Interview Chris Avellone Interview at Hold The Line

[Azrael the cat]

He wants the Arcanum IP to nerf those fucking wolves.

I'm envisaging a 'new' Arcanum game by MCA which is simply the old game with a wolf-oriented equivalent of the infamous SS2 'no spiders' patch (that turns the offending creature invisible, makes all other creatures hostile to it, gives it 1 hp and no attack and prevents it from moving).

 

[Ninjerk]

I never much liked Eberron, to be honest, but I don't doubt Obsidian could make an interesting game with the IP.

Q: Beyond what you're currently hard at work on, is there any other IPs out there that the team would absolutely love to get their hands on?

Chris: There’s a few: The Wire, Archer, Ultima, Chronotrigger, Deus Ex, Arcanum, Star Wars, Firefly, and Doctor Who, to name a few. I think Star Wars is pretty high on people’s lists here at the studio. Personally, I’d love to do an Eberron D&D game as well, I love that universe.

I have no idea how they would make this work but I want it to happen.


Also, does anyone else think that Archer Protocol would be a pretty awesome game?

YES, but pretty much everything else in that list except Doctor Who would interest me. I don't know much about The Wire, though.

 

[Lancehead]

Since MCA likes subverting things, he'd likely turn the wild and dangerous wolves into domestic and adorable pets.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Q: Beyond what you're currently hard at work on, is there any other IPs out there that the team would absolutely love to get their hands on?

Chris: There’s a few: The Wire, Archer, Ultima, Chronotrigger, Deus Ex, Arcanum, Star Wars, Firefly, and Doctor Who, to name a few. I think Star Wars is pretty high on people’s lists here at the studio. Personally, I’d love to do an Eberron D&D game as well, I love that universe.

I have no idea how they would make this work but I want it to happen.

If he means the post-2000 series, all they'd have to do is make an adventure game in which "use sonic screwdriver" is the solution to every puzzle.

Screwdriver Ex Machina was a problem at times in the classic series as well. In the latter 4th doctor seasons and early 5th doctor, it became such a problem that JNT* told his writers he would refuse to accept any more scripts until they 'killed' the screwdriver off. [the Doctor's line after the alien leader disintegrates it: 'I feel like I just lost an old friend']


*(This was when JNT was still new and full of great ideas, like making the 5th doctor's arc a tragedy illustrating the moral hypocracy of an entirely pacifist doctor. It might be a pity that JNT stuck around so long after that, but even then, it was arguably unfair that the fans blamed him for 'destroying Dr Who'. The BBC had started censoring scripts and demanding that the show lighten its tone - and he showed them the middle finger by killing off Adric, the Doctor's child ward, with a close-up of the tear running down his terrified face. But that just pissed off BBC management further - they cut the maximum allowable number of episodes per serial and savaged the show's budget, with the threat of further cuts if he continued to resist their interference. Also, much of the fans' anger at JNT came from his dispute with the head writer Eric Saward - yet it was Saward's departure that saw the show's final season become one of it's best. I'd take those last serials like 'Remembrance of the Daleks', 'Ghost Light', 'Curse of Fenric' and 'Survival' as evidence that JNT could still make a great Doctor Who show once the BBC had stopped interfering (because they had already decided to end the show, despite the new head writer, Cartmel, having only just started the first genuinely interesting macro-arc since the 5th doctor), and with a competent head writer (Cartmel) to work with.)

 

[Lady_Error]

He talks about The Wire RPG at around 48:00. His idea is basically to play it as one of the district police chiefs, trying to keep crime down, making the right contacts in politics, etc. The interviewers mentioned that it would probably be easy to get that IP since there has not been a game based on the Wire before.

I'm confused about the benefits of licensing an IP which is a generic urban crime setting.

I guess familiar characters known by millions and the big name would be a big benefit, especially if they decided to use Kickstarter to finance it.

Notice that the Wire is the first name on the list of IP's he is interested in, so I would say it has a high priority for him.

 

[MrBuzzKill]

I would love to see ANYONE do another game in the Arcanum universe

 

[Duraframe300]

I would love to see ANYONE do another game in the Arcanum universe

I see, its finally time for that Activision-EA (Blizzard+Bioware) Dream Team.

 

[Rake]

I would love to see ANYONE do another game in the Arcanum universe

I see, its finally time for that Activision-EA (Blizzard+Bioware) Dream Team.

And it'll be an MMO

 

[Ninjerk]

I would love to see ANYONE do another game in the Arcanum universe

I see, its finally time for that Activision-EA (Blizzard+Bioware) Dream Team.

And it'll be an MMO

F2P with micros with cover mechanic

 

[Lhynn]

I would love to see ANYONE do another game in the Arcanum universe

I see, its finally time for that Activision-EA (Blizzard+Bioware) Dream Team.

