Codex Interview: Josh Sawyer

[Bubbles]

Legendary game designer and Codex favourite Josh Sawyer (40/M/Santa Ana) will be giving a highly Codex-relevant lecture at GDC Europe later this month. Naturally, our staff have spared no expense and sent their best man to cover the event.

Afterwards, we'll be conducting a face-to-face interview with Mr. Sawyer himself (!). If you have any questions or comments for Josh, big or small, feel free to post them here. We'll finalize the list on August 15th.

Here are some fresh sample questions from the secret staff list: "Will PoE 2 have turn based combat?" "Is PoE really balanced right now?" "Are you ever going to fix that Confident Aim bug?" "When will patch 3.03 be released to owners of the backer DVD?" "Is Obsidian currently working on Fampyr: Gŵlalines 2?" I expect this thread to come up with even better material.

Godspeed!

If you should need further inspiration, here's the abstract of Josh's lecture:

Looking Back and Moving Forward with Pillars of Eternity
Josh Sawyer | Design Director, Obsidian Entertainment | Speaker
Location: Congress Saal 2, 4th Level
Date: Tuesday, August 16
Time: 13:15 - 14:15
Format: Lecture
Track:
Design
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Student Pass - Get your pass now!
Vault Recording: Video
Audience Level: All
'Pillars of Eternity' is a crowdfunded PC RPG with its roots in 'Baldur's Gate', 'Icewind Dale', and 'Planescape: Torment'. Creating a spiritual successor to such beloved games after more than a decade presented a number of challenges. This talk looks at several of these problems and examines how the team at Obsidian attempted to achieve a classic look and feel while accounting for contemporary design sensibilities. The session will also show what Obsidian learned from its successes and failures and how the team plans to apply those lessons in the future.

Takeaway
Attendees will gain insights into the benefits and pitfalls of making a "retro classic", especially for a crowdfunding audience that is emotionally (and financially) invested from the start of the project. Special emphasis will be given to feeling and its significance to players.

Intended Audience
This talk will benefit anyone involved in the creation of retro classic / "old school" games as well as people involved in working with an active community of crowdfunding backers. The lecture will use RPG terms, but will not require deep RPG knowledge.

http://schedule.gdceurope.com/session/looking-back-and-moving-forward-with-pillars-of-eternity

 

[janior]

Why you are such high T beast, Josh?

 

[rohand]

How likely you think it is to Beth ask Obsidian to do a FNV for FO4?

 

[Mustawd]

Personal preference: Full party creation or companions? Which one is preferred from a dev standpoint? Can you elaborate a bit on why?

EDIT: Roguey answered this.

New questions:

1. Thoughts on some early trends in giving players a role as a DM? For example, SCL or D:OS 2.

2. In today's multiplatform gaming environment, are Epic level CRPGs a must? Is there any room for a game that has fleshed out quests and lore without making it E-P-I-C?

3. Modding: Do you think it's just plain harder to do in an cRPG?* Other genres seem to have very robust modding communities. It seems the cRPG genre as a whole is lagging behind (not withstanding Bethesda's big modding scene).

*Specifically thinking about PoE and how modding tools seemed to be too hard to really implement

 

[Infinitron]

"What grognard-approved mechanical changes are you planning for PoE2?"

"What changes will make them hate it even more?"

If you go into detail that could basically be an entire interview.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

What is your opinion on deterministic combat mechanics?

 

[Shin]

When will Obsidian enter the F2P MOBA market?

 

[a mod]

After changing firedorn's poem, can you really claim to be against censorship?

 

[imweasel]

Why are you so good at ending fun and so bad at reproducing what made the IE games great?
How many cucks would a Sawyercuck cuck if a Sawyercuck could cuck cucks?

 

[octavius]

Do you have stalkers?

 

[Somberlain]

What did it feel like to destroy the hopes and dreams of Codex?

 

[IncendiaryDevice]

Do you like moustaches?
Do you butter your bread if making a ham and mayo sandwich?
Are you in favour of ending clock changes for summer/winter?
Do you wear a watch?
Did you use to wear a calculator watch?
Do you remember that Donkey Kong game where you had to swing from vines?
Who did you always play as in Street Fighter 2?
Did you go to any illegal raves?
Was Nirvana indie perfection or populist garbage?
Were you, like, really old before you got married?

 

[Kz3r0]

Will you be involved in the new game Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky are working on?
If yes, in what capacity?

 

[Howdy]

What's the main problem with "fun" and how should we continue to combat it?

Writing, eh? Overrated?

Do you really want to work on computer games your WHOLE life? And fucking RPG's at that? Jesus.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Have you already decided on the specific setting for your future historical RPG? Is it going to be medieval europe (more specifically, the HRE, like Darklands?) or do you perhaps have something more exotic in mind?

