Incline Chris Avellone Appreciation Station

[Fairfax]

MCA Interview in the newest Game Informer. I think it was the first time he talked about his departure sort of directly. Is it against the rules to share the text and/or link?

It's not a very revealing answer (at least in regard to internal Obsidian stuff) but here's an excerpt (that's fair game, right?)

lol noob

I didn't know it was allowed

They obviously knew about the exclusivity deal, they're not as stupid as you, I'm sure, he's just saying they wasted their time.

I'm not sure I agree with you here, doesn't that sentence implies that Obsidian pitched KOTOR 3 without realizing that it was a waste of time because they weren't aware of things like the exclusive deal with EA?

Here's MCA talking about a KOTOR 3 pitch from right after KOTOR 2. "Published 31/07/2013"
So MCA obviously knew about this one and it was from the LucasArts era. He also mentions another Star Wars project they were pitching to Disney which was unrelated to KOTOR 3.
LucasArts was pretty much shut down in April 2013, and the exclusivity deal with EA is from May 6th 2013.

In the interview he said it was only after his departure that he became aware of this "Old Republic" title they couldn't make, so that's not it.

 

[Dragula]

No instead we get something unique like "A goblin on her own".

What's wrong? I thought everybody would want to adventure with what seems like a fun rootless goblin yenta witch. I can already imagine hilarity ensuing.

I hope she is very moody and emo, like a goblin Viconia.

 

[Irenaeus II]

From the description, she looks moody but not emo.

 

[Lhynn]

Haha "creative director" was a bullshit title, no wonder Obsidian hasn't bothered to replace it.

Aye, what i wonder is why they even kept him around all this time? Like, i love the guy, but they were clearly wasting his time there.

Those SoD companions sound generic as fuck. MCA is probably just being polite.

Generic is fine.

 

[Fairfax]

Haha "creative director" was a bullshit title, no wonder Obsidian hasn't bothered to replace it.

Aye, what i wonder is why they even kept him around all this time? Like, i love the guy, but they were clearly wasting his time there.

Those SoD companions sound generic as fuck. MCA is probably just being polite.

Generic is fine.

In 2004-2010 it was alright, he had important roles in several games.
Now, 2011-2015:
Creative Lead on cancelled project.
Wrote the initial concept for 2 companions in PoE.

 

[Lhynn]

I know, just wondering why.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Whatever this cancelled project was, I bet he got pissed seeing it detonated. I doubt he got "fucking sick and tired" about PoE companions getting "torn apart".

 

[ArchAngel]

Those SoD companions sound generic as fuck. MCA is probably just being polite.

It is hard to claim that when we have so little info. MCA that played it mostly talked about the goblin NPC and he liked her. Said she is different than usual NPCs.

 

[Fairfax]

Too many chiefs, not enough indians. That and Sawyer clearly became their go-to (heh) leader. Just look as at his streak as director/lead designer: NWN2 - Aliens - XBLA game - FNV - PoE, and probably Louisiana now. He basically led all of the most important projects.

 

[Lhynn]

So hes only made one good game in his life? And im still debating just how much credit sawyer deserves for NVs content.

 

[Fairfax]

That's his record at Obsidian, he was also project director on Icewind Dale I and II (don't know if you considered that already).

 

[Lhynn]

I know that he had actually a very small part on IWDI and that IWDII is the worst IE game ive played, and slightly better than PoE.

 

[Fairfax]

Considering the amount of things Sawyer said he didn't remember, didn't know, didn't write, didn't design didn't decide, I'd say his role in FNV was smaller than people think. He actually said something like that once: "people overestimate the director's role in a game". I'm sure Roguey knows the exact quote and can correct me.
Still, although I don't like and disagree with a lot of things Sawyer has said or done, he's just doing his job. The actual decision-making power is up to the partners, and Sawyer isn't one (as far as we know). This reminds that Chris Parker is one of them, and he is someone people should point their fingers at.
The guy had never directed or worked on actual game design in his life. Takes on Obsidian's first original IP as Project Director with a big budget and leads it into development hell, literally putting teams at odds with one another. Other people are brought in to fix his mess, but the game still fails in many fronts after 4 years and gathers poor sales and mostly negative reviews.
The mess was bad enough that SEGA decided to cancel the Aliens game and bet on Colonial fucking Marines instead.