And it'll be an MMO

F2P with micros with cover mechanic

A lobby based first person shooter that will charge you for your bullets

 

[Jasede]

It will never happen but the idea of Chris - I have graduated from MCA and now call him Chris - designing and writing Chrono Trigger 2 (CT 2, mind you - not Chrono Crucible or Chrono Tabernacle or Chrono Gestalt or whatever they might have come up with) is giving me a permanent boner.

Look at what he did with KOTOR! How he even gave the comic relief from KOTOR 1 more depth and character than you can hope for in any modern game; how he expanded and inverted and explored concepts that make us look at Star Wars in a completely different way.

Can you imagine? The way he'd design the kingdom of Zeal? What happened to Magus, and so on? You'd probably never meet him; you'd just see the world reinvented, explored, looked at- it's a fantastic idea; I love it very much. By all that is holy, the idea gives me happy shivers.

That said it will not happen - just like Arcanum 2 will not happen, I am sure. And by the way- I do love Arcanum dearly, but let us not kid ourselves: MCA would make a much better Chrono Trigger game than an Arcanum game.


Edit:

Honest to god, consider it. The man would make a fantastic Chrono Trigger sequel. A: it'd be different; he could be very creative. B: he'd do it out of utter love and adoration, which would make it very intimate; what he'd create would be inextricably linked to the joy and admiration he had for the original, and thus treat it with respect, but from a fresh perspective. And C: he already sort of has some experience with this kind of game; the difference between jRPG and CRPG blurs when you consider games like PS:T and KOTOR 2.

In fact, he could make it exactly in the same style as PS:T and KOTOR 2- perhaps add some non-linearity to it in the sense that timelines might change and influence past and future choices, for instance. And the ending slides! There'd be lots.

God, it's the perfect game.

My new goal is to be a billionaire so I can be a Chris' patron. I shall feed him billions and he can make this game for me, as well as pose nude. It would make everyone happy.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I have graduated from MCA and now call him Chris

Blasphemy.

 

[Jasede]

I'm too excited by the idea of him making CT2 to remember the proper decorum. Chris! Chris! Chris! I KNOW YOU READ THIS

I LOVE YOU

 

[Infinitron]

Here's the original article about Obsidian and Chrono Trigger from 2010: http://www.siliconera.com/2010/07/06/obsidian-would-like-to-work-on-chrono-trigger/

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

All these hypothetical pitches and lists of franchises which they want to work on sound like cry of despair: "work4food! plz! somebody! just give us opportunity!"

 

[Ninjerk]

All these hypothetical pitches and lists of franchises which they want to work on sound like cry of despair: "work4food! plz! somebody! just give us opportunity!"

Your plan has failed. The [redacted] are infertile.

 

[Cosmo]

It will never happen but the idea of Chris - I have graduated from MCA and now call him Chris - designing and writing Chrono Trigger 2

Am i the only one to think that him rebooting Meantime would be our chance to have a western Chrono Trigger ?

 

[Stinger]

An Eberron game would be sweet.

Not at all familiar with that world, what's "good/ sweet" about it?

Lowish fantasy dungeon punk (think Cyberpunk like themes but with a heavy fantasy aesthetic) with game of thrones style politics, manipulation and intrigue.

It's very cool and lends itself really well to Obsidian's writing style.

 

[Athelas]

Chrono Trigger was great, but I don't see why Chris would need licensing to make such a game. He could just make his own story of a ragtap group of people traveling through time and/or the multiverse. And if the horrible 'Chrono Cross' is any indication, Trigger was more a fluke rather than the result of real artistic talent. Besides, Square would never allow it in a million years.

 

[Infinitron]

Besides, Square would never allow it in a million years.

Why not? They're actually kind of desperate these days.

 

[Athelas]

Besides, Square would never allow it in a million years.

Why not? They're actually kind of desperate these days.

Not desperate enough to revive any of their numerous old (RPG) IP's, or answer the constant cries for a HD remake of FF7. Besides, working under Square probably comes with a lot of stipulations, like the game must feature at least one protagonist who's an anorexic, androgynous teenage boy.

 

[Lhynn]

Besides, Square would never allow it in a million years.

Why not? They're actually kind of desperate these days.

Not desperate enough to revive any of their numerous old (RPG) IP's, or answer the constant cries for a HD remake of FF7. Besides, working under Square probably comes with a lot of stipulations, like the game must feature at least one protagonist who's an anorexic, androgynous teenage boy.

They are not remaking FF7 because they are afraid people are going to find out it was shit.

 

[undecaf]

Deus Ex, Arcanum and The Wire would be something I'd like to see Obsidian get their hands on... other than a fresh IP.

 

[Borelli]

Who the fuck cares about a new Chrono Trigger? Give me a new Arcanum or give me death.

Although a Firefly game made by Obsidian sounds appealing.

 

[Rake]

Firefly seconded.
I would not be against Crono, but they would be restrained to make it a pure JRPG. I would prefer something of a mix in the vein of Torment or Kotor 2. And no, they aren't JRPGs.