The Past, The Present, The Future.... and The Father.

[LaughingMan008]

So anyway's, I was here some time back talking King's Quest with you guys, and about future remakes. Don't remember if I posted anything when Telltale made their announcement, but I read plenty. You mentioned still being in talks with Activision. I came back the other night and I think I read something about those talks going nowhere. My questions and comments touch on all of that, and if I'm wrong in anything, or this has been covered before, I'm sorry. I couldn't find anything else on what I was looking for. I don't know WHY I never asked this before, back when I was posting, but was KQ3 truly the end of The Father's story? I found it hard to believe breaking that....
thing, thwarted him and that was the end. Did you guys have some plans to make a King's Quest 9, starring him as the major baddie, and it fell through? Because, I gotta say....
I love your work. All of it. Bought Al Emmo and plan to buy and donate more, but that seems....
Mmm. Its like what they do on TV every year. Shows that know damn well they may not get another year, end on cliffhangers with the intent of blackmailing the network into ordering more shows. It almost never works, and only the fans pay for it. I feel like maybe you guys started a plot thread, and intentionally didn't wrap it up because you were banking on something that wasn't set in stone, and now may never happen. I hope I'm wrong about all of that, but that's what I see, looking back on things. I'm hoping one of you will set the record, and me, straight, regardless.

[Anonymous Game Creator 2]

Nah, the KQ3 Redux cliffhanger wasn't an attempt to extort a series continuation out of Activision. Personally, I don't think blackmail or coercion is a very wise negotiation tactic for trying to continue a professional business relationship with another company. Actually, if we were granted permission to produce commercial KQ remakes, we would have dropped the Father/fan fictiony elements from future games altogether and just adhered to the traditional canon and stand-alone plots, as was Roberta Williams' original intention for the series.

When we developed the KQ2 remake in 2002, it was a different time and era. Adventure game releases were few and far between, so people weren't as analytical of fan-fiction elements depicted in game format. They were simply excited to have the opportunity a brand new "Sierra" point and click adventure game when every other company had forsaken them. They could tolerate the changed backstory and plot elements because the overall experience was still very close to a classic Sierra adventure title of the 90's.

Our goals, at the time, weren't focused on commercially taking over someone else's legacy and carrying the torch forward with a replaced backstory. It was more or less just one person's (ie. Daniel Stacey's) re-interpretation of the events of KQ2 and some fans having some non-ambitious fun with the concept. In KQ3 Redux we actually tried to reduce the presence of the Father even further, in an attempt to wean players off of the concept. If we ever told the rest of Morgeilen's story, it would likely only be in text format (not game format). But at the moment, we need to focus on projects that will generate income, so it's not really a priority.

[LaughingMan008]

Thanks for gettin back to me. I appreciate it!
I'm glad that wasn't the case....
I STILL wanna see you remake KQ4 though, since its the only one not in VGA. Hopefully if enough people buy your products and donate money, you can approach Activision and get it done one day.....
I wouldn't mind if The Father was shoehorned into the story, in fact, Ide love it. I don't see anything wrong with the changes you made to the backstory at all. You made the series BETTER, in my opinion.

Anyway's, Ill be buying your games and donating and crossing my fingers for more remakes....
And even if I don't get any, If I get some other game or written story that wraps up The Fathers plotline, even if it doesn't involve King Graham or Daventry, Ide be a very happy man.
...ya know, speaking of "Kings", you could turn The Father into something of a Randell Flagg char if you wanted. Ya know, Stephen King's all purpose baddie that appears in tons of his books, even though they're set in different times/places/universes?