Page 1 of 4

The Silver Lining Lives!

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 10:42 am
by daventry
TSL-KQ9 Lives :D :D :D :D :D

Go check out the Website, theres some sort of Countdown going on. ;)

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 11:09 am
by Spikey
http://www.tsl-game.com/

It looks hopeful.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 12:55 pm
by Erpy
Looks like they got Activision to reconsider. I guess we'll be seeing episode 1.1 of their project on a very short notice, since it was mainly the C&D that held it back.

Image

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 1:03 pm
by Spikey
Yeah, that's very likely. I hope the site won't be overloaded at the time the counter is on zero. :D

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 1:15 pm
by DrJones
That looks like incredibly good news. I really hate when a lot of effort is wasted by legal troubles.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:30 pm
by MusicallyInspired
ActiVision announced a couple months ago that they had reopened negotiations with Phoenix Online Studios regarding TSL.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 2:41 pm
by Spikey
Completely missed that!

Re: They are Back

Posted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 6:01 pm
by gamecreator
26 hours left

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:08 pm
by Erpy
Looks like a release date has been announced. Within two weeks from now on. Seeing that this thing is now public...great job on the site Eriq. :)

Image

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:35 pm
by eriqchang
like that? Talk about one passionate team. I spent a good few hours with them on Skype. Their work really deserves to be seen by the world.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 8:41 pm
by Erpy
The site looks very good. And the style is still recognizable as yours.

An original (and presumably commercial) project was also announced. I kinda wonder about the name though. Is Corridor 9 meant to be a reference to Corridor 7 and its canceled sequel Corridor 8? I never played the game...it was kinda overshadowed by the more technologically advanced Doom and its clones and even then I only played FPS-games on occasion.

Image

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:11 am
by eriqchang
Hmm. I'm not sure. It certainly sounds intriguing.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:44 am
by Spikey
Well, it seems every cloak has a silver lining after all!

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 6:46 am
by pbpb33
What good news! Just out of curiosity, what do you all think was the reason for the original C&D? Was it something about that project in particular that led to the C&D, or did it just reflect the company's current attitude towards all such projects? And what is the reason for that decision apparently now being reversed? What changes or concessions had to be made or assurances given since the time of the C&D letter in order to get the ok to release the game?

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 7:57 am
by crayauchtin
HURRAY!!

S'all I got.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 9:11 am
by Erpy
What good news! Just out of curiosity, what do you all think was the reason for the original C&D? Was it something about that project in particular that led to the C&D, or did it just reflect the company's current attitude towards all such projects? And what is the reason for that decision apparently now being reversed? What changes or concessions had to be made or assurances given since the time of the C&D letter in order to get the ok to release the game?
The C&D from Vivendi or the C&D from Activision?

The Vivendi C&D was triggered by POS overhauling their site, creating a trailer and posting what the rest of the world saw as a release date for chapter 1 ("coming this winter") as part of a pretty big promotional campaign. Vivendi was already aware of the project before then and took the PR campaign as a sign that the project was nearing its release, so they pulled the plug before the game could be released. They later decided to offer POS a license similar to AGDI's under the provision they'd take the "King's Quest 9" part out of their project's title.

The Activision C&D was triggered by mutual miscommunications in the past when VU was still in charge. As part of the license, all contributors had to sign a contract that stated they accepted the terms and send that over to VU. The POS team tried to make do with virtual signatures instead of physical copies mailed all from over the world and apparantly were never rebuked for it, but when they tried to submit their game for approval to Activision (who took over in 2008) in late 2009, it turned out the physical contracts were very much needed (or maybe the virtual copies got lost somewhere) and since they weren't there, the fan license wasn't considered legit. (the signed contracts were needed to finish and validate the license) Activision had no interest in supporting fan games, so instead of taking the time to get the fan license validated after all, they sent another C&D. I don't really know about the exact nature of the negotiations that led to it being recinded...I find it hard to believe any concessions had to be made because frankly, the original license terms from VU already gave the IP holder all the control they could ever ask for. I'm not certain if the fan license was completely redrafted or if they simply had their original agreement validated under Activision's name.

Their site mentions both the TSL project and a new (presumably commercial) project without giving details and mentions TSL as free, so it's fairly likely they got permission to release what they had going (just like us) and were then encouraged to try new venues. I hear they split the original first part into smaller episodes, so I think it's fair to surmise they'll be releasing those TSL episodes on a semi-annual basis or so to cover the time period between now and the completion of their original project.

Image

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 9:21 am
by pbpb33
Wow, thank you for your very thorough answer. I had no idea that wasn't the first C&D letter they had received. How crazy to think that a major sticking point was the signatures, something that seems like a fairly easy thing to get right the first time, but of course I don't know all the circumstances.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:58 am
by pbpb33
It's already July 10 in much of the world!! 8o I like the intro movie. It's super dramatic. Is King Graham's stoic look and slight nod of the head at the end meant to show that he is thinking, "I know what I must do: return to adventuring!" (kind of like during the DOTT intro when Bernard dramatically looks out of the window and says, "I thought I was free of Dr. Fred and those crazy Edisons forever. But now I know that I must go.... back to the mansion!"). I like that the TSL intro doesn't have any speaking. A lot more effective that way.

Looks like TSL was covered by CNN, who linked to the game's website. ( http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/gaming ... 8Q_UKW3Wjx ) I have to say, I'm a little surprised, but it's great for Phoenix Online! I wonder if it was an on-air story or just a special report for the website. TSL is the first game mentioned in the story and the only graphic with the article is also from TSL. The story is written from an angle looking at episodic games... see, this is one reason why I think, only from the standpoint of wanting the most publicity, that game makers could benefit from having subject matter that ties into current issues or social trends so that they increase their chances of getting coverage beyond just the news sites which are more narrowly focused on adventure gaming news. That way when the games are released the announcements wouldn't just be, "a sequel to our previous game has been released" but would instead suggest a unique story angle that might be more appealing to news editors deciding what to cover.

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:05 pm
by daventry
There seems to be a problem with the Site, i get an Error on Site Server Busy. :\

I can go to Any Site, but something is wrong at the TSL Site, is the Game out now. :eek

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:44 pm
by pbpb33
Yeah, I've been getting the same error. Maybe Activision decided at the last minute to issue another cease and desist? Hehe, nah. Hopefully it just means they're getting oodles of traffic from King's Quest-starved adventure gamers!

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:48 pm
by daventry
Thats what you get for being a Fansite with a Fan Game, all Members that died out waiting for TSL are coming in like a tidel wave. :lol :lol :lol

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:55 pm
by KatieHal
Katie from Phoenix Online here! We're just prepping for the release, the sites should be back up shortly.

I mean, it's all part of our elaborate hoax. There is no game, mwahaha! *


(* -But seriously, there is a game. :) )

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:57 pm
by pbpb33
Did AGDI ever encounter site problems on the days of their game releases?

update: thanks for the update, Katie!! I bet there are many other people right now periodically hitting "refresh" on their browsers trying to load the TSL game page!

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 2:58 pm
by daventry
Nope :)

Re: They are Back

Posted: Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:03 pm
by KatieHal
We're upgrading now so we can handle the deluge later on! :)