Interview Chris Avellone interviewed by Super Bunnyhop

[Infinitron]

Tags: Chris Avellone; Obsidian Entertainment

George Weidman of Super Bunnyhop got the chance to interview Chris Avellone at DragonCon 2013. Unlike the previous interviews, this one's not another boring overview. Watch as George asks MCA about his Arcanum LP, about his tabletop roleplaying background, about modding, about the decline of RPGs, about the responsibilities of writers on an RPG development team, and about subverting the Star Wars setting:

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Really good interview.

 

[Gondolin]

They must like his fast-talking style.

 

[AstroZombie]

Is it me or is MCA getting bigger? Dude could probably crush my head between his biceps.

 

[Duraframe300]

Really good interview.

I think partly because that guy seems to be someone that is only interested in the information rather than anything else and seemed to have not much problem changing topics

He also defends Phil Fish as in his opinion a game's development or who develops it shouldn't matter at all and games should be a simple business transaction. (Also for some reason he believes there were no gaming celebrities in the 80's/90's).

Which is why I don't really think he was too interested in what avellone talked about with backer interaction.

So, yeah. Not saying this isn't a viable view (Especially for proper journalism is detachment not a bad thing to have), but he definitly seems to be more self-focused.

 

[Infinitron]

Really good interview.

I think partly because that guy seems to be someone that is only interested in the information rather than anything else and seemed to have not much problem changing topics

He also defends Phil Fish as in his opinion a game's development or who develops it shouldn't matter at all and games should be a simple business transaction. (Also for some reason he believes there were no gaming celebrities in the 80's/90's).

Which is why I don't really think he was too interested in what avellone talked about with backer interaction.

So, yeah. Not saying this isn't a viable view, but he's definitly self-focused.

Sup SBHGeorge

 

[Duraframe300]

Sup SBHGeorge

I suspected as much. As I said, not to offend. Just a simple observation. (And again, considering a lot of bullshit gaming journalism these days, I actually think the detachment is pretty good)

 

[mikaelis]

Yes, it's probably the first interview in a while that I was not tempted to fast forward. No stupid generic questions, very focused. Very well done.

 

[PlanHex]

That music in the background was really chill and gave the interview a really nice feeling too.

 

[Borelli]

I want 0:40-41 to be made into a gif.

 

[Bizarro Jimmy Olsen]

Is it me or is MCA getting bigger? Dude could probably crush my head between his biceps.

The dude is definitely swole.

 

[Endemic]

Cool interview.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Which is why I don't really think he was too interested in what avellone talked about with backer interaction.

I hate when these guys talk about backer interactions. It's the same canned PR responses every single time.

Good interview though. Bunnyhop did a good job avoiding the generic questions.

 

[Roguey]

Wasted 15 minutes of my time telling me this was a good interview. I don't feel like I've learned anything.

 

[Infinitron]

Wasted 15 minutes of my time telling me this was a good interview. I don't feel like I've learned anything.

Good != informative. But it wasn't for lack of trying - he didn't want to talk about PE's story nor about South Park.

 

[felipepepe]

Why there's porn jazz playing on the background of the entire interview? The editor was a Codexer?

 

[AN4RCHID]

Wasted 15 minutes of my time telling me this was a good interview. I don't feel like I've learned anything.

Good != informative. But it wasn't for lack of trying - he didn't want to talk about PE's story nor about South Park.

I get the feeling Avellone hasn't been a major contributor on PE. Doesn't seem like there's much sense of ownership there. He answers questions as a company man rather than as an artist.

 

[Infinitron]

I get the feeling Avellone hasn't been a major contributor on PE. Doesn't seem like there's much sense of ownership there.

He's working on it full time, so he must be doing something.

 

[AN4RCHID]

"Full time" while working on Torment and the Wasteland novella. At best, it's seeming like he's writing a companion, a la New Vegas. Which is great, I liked Cass a lot; just too bad he's not getting his own projects like KOTOR2 anymore.

 

[Lancehead]

He got Alpha Protocol.

 

[Infinitron]

"Full time" while working on Torment and the Wasteland novella. At best, it's seeming like he's writing a companion, a la New Vegas. Which is great, I liked Cass a lot; just too bad he's not getting his own projects like KOTOR2 anymore.

It's more than just a companion. I think he's just good at compartmentalizing.

 

[Grunker]

Fuck I luv Super BunnyHop <3

Good interview, circumstances considered!

(his answers on KotOR 2 pretty much confirms suspisions on why that story ended up so great)

 

[AN4RCHID]

He got Alpha Protocol.

Yeah, well, Alpha Protocol was great in my humble opinion.

"Full time" while working on Torment and the Wasteland novella. At best, it's seeming like he's writing a companion, a la New Vegas. Which is great, I liked Cass a lot; just too bad he's not getting his own projects like KOTOR2 anymore.

It's more than just a companion. I think he's just good at compartmentalizing.

So what is his role on PE? Eric Fenstermaker appears to be the narrative lead. What else is there for Avellone to do?

 

[Cosmo]

Wasted 15 minutes of my time telling me this was a good interview. I don't feel like I've learned anything.

Interviews aren't teenage education. Now get lost.

 

[Infinitron]

So what is his role on PE? Eric Fenstermaker appears to be the narrative lead. What else is there for Avellone to do?

Probably something alone the lines of "Narrative Co-Lead".

The point is, it's got to be more than doing a companion, because that's what he's doing on Torment, which is a "spare time" job.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Or Obsidian just can't pay for full time MCA right now.