Armored Warfare: World of Tanks formerly from Obsidian

[Xenich]

Keep in mind that this is indicative of Obsidian's reputation in mid-2012, not today. South Park just gave them a big reputation boost. Still in top 5 on Steam.

So right after the wildly successful Fallout: New Vegas and done on time and cheaply, DS3. Wasn't the whole point of DS3 to build their reputation? I guess they did so well it qualifies them to make f2p knockoffs.

According to metacritic DS3 was the worst Dungeon Siege game.

I thought it to be terrible. It was an obvious dumbed down console port, which is ironic considering it started out as a PC title.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Yes, but this armored shitfare will once again destroy it............

Come on, buddy. You're not even trying. Armored Whorefare is sitting right there.

Challenge Accepted.
Amore Fair Whore

 

[2house2fly]

Meh, who cares. By then PoE will be out, the money will start flowing in, and everything will have changed.

I'm kind of interested to see what kind of audience that game has outside of the people who already "bought" it by donating to the kickstarter. At this point I think it's fair to say that Obsidian sinks or swims depending on the answer to that question.

 

[Bleed the Man]

Keep in mind that this is indicative of Obsidian's reputation in mid-2012, not today. South Park just gave them a big reputation boost. Still in top 5 on Steam.

So right after the wildly successful Fallout: New Vegas and done on time and cheaply, DS3. Wasn't the whole point of DS3 to build their reputation? I guess they did so well it qualifies them to make f2p knockoffs.

Right after these games there were 2? cancelled projects, and then the big lay offs. Big difference.

 

[AN4RCHID]

 

[VioletShadow]

....I totally didn't expect this. So disappointed
and angry

 

[tuluse]

I'm kind of interested to see what kind of audience that game has outside of the people who already "bought" it by donating to the kickstarter. At this point I think it's fair to say that Obsidian sinks or swims depending on the answer to that question.

I predict 1 million people will purchase the game in the first 12 months it's out. Obsidian has a large, passionate fanbase. Lot's of people have nostalgia for Baldur's Gate and PST.

 

[HanoverF]

Why was this even a "Secret Project" It's like opening a Xmas present and finding a turd inside

 

[Ulminati]

Man, it'd be sweet if your tank crews would have romances.

What if the tanks themselves could have romances, and they would be personified by animu tank-tans?

ASK AND YOU SHALL RECIEVE!

NSFW

 

[Roguey]

I thought it to be terrible. It was an obvious dumbed down console port, which is ironic considering it started out as a PC title.

It was more demanding as a console game than its screen-saver predecessors ever were as PC games. This wasn't difficult to do since all it required was actual mandatory input.

Didn't they say that the second Kickstarter project was supposed to be announced early this year? I guess everyone assumed that the GDC announcement is going to be that, but seeing as their first crowdfunded game isn't going to be done on time it stands to reason that they'll delay a second project a bit.

They've been crunching hard these past few weeks to meet their final production milestone so they can become feature and content complete. This will free up quite a few employees in the near-future; some will likely head into pre-production for the expansion, but it does seem close-to-the-ideal time to start a new Kickstarter campaign.

 

[agris]

I'm disappointed that the contract work isn't RPG related, but how can any of you fault Obsidian?

I'm going to make an assumption throughout this post, and that is: they had to take this work to avoid more workforce reductions. Why do I think that? Because they are making a shitty F2P tank game. There is an element of faith in this, I don't have any proof (maybe someone who's a better OE stalker does), but based on their self-professed core talents and desire to make certain types of games, I don't believe they cherry-picked this project out of anything other than necessity.

But why is everyone outraged? Would you prefer they fire people? Are the people they hire of so poor quality that churning through fire-hire-fire-hire cycles could be a good thing for the company? I view this is a way to pay the bills. Crucially, they haven't stopped developing RPGs. If all of their announced projects where shit (i.e. not PoE), I would be concerned. But that isn't the case. This allows them to continue operating without labor force reductions, and hopefully be more selective about future projects.

