Don't expect Fable IV anytime soon.

[Gikoku]

Sigh, as if we didn't already need telling of such. Over on twitter a commenter messaged Lionhead about whether or not they were in development of Fable IV despite already being hard at work on Legends. Lionhead then responded back to him stating "We're not working on a Fable 4, #FableLegends is our priority and will be for the foreseeable future. Thanks!" So there ya have it, I mean I'm not really surprised considering Legends is free-to-play so they're going to need to make a profit for the future before they can get started on their next game. Still, the one game we've been asking LH for years will continue to stay in the pile of running gags like Half-Life 3 and Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Source.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I think it will depend on how much Fable Legends makes that will determine if we ever see a Fable IV. If we do, it won't be for a very long time yet as I would imagine they would go down the reboot route and start from scratch with it.

 

[Precipice]

I believe Legends is an endgame for Fable, a last effort to squeeze some money out of a franchise in the way that a lot of people are making money these days. I don't expect a IV at all.

I would imagine they would go down the reboot route and start from scratch with it.

It's too bad that the franchise is Microsoft's; if they could go independent I'd kickstart the hell out of that.

 

[Gikoku]

I believe Legends is an endgame for Fable, a last effort to squeeze some money out of a franchise in the way that a lot of people are making money these days. I don't expect a IV at all.


It's too bad that the franchise is Microsoft's; if they could go independent I'd kickstart the hell out of that.

That hurts my soul and I wouldn't want to believe such, buuut with the way they've been going as of late you're probably right. Still, I don't wanna say "never" when it comes to these things as dreams have managed to come true for other franchises... FFVII Remake, Fallout 4, Shenmue ****ing 3, etc.

They're definitely going to squeeze all they can out of this, Phil Spencer had stated awhile back that Legends will have "years of content" planned. My main issue though, is even if they did make a sequel years down the line after milking Legends, would any of us even be interested in a Fable IV anymore at that point?

 

[Precipice]

I don't wanna say "never" when it comes to these things as dreams have managed to come true for other franchises... FFVII Remake, Fallout 4, Shenmue ****ing 3, etc.

Shenmue put together some fat stacks on Kickstarter, over 6 million I believe. But I think that was only supplemental funds, like someone else was already banking it contingent on a successful Kickstarter. I can't remember all the details. Additionally, the interest in the brand was there, the audience didn't feel like they've eaten piles of lies with each release, and all of the people holding the licenses and legal stuff were on board with the project.

Fallout, come on, it's Fallout. They've not thrown their audience under any buses, they are involved in their communities, and they took really good care of the reputation of their brand. When someone tossed out the idea to make a Fallout 4 over at Bethesda HQ, there was some exec who heard the words differently, something like "deposit a gigantic check at the bank."

I'm sure there will be people interested in a Fable IV, but by that time I don't know if there will be enough confidence out there that any money could be made off of it.

Would any of us even be interested in a Fable IV anymore at that point?

Yes. Mostly no, but it depends on who you mean by "us." Everyone here's got a favorite Fable game. These people don't overlap. If you're a Fable 1 guy, you probably aren't that big a fan of the sequels. If you're into 3, you might not haven't gotten into TLC as much as others did.

If a Fable 4 ever rolls around, we'll have to make room for a new demographic that feels that 4 is the superior in the series (or we could kill and bury them, as you guys should have done with the sequel lovers).

 

[Gikoku]

Shenmue put together some fat stacks on Kickstarter, over 6 million I believe. But I think that was only supplemental funds, like someone else was already banking it contingent on a successful Kickstarter. I can't remember all the details. Additionally, the interest in the brand was there, the audience didn't feel like they've eaten piles of lies with each release, and all of the people holding the licenses and legal stuff were on board with the project.

Fallout, come on, it's Fallout. They've not thrown their audience under any buses, they are involved in their communities, and they took really good care of the reputation of their brand. When someone tossed out the idea to make a Fallout 4 over at Bethesda HQ, there was some exec who heard the words differently, something like "deposit a gigantic check at the bank."

