Game News Alphaturd might get patched

[Vault Dweller]

VD is being sarcastic

Really? I thought he was trashing Obsidian because they whored themselves out to Sega. Man, you can really read posts so many different ways without [tags] ...

Yes, it was a sarcastic comment.

As for SEGA, Obsidian didn't have much choice there (much like they didn't have a choice with Dungeon Siege 3). Small studios can't survive on their own these days. They take what's being offered and publishers aren't interested in anything other than multiplatform action RPGs and licensed properties like DnD and Star Wars.

Just look at Obsidian's resume: KOTOR sequel, failed attempts to get another KOTOR sequel, NWN sequel with 2 expansions, canceled "Seven Dwarves" (PNJ), canceled Aliens, Alpha Protocol, Fallout 3 sequel, Dungeon Siege sequel, co-developed Wheel of Time game (will code for food).

Every possible licensed sequel and/or multiplatform action.

 

[Azarkon]

Yes, Obsidian has trouble finding good publishers, but don't all AAA game development companies have that issue when starting out? I think the only difference is that Obsidian makes games that are technically subpar. KOTOR 2 can be excused because it was a 9-month project that they had to do to get some initial funding. But NWN 2 was their big break, and there's no excuse for many of the failures there.

Seriously, they had everything going for them: one of Bioware's best franchises, the D&D license, a history of experience with D&D games, a lot of street cred within the D&D community, and an opportunity to develop their own engine (Electron) with some support from Bioware going in. The only downside was that they had to make DM and mdoding tools as those were expected from a NWN title. Other than that they were free to make the next D&D super hit. The only thing better would've been if they had the rights to Baldur's Gate 3.

But they didn't manage to make the game that everyone wanted and expected, and I think that hurt them tremendously. If not for the fact that Obsidian has made some cunning and ultimately effective business decisions at the SLAM DUNK level, failing to break out with a title of this magnitude would've sealed their fate. I'm not surprised that Bioware hasn't offered Obsidian any new sequels to develop. I'm sure relations between the two companies are still cordial, but at the end of the day, that was a major missed opportunity.

Honestly, as a gamer I feel compelled to defend Obsidian because most of their games (minus the original NWN 2) have a suave and charm, beneath all the technical flaws, that is lacking in the industry. But from a practical, product development point of view, you really can't fault people for bashing on Obsidian, just as you really can't fault people for bashing on Troika.

But of course, Troika is gone, and Obsidian is still around, so the question is still open: can Obsidian pull off a real, AAA, best-selling title? Or, if not, can they make the next PST? Either will do for cementing Obsidian's place in the game industry, and they have at least two more titles to do it. Failing that, they still have the IWD model to fall back on: relatively successful dungeon crawlers that do not attempt to be too ambitious, but which cruise through by solid mechanics and gameplay. That's what I'm hoping DS 3 will be.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

BROS IM VERY UPSET ABOUT THE HUMOUR LEVEL GOD THE JOKES AROUND HERE NEED TO BE MORE FUNNY AND MAKE ME LOL HARDER THEN THEY'D BE COOL OK BROS NOT VERY MANY OF YOU ARE BEING VERY FUNNY HERE

Do you not understand the concept of puns? The issue is not how mature it is. If he had written ass brotolol or whatever nobody would have complained.

It's scary that you read 6 pages of this thread and actually believe that.

And here I'm admitting to being a newfag since it's entirely possible (and probable) that newsposts had a satiric, mean-spirited tilt to them before VD became a newsposter.

I'll just leave this here:

Perhaps you should consider NOT using the following words in your news posts:

• Moron
• Retarded
• Idiot
• Stupid
• Anything relating or derived from the above

Yes, most reviews are moronic, but that doesn't mean you have to specifically say, "HEY, THIS GUY IS A MORON!" That's redundant. Just post the passage, make a comment about the content of the passage, and leave it to the comments for people to say, "What a moron!"

Besides, if you use those words in all your news posts, they lose their impact. So, if you want to avoid all the problems with people jumping your ass in the comments about things, perhaps you should avoid DIRECTLY calling reviewers, developers, and so on morons. It's better to be subtle and sarcastic than just up and saying, Hey guys, look at this moron!