There are also some upsides to this work. The people who work on this project are going to gain experience in the engine tech, scripting and all the different skill sets that will need to be developed to successfully implement WoT. Sure, tank balancing and F2P monetizing philosophies aren't something any of us want in future OE games; but the scripting, problem solving, engine familiarity etc continue after the contract is over. This project will level-up some of their novice devs / coders / artists to be more competent. Also, they must have submitted a budget to the Russians which included personnel and timeline estimates. If they're smart, they over-budgeted both for time and people. As some people finish their obligations on WoT, or experience prolonged down-time, they will be able to contribute to other (hopefully) RPG projects while still being paid by the WoT contract. And they don't have to fire people.

I think one of the biggest problems is that of perception. Other than PoE, they don't have anything announced (right?). If we see more OE RPGs announced in 2014, we know that this let them keep their workers and continue to pitch projects we care about. If PoE ships and they don't have another RPG project announced, then all the shit is warranted, but right now what we're seeing is just ruthless pragmatism. Sure, I wish they could develop The Wire RPG, AP2, their Aliens game and an isometric Fallout. But they aren't independently wealthy and haven't been hired to make those things.

Lets see what happens.







Oh, and lol @ tanks.

 

[Rake]

I'm disappointed that the contract work isn't RPG related, but how can any of you fault Obsidian?

I'm going to make an assumption throughout this post, and that is: they had to take this work to avoid more workforce reductions. Why do I think that? Because they are making a shitty F2P tank game. There is an element of faith in this, I don't have any proof (maybe someone who's a better OE stalker does), but based on their self-professed core talents and desire to make certain types of games, I don't believe they cherry-picked this project out of anything other than necessity.

But why is everyone outraged? Would you prefer they fire people? Are the people they hire of so poor quality that churning through fire-hire-fire-hire cycles could be a good thing for the company? I view this is a way to pay the bills. Crucially, they haven't stopped developing RPGs. If all of their announced projects where shit (i.e. not PoE), I would be concerned. But that isn't the case. This allows them to continue operating without labor force reductions, and hopefully be more selective about future projects.

There are also some upsides to this work. The people who work on this project are going to gain experience in the engine tech, scripting and all the different skill sets that will need to be developed to successfully implement WoT. Sure, tank balancing and F2P monetizing philosophies aren't something any of us want in future OE games; but the scripting, problem solving, engine familiarity etc continue after the contract is over. This project will level-up some of their novice devs / coders / artists to be more competent. Also, they must have submitted a budget to the Russians which included personnel and timeline estimates. If they're smart, they over-budgeted both for time and people. As some people finish their obligations on WoT, or experience prolonged down-time, they will be able to contribute to other (hopefully) RPG projects while still being paid by the WoT contract. And they don't have to fire people.

I think one of the biggest problems is that of perception. Other than PoE, they don't have anything announced (right?). If we see more OE RPGs announced in 2014, we know that this let them keep their workers and continue to pitch projects we care about. If PoE ships and they don't have another RPG project announced, then all the shit is warranted, but right now what we're seeing is just ruthless pragmatism. Sure, I wish they could develop The Wire RPG, AP2, their Aliens game and an isometric Fallout. But they aren't independently wealthy and haven't been hired to make those things.

Lets see what happens.







Oh, and lol @ tanks.

I don't fault Obsidian. They said they will move away from the AAA action console games (which is good), and that they are looking to the mobile/f2p/MOBA market (which isn't anything better but everythingisshit and all that) Like it or not for a company the size of Obsidian to be viable, they need the maistream, and the mainstream's taste is atrocious.
Having said that, PoE (and their next isometric kicktarter games and sequels to them) is the only thing of their's that i care for. If those shady deals keep them afloat until they can be finansialy secure to keep making CRPGs, then good. They could sell drugs and i wouldn't care. But outside of kickstarter, this move shows that Obsidian contracting work is moving even further in a direction i don't care about.

 

[Infinitron]

Meh, who cares. By then PoE will be out, the money will start flowing in, and everything will have changed.

I'm kind of interested to see what kind of audience that game has outside of the people who already "bought" it by donating to the kickstarter. At this point I think it's fair to say that Obsidian sinks or swims depending on the answer to that question.

