Petition: Disney, please sell the rights to 'Monkey Island' back to its creator Ron Gilbert

Here is the problem with me writing down the secret: You’d read it and go “Is that all?” or “That’s stupid.” because it needs all the story telling behind it to make it matter.

“LeChuck is allergic to rootbeer”
“Darth Vadar is Luke’s father”
“He was dead the whole time.”

They are all twists and secrets, but they have no meaning without building them into a story. Jotting down a note about what the secret is would be a let down.

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Then write a whole book :stuck_out_tongue:

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That’s exactly what I wanted to write, you were just faster. :slight_smile:

So, @RonGilbert, why don’t you write a book or at least a short story? If Disney sells the IP you can stil make a film… er… an adventure game. :slight_smile:

btw: This:

… isn’t necessary true. Another possible reaction would be: “Yes, of course!”. And: You have told the story in MI 1 and MI 2. So for us, the audience, it would be more like sitting in a cinema and the film projector explodes just right before the end of the film. Then the manager of the cinema steps in and says: “The gardener was the murderer!”.

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That’s the point. Many people think that Monkey Island was a superb example of storytelling. Some of these people would accept a medium different from a game if that is the only way to tell them the rest of the story.

A short novel, a video in which Ron Gilbert tells the rest of the story sipping root beer, a documentary about the game that includes the full story, the script of MI3a, an audiobook, a Broadway musical, a Hollywood movie trilogy or, if possible, a PnC adventure game.

The secret is just part of a story and some of those kids and teenagers who were fascinated by the story would like to know from Ron Gilbert how it ends.

They think that anything is better than zero.

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Because I’m not a novelist. Also, I don’t have the whole story worked out yet, that is what “designing the game” is all about. To have a good adventure game, those two things are interwoven. They don’t exist separately. what makes a good yarn in a book is very different from a game (or movie). This isn’t a weekend of work, it’s months, if not a year of work.

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I’ve only told you part of the story. It’s not like the projector blowing up right before the twist, it would be like the projector blowing up 2/3 the way though the movie, without a twist fully set up.

I think you are! if only you tried.

You are master of dialog ™ and humor™, and this alone makes 50% of a novel.

The rest is: characters and situations. You’re very good at this too. What remains? Plot? It does not matter that much. (and don’t tell me you can’t write a plot). Descriptions? The less, the better…

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Have you ever tried it? You wrote several concepts/drafts - think about the genius Lobots script! :slight_smile: And if you don’t feel comfortable, get help (there are very good and trustworthy ghostwriters out there).

We waited over… hm… a long time. So we can wait another year if needed.

Yes, we all would like to see an adventure game. But we all know that this is not possible. So writing down the story, the “skeleton” of the game, would be enough for us fans (well, most of us :slight_smile: ). It don’t have to be a complete novel with 800 pages. A draft or a concept paper would be enough. Because we just want to know how this story ends. You can still flesh out the puzzles and the rest of the story, if you surprisingly get the IP (then even the people who read your “novel” have a reason to buy and play the game).

I have a small request to you: Chose a blockbuster movie that is going to the theaters in the next weeks and that you would love to see (for example Star Wars XVI - or whatever number Disney currently use). Take a seat at the stairs. After 2/3 of the movie stand up and leave the cinema. Then drive immediately home, come back to the forum and tell us, if you would like to know how the story ends.

It might be the case that after the 2/3 of the movie there is an unbelievable twist. But after 2/3 of the movie the audience wants to know how the story ends - otherwise the movie was crap (and Monkey Island wasn’t crap).

When you make the third Monkey Island game, it will be the last? No Monkey 4 or 5?

I guess that he would have to release more than one sequel in order to cover the price of the IP.

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To know how the story ends would impair the experience of playing MI 3a one day, if he actually gets the IP one day.
Well, at the end of the day, it depends on whether he gets the IP. If he does, he could even release MI comics in addition to a series of new MI games.

In my opinion, it would be better if he spent the time with creating a new adventure game.

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No. I would agree if we are talking about a jump-and-run or a strategy game. But adventure games are story driven games. These games have their focus on storytelling. Reading a book is of course not the same as playing an adventure. But I am sure and (from my own experiences as a writer) convinced, that Monkey Island would work as a novel (or a comic, but then Ron has to find an artist).

