Two questions/suggestions

[Marco]

Ah, I always thought it was something you personally did to continue the site.  I'm a bit surprised Auspex would continue to support them (at the very least by linking to them) after the incident.  I wasn't around when it happened, and afterwards when I returned to that forum I got an explanation of what had happened, though really the whole thing is still rather confusing as to what -exactly- happened.  You going to be working with Auspex again?  I contacted him when SC2 was announced and he said he was going to make a campaign - to what end exactly I wouldn't know.


Good to see you are still around.  We collaborated a bit for the WC3 project (voice acting) though that didn't pan out unfortunately.  Perhaps we will work together again in the future.

[Zeus Legion]

... but also the (true) Mastermind behind the Antioch Chronicles 2.

Thanks for the high praise but I want to be perfectly clear here: Auspex was the mastermind behind the gameplay and the website. He launched the series and created some of the earliest and most well-known characters like Mox, Gurney, Turmalis, Khorun and Nurohk. He crafted all the maps, triggers and sound like nobody's business. As far as the story goes, he and I collaborated a great deal on it. I think it's fair to say that the over all direction of the plot, most of the dialogue, the characters I portrayed, the extended fiction and so on came from me. You can see the difference between TAC1 (which had no antagonists other than random Zerg) and TAC2 (the Taeradun plot, the emergence of Moloch, the Gurney/Mox plot and so on. That's what I brought to the table: Story, dialogue and voice. My influence was even stronger on the TAC3 plot but that too would have felt Auspex's impact had we gotten to the point of collaborating together on the script. The script floating around out there is an early draft, not the final product. Auspex's contributions and the discussions we would have had would have made it much better.

Zeus, I personally find it a great pity ones that the Antioch Chronicles 3 - Thoughts in Chaos were never brought to an end.

An end? TAC3 would only have been the beginning of the end. There were plans for TAC4, 5 & 6. TAC7, 8 & 9 were also a possibility based on TAC6's ending. A trilogy of trilogies. Mainly because Aus and I were such Star Wars geeks and if Lucas wasn't going to do it, we would have.

That said, I don't want to give anyone false hope that TAC will return to the StarCraft Universe, particularly if Blizzard is still giving the cold shoulder to modders.

But to hear all this information which you have written here, are already a strong piece. I have always asked myself what has happened at that time (end of 2006) on Antioch Forever.

It isn't my intention to stir up the past but rather acknowledge it and move forward toward the future. What happened is done. I won't shy away from explaining it to those who want to know but I don't want to stir up the ashes and give it new life either.

Glad you enjoyed the campaigns and that they made such an impact on you.

[Lavarinth]

Cold shoulder, Zeus?

[Zeus Legion]

Ah, I always thought it was something you personally did to continue the site.

Other than some emails I sent to Auspex, I don't think anything I did inspired him to bring it back.

I'm a bit surprised Auspex would continue to support them (at the very least by linking to them) after the incident.

 

AFAIK, Auspex has no idea what went down there. I haven't talked to him in years (not by choice, he's just off doing his thing and only pops his head in every few years).

I wasn't around when it happened, and afterwards when I returned to that forum I got an explanation of what had happened, though really the whole thing is still rather confusing as to what -exactly- happened.

 

The gist of it is that I got into a pissing match with a handful of known jerkwads who had taken over the boards. Our pre-existing flame war (yes, I have a temper and I never back down to anyone so that much is my fault) went cataclysmic when they made accusations regarding my sanity (I swear I'm not writing this from Bellevue or Arkham). After an incident wherein they modified the site with religious dressing, I told them I didn't think associating TAC (which is a game) with religion (let alone picking favorites) was appropriate. They refused to address my concerns, told me they could do whatever they wanted with our property and responded by calling me an anti-Semite (among dozens of other insults). At that point, I'd had enough of their bullshit and I sent them a takedown notice. They complied with the notice and then banned me from the forums. By then the whole board was infected with so much negativity that it's absence in my life turned out to be a positive thing. I still miss some of the people there but it doesn't seem like any of them (other than Big Dave and Shandromand) missed me so maybe my departure was best.

You going to be working with Auspex again?  I contacted him when SC2 was announced and he said he was going to make a campaign - to what end exactly I wouldn't know.

