Obsidian and inXile acquired by Microsoft

[Sailor Woedica]

hi santino 27, that's a very fair reading! (I do think personally that it is already a critical cult success and my tumblr is doing way good since Microsoft bought Obsidian so I wonder how much more high cult status it'll get when Microsoft puts it on gamepass for xbox and windows and it can reach an even wider audience really easily!)

 

[glass blackbird]

A game being good or bad has very little to do with sales, it's all about marketing. Pillars 1 sold a shitton more than 2 because they actually had advertising for it, that's it. Even Mass Effect Andromeda made money

 

[TemplarGR]

A game being good or bad has very little to do with sales, it's all about marketing. Pillars 1 sold a shitton more than 2 because they actually had advertising for it, that's it. Even Mass Effect Andromeda made money

It has everything to do with sales. Good games sell a lot and trash don't sell. See for example Fallout 76, a game with TONS OF ADVERTISING AND MARKETING, a follow up to a 25million sales game, flopping hard...

The thing is, what is "good" and what is not is in the eye of the beholder. Something can be good in ways that don't interest a lot of people and thus does not result in sales. For example Football manager 2019 is the best football sim ever made, it is top quality, its database is even used by professionals to scout players... Yet it doesn't sell that much... Because it may be good but its goodness does not interest the mainstream.

Deadfire is the best crpg released this year. And that's a fact. Even critics agree with this, with a stellar metascore that is insane for a game with no marketing...

Deadfire's issue is that it is a perfect Baldur's Gate clone released during an era that does not care about Baldur's Gate clones... Thus the low sales.

 

[Rake]

...Deadfire is the best crpg released this year. And that's a fact. Even critics agree with this...

....Deadfire's issue is that it is a perfect Baldur's Gate clone...

 

[TemplarGR]

Yes it is. It is a great continuation of the BG games. And you people are just butthurt or covert popamolers. Admit that you are just playing vanilla Oblivion on your Xbox 360 still and consider it the best game of all time and stop pretending to like crpgs...

 

[DeepOcean]

1) For niche genres and games, forums like this have a lot of influence. Yes, on the grand scheme of things, a forum like this can't influence the sales of GTA V and Skyrim in the slightest. But we are talking about niche IE-clone games here... Crowdfunded games with much less exposure, much less mainstream appeal. Most people who ought to know about niche games like this, visit the codex or are in contact with people visiting the codex. The hate bandwagon influence spreads a lot in that case...

This is getting repetitive, when a game fails, it is Codex fault, if the game is successful anyway, it is because we on the codex are bitter irrelevant trolls, fanboys should make their minds about this stuff. Okay, should every indie developer with a failed game on steam that had a thread about it in here cry that we ruined their lives? That is very strange reasoning.

 

[The_Mask]

It is a great continuation of the BG games.

You are aggressively stupid.

 

[Rake]

Yes it is. It is a great continuation of the BG games. And you people are just butthurt or covert popamolers. Admit that you are just playing vanilla Oblivion on your Xbox 360 still and consider it the best game of all time and stop pretending to like crpgs...

You are so dumb it isn't even funny. Other than RtwP and isometric view, PoE hasn't any similarities with BGs. From characters, story, design goals, moment to moment gameplay, nothing. PK is way closer to a real BG continuation than PoE ever hoped to be.
And funny you mention Oblivion. While i don't own an Xbox nor have i played any of Bethesda's garbage, Oblivion should be just up your alley. I mean, you are the one that likes trash like skyrim and fallout 3, both of them are reskined oblivion.
And you are the one that keeps repeating sales show how good a game is, and that good games sale a lot, bad games don't. Oblivion sold like hotcakes when it was released am i wrong? So it must be a masterpiece by your logic
At the very least keep your retarded opinions consistent

 

[SlumLord]

And Obsidian is going back to what they do best: big, multi-platform ARPGs

Dungeon Siege 3 would like a word with you.

 

[Roguey]

Dungeon Siege 3 would like a word with you.