I know of a few more people (not including myself) who are considerably less than pleased about your posting style. They just don't state it so openly.

Just be less aggressive when you post news. All the in-your-face, abrasive "Morrowind fans are morons" stuff is too much. I mean, yeah, Morrowind fans are morons, but don't overstate it.

Perhaps you should consider NOT using the following words in your news posts

I WILL consider that, but keep in mind that I'm too old to change

Besides, if you use those words in all your news posts, they lose their impact.

All? According to the news archive I made 442 news post. I estimate that at least 441 covered something stupid, but less than 40 actually stated that fact openly. The fact that people are still bitching about it shows that we arn't losing any impact whatsoever. lol

So, if you want to avoid all the problems with people jumping your ass in the comments about things

I thought that was the fun part. Why would I want to avoid free entertainment?

Regardless, I've always been against your blunt posting 'style' and have never stopped myself from speaking out against it. Perhaps mentioning the recent situation with Pete "Full of Shit" Hines would jog your memory?

Perhaps, what the fuck, Tim would do the same to you, my hypocritical friend?

I have done in the past hardly matters.

That past is less than a few weeks old, Exitium. Let's not forget it so quickly.

Yeah, Exitium, perhaps you aren't the best person to criticise VD about pissing people off.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that the only discussion that saying OMFG! THIS GUY IS AN IDIOT seems to generate these days are flame wars between you and the users. While I don't mind a flame war if there's something productive gained from it, those comment threads have nearly ZERO value.

It's much better to actually quote the stupid part and then saying what you think about the passage itself rather than the person that wrote the passage. That gets the discussion going about the content of the passage rather than the U R FAGET backs and forths with very little actual discussion of what's bad about the reasonning in the passage.

ZERO value? ZERO?! We have now 3 flame wars going (for the price of one! lol), people are having a good time, posting from fake accounts, and all that, and you are saying something about ZERO value?

Anyway, like I said, I will tone it down a bit, so there is nothing to worry about.

Every news poster we've had has, shall we say, brought their own style to the mix. Every news poster has, at some point in time, been attacked for it. Myself, VD, Nedrah, Rex and even Saint (only Saint would quickly smite anyone who spoke up against him because he was a dirty cheater).

Such as the Codex has always been, such as it will continue to be. To those who are seriously offended by this, by all means, keep complaining about it. This is the Codex. It's your right to whinge about shit. Just realise that nothing much is going to happen about it.

Now, bunch of hypocrites ITT. Let the free entertainment continue!

 

[Forest Dweller]

Yeah, publishers should never be blamed. Not even when they say "we don't like all that serious shit, throw it out and make it funny" (reference to Mitsoda's departure and Obsidian starting from scratch).

I'm guessing you've heard this straight from the horse's mouth since you're working with Brian? In other words, you're sure it was Sega and not Obsidian internal management that made the decision to scrap Brian's work?

"Seven Dwarves" (PNJ)

:D Did you also hear this from Brian? Because I don't think that was ever revealed.

 

[Cassidy]

*Checks DU's reply*

I expected that the Bad Blood, Drama etc with VD was over because it has been 3 years already since the Momma's Gang revolulztion. I guess I was wrong.

 

[Dny]

That such a title can generate 8 pages of butthurt means that VOD is doing something right. Keep trollin' them motherfuckers.

 

[Forest Dweller]

*Checks DU's reply*

I expected that the Bad Blood, Drama etc with VD was over because it has been 3 years already since the Momma's Gang revolulztion. I guess I was wrong.

It does have a way of cropping up from time to time.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Yeah, publishers should never be blamed. Not even when they say "we don't like all that serious shit, throw it out and make it funny" (reference to Mitsoda's departure and Obsidian starting from scratch).

I'm guessing you've heard this straight from the horse's mouth since you're working with Brian? In other words, you're sure it was Sega and not Obsidian internal management that made the decision to scrap Brian's work?

Why would they? Give me a single reason.

They put him in charge as the Creative Lead. They were aware of what he was working on (it's not like he hid in a basement and then surprised them with some crap) and what direction things were taking.

"Seven Dwarves" (PNJ)

:D Did you also hear this from Brian? Because I don't think that was ever revealed.

Not directly, but it was mentioned a few times here and there.

