

 

What's wrong with having Channelers as the only playable characters? That way you do get a balanced game! Plenty of room for diverse gaming styles just using the different sorts of channelers we know, Aes Sedai, Ashaman, Wise Ones, Windfinders, Sul dam + Damane (sp?). True, a little lacking in male characters but with different talents and looks for every unique character that shouldn't be a problem and also, in the classical rpg's all characters except the odd sorceress or rouge are male....

[animegirl]

I played FFXI MMORPG for a while and it was a lot of fun. I reckon a WoT MMORPG could be fantastic if they use the wealth of material from the books. Here are some ideas I would love incorporated into the game.

 

- All the major towns of WoT as the classic towns which act as hubs with markets, NPC characters from the books

- the area between towns is the 'field' where you can fight baddies and level up, joining with other players if need be, dungeons and caves can be locations such as Shadar Logoth, Baerlon mines, Tarwins Gap etc

- Country allegiance which determines how you will look, for example a female taraboner might have many beaded braids and associated clothing.

- Non mage classes such as warders, aiel warrior, treesinger, gambler, gleeman, wolfbrother

- mage classes, aes sedai or ashaman depending on whether you are male or female. I think an ajah can be chosen to determine what magic you might be stronger in, but a similar system would need to be made for ashaman, to make it fair. In FFXI you could have a mjor class such as warrior and then a minor class such as White mage so you would be a full warrior but also have limited magic to use as well. I think this would be good for a WoT game too.

- A host of items from the WoT world, clothing and armor, food, ter'angreal,

- Boat travel to islands, Seanchan

- teleport points and waygates to go to and froM from various places

- monetary system using WoT coinage

- main quest is the light v shadow we all familiar with, but each region should have it's own quests and side-quests. Also NPCs should give you quests to earn money and special items.

- Guilds and community - ability to communicate instantly with people in your guilds, such as the linkshell system in FFXI

- Enemies can be local human baddies such as whitecloacks, darkfriends, bandits, shadowspawn such as trollocs and dragkhar. Also the big enemies of the game can be the forsaken, Evil High Lords, Black Ajah etc. There are many creatures in WoT which would make good field enemies.

 

I could go on and on.

 

However if they are making the games based on the forthcoming movies, it may not turn out so well, as what we see in the movies may be quite different to what is in the books. We shall just have to wait and see.