Seven Dwarfs, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, Stormlands. Remember when people were excited that Obsidian would finally be able to make a traditional RPG instead of console popamole lcd trash? The truth is that they're a garbage company run by garbage people, the rot starts at the top and permeates down.

 

[SlumLord]

The truth is that they're a garbage company run by garbage people, the rot starts at the top and permeates down.

I never said otherwise. My point was that they never made even a single good console ARPG. And by 'good', I mean serviceable and fun (relatively stable, unique story, interesting characters, focused narrative, myriad builds, etc... nothing crazy, just playable and fun).

Aliens and Stormlands were cancelled, Alpha Protocol was janky and sold poorly, and Dungeon Siege 3 was an egregious example of bland garbage (and showed how an entire company can phone it in when it suits them... even good writers like Ziets and Gonzalez).

 

[Roguey]

Dungeon Siege 3 was an egregious example of bland garbage (and showed how an entire company can phone it in when it suits them... even good writers like Ziets and Gonzalez).

DS3's narrative was sabotaged by Feargus Urquhart.

 

[SlumLord]

Roguey
I usually consider myself well-versed in industry gossip (especially pertaining to CRPG companies), but I've never heard of Feargus sabotaging D3 in any way. Not saying you're wrong, but do you have something to back it up?

 

[Roguey]

Roguey
I usually consider myself well-versed in industry gossip (especially pertaining to CRPG companies), but I've never heard of Feargus sabotaging D3 in any way. Not saying you're wrong, but do you have something to back it up?

I've got one for you George: when I departed DS III in June 2009, the creative foundation you were laying was awesome. I expected another story masterpiece. But the final game (10/2011) didn't excite most critics with its story. What the heck happened? =)

Good question, Kevin. The DS3 story went through so many rewrites that I don’t remember exactly where it was when you left the company, but I’m sure it was early in the process – probably right after I finished the Ehb sourcebook.

My early drafts of the story were truer to my usual narrative tendencies. They were more personal - focused on the player – and they depicted a “grayer” version of the Legion. One of the storylines – possibly the one you remember – also included a lot more supernatural elements.

However, it was decided (above my pay grade) that we should keep the story focused on a threat that affected the nation or the world. Also, there was a desire to ensure that the Legion was clearly Good. I think the underlying impulse was to avoid a lot of narrative complexity, which makes sense in a franchise like Dungeon Siege.

So at that point, I started a long cycle of story revisions. Normally, the iteration process is where your story gets progressively stronger. But in this case, I remember feeling that we’d ended up with a weaker, more watered-down story than some of the earlier versions.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...eciation-station.101693/page-190#post-5548080

The only time I recall him getting heavily involved in story at all was Dungeon Siege 3.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...archies-and-more.121588/page-125#post-5599622

(Feargus' story iterations ranged from a wide variety of crap ideas, where you had to dig deep and wide to find the good in them - his craptastic story skills also caused a lot of problems on Dungeon Siege 3).

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/index.p...archies-and-more.121588/page-138#post-5600643

After DS3, I did get asked to take on a Project Director role (for a potential sequel) not by Feargus - but because of Feargus.

The reason I was asked, however, was because of how Feargus was treating the team – for all the control he tried in DS3, it had upped in DS4, and the team came to me and asked if I would come on to be a buffer between them and Feargus, since they were finding a hard time getting approvals and getting work done. It ended up being a lesson that made me very hesitant to report to Feargus (even though I did in the last year at Obsidian).

Feargus, it turned out, sometimes had a tactic where if he disapproves of someone or is angry at someone, he micromanages them to an excruciating degree, calls out everything he objects to (not something that’s necessarily wrong, just something he objects to), and makes it very difficult to move forward on anything. I had seen hints of this indirectly, but never experienced it – it sometimes was employed as a way to get someone to resign without actually firing them. It mostly seemed like an extended form of punishment with no positive goal except to punish the person for some perceived failing.