Well...that and the story Duraframe told about Ziets saying Aliens looked worse after MCA left (and Sawyer was lead designer).

 

[Viata]

So hes only made one good game in his life? And im still debating just how much credit sawyer deserves for NVs content.

That's reason enough to not expect anything good from him. If the game he made is good, that's good, if it's not you already expected that. It seems Obsidian now has nobody good there.
inb4 Tim Cain. When I see him make something that's not a stupid mini game on Obsidian, I shall see him as a worth piece in the clusterfuck that is Obsidian now.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Yes, this Chris Parker guy seems like a complete incompetent and a burden to Obsidian.

 

[Lhynn]

Considering the amount of things Sawyer said he didn't remember, didn't know, didn't write, didn't design didn't decide, I'd say his role in FNV was smaller than people think.

Yeah, its what i believe too. Sawyer is good at tweaking rulesets, and thats the extent of his god given talents when it comes to making games. Hes also anal enough to be decent at keeping people organized, and thats something valuable in an industry where only manchildren want to work at.

So hes only made one good game in his life? And im still debating just how much credit sawyer deserves for NVs content.

That's reason enough to not expect anything good from him. If the game he made is good, that's good, if it's not you already expected that. It seems Obsidian now has nobody good there.
inb4 Tim Cain. When I see him make something that's not a stupid mini game on Obsidian, I shall see him as a worth piece in the clusterfuck that is Obsidian now.

I still think Fenstermaker is a decent writer, he just lacked good direction in PoE. Who the fuck told him to write like that? Why didnt anybody tell him it was shit?
Tim Cain is god, he could be playing fallout 4 with todd every week on a LP stream and it would still not matter at all, he did his duty already. What bothers me is that he isnt making rpgs anymore, but hes clearly a dude that understands what makes them good. Tho i guess it would be disappointing if he did and turned out to be another vogel.

 

[Irenaeus II]

I believe people underestimate the negative mental consequences of playing Fallout 4.

 

[Infinitron]

Considering the amount of things Sawyer said he didn't remember, didn't know, didn't write, didn't design didn't decide, I'd say his role in FNV was smaller than people think. He actually said something like that once: "people overestimate the director's role in a game". I'm sure Roguey knows the exact quote and can correct me.

Uh? Seems like the opposite to me. Sawyer answers questions about FO:NV's story and themes all the time, indicating a large involvement. That also goes back to his work on Van Buren (which you forgot to mention, along with BG3: The Black Hound...). In contrast with PoE it's pretty clear that he didn't have a large role developing story, themes, etc - just the setting.

 

[Irenaeus II]

With PoE it's clear that he didn't have a large role developing story, themes, etc - just the setting.

I didn't know that.

 

[Infinitron]

He's never said it outright but you can tell from the questions that he chooses to answer that he's not super familiar with the storyline, specific quests, specific characters, etc. And that makes sense, since he had to have been too busy managing the development of the engine and systems to get deep into that stuff, unlike FO:NV where they were ready to use from the beginning.

 

[Irenaeus II]

Never noticed, then again, maybe it's my fault for not remembering any interview with him about PoE.

 

[Lhynn]

He's never said it outright but you can tell from the questions that he chooses to answer that he's not super familiar with the storyline, specific quests, specific characters, etc. And that makes sense, since he had to have been too busy managing the development of the engine and systems to get deep into that stuff, unlike FO:NV where they were ready to use from the beginning.

Then no one pointing out that they were writing garbage kinda makes more sense.