Look at how well Wasteland 2 did...as a $60 Early Access title. Audience is guaranteed.

 

[agris]

Spoiler

I'm disappointed that the contract work isn't RPG related, but how can any of you fault Obsidian?

I'm going to make an assumption throughout this post, and that is: they had to take this work to avoid more workforce reductions. Why do I think that? Because they are making a shitty F2P tank game. There is an element of faith in this, I don't have any proof (maybe someone who's a better OE stalker does), but based on their self-professed core talents and desire to make certain types of games, I don't believe they cherry-picked this project out of anything other than necessity.

But why is everyone outraged? Would you prefer they fire people? Are the people they hire of so poor quality that churning through fire-hire-fire-hire cycles could be a good thing for the company? I view this is a way to pay the bills. Crucially, they haven't stopped developing RPGs. If all of their announced projects where shit (i.e. not PoE), I would be concerned. But that isn't the case. This allows them to continue operating without labor force reductions, and hopefully be more selective about future projects.

There are also some upsides to this work. The people who work on this project are going to gain experience in the engine tech, scripting and all the different skill sets that will need to be developed to successfully implement WoT. Sure, tank balancing and F2P monetizing philosophies aren't something any of us want in future OE games; but the scripting, problem solving, engine familiarity etc continue after the contract is over. This project will level-up some of their novice devs / coders / artists to be more competent. Also, they must have submitted a budget to the Russians which included personnel and timeline estimates. If they're smart, they over-budgeted both for time and people. As some people finish their obligations on WoT, or experience prolonged down-time, they will be able to contribute to other (hopefully) RPG projects while still being paid by the WoT contract. And they don't have to fire people.

I think one of the biggest problems is that of perception. Other than PoE, they don't have anything announced (right?). If we see more OE RPGs announced in 2014, we know that this let them keep their workers and continue to pitch projects we care about. If PoE ships and they don't have another RPG project announced, then all the shit is warranted, but right now what we're seeing is just ruthless pragmatism. Sure, I wish they could develop The Wire RPG, AP2, their Aliens game and an isometric Fallout. But they aren't independently wealthy and haven't been hired to make those things.

Lets see what happens.







Oh, and lol @ tanks.

I don't fault Obsidian. They said they will move away from the AAA action console games (which is good), and that they are looking to the mobile/f2p/MOBA market (which isn't anything better but everythingisshit and all that) Like it or not for a company the size of Obsidian to be viable, they need the maistream, and the mainstream's taste is atrocious.
Having said that, PoE (and their next isometric kicktarter games and sequels to them) is the only thing of their's that i care for. If those shady deals keep them afloat until they can be finansialy secure to keep making CRPGs, then good. They could sell drugs and i wouldn't care. But outside of kickstarter, this move shows that Obsidian contracting work is moving even further in a direction i don't care about.

Yea, I agree. I do hope they continue to get some larger RPG contracts, I really enjoyed what they did with the FO3 model in FNV. I still would have preferred a Van Buren-esque game but Zenimax is firmly in the RPG version of the CoD mindset.

 

[Xor]

Meh, who cares. By then PoE will be out, the money will start flowing in, and everything will have changed.

I'm kind of interested to see what kind of audience that game has outside of the people who already "bought" it by donating to the kickstarter. At this point I think it's fair to say that Obsidian sinks or swims depending on the answer to that question.

Look at how well Wasteland 2 did...as a $60 Early Access title. Audience is guaranteed.

Wait, they're charging $60 for WL2 on early access? No wonder some people are pissed. Makes me glad I got a copy during the kickstarter for $15. And I could have gotten another one since I donated to the Codex drive too.

I'm disappointed that the contract work isn't RPG related, but how can any of you fault Obsidian?

I'm sure they did this to prevent having to lay off more people, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. A little irrational anger never hurt anybody. Probably.

 

[dukeofwhales]

It was $60 because KS early access was $55 (game + beta addon) and they didn't want to be perceived as ripping off backers. The final game will only be ~$30 last I heard.

