The possibility of partnership.

[HoneyBadger]

Ok, just an idea that came to me here, but I wanted to get the forum's opinions as well as bring it to the attention of the designers.

Another game I own, and of which some of you may have heard, is Galactic Civilizations 2, "Dread-Lords" by Stardock. The reasons I bring it up are that it too was created by a small number of designers, and it is known for having one of the best AIs for turn-based on the market. It's a pretty decent game overall, and the designers are looking for a fantasy turn based strategy to work on. I'm wondering, not only if the designers would be interested in working with Stardock, but if the community as a whole think they'd be a good company for Illwinter to work with to possibly bring the Dom series to a larger market, and to help expand the game and improve it in good areas. They seem to be good at what they do, and the kind of company which could handle Dom with care, but ofcourse I'd encourage anyone with an opinion to do research and homework on the subject.

My opinion:
In order to take the Dom series to the next level any time soon, it seems pretty clear that it's going to take more than two designers, unless we fit slave collars on Johan and Kristoffer and make them work 24/7 on Dom. While I personally am all for that, evil greedy beast that I am, I'm pretty sure it's illegal, and maybe even immoral, whatever that means. At the same time, big bloated companies like Atari etc. clearly aren't the way to go. Stardock already has created a good, popular small game-Galactic Civilizations-and then successfully expanded it into a broad market without destroying what made the game good in the first place. They show innovation, they seem to have a very good record of working with their fan-community, and they have technology and know-how that would directly and significantly improve those areas where Dom 3 really doesn't shine-specifically AI. I believe they actually care about making good games and like playing games, and they seem to have a good grasp of what a good game is.

If Kristoffer and Johan are satisfied with Illwinter going it alone, ofcourse that's perfectly fine with me and I respect that, not that I have a choice in the matter, but it's possible that they are looking for, or have thought about looking for, a company to partner with on the Dom series, in which case I'd like to do my part to insure that they make a good choice about that partner, and in the process hopefully make me a better game.

Naturally, I have no connection with Stardock, Illwinter, or anyone willing to pay me one red cent about my opinion on pretty much any subject, I'm sad to say, but atleast it keeps my interests earnest and my hands clean.