The Decleration For Information

[dhyanibhudda]

When in the course of gaming events it becomes necessary for gamers to resolve the gulf of silence between T3 and its supporters,we the gamers avow with our sacred honor to sign a Decleration of Information Act,which shall force the tyrants at ion storm to release even a tiny morsel of information to its loyal sub......errr followers,so as to quell the growing voices of dissension and rebellion,rising up among the chorus of said loyal followers.The histiory of the present group at ion storm is a history of silence and avoidance,with an establishment of absolute tyrrany over T3 information.
To prove this let facts be submitted to a candid world:

They have refused even one in depth interview of T3
They have refused to release any screenshots of note
They have refused to release any trailers
They have refused to release any sound bites of T3



We declare that even a smattering of this information should be the right of every loyal supporter of T3.

Public notice:

There will be a meeting at midnite at Boston Harbor.
Bring your old Thief cds and we will throw them into Boston Harbor as a sign of protest.
(Oh Ok any extra ones you might have.)

[SlyFoxx]

I'll sign. SlyFoxx


So the folks who have vision problems at ion can read it without thier glasses.

[deadman]

Here here! Add me to the list of ungrateful whelps as well! ^_~

deadman (wif a 'd')

deadman.

[graywolf]

It's not their "obligation" to release any of that stuff. I'd rather they pour all their effort into actually making the game than wasting time releasing trailers to appease impatients like you.

[deadman]

Originally posted by graywolf
I'd rather they pour all their effort into actually making the game than wasting time releasing trailers to appease impatients like you.

Hence "ungrateful whelps" .. And it's not so much that we want them to waste any time at all pleasing us.. Just, you know, a little? I'm sure ion storm is big enough to have just a small group of people do it.. Wouldn't even have to be related to the actual team, meaning most work wouldn't be disturbed/delayed. But, I know nothing of these matters, so don't think what I say would actually be feasible

deadman.

[Brethren]

They don't owe us a thing, even if we do buy the games.

Here's what happens though, they release screenshots, then halfway through development they change a few things, and the screenshots they released don't end up in the final release of the game. Then, the players bitch. Would you want to deal with that?

Besides, I'm kinda enjoying the anticipation. Same effect as the media blockout I'm planning for Episode Three.

[dhyanibhudda]

but it is our right to do a little joking around to ease the weight of waiting MR. Greywolf
Dont take everything so seriously!!

[graywolf]

Originally posted by dhyanibhudda
Dont take everything so seriously!!

You're right, I should lighten up a bit. OK, here's a joke:

I met a really impatient guy the other day.

How impatient was he?

He was so impatient that he tried to run across the interstate with a mac truck bearing down on him and wound up getting run over at 80 mph and his remains were splattered all over 4 lanes of I-95.

Har Har Har

[SlyFoxx]

greywolf:

I don't think that one person taking 10 minutes to post a possible screen or two to this forum or any other is going to slow down the development process. I don't need to see trailers or anything else however.

Brother Renault:

If they post a screen that does not then appear in the game and people complain....well that is kinda small and picky behavior on the part of the complainer. And no I would not like it either but that's just a fact of life and fact of doing business with the public.
But yes the people at ion do owe us something, not a lot but at least a tentative screen or two, IMO. I'm not saying they should let the whole cat out of the bag, that would be crazy. But maybe they could tell us something. We buy the games that keep them in business! I play music for a living. If you snub your audience when they want to talk to you during your break or after a performance you do it at your own peril. Would you like it if your idol snubbed you after you bought all thier records and talked them up to your friends and got them to buy thier records (records!...I'm showing my age here ). What if they said to you, "you don't matter to me, you're just one of the people who helped me afford my new beach house." I'm not saying that's what the people at ion are thinking or feeling but when it's been this long people are going to get a wee bit impatient and fans can easily get the feeling, right or wrong, that they are being snubbed. I can understand being guarded with a new product but really.

I can wait just fine for the final release. Quality FM's are comming out all the time it seems. I want to play Christien's series that taffers are saying is really good. Saturnine is working on a new project. Frobber has a late summer release planned for part 2 of A Keeper Of The Prophecies. I think Schwaa has a few irons in the fire. There's lots to do until then.

SlyFoxx


I'm not flaming, just disagreeing.

[David]

You are of course assuming that the game is in a form that looks good when screenshotted. Maybe they are holding back until the game looks like it will finally, rather than a couple of screens with bad lighting because the lighting engine is incomplete.

[Brethren]

When i shelled out my 40 bucks for Thief Gold/Thief2, in return I got an excellent product that in my opinion, was worth far more than what I paid. But even if it wasn't, even if the game was complete crap, their commitment to me, the consumer, ends there (ok, maybe except for a little tech support).

Everything else is gravy. Now, its obvious, the Looking Glass people have always been very cool - they've shared information, come into the forums, and done other things as well. But they certainly don't OWE us anything for their future products. I've already received my payback in the form of an excellent game, I'm not entitled to anything else.

Even so, they probably will do something for us eventually, like some screen shots or demos. So why the wait? If you use your musician example, it would be like U2 releasing Track 5 (or even part of Track 5) for free before their new album is released. This (virtually) never, ever happens in the music industry.

However, bands release singles, but that's usually just before its time to release the album. Using that logic, we could probably deduce that Thief3 isn't far enough along in the development process to release anything final to the public yet.

Just my 0.02.

[Continuity]

They don't have to if they don't want to.