So I agreed to take on the role, because the ones asking me genuinely seemed to need help, and I also foolishly thought that surely this couldn’t be the case. The project also seemed like it might be fun.

Within 2 weeks of the role, I realized the team was absolutely right, and the problem wasn’t limited to what was brought up to me – it was worse.

While being a buffer helped (slightly), the issue started coming up that Feargus would do sudden pivots on elements he had approved and the team had spent a lot of time on. He would also forget he approved them and would assume he hadn't when he saw a decision he (now) didn't like had been made.

I’m not sure I even classify these events as lies when they occurred because it involves memory and the old classic managerial “gut instinct,” but what I discovered is that elements I would fight for and the team wanted (starting with the story, which was being savaged just like DS3) would be given approval by Feargus when I asked, then he would forget he gave approval, and within a few days of me relaying the good news to the team, he would backpedal and say, “Why this story and not mine? I never approved that.” When confronted on the fact he had approved the change, it would then become, “well, it’s not how I feel today.”

When this occurred, I felt as if I had lied to the team and let them down – and the situation had been out of my control despite my best intentions.

Realizing I couldn’t manage if I didn’t get reliable approvals (it undermined anything I said or did), I stepped down.

 

[toro]

Roguey
I usually consider myself well-versed in industry gossip (especially pertaining to CRPG companies), but I've never heard of Feargus sabotaging D3 in any way. Not saying you're wrong, but do you have something to back it up?

Who bitch alt this is ??

 

[Nano]

I wonder why Feargus felt so attached to Dungeon Siege in the first place.

 

[Beastro]

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is worth playing, but it’s a mixed bag....

Sounds like a game that would be great with a indepth mod that fixes the problems you listed, but unlike Bethesda games, wouldn't just be the playing fixing what the devs never bothed with or bungled.

Hopefully coming will get around to doing that in a few years when I have a comp that can hanle the game.

 

[SlumLord]

Roguey
It's a wonder they manage to finish projects at all. Pity, even for all their commiefornian comformity and cuckdom, they might've don a lot better if that fat stuck to actual management instead of micromanagement.

 

[Lhynn]

Im done asking for citations from roguey. He could make up anything, like feargus bringing boys from the street to his home and exchanging food and a roof for sexual favors, i would not question it.

 

[Zakhad]

(beside the butchered pronunciation of latin)

WTF are you on about? Legion largely follows Allen's Vox Latina. Which makes sense since they were taught how to speak it by Caesar, who's an educated man from an Anglophone country and so would have learned to speak it that way. I know Europeans pronounce it more like Italian, and sweaty nerds on the internet pronounce it like they're LARPing a 40k space marine, but Vox Latina has some decent scholarship to support it so I'm not sure you can call that butchering. But maybe I've missed your point, because that whole post was pretty confused from start to finish.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Dungeon Siege 3 would like a word with you.

Seven Dwarfs, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, Stormlands. Remember when people were excited that Obsidian would finally be able to make a traditional RPG instead of console popamole lcd trash? The truth is that they're a garbage company run by garbage people, the rot starts at the top and permeates down.

I think you mean "the fish rots from the head down," but I can't tell if you mean what you're saying here. A garbage company? You are a true chameleon, Roguey. Where does the trolling end and the truth begin?

Tyranny learned a lot from the writing and combat mistakes and missteps of Pillars of Eternity, and though I don't prefer some of the solutions with regard to the combat, I consider it the best party-based computer role playing game in recent history (keep in mind it'll be a while before I play Original Sin 2). As far as I'm concerned, it leaves Wasteland 2, Tides of Numenera, and the Shadowrun trio in the dust in every way possible. Divinity: Original Sin and Pillars of Eternity surpass it in some ways when it comes to gameplay, but Tyranny has stronger writing and reactivity. It's changed my mind about Deadfire; I was going to skip that as well, but now that I've seen first-hand what Sawyersidian can do with a familiar engine, I have little doubt it's going to be a great experience once they've spent a year or so polishing it after release.

