TR Forums

cynan · Tue Sep 20, 2011 7:32 pm

I've noticed a story circulating over the past few days at various websites that Bethesda purportedly were in talks with George RR Martin's publisher, etc, to do a game based on the A Song of Ice and Fire series, as seen here.

Now I realize this would probably be even more of a non-story if it wasn't for the recent popularity of HBO's adaptation of the first book, Game of Thrones

Apparently, Bethesda decided to eschew A Song of Ice and Fire for their own IP, and went to work on Skyrim instead. However, there are reports claiming that Skyrim was meant to be set in Westeros (the main setting for the A song of Ice and Fire series). (The same article continues on to talk about an upcoming Game of Thrones game...)
What confuses me is why a company like Bethesda would pay for Martin's IP and then proceed to not use the Song of Ice and Fire title (or that of one of the books, as did HBO).

The really interesting bit is that people have been reporting a number of similarities between Martin's books and the upcoming Skyrim. Most notable might be the parallels between the "living dead" or zombie-like creatures in Skyrim that share an uncannily close description to the "white walkers" (or perhaps the living dead they create out of corpses) in A Song of Ice and Fire right down to their glowing blue eyes and northern climate. Then there is this forum thread were this particular parallel is explained in that the creatures in Skyrim and those in A song of Ice and Fire are based on the same root Norse mythology...

Anyway, I wonder if Bethesda is kicking itself at all for this decision, given the series' recent resurgence in popularity?

TheEmrys · Tue Sep 20, 2011 8:03 pm

I have a feeling that Bethesda would rather sell their own wildy popular franchise game rather than pay anything for someone esle's IP.

Now, if it was Game of Thrones Legos, that would have been a winner.

Waco · Tue Sep 20, 2011 9:00 pm

Once they killed off Sean Bean I stopped caring quite so much. 006 shouldn't die in every movie/show he's in...

tanker27 · Wed Sep 21, 2011 6:38 am

TheWacoKid wrote:
Once they killed off Sean Bean I stopped caring quite so much. 006 shouldn't die in every movie/show he's in...

Sean Bean is an awful typecast actor, I am am glad he was the one to die. On another note, apparently you haven't read any of the books in the series......characters die! I know shocking really.

About the upcoming game, I watched the trailer on Steam and really it looks lame.

Waco · Wed Sep 21, 2011 7:05 am

tanker27 wrote:
Sean Bean is an awful typecast actor, I am am glad he was the one to die. On another note, apparently you haven't read any of the books in the series......

He is, but I still like him. And no, I haven't read the books. I plan to at some point, but until then, the show will suffice.

tanker27 · Wed Sep 21, 2011 8:57 am

TheWacoKid wrote:
tanker27 wrote:
I plan to at some point, but until then, the show will suffice.

Dont get attached to any character then

SecretMaster · Thu Sep 22, 2011 7:01 pm

I think there is a lot of conjecture here. Mainly, Skyrim was most definately not originally planned to be set in Westeros. From the article you linked, Bethesda mulled the idea of making a game based on A Song of Ice and Fire, or make Skyrim. They chose Skyrim. The Elder Scrolls universe has been around for awhile, and the folks at Bethesda already had a lot of conceptual work for Skyrim fleshed out. Had they actually made a Song of Ice and Fire game, Skyrim would have still been made eventually in roughly the same shape it is now (maybe a bit different game play due to technological improvements).

I'm sure there might be some elements or resemblances to G.R.R. Martin's universe in the game. Most western RPG's do that. David Gaider, the man responsible for most of the storyline behind Dragon Age, listed Martin's book as the inspiration for Dragon Age, and I will wager that there are more likenesses in Dragon Age than there will be in Skyrim when it comes to Martin's universe.

Just my two cents, but I do think there is a lot of excessive conjecture here. Bethesda turned down A Song of Ice and Fire IP, but it doesn't mean Skyrim will be a clone of the books. At least the diehard ES fan in me believes this.

But seriously, Dragon Age seems like it could have been set in Westeros.