[p7eter]

well personally im happy to be patient...

game making takes a long time... they are still not close to finishing, so they dont want to release tons of shots before its even close to being ready... they will do press release when its closer to completion.

im just happy to know that thief 3 is imminent. Remember it was not long ago that looking glass died, and we expected to never have a thief 3.

thank the builder for ION storm, take your time and do it right

[Nethawk]

And I do hereby summon the presence and expertise of this forum's resident Barrister Rug Burn Junky - with willful intent to make further ramifications to the act as needed in order to assist in securing all material containing visual, and literary information as pertaining to Thief III. Let us not lose resolve - Taffers of the World Unite!!!!

[sailoreagle]

They don't have to give us info/screenshots/whatever if they don't want to, and I'm happy to wait patiently until they do give us something.

[Nethawk]

I don't think this thread was intended to be taken seriously. It's poking fun at impatience itself - sort of like the thread that said "give us some Thief III news now or the bunny gets it" and "Give us some Thief III news now or we'll shoot this dog". Simply satire in its purest form, that's all.

[SlyFoxx]

You are of course assuming that the game is in a form that looks good when screenshotted.........David

Point taken...but if that's the case they could just say so.

They don't have to if they don't want to........Continuity

Of course they don't HAVE to. I don't necessarily want to be bothered by fans of my band during a break. I've been busting my butt up there giving the best performance I can and that is all that I'm requiered to do. But if I ignore them or act like something else is more important some get the feeling that I'm stuck on myself or don't care about thier support. That's not good for business! I, in the general interest of band image, take the time to talk or answer questions because I feel that's also a part of my job as an entertainer, even if I don't feel like doing it at that particular time. No business venture exsists in a vacuum and to think otherwise is unwise.


Brother R:

I would hardly equate a screen or two to giving away a song soon to be published in the context of an album. As screen or two of T3 would be about equivalint to the first note or two of a song from a record.

SlyFoxx


Edit: Nethawk:

That's what I thought too. Obviously others are wound a bit tight on the issue. But when I have a strong opinion on something I'll voice it.

[Thief_3_Wannabe]

Well, regardless of this threads original intentions I'd like to toss my hat in by saying Im a patient person and don’t tend to follow the development of games closely. So when on some day in the near future I hear that T3 is released...(Thief 3, not Terminator 3 damn YOU!)....I'll be like "Ohhh, how nice!" and run to Babbages to get it.

My experience with the media blackout of TF2, has made me a very patient person.... well... as far as games go anyway.

[Brethren]

I take back everything I said! I want a screenshot now, damnit, now! Randy, get yer butt in here on the double, and fork over some screens! Actually, nevermind, I want your first born child! No, better yet, I want your very soul!!!! MUHAHAHAHA!

Was that too over-the-top? I can never tell.

[graywolf]

Originally posted by Zombie
Waaah! Thief 3 has been in development forever!

Waaah! ISA won't release screenshots and movies every time we bitch and moan!

Waaah! ISA won't release a Public Beta!

Waaah! Thief 3 = Daikatana!

Waaah! Thief 3 is going to be outdated!

Waaah! ISA doesn't have any respect for their fans!

Waaah! ISA won't tell us the truth about the execs!

Waaah! ISA won't accept our superior knowledge about game development!

Waaah! Thief 3 is going to suck!

Waaah! ISA will be 3dfx's bitch!

Waaah! ISA won't give us a release date!

Waaah! ISA knows the release date, because they gave it to EB and all those insider mags!

Waaah! Thief 3 should be using the Q3A engine!

Waaah! Unreal tech SUXX LIKE HELL!

Waaah! Anyone that doesn't agree with me should STFU!

That post fits pretty well here

[Agent Monkeysee]

Originally posted by SlyFoxx
greywolf:

I don't think that one person taking 10 minutes to post a possible screen or two to this forum or any other is going to slow down the development process.

Actually it could slow it down significantly as doing so would probably get the person fired. They can't just toss copyrighted, and work-in-progress, material online. They have to go through the proper channels for release.

Tongue-in-cheek aside, I think we're assuming there's far more of T3 done than actually is. The release of the game is over a year away and I got the impression that right now they're laying down the infrastructure of the game; modifying the engine, designing light and sound models, integrating the physics package. That stage of development doesn't lend itself to showing off anything.

Now, DX2 is much further along and ISA has been very accomidating, releasing screenshots and trailers fairly regularly. I think we'll start seeing T3 stuff as soon as it's at a state to show off. The simple truth is there is nothing to show us yet.

[dhyanibhudda]

One should never assume having met Pandora that she has a really nice box.
I will refrain from calling for the head of the King!!!!!

[Spitter]

What I wish is that they show no spoilers - at least, not anything that we might immediately recognize as spoilers (ie. characters from the previous games which should be dead, the big bad end boss, et cetera). ISA (well, ex-LGS to be more precise) isn't really well-known for covering their spoilers... *cough*SS2*cough*

[Muzman]

We do need to admit to ourselves that DX2 is somewhat more of a cash cow than T3.

But I don't care! Give us...stuff you bastards! Reviving the corpse of LG sounds a lot like just plain humping it when your forced to wait quietly in the next room for ages!! Wee need action dammit! That and screenshots, to praise and nitpick!!! And... other stuff

[Silver Sorrow]

As a random idiot who is patiently waiting for two games that may or may never be released within my lifetime [Half-Life 2, which has never been officially announced by Valve, who are currently sitting in their offices whacking off and just releasing patches between "sessions" and Call of Cthulhu, which is stuck in parent-company-buyout hell at the moment], it's enough for me to know that Thief 3 is being made. Plus, the happy-anticipation-butterflies in my gut are about as close as I get having genuine emotions these days, so I kinda want to enjoy it.