I'm sure there will be people interested in a Fable IV, but by that time I don't know if there will be enough confidence out there that any money could be made off of it.

The Shenmue Kickstarter was one fumbling miracle and they're actually still asking for more money from fans elsewhere now. I still remember watching the live stream Q&A on Twitch, it was astoundingly bad with how the hired PR team had no idea what they were even doing. I have no worries about the developers themselves, but if Suzuki had hired a more competent marketing team off the bat it never would've gotten that bad. Still, I blame Sony. They should've just coughed up the $10 million that was needed and this whole drama would've never happened, now they're in a position where if they footed the remaining $4 million it would look shady as hell.

That's true, but when you've been waiting for over 7 years for the next proper sequel to come out you begin to grow anxious. I mean, the entire Mass Effect & Dragon Age trilogy were released during that big ass gap.

Which is why they shouldn't have gone overboard with all the goofing around, every time we got big news of a Fable game on the horizon, it was either a small side game or an awkward experiment like Journey. When I saw the reveal of Legends I was almost convinced it was going to finally be IV... NOPE. The popularity has been damaged, still, going to back to Fallout 4 however. Unveil a game that looks incredibly fun and engaging and people will flock to it regardless of past shenanigans, when FO4 was announced there were millions that didn't even know what a Fallout was.

Yes. Mostly no, but it depends on who you mean by "us." Everyone here's got a favorite Fable game. These people don't overlap. If you're a Fable 1 guy, you probably aren't that big a fan of the sequels. If you're into 3, you might not haven't gotten into TLC as much as others did.

If a Fable 4 ever rolls around, we'll have to make room for a new demographic that feels that 4 is the superior in the series (or we could kill and bury them, as you guys should have done with the sequel lovers).

Yeah, I'd like to think it would come down to everyone being happy for a proper entry that caters to both new and old fans of the series. But at the same time I find it would be a problem with having been burned so many times by these past games that fans on both sides would just feel jaded from it all. Makes me wish the developers of Kingdoms of Amalur didn't fold, that could've potentially filled the void especially if they opened up to modding support.

 

[Albion Knight]

Funny how Lionhead's been saying this for nearly a year and one post from Lauran Carter makes the news :lol:
I think that there will be a Fable 4 but not until at least 2017. The incubation team at Lionhead is purportedly working on a non Fable title but Gary Carr the head of incubation just left so who know if that changes anything. The main thing in my opinion is that Lionhead doesn't want any distractions from Fable Legends. It's going to have enough challenges overcoming the single player objections as it is.

 

[Albion Knight]

I like all the Fable games even Journey. Given what I've played of Legends I'd rank them this way

Fable 2
Fable Legends
Fable/TLC
Fable 3
Fable the Journey
Fable Pub Games
Fable Heroes

 

[Gikoku]

Funny how Lionhead's been saying this for nearly a year and one post from Lauran Carter makes the news :lol:
I think that there will be a Fable 4 but not until at least 2017. The incubation team at Lionhead is purportedly working on a non Fable title but Gary Carr the head of incubation just left so who know if that changes anything. The main thing in my opinion is that Lionhead doesn't want any distractions from Fable Legends. It's going to have enough challenges overcoming the single player objections as it is.

In my defense, I haven't been following Lionhead that much over the last several months. I guess their previous announcements of "no announcement" didn't catch on well enough until now.

2017 would be a really good year for an announcement at least, although I hope our little abode here is still kicking by then (we're almost 10 years now!). I can understand the desire for no distractions, a simultaneous development would hurt the quality of both games in the end (plus resulting in burn out). I'm curious though, are there any members of the original Lionhead team still left there?