Darkmage · Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:09 am

TheWacoKid wrote:
He is, but I still like him. And no, I haven't read the books. I plan to at some point, but until then, the show will suffice.

I'm about halfway through the fourth book (I bought the set as one long-ass 3455 page eBook). Once I finish, I'm done. I'm not really enjoying them. There's a decent story somewhere in the middle of pages and pages of descriptions of coat of arms and court fashion.

I'm told the HBO series is pretty good. I'll have to give it a try.

Mentawl · Wed Oct 12, 2011 8:23 am

Darkmage wrote:
TheWacoKid wrote:
He is, but I still like him. And no, I haven't read the books. I plan to at some point, but until then, the show will suffice.
I'm about halfway through the fourth book (I bought the set as one long-ass 3455 page eBook). Once I finish, I'm done. I'm not really enjoying them. There's a decent story somewhere in the middle of pages and pages of descriptions of coat of arms and court fashion.

I'm told the HBO series is pretty good. I'll have to give it a try.

I'm the same as you, for what it's worth - I got to halfway through the 4th book, and got bored of characters getting screwed over and getting killed, and hundreds of ancillary characters getting introduced without any knowledge of which will be important and which are just there to get nobbed over shortly after.

Kinda surprised Bethesda would bother to get into discussions about a game adaptation of the books and then not follow through - maybe they got bored of the stories too, and realised that continuation of characters is kinda important to a storyline

.

liquidsquid · Wed Oct 12, 2011 9:05 am

First book series I ever read that pisses me off so bad I want to chuck the book across the room! Now that is entertainment. I have never read a book that can get me mad before. You get to care about a character and then something really nasty happens to them.

What I like is NONE of the characters are infallible. Very much like the real world. The overtone of the book series: George RR Martin's world is HORRIBLE due to the ruination of strong benevolent leadership. I keep reading in the hope things get better when real power finally rises. GRRM better not drop dead by way of the WoT series Robert Jordan before he is done and fixes things up while tying up the tremendous amounts of loose ends, or I will dig him up to make him finish. He may have sparkly blue eyes (wrights), or pale-faced with little black eyes (sparrows) when I am done with him ;-)

.

Darkmage · Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:21 am

Mentawl wrote:
I'm the same as you, for what it's worth - I got to halfway through the 4th book, and got bored of characters getting screwed over and getting killed, and hundreds of ancillary characters getting introduced without any knowledge of which will be important and which are just there to get nobbed over shortly after.

You know, I'm okay with knocking off a character or six, even ones that I somewhat care about. What is really starting to make the steam come out of my ears is that whenever more than three people walk through a doorway, there is a page and a half of text that does nothing except tell you what colors are one someone's chest, what kind of jewel they've fastened their cape with and whether or not they've cleaned their armor in a fortnight. And you'll see maybe one of those coat of arms again in the next book where it suddenly becomes relevant that some minor house is sworn to one of the four major houses and will therefore screw over the character for that chapter.

Ugh, and that part about characters being introduced late... I hear you. I think the fourth book starts with three chapters surrounding entirely new characters who might be relevant... or not. But I've come this far and I think I can tough it out for the end of this monstrosity. But after this, no more.

paulWTAMU · Mon Oct 17, 2011 3:13 pm

After the 5th one I'm done. He's nowhere near a resolution at all, and he's supposed to only have 7 books in the series. This won't end well, at least not in 7 books...if ever.

liquidsquid · Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:56 pm

Yeah, 7? Somehow I think book 6 may not even start getting written until HBO uses up all of the material in the first 5 and crack the whip. By then GRRM will be roughly 85 years old.

dona10 · Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:48 am

I've only read the first book so far, but I feel like an RTS would work better for Game of Thrones than a Bethesda style RPG. Bethesda/Western RPG's are about one person basically doing everything and saving the world. That really doesn't mesh with what I've seen of the series so far. It's much more about politics and intrigue, which fits a RTS better, or even turn-based strategy. As far as I know, Bethesda doesn't really have any experience in that area, so it's probably for the best that they aren't making a GoT game.