 

[Fairfax]

Considering the amount of things Sawyer said he didn't remember, didn't know, didn't write, didn't design didn't decide, I'd say his role in FNV was smaller than people think. He actually said something like that once: "people overestimate the director's role in a game". I'm sure Roguey knows the exact quote and can correct me.

Uh? Seems like the opposite to me. Sawyer answers questions about FO:NV's story and themes all the time, indicating a large involvement. That also goes back to his work on Van Buren (which you forgot to mention, along with BG3: The Black Hound...). With PoE it's clear that he didn't have a large role developing story, themes, etc - just the setting.

Sawyer's own reply to who wrote what:

John Gonzalez, who actually wrote the entire main story and many of the game's central characters (Benny, Caesar, Mr. House, Vulpes Inculta, etc.) has seemingly been erased from the collective memory of the gaming community. I think it's really unfortunate. He also wrote all of the Survivalist logs in Honest Hearts (and some of the Happy Trails Caravan).

Writing duties are split up among designers. Not all designers write, but the majority of us do. Some do a larger share than others. I'll miss some here, but notably:

Eric Fenstermaker - Veronica, Boone, a lot of Novac and Helios One (Fantastic), a lot of Camp McCarran (Silas, Curtis, et al.), the White Gloves, Vault 11, some Goodsprings
Travis Stout - Lily, Raul, the Misfits, some Goodsprings, Follows-Chalk, Waking Cloud, some Happy Trails folks, and a bunch of stuff on Old World Blues
Akil Hooper - ED-E, a lot of Primm, the Omertas, some Hoover Dam, some Boomers
Rob Lee - Some Camp McCarran, a lot of Freeside, Camp Guardian, some Boomers
Jeff Husges - Most of Jacobstown, the Remnants, a ton of minor characters all over the place (including Boulder City, many Legion characters and Rex's quest)
Matt MacClean - Return to Sender station rangers
George Ziets - 1st Recon
Charlie Staples - Forlorn Hope, a bunch of other stuff I can't even remember
Jesse Farrell - A lot of Freeside (Kings, especially), Brotherhood of Steel, a lot of Hoover Dam
Chris Avellone - Cass, Lanius, Oliver (I think?) and some minor characters at Mojave Outpost. Of course, he also did all of the writing for Dead Money and Lonesome Road, and split writing duties with Travis Stout on OWB (not sure of the split).
Jorge Salgado - Red Lucy, Sarah Weintraub, Michael Angelo, and a few others (North Vegas)

Other designers also contributed (Stephanie Newland, JR Vosovic, Eric Beaumont, Sydney Wolfram, Dini McMurry), but I don't remember their specific writing contributions.

(Most of the people above are gone, btw)

As for Van Buren, a lot of major elements came from MCA, not him. The Caesar's Legion and the NCR-Brotherhood War, for example.
I've also seen several questions where Sawyer said he doesn't remember who made something and why something was done. A recent example:

backroomsix asked: i know your mod fixes this, but why does killing fiends yield such high karma? where the fiends ever going to be a full faction or from the beginning where they meant to just be another group semi organized raiders like the jackals and such.

Karma values were really strange in base F:NV for reasons that I can’t explain. When I went back and looked at them, I didn’t know how (or by whom) they had been set to those numbers.

And even in the other answer above there's a lot he can't remember.

Also, most of the quests in the base game were designed by the rest of the design team. He still did a great job as director per se, nobody can take that away, but as far as actual design and writing go he wasn't heavily involved. That's not good or bad on its own, but I believe he takes way too much credit for FNV's qualities, specially from casual "Fallout fans".

 

[Lhynn]

Oh, thats a very interesting post there. Who from NV team is still around?

 

[Infinitron]

Fairfax I'm not saying he was the one who literally wrote everything, but the amount of things he has to say about the game's story and themes indicates that he was heavily involved in the creative process nonetheless. Just look at his Tumblr over the past month.