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Posted March 2, 2015 by Peter in News
 
 

Seven Dragon Saga to give cross-game character transfers

Seven Dragon Saga logo
Seven Dragon Saga logo

If you ever wanted to make an RPG fan feel old, mention Wizardry, Ultima and Bard’s Tale in a single press release. Well done, Tactical Simulations Interactive (TSI). But it’s not just about the name of the games – it’s about an old idea they were involved in too.

TSI are proposing something called “Gateway”, which will be a means of transferring characters between games. We’re not talking the heroes of one game moving straight into its sequel – as was standard in the old Gold Box AD&D games that were made by many TSI staff back as SSI – but side-stepping between different companies’ titles. TSI’s own Seven Dragon Saga will naturally be part of the process, but have already gained the support of inXile and Harebrained Schemes, adding Torment: Tides of Numenera and Shadowrun: Hong Kong to the initial list of games.

The reference to the older games – beyond being an emotional hook for gamers like myself – is how there was a degree of cross-game party transferring between Wizardry 1 to 3, Ultima 3 and 4, and the Bard’s Tale series (admittedly, mostly into Bard’s Tale); it was an unusual concept then, and seems even more unusual now.

Of course, how it might work – and whether it should – will be interesting debates. Will different games with different systems still catch nuances in a certain build? Do you become emotionally attached to a character you’ve played through one game with and want to keep them, like a pen and paper character moving through campaigns? Is creating regular fresh characters a minor art form, or will this allow you to create a masterpiece to last the ages?

Some of the initial answers suggest it can vary from game to game – some may simply take the basics of name, gender and race; while others will transfer classes and skills too, with Gateway simply providing a selection of details to ease transfer. The destination game will simply pick which pieces it wants from a player character buffet.

I still have more questions than answers to be honest; but as a concept it is definitely interesting, and worth keeping an eye on – if only to see which other studios and games might end up being involved.


Peter

 
Peter can be described as an old, hairy gamer, a survivor of the console wars of the 1990s, and a part-time MMO addict. He has an especial fondness for retro gaming and observing the progressions in long running gaming series. When scandalously not caught gaming, he can also be found reading comics and fantasy fiction, or practising terrible photography.