IGN ran a NWN2 preview in 2005 mentioning a new project:

"But while Obsidian is hard at work trying to finish up Neverwinter Nights 2 for a summer release, they're also hard at work on another unannounced project. All we have at the moment is speculation based off of some concept art of dwarves resembling those popularized by Snow White but we do know is that this new game will use Unreal Engine 3."

Ian Ameling's resume mentions it as well:

"Environment concept artist for upcoming Seven Dwarves (working title) video game.

Annie mentioned that "it was something very sweet and beautiful that was too good for this world" and that:

"... since Sawyer leaked a hint, it was an action RPG. Goddamn if it didn't have some fucking solid design behind it, too - Mitsoda was doing levels in addition to writing it, I can say that. Also Travis Stout and Matt MacLean (both now on Alpha Protocol) were on it, Kevin Saunders (of MotB lead design and SoZ producingness) was the lead, and Brian Heins (now at Cheyenne Mountain) was part of systems along with the most esteemed Josh Sawyer. First time I ever really got solid level design in was on that game. Fuck - I'm tempted to go ferret out my sketches for it for my own perusal, but it might just depress me... "

IGN listed it as "The second of thee next-gen projects in the works at developer Obsidian Entertainment, this game is said to be a 3rd-person Adventure-RPG. The game makes use of the advanced Unreal 3.0 engine and is an original IP not based on any current franchises. "

Original IPs are a hard sell these days.

 

[Melcar]

This shit still going on?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

the thread went a bit off topic since Blackadder displayed his fearsome combat prowess

 

[Shannow]

Well, "one and a half year is plenty of time to make a quality rpg" sounds sarcastic to me.

Yah well, as I said, sarcasm doesn't transfer well in the written medium without tags. I was well aware that VD was beening sarcastic about the timespan. But I was serious about there being several ways of reading his comments. You can easily read it as "whoring themselves out". Especially after "will code for food" :D
I still see the "blame" for un-finished/polished/patched games mainly lying at the feet of Obsidian (or devs in general; I'm looking at you Piranha Bytes) themselves. They agree to the terms set by the publishers. Whether they do this because they are assholes, out for a quick buck, or because they have families to feed and wouldn't get paid otherwise might affect the "scale" of their "guilt" but not much more. That crappy publishers are also to blame doesn't absolve Obsidian from anything.
Sometimes you only have bad choices. It's unfair but you have to accept the concequences of those choices. And if unemployment is an "impossible" choice for you you'll have to live with being criticised for your un-finished/polished/patched games. Pointing at the "evil" publishers just won't do.

 

[Captain_Obvious]

Every news poster we've had has, shall we say, brought their own style to the mix.

Yes, and while the rest were at least edible, VoD reached a new low. It`s not about having a different style, it`s about beeing plain and simple bad.

 

[Melcar]

Leave VoD alone. Not only does he make news posts with silly titles, he also causes massive butthurt to obnoxious whiny bitches. It's a two for one deal.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I still see the "blame" for un-finished/polished/patched games mainly lying at the feet of Obsidian (or devs in general; I'm looking at you Piranha Bytes) themselves. They agree to the terms set by the publishers.

It's an old argument, but they don't have any choice in these matters. I talked to many different developers over the years and it seems that the situation is steadily getting worse. The terms are rarely negotiable. Developers humbly beg publishers for something (anything, really) to develop. If they pass the check, they are offered a contract of the "take it or leave it" variety. The choices are "take it and hope for the best, even if you know that you're not given enough time" or not take it and go out of business and start selling real estate in this booming economy.

Obviously, players are screwed because they are the ones who get to play with turds, rage impotently and blame the developers for selling out and not making AWSUM GAEMS, but the anger is misdirected.

 

[Melcar]

Direct our anger VD.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Kill the whitey publishers!

Every news poster we've had has, shall we say, brought their own style to the mix. Every news poster has, at some point in time, been attacked for it. Myself, VD, Nedrah, Rex and even Saint (only Saint would quickly smite anyone who spoke up against him because he was a dirty cheater).

Such as the Codex has always been, such as it will continue to be. To those who are seriously offended by this, by all means, keep complaining about it. This is the Codex. It's your right to whinge about shit. Just realise that nothing much is going to happen about it.

