Chris Avellone joins Larian on Divinity: Original Sin 2

[Roguey]

They *were* charming, I'm not denying that. My point is generally that it had sudden mood shifts from something else to comedy. That, coupled with pacing being bad, relegated the humor to the "random" variety which isn't very high brow no matter how you look at it .

I didn't notice any tone whiplash and I once complained about the "town destruction and beheading flashback" scene in Divinity 2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Lacrymas]

I didn't notice any tone whiplash and I once complained about the "town destruction and beheading flashback" scene in Divinity 2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cyseal being besieged on all sides - "A slice of this fine Gorgombert!"; Immaculate trials - something to do with chickens (I forgot); brutal fights with orcs - the one who is grieving for his brother (though this wasn't as bad); Fate weaver, serious business - a flock of imps following you about. etc. Admittedly the comedy parts were dominating everything else and it's not AS bad as it could've been, but that's hardly a compliment. The dissonances are mostly contextual, but are still there.

 

[Roguey]

Cyseal being besieged on all sides - "A slice of this fine Gorgombert!"

Considering how the guards were doing a bang up job from keeping the zombies out, what's wrong with this?

brutal fights with orcs - the one who is grieving for his brother

That wasn't a comedy moment.

Fate weaver, serious business - a flock of imps following you about.

Those imps are goofy to cope with their tragic background as slaves to demons.

 

[Lacrymas]

Considering how the guards were doing a bang up job from keeping the zombies out, what's wrong with this?

Mostly context.

That wasn't a comedy moment.

The tone of the voice acting was out of place though and it kinda seemed like we were supposed to laugh at this high-strung orc who is talking. Maybe I misjudged.

Those imps are goofy to cope with their tragic background as slaves to demons.

I can understand that, but that is in no way related to the fate weaver, serious business thing :p

EDIT: Though you may be right. I'm hardly one to judge comedy, as I'm not particularly drawn to that genre.

 

[msxyz]

Good. D:OS weakest part was probably the story. (although that can also be said of PoE in which Chris had a part in it right from the start)

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Eh, with POE he had control over 2 NPCs and they got butchered by Sawyer in the end anyway.

 

[Lacrymas]

He really didn't have anything to do with PoE's "story". He wrote only Durance and Grieving Mother and, like Major_Blackhart said, they got butchered and half their content was cut.

 

[Infinitron]

He really didn't have anything to do with PoE's "story". He wrote only Durance and Grieving Mother and, like Major_Blackhart said, they got butchered and half their content was cut.

This isn't true, as Chris told us himself in January: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...is-current-work-on-pillars-of-eternity.96561/

I’ve been doing narrative fixes for the game now that it’s nearing the end of production along with reviewing other written support materials (the manual, for example, since I’ve written quite a few in the past). Feargus requested my assistance for two reasons – one, the narrative team did not have the time and two, because of my familiarity with the title. It has taken time – still, because this work involves bug-fixing and improving the core content of the game, it’s worthwhile, and it’s rare that we have an opportunity like this. Also, it has allowed us to look for things to add to the standards document for future projects (including further Eternity projects). I have still a good chunk more to do.

I wouldn’t describe my role as minimal

 

[Lacrymas]

This isn't true, as Chris told us himself in January: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...is-current-work-on-pillars-of-eternity.96561/

Huh, I hadn't seen that before.

 

[Stereotypical Villain]

Great, now there's going to be hipster all over OS2.

 

[Roguey]

Great, now there's going to be hipster all over OS2.

Pink hair's the only one to watch out for.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

This isn't true, as Chris told us himself in January: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...is-current-work-on-pillars-of-eternity.96561/

Stop ruining the narrative, what is wrong with you.

 

[Forest Dweller]

This isn't true, as Chris told us himself in January: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...is-current-work-on-pillars-of-eternity.96561/

What does "narrative fixes" mean to you?

 

[Lacrymas]

We'll see how the new writers will hold up. I hope they aren't the type of "writers" who confuse writing with overly verbose purple prose that amounts to nothing and goes nowhere.