An alternative would be for @RonGilbert to write a movie script: There were several theater plays of Monkey Island and they worked very well (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y92k0Lakq04 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R91iBFsdrvI) A movie script has the advantage that it would be similar to the storyboard/scriptment he has to write for the cut-scenes anyway. :slight_smile:

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This is actually the reason why I would recommend to keep the story secret, because story twists and the ending have a big impact on how exciting the game is. When I’m playing a jump & run or a strategy game, I usually don’t care about the background story, because the gameplay is hardly interwoven with the story there.

Of course, it would work as a novel, but, regardless of the effort it would take, it would result in differences between the novel and the game (should the situation arise).
Before the Star Wars prequels were filmed, there were already novelizations existing. And, to my knowledge, there are several differences between the novels and the movies, because you just cannot adapt the story one-to-one.
Seeing the development of an adventure games, including figuring out whether puzzles work or don’t work, a lot of contents would have been changed in a subsequent game based on the same story.

The problem we have here is: There won’t be a official Monkey Island game by Ron Gilbert. Never. Ever. Because Disney won’t sell the IP - at least within Rons (and our) life.

I would agree with you if there are chances to get a Monkey Island 3. But that isn’t the case. So we are in the situation that we have seen the first 2/3 of a movie. And we will never know how that beeping movie ends! I for myself am eagerly curious how the story ends - and if I interpret the comments correct, the most other MI fans share this feeling with me.

So the only way for Ron to tell us the end of his story is:

  1. Write an Monkey Island game in which he changes all names and trademarks (and maybe allows the gamers to replace them with the original names).
  2. Write the story it down.

Of course. But you don’t have to read the novel. And you can still wait, that Disney sells the IP. But that won’t happen.

You are one of the people who only read the book or watch the movie? :wink:

Anyway, this is not the point: We (that we played MI1 and MI2) just want to know how this story ends! What is this secret? What happened to Elaine? And for this purpose a novel or a short story would be the perfect thing. And as I said above: A novel has the benefit that Ron could still make an adventure. This adventure may be a little bit different from the book. But that wouldn’t be bad. Quite the opposite: The readers of the book could play the game even if they know how the story ends. Think of it like a movie based on a novel.

But again: Ron won’t get never the IP so there won’t be an MI3 adventure game.

@RonGilbert: Another alternative to a novel: What about an adventure in paper form? I know from Twitter that you like to play board games. There are “book games” out there - I don’t get there correct name at the moment. An example is Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. You read a part of the story. Then you have to chose between several actions. If the reader chose the first action, he has to read the paragraph on page 12, if he chose the second action he has to read on page 6. This is a mixture of an adventure game and a novel. I think that “T.I.M.E. stories” uses a similar approach.

They are called “Gamebooks” but some people call them with the name of one of the most popular series: Choose Your Own Adventure.

Personally, I would hate to read a MI3a story divided in dozens of possible branches and outcomes, none of which would be the “official” or “main” one. I would prefer a single story with a single ending.

Ah, exactly, thanks. :slight_smile: I’m getting older. :wink:

Me too.

But it would be a compromise. And you don’t have to use different endings - like in the Sherlock Holmes Criminal Cabinet or T.I.M.E. stories.

You should be right. Disney is too aloof for such a deal. Though, for this reason, a MI book might be difficult to author, too.
Well, if there was a novel written by Ron containing the story of MI 3a, I would definitely read it, too. As well as I couldn’t resist the spoilers on the TWP dev blog and the preview videos. A book would be more than nothing, but I would prefer any new adventure game by Ron.

I hardly read novels, because I frequently read so many other things. I just heard about those differences between a novel and the movie sometimes. I rather play games or watch movies, occasionally. If there is a popular novel, I typically don’t read it but wait for a movie based on this novel.

I read such a book when I was a child, but its weak complexity was a disappointment to me and I quickly lost my interest.

Why?

(Post must contain at least 20 characters or the hamster will be microwaved…)

Because Disney own the IP and they would probably interfere as well as they would do if Ron bought a license for a MI game.

That depends on how this is done. :slight_smile: There are enough possibilities to publish a book without being sued by Disney.