I don't think that anyone is offended by the title or by the fact that VoD is taking shots at Obsidian. I don't see any nerd raging or butthurt or flame war.

One guy said "I'd appreciate it very much if you kept the barbs sharper, wittier, and more prestigious, thank you." and a bunch of people said "I agree". That's all. If anything, heavy amounts of butthurt were detected in posters who claimed that they manage to detect some butthurt in the above mentioned request.

Anyway, VoD is a cool guy and a well liked newsposter. A lot of people think that he can do better. He should take that as a compliment and realize that he isn't being attacked.

Let's look at the newspost again:

Title: "Alphaturd might get patched"
Text: "... reports Gamebanshee. Rechoice!"

Like, seriously, if you don't have anything to say (other than saying Alphaturd lol ), don't make a newspost. It's not like reporting that a game might get patched is breaking fucking news. If you're dying to make some comments about it though, please do better than "alphaturd". That's all that people are saying.

 

[Melcar]

Kill the publishers!

That's what I always say! Why doesn't anyone listen to me .

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

That's all that people are saying.

No, that's all you're saying. And true, the complaints on page 1 weren't hostile at all. But that changed. Not that I mind it much...

Refering to DU's post, after ~400 newsposts of mine how often did I *cross the line* with something unnecessary hostile/juvenile? 3 times? 4 times? Certainly not 40 times. So what's the big fucking deal? Why don't you complain about me saying Curtis Tamagochi has an IQ of 2.75 potato units. That wasn't very polite and certainly unnecessary. But no one seems to bother.

It's not like reporting that a game might get patched is breaking fucking news.

Blame BN. He put it into the contact box as News. Unlike Mr. Beekers I'm not a professional gaming journalist, so I trusted his expertise on the matter.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

"alphaturd might get patched" was lame. that is all.[/endthread]

 

[Forest Dweller]

Why don't you complain about me saying Curtis Tamagochi has an IQ of 2.75 potato units. That wasn't very polite and certainly unnecessary. But no one seems to bother.

It made me giggle; therefore it is alright.

 

[Vault Dweller]

That's all that people are saying.

No, that's all you're saying.

That's because I love you.

Refering to DU's post, after ~400 newsposts of mine how often did I *cross the line* with something unnecessary hostile/juvenile? 3 times? 4 times? Certainly not 40 times. So what's the big fucking deal?

Who says that it's a big fucking deal?

Why don't you complain about me saying Curtis Tamagochi has an IQ of 2.75 potato units. That wasn't very polite and certainly unnecessary. But no one seems to bother.

Jesus Fucking Christ. Who says that you have to be polite to people and avoid unnecessary and hurtful comments? Everybody liked the potato units comment, so stop being insecure and rejoice in the knowledge that the quality committee is watching your every step and misstep.

I trust we will not be having this conversation again. You must work harder for victory.

http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/ ... arbeit.jpg

 

[Jaesun]

Why don't you complain about me saying Curtis Tamagochi has an IQ of 2.75 potato units. That wasn't very polite and certainly unnecessary. But no one seems to bother.

That's because we aren't a bunch of butthurt Curtis Tamagochi fanboys.

It's an old argument, but they don't have any choice in these matters. I talked to many different developers over the years and it seems that the situation is steadily getting worse. The terms are rarely negotiable. Developers humbly beg publishers for something (anything, really) to develop. If they pass the check, they are offered a contract of the "take it or leave it" variety. The choices are "take it and hope for the best, even if you know that you're not given enough time" or not take it and go out of business and start selling real estate in this booming economy.

This. Considering how many games Obsidian has taken under these circumstances, one would hope that they will someday learn to adapt and develop games under such..... conditions.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Why don't you complain about me saying Curtis Tamagochi has an IQ of 2.75 potato units. That wasn't very polite and certainly unnecessary. But no one seems to bother.

That's because we aren't a bunch of butthurt Curtis Tamagochi fanboys.

 

[Gragt]

This thread might actually deliver.

But when all is said and done, Ventilat0r's biggest mistake on the Codex was to classify ferrets as rodents. Never forget.

 

[Malakal]

Allfail Turdproctocol.

Am I cool yet giys?