I like all the Fable games even Journey. Given what I've played of Legends I'd rank them this way

Fable 2
Fable Legends
Fable/TLC
Fable 3
Fable the Journey
Fable Pub Games
Fable Heroes

Legends above TLC? That may very well be an act of blasphemy. You've got some splainin' to do Todd.

 

[Precipice]

Fable 2
Fable Legends
Fable/TLC
Fable 3
Fable the Journey
Fable Pub Games
Fable Heroes

Legends above TLC? That may very well be an act of blasphemy. You've got some splainin' to do Todd.

I spotted that too and wanted to remark on it but, well. Let's review the games I've actually played and how I rank them.

Fable/TLC
Fable 3

I don't claim to be unbiased, but I try not to go out of my way to be more biased by giving a lengthy rant on why Fable 2 or Legends sucks when I haven't played either. Although!!! Fable 3 sucks. Just saying.

I'm curious though, are there any members of the original Lionhead team still left there?

Your question is a complicated one, as many of them are. I think you mean to ask if any original Fable people are still there, which is easier to answer.

No.

There's an entire history with Bullfrog, Lionhead, Big Blue Box, Microsoft and others, a long and fascinating history rivaling the Old Testament, and I'd love to share my understanding of it sometime. But the short explanation is that the key figures stuck together for a long time, across different studios, mergers, sales, have since parted, and all the little people have spread out grazing, looking for any paying work as most people in that echelon do. Some might be working at/for Microsoft now, maybe even on the Legends team, but I think it'd be highly improbable.

Everyone of any measurable significance that worked on the original Fable have gone on to other things, creating new studios, taking their picks of the crop and starting the cycle anew.

 

[Precipice]

No.

Correction: I've found one.
Russell Shaw. He's the sound guy. He's done the audio on most, if not all of the Fable games.

 

[Gikoku]

I don't claim to be unbiased, but I try not to go out of my way to be more biased by giving a lengthy rant on why Fable 2 or Legends sucks when I haven't played either. Although!!! Fable 3 sucks. Just saying.

I actually really liked Fable 2, the only thing that really drove me up a wall was the horribly sluggish menus. It made it so tedious to do anything with them that it managed to push me away to different games and allow it to collect dust. Still, I thought it was a great game and in some ways better than TLC.

Fable 3 though? Ehh... by it's own merits it's not a bad game in my eyes, like honestly. Playing co-op when server and connections are stable was some great fun to be had for me. I also enjoyed its atmosphere and characters, but compared to the first 2 it's pretty damn bad, yeah. So I've mixed feelings on it.

Your question is a complicated one, as many of them are. I think you mean to ask if any original Fable people are still there, which is easier to answer.

No.

There's an entire history with Bullfrog, Lionhead, Big Blue Box, Microsoft and others, a long and fascinating history rivaling the Old Testament, and I'd love to share my understanding of it sometime. But the short explanation is that the key figures stuck together for a long time, across different studios, mergers, sales, have since parted, and all the little people have spread out grazing, looking for any paying work as most people in that echelon do. Some might be working at/for Microsoft now, maybe even on the Legends team, but I think it'd be highly improbable.

Everyone of any measurable significance that worked on the original Fable have gone on to other things, creating new studios, taking their picks of the crop and starting the cycle anew.

Yeah I meant the original Fable team. I figured as much, kinda reminds me of Maxis and how they spiraled into whatever you wanna call them now. No more original members (even of the 2nd generation) and a perfect example of why a publisher should never dip their fingers so heavily in development. Wouldn't mind a nice thorough documentary on the studio's meaty history however... in fact I did a recent google search for such and came across the completely unrelated "At Lionhead" ... I was sorely disappointed.

Correction: I've found one.
Russell Shaw. He's the sound guy. He's done the audio on most, if not all of the Fable games.

Explains why the audio's always been good, even in the worst of them.

 

[Precipice]

I actually really liked Fable 2, the only thing that really drove me up a wall was the horribly sluggish menus. It made it so tedious to do anything with them that it managed to push me away to different games and allow it to collect dust. Still, I thought it was a great game and in some ways better than TLC.