I'm confused.

The second impression is that, much like Temple of Elemental Evil, the art looks far better while playing than it does in still shots. They successfully hot-rodded the art style, because I prefer it to the muted tones of Pillars. This is a beautiful and fantastic ruined world.

Such confused.

To my surprise, I enjoyed the writing more than every other RPG in recent memory that isn't Witcher 3. There's plenty of text, but fewer text walls, and this time around they made sure not to disrupt reading along with the voice over with prose descriptions. I found the world and the self-interested characters in it compelling. It's a surprisingly nuanced take on fascism from SoCal liberals

We know Obsidian is run by terrible people; doesn't mean they can't make good games (KotOR2, MotB, F:NV, you and I would say Tyranny). We know about management's numerous mistakes in excruciating detail from MCA. But while we're taking Mr. Majestik at his word, perhaps we should give equal credence to his thoughts on Indiana.

First off, I don’t believe Indiana needs “saving.” I’m going to guess (based on the developers I know and respect because I've worked with them and know they do quality work) that it’s being done well. Do I have proof of this? No. Do I think it’s likely? Sure. Do I think you know jackshit? Nope, but you’re welcome to say otherwise.

I don't ask about Indiana, it's more what people share with me, which is why I'm looking forward to it in a lot of ways

I still think the game will be good, it's the upper management hijinks that make me roll my eyes (and don't get me wrong, I thought having Rich Taylor on the project was great).

On personnel:

Spoiler

There's quite a few, actually, and not just the leads. Indiana has some pretty great people on it (I don't have the full list and never asked, but...).

In terms of leads:

Rich Taylor's great, yes (I worked with him as far back as Knights 2, and I wish he'd been the Lead Programmer).

Other leads on Indiana (aside from Tim), has Charlie Staples as Lead Designer (I worked with him directly on the NV core game and DLCs, he was Level Lead on both), and he's great, Tyson Christensen as Lead Level Designer (he's great), and Matt Singh (who I believe is a Lead Producer, and he's pretty much one of the best examples of what a producer should be), among many others.

Again, I don't know the whole list of folks (I haven't asked), so I couldn't sing everyone's praises, but that's a pretty good set of folks right there and that's not even counting Tim, Leonard, and the other team members.

on a new producer:

Spoiler

Eric Daily ran Wasteland 3 meetings efficiently and handled all the logistics pretty well, imo.

To elaborate, one of the best qualities of a producer is when the other developers in the room can focus on discussing development, design, art, etc. and there's no questions of why the meeting is happening, when, where, what doc we need to reference, what the goals are, is the presentation computer loaded with the build, has it been tested, and the action items are being recorded b/c the producer is handling all of that (and assigning tasks after the meeting). A producer's there to help a team be creative as possible within the project's parameters.

He seems like a good hire, good for him (and good for Indiana).

Sounds promising to me.

EDIT: it sure seems like Deadfire was made by Obsidian's B team. They'd put most of their top talent on Indiana, right?

 

[Latelistener]

Im done asking for citations from roguey. He could make up anything, like feargus bringing boys from the street to his home and exchanging food and a roof for sexual favors, i would not question it.

Seems quite realistic at this point.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Im done asking for citations from roguey. He could make up anything, like feargus bringing boys from the street to his home and exchanging food and a roof for sexual favors, i would not question it.

he looks like the kind of guy you'd see arrested for that tbh

 

[fantadomat]

So the codexian dark cabal with ultimate dark powers was unveiled by a Greek goat fucker. Fuck,i have terrible luck with secret societies.

Lhynn stop trying to grab all the fame for yourself and answer me. Do i still have to bring the young arab boys for the monthly sacrifice or we should do the boring virgin sacrifice?

 

[TemplarGR]

It's funny when 99% of the faggots in this thread have wasted half their young years playing Obsidian games yet they hate that company with a passion. I believe a proper clinical psychologist doing his PhD would find plenty of material to work with here.