Sat Oct 22, 2011 8:57 am

dona10 wrote:
I've only read the first book so far, but I feel like an RTS would work better for Game of Thrones than a Bethesda style RPG.

Someone else just released a GoT RTS game. Haven't seen much about it though.

lisin · Tue Dec 20, 2011 11:03 pm

Even I have noticed the reader comment about the similarities between Martin's books and the upcoming Skyrim. There is lot of notes coming up on this topic. I don’t understand what kind of game Bethesda is playing. May be it is some marketing tricks. Some were saying HBO series is pretty good and we all will have to give it a try. I am in the middle of some other book. So I need some time to start another one.

Glorious · Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:22 am

PaulWTAMU wrote:
After the 5th one I'm done. He's nowhere near a resolution at all, and he's supposed to only have 7 books in the series. This won't end well, at least not in 7 books...if ever.

At the rate he's progressing he'll be done before the 7th book.

If you know what I mean.

Noigel · Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:45 am

Anyone notice the irony that they are pitching a fit about Mojang creating a game with the word Scrolls in the title?

Darkmage · Fri Dec 23, 2011 11:44 am

Well, I finally finished the 4th book. Yeah, I have some mild interest in what happens to a couple characters, but not enough to slog through more of his writing style. I'll check out the HBO series, but I'm done with it.

cynan · Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:08 pm

Kevin wrote:
dona10 wrote:
I've only read the first book so far, but I feel like an RTS would work better for Game of Thrones than a Bethesda style RPG.

Someone else just released a GoT RTS game. Haven't seen much about it though.

Yeah. And apparently it's pretty poor.

And I recently finished book 5 myself. Have to say that I found it to be pretty meh. Books 1-3 were fantastic. Some of the best fiction I've ever read. By comparison, books 4 and 5 have been pretty disappointing. Book 5 does have its moments, but they are so few and far between filler (which is often recounting or having the characters remenise about what happened in the previous books) that I found it to be a real drag at times to get through the 1000 or so pgs and kept putting it down (which is why it took me so long to actually finish as I got it soon after the July release). It just reads like the book could have been much shorter.

It will be interesting to see where HBO goes with the series. After the positive recpetion of the 1st season, It'll likely be around for at least 2 more seasons (and maybe longer). HBO execs seem quite keen on it. While it was fairly straightforward to follow book 1 linearly for season 1, this will become more difficult to do as the books progress and will require more creativity on behalf of writers/producers. Which of course means there is more chance for things to go horribly wrong.

But if they actually do make it to the source material in books 4 and 5, then quite a bit of creative editing will be required if they don't want viewers snoring in their seats for entire episodes.

sweatshopking · Fri Dec 23, 2011 1:34 pm

the hbo series is fine if you like hbo. lots of scenes of brothers and sisters getting it on. I realize it's in the book, but it's a little tasteless, especially the way it's portrayed in the show. Didn't finish season 1.

cynan · Fri Dec 23, 2011 3:13 pm

sweatshopking wrote:
the hbo series is fine if you like hbo. lots of scenes of brothers and sisters getting it on. I realize it's in the book, but it's a little tasteless, especially the way it's portrayed in the show. Didn't finish season 1.

I more or less agree. It's sad to see high production-value, um, productions consistently catering to the T&A crowd; I also felt the sex and nudity was too gratuitous in some parts to the point of cheapening the show and not keeping with the spirit of the novel. However, for the most part, the show was still pretty good TV. Ironically, the scene between the "brother and sister" in question was one of the more tastefully done sex scenes.

This is made tragic because HBO didn't (doesn't?) always cater to this sort of thing. I watched the first season of Deadwood last summer and, while there was some nudity (as much of the show took place in a brothel), it was more tastefully done and the scenes complemented the story line (as oppose to being blatantly thrown in for titillation as a few were with Game of Thrones).

Anyway, valid point. Get your minds out of the gutter HBO. Your viewers with thank you in the long run for making higher quality shows.

TR Forums

Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Re: Bethesda Gave "Game of Thrones" Game a Pass

Who is online