Is Chris Parker dragging Obsidian down?

[Forest Dweller]

As some of you already know, a supposed real developer on Alpha Protocol posted an angry rant about the game on some forum. Here it is for those who haven't read it:

There was a ton of work put into this game. The problem is that it was a ton of undirected work, or work on things that were just stupid. The Executive Producer for the game, Chris Parker (also an owner of the company), seemed to think he was the world’s greatest designer ever, and created all these absolutely shitty systems and wouldn’t listen to any of the real designers or devs about things that just didn’t work. And you can’t exactly argue with one of the owners of the company when he doesn’t want to listen. He basically took over the game and dictated exactly how everything would work (or not work, as the case may be). The other producers realized this early on and just gave up, leaving Parker to micromanage all the designers and programmers directly.

Sega also was a factor, because they kept changing the design requirements (yes they had heavy influence there), which never gave the producers and designers time to actually decide on one set of features to make and polish. The blame is still mostly Obsidian’s because the execution was absolutely terrible, and it was obvious 2 years ago that this game should have been scrapped. Instead, though, they focused on adding still more features and never fixed the ones they already had. That is a recipe for tons of bugs and no polish… as is obvious.

This game was just an absolute failure of production, and it’s no wonder that so many of the developers left the company, even after the 40% staff layoffs. I am still happy about some of Obsidian’s other current projects, New Vegas included, because they are going pretty well. Their big unannounced project is looking great and is already much better than AP ever was, and that may end up being the game that everyone was looking for with AP.

Sega should have canceled AP instead of Aliens.

There's debate on whether it's real or not but I'm willing to bet that it is.

I know threads have already been retardo'd because it was posted in the discussion thread, but this raises some interesting issues so FUCK YOU MODS. This totally deserves it's own thread.

Mainly what I find curious is the specific mention of Chris Parker. Chris Avellone, the creative lead, is nowhere mentioned, nor the company CEO, or anyone else in a high position. Whoever wrote that seems to think that the majority of the blame lies solely with Chris Parker. Which raises some interesting questions. First, we all know that every one of Obsidian's games have been unpolished or unoptimized at release. And after AP being continually delayed and still being unpolished, we can't really blame the publishers anymore. They obviously have some internal management issues that are the root of these problems. And if Chris Parker, as stated by the unknown developer, is the root of those problems in AP, might it also be true for their other games? I don't know what exactly his roles were for those other games, but I'd imagine they'd be similar? What do you think? CAN WE BLAME IT ALL ON ONE MAN?

Because someone is obviously fucking up over there.

 

[Fucking Quality Poster]

I don't think it is far fetched to think that it is probably some high-up designer who is dragging Obsidian down, however, considering the source is anonymous, we can only speculate.

 

[Kingston]

I'd wager that it's a team effort.

 

[1eyedking]

Do Executive Producers have a say in game design at all?

 

[relootz]

Didn't Obsidian release unfinished games before this guy arrived?

 

[Dragula]

Will they remake Lionheart soon?

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Didn't Obsidian release unfinished games before this guy arrived?

Chris Parker is one of the co-founders of Obsidian and longtime BIS employee.

 

[Volourn]

"Do Executive Producers have a say in game design at all?"

L0LZ

Plus, he's an owner. He's most certainly has a say./ But, he's not alone. He has to share responsibility with the other big boys.

 

[Angthoron]

It's not at all impossible for one person at a high-up executive position/co-owner to be screwing up the whole effort. Poor decision-making and management are pretty much all over Obsidian's games, and it can be either the fault of one man or of the whole management team.

In fact, it is the whole group's fault because they're letting one man fuck it all up. They should attend some PM courses or something (ew, but really)

 

[hoochimama]

MCA, also an obsidian owner/founder is Lead Designer on alpha protocol, I don't see one completely overriding the other.

Maybe the way they use titles is meaningless but the post makes it sound like the executive producer played the role of project manager. What are producers supposed to do anyway? Budget?

 

[Rude Dude]

I guess, ... it is impossible to totally avoid chris parker

 

[Shannow]

I'd wager that it's a team effort.

 

[Angthoron]

MCA, also an obsidian owner/founder is Lead Designer on alpha protocol, I don't see one completely overriding the other.

Maybe the way they use titles is meaningless but the post makes it sound like the executive producer played the role of project manager. What are producers supposed to do anyway? Budget?

Wikipedia:

Chris Parker is the Chief Development Officer and Senior Producer for Obsidian Entertainment. Parker entered the Electronic Entertainment industry in 1995 and has directly managed all phases of the internal and external development of over twenty published products including the over two million unit seller – Baldur's Gate.

That's a huge role in development.

 

[Radisshu]

I guess, ... it is impossible to totally avoid chris parker

Heh.

It's interesting, though, that he was mentioned and not Avellone or Feargus. I mean, Avellone is pretty popular, but what's Feargus' talent? Management?

 

[Lockkaliber]

I think MCA mentioned a couple of times that Chris Parker was the one that came up with the idea for a spy RPG over lunch or something. Perhaps they let him have his way with the project because it was his idea?

Disregarding that though, I think it's far more plausible that the letter stems from butthurt over being fired.

 

[Fat Dragon]

He might be a part of the reason, but there's no denying that Obsidian's entire programming team fucking sucks.

 

[Angthoron]

He might be a part of the reason, but there's no denying that Obsidian's entire programming team fucking sucks.

This.

 

[Fomorian]

No one's dragging Obsidian down. Alpha Protocol failed because it was the first time Obsidian didn't have a classic legacy by Bioware to leech off of. That's why New Vegas will get a glowing reception as well.

Reviewers truly don't know shit.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Disregarding that though, I think it's far more plausible that the letter stems from butthurt over being fired.

I don't know, it's not like these are direct offenses (well, except for the "absoulutely shitty system" parts), just saying the guy (and SEGA) suffocates the team with his own ideas.

 

[Suchy]

link to the src?

 

[Roguey]

Funny that he said AP should have been cancelled instead of Aliens because Avellone said its cancellation "ended up being a good thing, overall. And I will take that opinion with me to my grave." Which means it was an even huger mess, and he'd know right? And he has his name attached to that statement and everything.

It doesn't seem likely to me that a co-owner would be able to completely take over a fellow co-owner's project without tearing the place in half. Feargus Urquhart came up with the pitch document (source) and I doubt he just dropped it on the floor and let them fight over it like wolves. They're all to blame for the state of their games, Avellone included.

 

[Angthoron]

Funny that he said AP should have been cancelled instead of Aliens because Avellone said its cancellation "ended up being a good thing, overall. And I will take that opinion with me to my grave." Which means it was an even huger mess, and he'd know right? And he has his name attached to that statement and everything.

It could also mean that their team wouldn't have handled the load, which is pretty likely. To be honest I'm surprised how eagerly they load themselves up to the point of impossible to deliver - if they were a company that made something tangible, their products would be crumbling at the first touch of wind.

 

[Overweight Manatee]

No one's dragging Obsidian down. Alpha Protocol failed because it was the first time Obsidian didn't have a classic legacy by Bioware to leech off of. That's why New Vegas will get a glowing reception as well.

Reviewers truly don't know shit.

Hardly. No matter how good New Vegas is it will be rated worse then Fallout 3 because Obsidian as a company is rated worse then Bethesda.

 

[Fomorian]

Of course. But you can easily be rated worse than Fallout 3 and still have a glowing reception.

 

[1eyedking]

Plus, he's an owner. He's most certainly has a say.

Yes, of course, but to the point where he designed 'various shitty systems' and imposed them on the designer staff?