Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Roguey]

Our next speaker Carrie Patel is a novelist, and also a Game Director and Narrative
Designer at Obsidian, where she has worked on everything from Pillars of Eternity, to The
Outer Worlds, and she is the director on the forthcoming Avowed.

The first official acknowledgement and it's in a GDC presentation of all things.

Audience participation is key to both improv and games
o People play games because they want to participate in the experience (not
observe)
o So how do we keep them involved?
o ***Question gets to the heart of why some game dialogue feels skippable (and how
we can avoid this)
o Skippable dialogue takes player out of role of SCENE PARTNER and makes
them SPECTATOR
o (which isn’t what they came to your game for!)
o Happens one of two ways:
o Dialogue = overly expository, delivering information (not on expressing
character, establishing stakes, or escalating tension)
o Dialogue -> monologue, only character expressing motivation/personality,
advancing scene = NPC
o In improv, you wouldn’t hog a scene like this

And yet, in my understanding of Deadfire's plot, you feel more like a spectator than a participant.

 

[BlackheartXIII]

its seems those point realized through self reflection and scrutiny from her pervious games, in the same note the GDC is a celebration of hypocrisy, narcissism and incompetence, so Patel (and her colleagues) probably will not practice what she sermonized. well, as roguey mentioned above at least we got an official acknowledgement.

 

[KVVRR]

They mention the dialogue being overly expository and NPCs monologuing as text that feels skippable but not it being overly satirical to the point of complete boredom? Oh brother

 

[rusty_shackleford]

the takeaway from that is that they're going to remove the ability to skip dialogue until the voice actor finishes so you're forced to listen

can't remember who posted it, but the post about the only place for failed writers to get a steady pay is in gamedev was spot on. The reason they want games to be everything but games is because they hate games.

 

[OSK]

A programmer posting on glassdoor seems to be happy with the way things are going now:

Pros

Talented team

Great work/life balance, little to no crunch

Hardened development pipeline

Accommodating to find work that aligns with your interests

Cons

Nothing unique to Obsidian.

Goalposts may move, features may be removed, etc...

The days of crunch are over, eh? We'll see how things are when there's only a few months left to ship.

The review didn't say that. It just said nothing unique to Obsidian. Terrible hours are kind of a staple of working in the gaming industry.

 

[Roguey]

The review didn't say that. It just said nothing unique to Obsidian. Terrible hours are kind of a staple of working in the gaming industry.

"Great work/life balance, little to no crunch"

 

[OSK]

The review didn't say that. It just said nothing unique to Obsidian. Terrible hours are kind of a staple of working in the gaming industry.

"Great work/life balance, little to no crunch"

Touché. I skipped over that part.

But he's likely worked his entire career in the industry so his idea of a great work/life balance is likely out of wack.

 

[Infinitron]

Few people cared enough to notice it, but Obsidian already dealt with their too-much-exposition problem in The Outer Worlds. Carrie is talking about something she's already done.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

https://schedule.gdconf.com/session...s-sustainable-collaborative-production/883513

Production Essentials Summit: No Mavericks, No Martyrs: Sustainable, Collaborative Production

Most game teams have mavericks and martyrs--devs who work outside of normal pipelines and hours to get additional content and features into the game. Driven by "passion," they're often seen as leaders and MVPs.

However, the habits and attitudes that martyrs and mavericks instill have long-term consequences for team and project health. Their work often leads to scope bloat for downstream departments, shortcuts that accrue bugs and tech debt, and mistrust between "less committed" devs who resent the scope creep on the one hand and rogue agents hacking in risky and unaccounted-for content on the other.

This talk will examine how the unchecked enthusiasm of mavericks and martyrs can sabotage a team, healthier approaches that can foster sustainable and collaborative passion, and practical steps leads and producers can take to steer devs in a more productive direction without squashing their joy for their work.

Takeaway
Attendees will gain a concrete understanding of how seemingly innocuous individual behaviors can drive a team and their game towards disaster, a healthier mindset that can temper passion with collaboration and discipline, and practical tactics they can deploy to steer a team away from the brink.

Intended Audience
This talk is primarily directed at producers, directors, and strike team leads--leaders and managers who are responsible for team health and productivity. Other devs will find useful takeaways to inform their work habits. No prior knowledge is necessary, though production experience will give attendees useful context.

Chris Avellone: "I resemble that remark!"

apparently there is a pretext to this GDC talk in a form of a twitter thread.

quite literally "stop making us look bad"

 

[KVVRR]

Few people cared enough to notice it, but Obsidian already dealt with their too-much-exposition problem in The Outer Worlds. Carrie is talking about something she's already done.

I'd argue they didn't. How many times did they write "company BAD n DUMB", even after the first planet?

 

[just]

i sorta get her
was working in a company where few faggots were constantly flexing, doing overtimes, working over the weekend and similar shit
most of them didnt have anything else in life other than that job so what else are they going to do
so then managment sorta expected for the rest to keep up with that tempo

but on the other hand, no good games were ever made if devs didnt sleep in the offices soaked in their own shit and drugged out of their mind
so fuck her
switch jobs carrie, i want my entertainment

 

[Roguey]

Few people cared enough to notice it, but Obsidian already dealt with their too-much-exposition problem in The Outer Worlds. Carrie is talking about something she's already done.

Too bad this apparently didn't make the writing better.