 

[Xi]

Larian writing style has a charm that no other game studio comes close too. Imho. Avelone shouldn't replace that. He should balance it out.

Any time someone says a larian games writing sucks, I laugh and think "That moron didn't get it."

 

[you know what time it is]

Pretty sure the usual complaint is not that it's sucks, but that it's painfully mediocre.

 

[a Goat]

Pretty sure the usual complaint is not that it's sucks, but that it's painfully mediocre.

It depends really.

Parts of DivDiv, Div2 and Dragon Commander were quite good. Light hearted, self-consciously so, some people may not like it but by themselves they weren't that bad.

Original Sin is much worse when it comes to it though.

 

[Zanzoken]

There's nothing wrong with including comedic elements in your writing but I think Larian's problem is they take it too far. Instead of sticking to just a handful of joke characters and goofy scenes, it feels like the majority of them are.

I think it causes the whole experience to come off as insincere, so when they do try to create drama and suspense it's harder to really get engrossed.

 

[Lacrymas]

You (general you) have to realize that laughter has traditionally been condemned. That's why we don't have much (if any) examples of comedy that is considered high art. Aristotle has said that there is catharsis only in tragedy. This condemnation (it is even mentioned in the bible) has bottle-necked comedy to be considered low brow and not worthy of discussion. Today, comedy is considered to be made by violating our expectations ("Incongruity Theory"). In Larian's case, they just aren't very good writers :p

 

[Athelas]

Larian writing style has a charm that no other game studio comes close too. Imho. Avelone shouldn't replace that. He should balance it out.

Any time someone says a larian games writing sucks, I laugh and think "That moron didn't get it."

This sounds dangerously close to Mass Effect 3 levels of 'you didn't get this totally deep and meaningful ending' apologism.

Judging by Larian's announcement of doubling down on more serious storytelling for both the enhanced edition and the sequel, I don't think they get 'it' either (whatever 'it' is).

 

[Xi]

Larian writing style has a charm that no other game studio comes close too. Imho. Avelone shouldn't replace that. He should balance it out.

Any time someone says a larian games writing sucks, I laugh and think "That moron didn't get it."

This sounds dangerously close to Mass Effect 3 levels of 'you didn't get this totally deep and meaningful ending' apologism.

Judging by Larian's announcement of doubling down on more serious storytelling for both the enhanced edition and the sequel, I don't think they get 'it' either (whatever 'it' is).

Larian plays on silly fantasy memes in just about every game they make. It's usually hilarious (obviously it's a bit subjective). I think avellone can give them the solid story mechanics they need, without loosing the hilarity that many Larian fans have grown accustom to.

 

[Athelas]

Larian writing style has a charm that no other game studio comes close too. Imho. Avelone shouldn't replace that. He should balance it out.

Any time someone says a larian games writing sucks, I laugh and think "That moron didn't get it."

This sounds dangerously close to Mass Effect 3 levels of 'you didn't get this totally deep and meaningful ending' apologism.

Judging by Larian's announcement of doubling down on more serious storytelling for both the enhanced edition and the sequel, I don't think they get 'it' either (whatever 'it' is).

Larian plays on silly fantasy memes in just about every game they make. It's usually hilarious (obviously it's a bit subjective). I think avellone can give them the solid story mechanics they need, without loosing the hilarity that many Larian fans have grown accustom to.

Not sure what you're talking about here. The comments I recall Larian making about wanting to pursue a more serious direction were made before Avellone was brought on board, the two have nothing to do with each other.

 

[ortucis]

Larian's games have a pretty sarcastic tone in dialogues. I like that.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Looks like his forehead has gained a few levels.

Bro my forehead beat the fucking game in that case...


Also: How the flying fuck did I miss this news?! Was it on the news page?

 

[GloomFrost]

So instead of "might buy it when there is a sale on GOG", this game is now definitely worth checking up upon release because the writing was by far the weakest thing about DOS. In Chris we trust. Also apparently someone from CDProject is involved now. Interesting.