Incline Chris Avellone Appreciation Station

[Nano]

At the risk of sucking his dick too aggressively

How can I get in on this?

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

How does Michael Moorcock avoid needless exposition?

* In your lists, in the imagery and so on, there will be mysteries that you haven’t explained to yourself. The point is, you put in the mystery, it doesn’t matter what it is. It may not be the great truth that you’re going to reveal at the end of the book. You just think, I’ll put this in here because I might need it later. You can’t put in loads of boring exposition about something you have no idea of yourself.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Elric is a faggot though.

How dare you talk about Geralt like that

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

For Michael Moorcock at his pulpiest, read his Sojan the Swordsman stories from the beginning of his career, which are included in the collection Elric at the End of Time.

 

[Life of the Party]

So today I learned reddit hates Chris Avellone & considers him overrated, & some of them claim his writing is trash as well. Old news, but new for me. Thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/9wak92/game_designerwriter_chris_avellone_continues_to/

They also hate RPG Codex, that's not really news though.

Also, today I learned he is writing for the new Vampires the Masqurade game.... ooo

Top comment:

Rumors in the game industry are that Avellone is correct and that his criticisms, while unprofessional, are valid - which is why he continues to find work and why Obsidian had to find someone to buy them out. Personally, I don't know any of the people involved, but a part of me is glad to see him move on because while the CRPG revival is cool, I think that this frees him up to work on other things.

Edit: I should mention for those outside the industry, the professionalism criticism above while extremely brief is a big deal. What I'm hearing is that he was right on the facts, but was and is wrong in his responses.

Also, he would be difficult to hire even without the professionalism issues because we don't know him and he's at a point in his career where you'd expect to trust him as the lead writer and possibly the artistic director for at least one project. There are a ton of great writers out there and many screenwriters who would love to break into the game industry, so there is competition too. Hopefully, he has enough industry connections with people who do know him because I don't think I could ever hire him in a position he'd be willing to consider, and I'm sure there are other project managers in the same position.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

You wrote a movie script? Fantastic! Tell me about your experience writing in-depth, detailed, reactive, and branching narratives for games that have over 100 hours of content.

 

[Cael]

So today I learned reddit hates Chris Avellone & considers him overrated, & some of them claim his writing is trash as well. Old news, but new for me. Thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/9wak92/game_designerwriter_chris_avellone_continues_to/

They also hate RPG Codex, that's not really news though.

Also, today I learned he is writing for the new Vampires the Masqurade game.... ooo

Top comment:

Rumors in the game industry are that Avellone is correct and that his criticisms, while unprofessional, are valid - which is why he continues to find work and why Obsidian had to find someone to buy them out. Personally, I don't know any of the people involved, but a part of me is glad to see him move on because while the CRPG revival is cool, I think that this frees him up to work on other things.

Edit: I should mention for those outside the industry, the professionalism criticism above while extremely brief is a big deal. What I'm hearing is that he was right on the facts, but was and is wrong in his responses.

Also, he would be difficult to hire even without the professionalism issues because we don't know him and he's at a point in his career where you'd expect to trust him as the lead writer and possibly the artistic director for at least one project. There are a ton of great writers out there and many screenwriters who would love to break into the game industry, so there is competition too. Hopefully, he has enough industry connections with people who do know him because I don't think I could ever hire him in a position he'd be willing to consider, and I'm sure there are other project managers in the same position.

Ah, yes. "Top" writers like infinishit's boyfriend, Kevin Maginn.

I am sure MCA is quivering in his boots at the "top" competition.

 

[Tom Selleck]

Ah yes, all those screenwriters* who get WGA money would absolutely love to go and work on un-unionized, crunch-time, 2D pixel art robot isometric mobile games and 900,000,000 word mashed potato RPGs and work directly for Brian Fargo. What a dream ride!

*unless, of course, you mean screenwriter in the "failed film school student" sense, in which case, you're 100% correct

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Ah yes, all those screenwriters* who get WGA money would absolutely love to go and work on un-unionized, crunch-time, 2D pixel art robot isometric mobile games and 900,000,000 word mashed potato RPGs and work directly for Brian Fargo. What a dream ride!

*unless, of course, you mean screenwriter in the "failed film school student" sense, in which case, you're 100% correct

Can't wait for unions to hit game development to see how woke upper management is then

 

[Egosphere]

So today I learned reddit hates Chris Avellone & considers him overrated, & some of them claim his writing is trash as well. Old news, but new for me. Thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/9wak92/game_designerwriter_chris_avellone_continues_to/

They also hate RPG Codex, that's not really news though.