 

[Rivmusique]

Anime-y MMO and now this. No more please.

 

[Shadenuat]

Obsidian Entertainment and My.com, the subsidiary of Mail.Ru Group, the largest Internet company in Russian-speaking countrie

Wait, mail.ru? That may not end well

If I remember correctly, they fucked up Allods p. good with their "free"2play more korean that Korea itself

 

[aratuk]

I'm disappointed that the contract work isn't RPG related, but how can any of you fault Obsidian? […]

I think one of the biggest problems is that of perception. Other than PoE, they don't have anything announced (right?). If we see more OE RPGs announced in 2014, we know that this let them keep their workers and continue to pitch projects we care about. If PoE ships and they don't have another RPG project announced, then all the shit is warranted, but right now what we're seeing is just ruthless pragmatism. Sure, I wish they could develop The Wire RPG, AP2, their Aliens game and an isometric Fallout. But they aren't independently wealthy and haven't been hired to make those things. […]

Don't think anyone is exactly faulting Obsidian. From what I've seen, most people here would like to see Obsidian or anyone succeed in making good games, and so rather than being cheerleaders, they are unsentimentally critical when they see problems.

The company of course hyped its announcement, saying "We've got a big secret to tell you, and you're gonna like it!" And the customers got excited like kids on Christmas to unwrap a present that turns out to be a big box of socks. (Sure, some kids would be really happy with socks…) Only this is a business/consumer relationship, not a filial one, so we don't need to keep the appearance of excitement to preserve anyone's feelings.

It's natural to be disappointed when what turns out to be good for Obsidian as a business is not especially interesting to RPG enthusiasts. (Not to mention that it's arguable, to say the least, how good this is for them as a business.)

 

[imweasel]

This is Obsidian's super secret project....?

Well, Obsidian's whoring around pays the bills I guess. So i'll drink to that.

 

[Duraframe300]

A bit of the team as far as I have gathered (or to be honest as far as I cared to gather so far)

Richard Taylor - Project Director

Matt Festa - Systems and PVP Lead

Justin Bell - Audio Director

Rob Nesler - Art Director

Katrina Schnell - Associate Producer

Carlos Rodriguez - Producer

Mac Smith - Concept Artist

Drew Bradford - Lead Producer

Bree Maldonado - Level Artist



More to come

 

[Tigranes]

Indeed, the most likely narrative here is that following the cancellation of the next-gen AAA project, Feargus knew that the options were either to lay off many people undoing all the recovery they had done after FNV metacritic debacle - or take whatever project can be gotten ASAP. Hence, they take the existing relationship with the Russians for their more limited work in Skyforge, and develop this horrible thing.

The best case scenario will be that (1) the game is unexpectedly good for what it is, (2) the contractual arrangement is favourable to Obsidian monetarily so that they're not just hanging on until they can grab another AAA RPG deal. The most likely scenario will be that (1) the game kind of sucks but makes just enough, (2) Obsidian will be in the exact same situation they were before, but hopefully with POE succeeding very well and South Park's numbers also convincing suits at Ubisoft or whatever to give them an AAA RPG deal.

 

[Duraframe300]

Indeed, the most likely narrative here is that following the cancellation of the next-gen AAA project, Feargus knew that the options were either to lay off many people undoing all the recovery they had done after FNV metacritic debacle - or take whatever project can be gotten ASAP. Hence, they take the existing relationship with the Russians for their more limited work in Skyforge, and develop this horrible thing.l

Nope.

Other way around.

Armored Warfare lead to Skyforge.

And yes I'm 100% sure.

 

[Roguey]

The company of course hyped its announcement, saying "We've got a big secret to tell you, and you're gonna like it!"

No they didn't.

The associate producer told someone at her alma mater that Obsidian would announce the next project she was working on at GDC, however they weren't supposed to tell anyone this. They even pulled the page down.

Chris's response from a few days ago was as "Yeah, sure, we're still doing that" as it gets. No hype at all; that's all on overzealous fans.

 

[Xor]

Give us the details you bastard.