Have you already decided if your historical RPG is going to have turn based combat or RTwP?

Will your historical RPG include a reading list with sources that were used (like Darklands did)?

What are your favorite history books? ( <3 if you ask this)

Would you ever consider working on a blobber in the future? Do you think that subgenre is still relevant today?

 

[Sacred82]

Do you really want to work on computer games your WHOLE life? And fucking RPG's at that? Jesus.

On a related note, what other activities besides going outside and riding a bike can you recommend for people who used to take gaming seriously?

 

[Howdy]

Do you really want to work on computer games your WHOLE life? And fucking RPG's at that? Jesus.

On a related note, what other activities besides going outside and riding a bike can you recommend for people who used to take gaming seriously?

Baking bread rolls is fun. Seriously. And board games are fucking amazing these days.

 

[Roguey]

Personal preference: Full party creation or companions? Which one is preferred from a dev standpoint? Can you elaborate a bit on why?

I can answer this: Companions, because expecting people to create 4-6 characters from scratch before they've even played is asking too much of them.

 

[Fairfax]

'Pillars of Eternity' is a crowdfunded PC RPG with its roots in 'Baldur's Gate', 'Icewind Dale', and 'Planescape: Torment'.

Ask him if he approved that description, and if he did, ask what are the similarities between PoE and PS:T besides the obvious stuff (RTwP, graphics, etc), as MCA himself said there were none.

 

[Infinitron]

'Pillars of Eternity' is a crowdfunded PC RPG with its roots in 'Baldur's Gate', 'Icewind Dale', and 'Planescape: Torment'.

Ask him if he approved that description, and if he did, ask what are the similarities between PoE and PS:T besides the obvious stuff (RTwP, graphics, etc), as MCA himself said there were none.

Maybe he should just ask him about MCA in general.

 

[Zed]

In a codex interview, Fenstermaker said that he wants fewer but more interconnected and deeper companions (for an at-that-time hypothetical PoE2). What's Sawyer's take on this? Is it as simple as quality vs quantity, or can a breadth of companions be a quality in it self (I'd argue that it is – see BG2).

 

[Plane Escapee]

Who are Obsidians biggest grognards and what are some of your favourite ways of humiliating them for their laughably inferior views on what constitutes good gameplay?

If Obsidian ever made a non-RPG (and non-mobile-card-game), what kind of game would you want it to be?

What is the most asinine comment by a grognard you've heard?

Which Ingmar Bergman movie would you choose to adapt into a F2P mobile RPG?

Another company is currently developing a really great looking South Park RPG. What went wrong?

What are some of your favourite erotic encounters in video games?

What is the best way to deal with grognards on the internet?

Would you agree that Pillars of Eternity is far superior to any other RtwP RPGs released post-Darklands?

You backed Serpent In the Staglands on kickstarter. Have you played it yet and if so, what is your impression of the game?

Have you ever been physically assaulted by upset grognards and how well would you do in a fight? Esteemed newsposter of RPG Codex, Infinitron, thinks people want to rough you up.

Which do you consider the cooler name, Ceiliog Fawr or Gamall Leggöngum?

Apart from Darklands, what are some of your favourite RPGs released before 1995?

Which Codex review of Pillars of Eternity did you like the best?

Are you a more or less ambitious man than you were 10 years ago?

Which negative tropes about women in video games do you consider to be the most harmful?

Isn't German poetry great?

Exactly how powerful are you in Obsidian? Can you make other employees do menial (not game related) tasks for you? If you really dislike a gameplay or story element in a game you're leading, can you make it go away with a snap of your fingers?

What skills can we use in your historical turn-based RPG?

What is the best thing about being Josh Sawyer?

 

[Infinitron]

In a codex interview, Fenstermaker said that he wants fewer but more interconnected and deeper companions (for an at-that-time hypothetical PoE2). What's Sawyer's take on this? Is it as simple as quality vs quantity, or can a breadth of companions be a quality in it self (I'd argue that it is – see BG2).

Good idea, ask him if he concurs with the stuff Eric said about PoE2 in our interview (there may be more than just that)

 

[Howdy]

'Pillars of Eternity' is a crowdfunded PC RPG with its roots in 'Baldur's Gate', 'Icewind Dale', and 'Planescape: Torment'.

Ask him if he approved that description, and if he did, ask what are the similarities between PoE and PS:T besides the obvious stuff (RTwP, graphics, etc), as MCA himself said there were none.

Maybe he should just ask him about MCA in general.

Spoiler

 

[Roguey]

You backed Serpent In the Staglands on kickstarter. Have you played it yet and if so, what is your impression of the game?

http://steamcommunity.com/id/baby_goat/games/?tab=all A little over 30 minutes, so not much of one.

Apart from Darklands, what are some of your favourite RPGs released before 1995?

Bard's Tale, Pool of Radiance.