I'd be willing to if he ever returns but I have no idea what he's up to now or if he'll ever completely return.

Good to see you are still around.  We collaborated a bit for the WC3 project (voice acting) though that didn't pan out unfortunately.  Perhaps we will work together again in the future.

StarCraft II is finally coming out. Anything is possible now.

[Lavarinth]

Still up for voicing, Zeus?

[Zeus Legion]

Cold shoulder, Zeus?

Let's just say that back then, Valve (makers of Half-Life) knew how to support the hard work of modders and Blizzard, at the time, did not. Many of the people we dealt with at Blizzard back then are no longer with the company so who knows how they are now towards supporting commercial mods/campaigns. I don't recall them supporting any commercial fan-made mods for WarCraft 3 though.

Still up for voicing, Zeus?

A funny thing happened on the way to the present.... between working in the video game industry and then in radio, I became a professional voice talent along the way. I'm for hire at very reasonable rates.

[Lavarinth]

Let's just say that back then, Valve (makers of Half-Life) knew how to support the hard work of modders and Blizzard, at the time, did not. Many of the people we dealt with at Blizzard back then are no longer with the company so who knows how they are now towards supporting commercial mods/campaigns. I don't recall them supporting any commercial fan-made mods for WarCraft 3 though.

I believe WB and BahamutZERO were talking about this at BlizzCon when we were hanging out- There was a WC3 project that was going to be commercial but was canned, I believe. I think the StarCraft experience somewhat scared the possibilities of more occurrences like this.

A funny thing happened on the way to the present.... between working in the video game industry and then in radio, I became a professional voice talent along the way. I'm for hire at very reasonable rates.

Nice, good to know.

[Whiplash!]

I remember Project Revolution (sc to wc3 mod) was going large till SC2 was announced. Is this the project you were referring to Lav?

On that note, not a lot of campaigns were even made for Wc3. You had like a few good ones (Darky's campaign, RCX's WoS) but for the most part people made custom maps (Dota), cinematics, total conversions, or just showcased their terraining skills. I think with Starcraft 2 we should see a return to the more traditional campaign/custom map format, although the platform certainly is open to total conversions.

[IskatuMesk]

PR was never going to be commercial so I don't think that would be it.

[Lavarinth]

No, no, they mentioned the name but damn it, I forgot it again! I'll go drag the name out of them.

[Zeus Legion]

I had wanted to do a Warcraft 3 campaign called The Unbroken but never got around to it. Essentially, the story revolves around the awakening of the Unbroken (a new race which appears as creeps in the game) in Northrend (in the bowels of Azjol-Nerub I think) when the player (as Arthas?) disturbs their prison. I can't remember if it happens in the first part or in the battle with the Nerubian spider-people in The Frozen Throne. Probably the latter.

Anyway, this ancient Lovecraftian evil is set free and the leader (a Faceless One Deathbringer, name undecided) begins to raise an army composed of the various semi-intelligent creep races (Satyrs, Centaurs, Harpies and Razormanes for example). I don't remember what his ultimate goal was (other than vengeance) or how it was going to end. It would have been a relatively short campaign though in order to make it doable i.e. no feature creep. Would have been fun but now the big rage is WoW which I've never played and never will since it's an MMOG.

[imgwh 311x124]http://www.thundergodexpress.com/hosted/unbrokensm.jpg[/imgwh]

[Maglok]

Unbroken. Interesting word, made up.

Arthas fought a Forgotten One there. Shame, woulda loved to see it.

Reasonable hire rates you say? Have you done any game stuff since then or only radio?

[WB]

No, no, they mentioned the name but damn it, I forgot it again! I'll go drag the name out of them.

I made my first foray into the community via WC3C back when Skull was around. I joined the Fury of Kadesh project. Late into the project's life I recall him claiming that the project would be sold in stores in boxes. I honestly didn't fucking believe him, but by then I had done my work already. Whether or not any of this was legit, I don't know. But I know they were actually talking with some people to publish it. No idea what blizzard thought about this. Eventually the idea was canned for FoK, but was moved to another project. The project didn't really have a name or a plot. All it had was the promise of cash, and I joined the project. it was one of the last things I did at WC3C.

[Marco]

Skull always had big ambitions.  I wonder what ever happened to that guy.

[Lavarinth]

I think he was chased away by his own staff.