Fable 3 though? Ehh... by it's own merits it's not a bad game in my eyes, like honestly. Playing co-op when server and connections are stable was some great fun to be had for me. I also enjoyed its atmosphere and characters, but compared to the first 2 it's pretty damn bad, yeah. So I've mixed feelings on it.

On 2, in truth, I agree. Having now watched a couple Fable 2 playthroughs, it's a neat game. My resentment is mostly from the exclusivity of it. And I've always thought that 2 and 3 could have allowed for better games if they were instead 1 and 2 of a different IP, rather than trying to piece together a story from Fable's (which isn't much to start with) and then be stuck with it. But the games were successful, and with each Fable title they were able to show off different MS stuff like the Xbox, the 360, smartglass, Kinect and other garbage and now with Legends, the Xbox one. The rest of my resentment comes from them leveraging my childhood over and over to sell their stuff.

I'm still not playing 3 again though. Serious problems with the endgame. And beginning and midgame. So the whole thing, really.

Yeah I meant the original Fable team. I figured as much, kinda reminds me of Maxis and how they spiraled into whatever you wanna call them now. No more original members (even of the 2nd generation) and a perfect example of why a publisher should never dip their fingers so heavily in development. Wouldn't mind a nice thorough documentary on the studio's meaty history however... in fact I did a recent google search for such and came across the completely unrelated "At Lionhead" ... I was sorely disappointed.

Explains why the audio's always been good, even in the worst of them.

We could make one. You guys have been around almost as long as Fable. Surely some of you know a thing or two about the history.
And yep, any real history won't be found at the source. A terrible shame and wasted opportunity, I think.

Albion Knight, who I have seen on a couple other forums, is knowledgeable. In the modding circle there used to be Baystone, who was quite learned about various things regarding the irl lore. Keshire and Satan too, but I don't know if anyone would be able to filter out the profanity and disdain from their contributions. Provided they can even be reached. Luckily AK is here, maybe we can poke some storytime out of him. Shame former staff are restricted by those NDAs, I bet more than a few have since been disenchanted and would love to share their take on what all went down. Their former community pet for instance. But maybe that's just a typo and he's not actually being petty. It's twitter, who knows.

Unrelated: Jesus. Bad nostalgia. Searching 22cans on twitter brings up a lot of stuff that reminds me of what everyone was saying about Fable and sequels, mostly "what I thought" and "what I got" not lining up. Guess Godus isn't working out.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Their former community pet for instance. But maybe that's just a typo and he's not actually being petty. It's twitter, who knows.

Sam used to stop by every now and again but hadnt heard anything of him in years.

 

[Albion Knight]

When I say that Fable Legends will be better than Fable/TLC/Anniversary I'm thinking of today. It's a very different kind of game so it's tough to compare them directly really. Fable Legends in my opinion will have better graphics Duh, Better Multiplayer. Better replay ability. I have no idea about the story and can't talk about a lot of the rest of it here. Still much to be done. I've been playing it for almost a year now. I went back to play Fable 2 and 3 not too long ago and was surprised how much better the graphics in Fable Legends is.

One thing for sure is you should not expect another single player RPG. Fable Legends is multiplayer at it's core. You will be able to play single player the entire time if you'd like though. Fable 2 and 3 were single player that tried to add on multiplayer and it didn't really work. Fable Legends starts with multiplayer and simply adds AI to make it single player. A much easier way to make it work.

The Story in Fable Legends will be a huge part of whether I keep it above Fable/TLC/Anniversary. That and the ability to explore.

I am skeptical about "Holiday 2015" as a release date but Lionhead hasn't backed down from it so who knows. There's a lot even the beta testers haven't seen.

I'm pretty sure there are a couple of devs from the original Fable Team left but the primary crew is definitely gone. Mike McCarthy is one that's been there for the whole time I think.