 

[Roguey]

Last month another fan-fic writer/twine-game maker joined Obsidian Entertainment, AK Fedeau.

Nine years ago, I wrote a short Fallout: New Vegas story as part of a fan challenge. It was the first multi-chapter project I actually finished, and it taught me a lot about the value of sticking with it. Today is my first day as an Associate Narrative Designer at Obsidian.

Writing for Obsidian was something I used to kick around as a joke, a level of achievement that I'd obviously never reach. That was for other people. Better writers. To say all of this is surreal would be like calling Moby-Dick a story about a whale and a boat.

This was also not the first time I'd applied to Obsidian. That's something I've only seen a few gamedev people discuss. Seriously - if you want to work somewhere, reapply. Show them your new experience. Don't count yourself out in shame. It took me way too long to learn that.

"That was for other people. Better writers." hasn't been the case for nearly a decade so.

 

[agris]

"Had I known that the past 20 years of Taylorist manufacturing principles infiltrating and diluting the production of cRPGs would materially lower the bar for what is considered good writing such that it calls the Marianas trench a neighbor, I never would have celebrated. I came to celebrate my accomplishment, only then did I realize that I didn't rise to the occasion - rather, the occasion fell to me."

 

[yes plz]

and people still hold out hope that a new Fallout from Obsidian would be good

lmao

 

[BlackheartXIII]

apparently 10 months ago (jul 2021) a creative freelancer which describe herself as a "medievalist turned game designer on a mission to create compelling, inclusive stories". has joined Obsidian Entertainment as an associate narrative designer, Zoe Franznick.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/zfranzn...issionId=d2a7a948-72ae-e416-239e-08a7c896157d
Personal site: https://www.meanderingmedievalist.com/cv
Scriptlock interview: https://scriptlock.simplecast.com/episodes/zoe-franznick-franciska-csongrady

 

[Flou]

Last month another fan-fic writer/twine-game maker joined Obsidian Entertainment, AK Fedeau.

Nine years ago, I wrote a short Fallout: New Vegas story as part of a fan challenge. It was the first multi-chapter project I actually finished, and it taught me a lot about the value of sticking with it. Today is my first day as an Associate Narrative Designer at Obsidian.

Writing for Obsidian was something I used to kick around as a joke, a level of achievement that I'd obviously never reach. That was for other people. Better writers. To say all of this is surreal would be like calling Moby-Dick a story about a whale and a boat.

This was also not the first time I'd applied to Obsidian. That's something I've only seen a few gamedev people discuss. Seriously - if you want to work somewhere, reapply. Show them your new experience. Don't count yourself out in shame. It took me way too long to learn that.

"That was for other people. Better writers." hasn't been the case for nearly a decade so.

Doesn't use pronouns on Twitter and has a degree in English. Seems like an upgrade compared to some others?

 

[Roguey]

Doesn't use pronouns on Twitter and has a degree in English. Seems like an upgrade compared to some others?

She's another Megan Starks https://twitter.com/akfedeau/status/1440758457670397955 https://twitter.com/akfedeau/status/1503241569654038529

buddy, i STILL write fanfic

We’re excited to announce Longsummer Nights, a shared-universe prose anthology of LGBTQ+ paranormal romance! The Kickstarter launches October 1st - keep an eye on this space as we begin our countdown!

i'm thrilled to announce that i'll be contributing an M/F short story to this anthology. more info coming soon!

 

[rusty_shackleford]

exclusively hiring liberal, college-educated white women in their 20s/30s to write their games is a form of diversity, right?

 

[Roguey]

exclusively hiring liberal, college-educated white women in their 20s/30s to write their games is a form of diversity, right?

I imagine these are the only people applying. Nitai Poddar, who wrote for Outer Worlds, noped out a few months ago to work for Sucker Punch. Lucien Soulban was the lead for Avowed and noped out mid-development.

 

[BlackheartXIII]

according to the official requirements to the role of a narrative designer at obsidian the submitter should has at least 2 years of gamedev experiences and at least one shipped game. https://www.obsidian.net/careers/open-positions/design/V8WGYDU02l-narrative-designer-all-levels

but apparently those requirement might be more flexible then they are officially describe:


it also very common to see writing jobs application that carted to followers in twitters (you need to be in certain circles in social media in order to be aware of those job applications).

 

[Roguey]

Regardless of what the job is "you need to have x years of experience" is a filter you're supposed to ignore if you truly feel you're qualified.

 

[Roguey]

i think it still relevant to the application bureaucracy of HR, remember you still have to land that job interview, unless you have someone from inside that can vouch for you (that were the social circle is added to the picture) .

A strong resume/cv/portfolio will bypass that. Fenstermaker didn't work for anyone before Obsidian. He got in because he made a football mod for NWN. He also kept applying for it when they turned him down.

 

[BlackheartXIII]

Fenstermaker was initially hired as a programmer at obsidian: "I was hired at Obsidian out of college, though not the first time I applied. My major was computer science, and that was also my best angle for getting hired. They ultimately hired me as a scripter, which is kind of a hybrid design/programming position." he vouched himself as a designer from the inside.

also at the time (2005) obsidian did not have a solidified narrative department.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/eric-fe...issionId=dff6161d-c0e5-e416-c48e-e525906a4c35

 

[Alienman]

"Deep"