Also, today I learned he is writing for the new Vampires the Masqurade game.... ooo

Seems like most of the people there are obsidian fans

 

[Roguey]

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/1166575742337081349

So New Vegas has a xenophobic tribe of weapons hoarders who prefer to live in ignorance of the outside world and expect you to do quests with no guarantee of a reward called The Boomers. Did we ever find out if that was intentional?

I do not know, I was not involved in the Boomers design. I suspect it was intentional, but the intent was intended by others with intentions.

A question better-suited for Sawyer.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Next game should feature a graveyard called the millennials in a town full of feral ghouls.

 

[Quillon]

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/1166575742337081349

So New Vegas has a xenophobic tribe of weapons hoarders who prefer to live in ignorance of the outside world and expect you to do quests with no guarantee of a reward called The Boomers. Did we ever find out if that was intentional?

I do not know, I was not involved in the Boomers design. I suspect it was intentional, but the intent was intended by others with intentions.

A question better-suited for Sawyer.

Aha! FreeKaner was right all along! Sawya even put his RL grandfather Loyal as their leader!



But guys don't tell anyone! He's already blended in with them, seemingly pondering. Keep on pretending to hate him! Shh!

 

[Fairfax]

Wow, was watching @IGN Gamescom gameplay demos – some are a knife across the throat to games I was looking forward to – FFS, devs, proof your demos before releasing into the wild

Highly unusual of him, especially the strong language. Must've been some really disappointing demos.

 

[deuxhero]

What was the game where the guy playing the demo broke the game by going backwards at the start of the level?

https://twitter.com/ChrisAvellone/status/1166575742337081349

So New Vegas has a xenophobic tribe of weapons hoarders who prefer to live in ignorance of the outside world and expect you to do quests with no guarantee of a reward called The Boomers. Did we ever find out if that was intentional?

I do not know, I was not involved in the Boomers design. I suspect it was intentional, but the intent was intended by others with intentions.

A question better-suited for Sawyer.

Clearly not. Literally the first conversation with them you're told they recognize that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right.

 

[Danikas]

Highly unusual of him, especially the strong language. Must've been some really disappointing demos.

I love the moment at 3:54

 

[Roguey]

Clearly not. Literally the first conversation with them you're told they recognize that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right.

Believe it or not this is also Sawyer's opinion! (or at least was, I don't keep track of whatever rabbit hole he's gone down now) http://twofoldsilence.diogenes-lamp.info/2012/07/firearm-legislation-why-we-have-so-much.html

 

[Duraframe300]

Highly unusual of him, especially the strong language. Must've been some really disappointing demos.

I love the moment at 3:54

That specific demo and that mission (apart from the moment you were refering to) were already shown twice though, and I'd imagine he at least watched the E3 one.

 

[deuxhero]

Clearly not. Literally the first conversation with them you're told they recognize that the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right.

Believe it or not this is also Sawyer's opinion! (or at least was, I don't keep track of whatever rabbit hole he's gone down now) http://twofoldsilence.diogenes-lamp.info/2012/07/firearm-legislation-why-we-have-so-much.html

I meant that the Boomers were clearly weren't meant to be Boomers because of that, but interesting to know that about Sawyer.

 

[Infinitron]

The thing about the Boomers though is that they aren't old. In fact of all the factions in New Vegas they're the one where it most vividly shows how they're raising the next generation. That part of the game was a breath of fresh air because of how optimistic it felt.

 

[Fairfax]

Fallout wiki says the Boomers were created by John Gonzalez. Considering Horizon Zero Dawn, it's likely that the Boomers were indeed somewhat allegorical.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

That part of the game was a breath of fresh air because of how it optimistic it felt.

Optimism at raising a bunch of trigger happy bombers? well now, laddie.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

If only the boomers were more kind and accepting of strangers like Tenpenny Tower after the lone wanderer gave them a hand.

 

[Gerrard]

So today I learned reddit hates Chris Avellone & considers him overrated, & some of them claim his writing is trash as well. Old news, but new for me. Thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/9wak92/game_designerwriter_chris_avellone_continues_to/

They also hate RPG Codex, that's not really news though.

Also, today I learned he is writing for the new Vampires the Masqurade game.... ooo

r/games is SJW central.

 

[Fairfax]

@ChrisAvellone why can’t players fight horrigan when they initially encounter him randomly in the desert? Sub question: If you were doing Fallout 2 today, would players be able to kill Horrigan when they encounter him slaughtering farmers?

Yeah, that seems out of place to you, too, right? It's definitely not Fallout-y to paralyze you in a situation like that, especially when you're confronted with someone killing people right in front of you. Yeah, I'd fix that for sure (wasn't my call, it was the lead designers).

I had a similar "this feels out of place" moment at the beginning of Ultima 8 when the Avatar can't intervene in the execution taking place in the opening. I felt like I didn't have agency to do what's right.

[The Lead Designers were Feargus and Matthew J. Norton]