Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Jedi Exile]

Harry Potter series would be good if it had only one book or three max. But seven - this is too much.

 

[Simple Simon]

IMO, Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen > Harry Potter. It may just be the fact that Harry Potter lasted longer and began getting sloppier/less coherent in the later books. I remember reading an interview with Neil Gaiman, when asked whether he thought Rowling copied his Books of Magic comic, said that he thought they were both ripping off T.H. White.

 

[Yosharian]

Harry Potter is OK book for children.

That's insulting to children, frankly

 

[AwesomeButton]

"Ruslan and Ludmila", on the other hand, is a great book for children.

 

[Viata]

Crime and Punishment is the best book for children.

 

[Yosharian]

Crime and Punishment is the best book for children.

Ha ha ha!

You see, it's funny because Crime and Punishment is not the best book for children!

*chuckle*

 

[Jenkem]

children should be reading Tolkien not Harry Potter garbage!

 

[AwesomeButton]

I don't think I can trust the honest intentions of a writer who is writing something to make a buck. Because after you have your breakout hit, you are under a very different pressure when writing subsequent books. Better read things that are time-tested and whose authors are long dead and wrote before writing became another part of the "entertainment industry".

 

[Butter]

I don't think I can trust the honest intentions of a writer who is writing something to make a buck. Because after you have your breakout hit, you are under a very different pressure when writing subsequent books. Better read things that are time-tested and whose authors are long dead and wrote before writing became another part of the "entertainment industry".

Depends what you want out of a book. You could take this same stance with cinema, and then only watch Hou Hsiao-hsien films, but there's nothing wrong with watching Jurassic Park if your goal is to be entertained. Dostoevsky is going to stand the test of time, but pulp novels are just fine if you only want a gripping plot.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I don't think I can trust the honest intentions of a writer who is writing something to make a buck. Because after you have your breakout hit, you are under a very different pressure when writing subsequent books. Better read things that are time-tested and whose authors are long dead and wrote before writing became another part of the "entertainment industry".

Depends what you want out of a book. You could take this same stance with cinema, and then only watch Hou Hsiao-hsien films, but there's nothing wrong with watching Jurassic Park if your goal is to be entertained. Dostoevsky is going to stand the test of time, but pulp novels are just fine if you only want a gripping plot.

I said that not in the context of reading something "for entertainment" but in the context of becoming an invested fan of a series, the way Harry Potter has/had a die hard following, or the way the GoT show has a following. I think it's stupid to become invested in an IP which is being developed not in order to bring an author's message to you, but in order to "entertain" you for a fee.

Sorry for the comparison but this is like falling in love with your favorite band's singer.

 

[Strange Fellow]

I think it's stupid to become invested in an IP which is being developed not in order to bring an author's message to you, but in order to "entertain" you for a fee.

This is how video games work, doesn't mean they can't be fun and worthwhile. You're being overly cynical if you think that JK Rowling or George RR Martin are just in it for the money. About becoming invested fans of a series, that mostly results from that series having some unique aspect to it that makes it worthwhile to follow even when the quality of the individual entry isn't as good as you could find in standalone works, or series with less interesting settings containing less interesting or relatable established characters. Fallout is such a series for me, although Bethesda killed my interest in their entries very efficiently.

I also think that assessing stuff like Harry Potter from a perspective of literary criticism is disingenuous. Sure, you could, and it wouldn't hold up in comparison to the greats, but they're children's books, meant to be stimulating to people who think in a very different way than adults. If you recommend children's books on the basis of them having intellectual or educational value in an age where children rarely read, then you've already lost. If you blame the world's problems on Harry Potter, then I suppose you're a Codexer. To be blunt, children don't give a shit about what they "should" be reading, like adults do (yes, even most non-readers know they "should" read the classics). Many young people's interest in books begin and end with Harry Potter, or Twilight, or whatever's the fad these days, but it's not like they'd read anything else in their place, and for others, these books serve to spark an interest in deeper literature. And if we can keep it real for a moment, nobody's actually holding up these books as masterpieces.

 

[Quillon]

So, old topic but whatcha guys think about "Benweth & Aeldys(not a love story)" bit @1:02:40 from the talk? I don't understand the reasoning behind removing the "jealous ex" part, is it a valid reason? I don't care if there is a jealous ex in your narrative, anywhere but removing something just cos its "too close to home for some people" is a right thing to do? Isn't anything too close to home for someone? Someone out there have someone close them murdered, should they delete their entire game based on a party of murderhobos for it? How is this different & should be better off being cut? Even then, should devs pander to potentially "everyone" while they are making content?

 

[Quillon]

Well he found it significant enough to show off in his presentation

 

[Sailor Woedica]

He showed it off because it shows good team collaboration, sis. Some people on the team thought it was cliché or didn't like it and Sawyer said ok. Listen and look out for your team and you score goals!

 

[fantadomat]

He showed it off because it shows good team collaboration, sis. Some people on the team thought it was cliché or didn't like it and Sawyer said ok. Listen and look out for your team and you score goals!

Less than 200,000 goals to be precise.

 

[AwesomeButton]

He showed it off because it shows good team collaboration, sis. Some people on the team thought it was cliché or didn't like it and Sawyer said ok. Listen and look out for your team and you score goals!

Sailor Woedica again confirmed for being Alex Scokel

 

[Quillon]

Some people on the team thought it was cliché or didn't like it and Sawyer said ok.

The wording is clear that it could be "a little too close to home"/could be potentially uncomfortable for some people, he doesn't say they found it cliche or low quality. As to why it took my interest is that usually they show "uncomfortable but real" stuff in games..well mostly in movies to raise awareness to it, this move goes against it. Maybe I'm missing something which is why I'm asking but I won't get anything other then "its not a big deal, yo" it seems.

 

[2house2fly]

I'd imagine they discussed what that character element would add to the game that would justify its presence, and probably ended up deciding that either it added nothing or didn't add enough to be worthwhile

 

[2house2fly]

I don't believe it was the product of a completely sjw commiefornia or whatever else you people like to say train of thought which dictated it has to be cut for being too cringey or causing bad tummy feels. After all, another of the game's writers talked about the effort she went to to make the Rauataians sympathetic

 

[Abu Antar]

 

[fantadomat]

Nah,i don't have blue hair and cut dick in hand.

 

[Paul_cz]

Being a part of one of the few remaining independent developers in the world creating role-playing games is only the start!

And we aren't even able to update our website!

 

[Jenkem]

infiintron seething right now that they put out a help wanted ad on twitter instead of just contacting him

 

[rusty_shackleford]

the profile of the top response

 

[fantadomat]

the profile of the top response

You mean this i take it:

Yeah,the future of Obsidian is in good hands.