Interview Chris Avellone Sugarbombed Interview, Part Two

[Pirata Alma Negra]

Someone seems butthurted.

 

[Sentinel]

And his definition of balance is that every option should be valuable:

That is also Sawyer's definition.

He also said this

Players typically respond well to difficulty that moves on a "rollercoaster" over the course of the game. If a single weapon or set of weapons allows the player to crest and effectively coast through rest of the game, it's often a less enjoyable experience.

The execution is very different, though. For instance, Sawyer wants as many attributes as possible to be important. IIRC he wanted at least 4 to be important to every class in Pillars. I don't know if MCA agrees, but it is not something you see in PS:T/KOTOR2/AP, as all 3 have optimal builds that are highly specialized. Not that you can't ignore some stats in PoE, but it wasn't Sawyer's intent.

Why do people keep acting as though Avellone's main problem with Obsidian is with Sawyer? He might not be friends with Sawyer, but he's named the upper level management several times now, specifically, as the villains in his eyes, while he's given a pass to the developers.

Feargus Urquhart, Darren Monahan, and Chris Jones. Those are the guys who Avellone likely has a problem with. Sawyer is at best their loyal servant.

MCA and Sawyer go back a long time, since the Black Isle days, and they have very different philosophies. Sawyer also became the go-to Project Lead and now has MCA's job. I do believe the two had a falling out and don't see eye to eye, but I don't think having differences with Sawyer made him leave. You're right that it's clear the partners were the problem, I'm just explaining why people may find the potential rivalry story entertaining.
There's also the fact Sawyer hate was already established, but we didn't know much about Feargus or the other partners.

Really? Sawyer is CFO, lead writer and creative director now?
AFAIK Sawyer was promoted to Lead Designer. He didn't take Avellone's job.

I mean Design Director, which seems to be just a different name for the Creative Director role.

Assuming it is just a different name for the same position, it was for the best. Chris almost never designed anything (apparently refused multiple times to do so), and when he did it was a fucking shitshow (all 3 FNV DLCs are complete ass in the gameplay department, in large part due to the absurd level scaling).

 

[Bigg Boss]

The FNV DLC's are pretty damn good considering how well they were integrated with the plot. It didn't feel like some detached afterthought that someone shat out for some extra shekels and little effort.

 

[Sentinel]

The FNV DLC's are pretty damn good considering how well they were integrated with the plot. It didn't feel like some detached afterthought that someone shat out for some extra shekels and little effort.

Thankfully no one here is talking about the plot so you don't need to be concerned about that.

 

[hpstg]

I mean Design Director, which seems to be just a different name for the Creative Director role.

Assistant to the Regional Manager.

 

[l3loodAngel]

And his definition of balance is that every option should be valuable:

That is also Sawyer's definition.

He also said this

Players typically respond well to difficulty that moves on a "rollercoaster" over the course of the game. If a single weapon or set of weapons allows the player to crest and effectively coast through rest of the game, it's often a less enjoyable experience.

Stop with the Sawyer preaching. We have all seen the end result. Nothing you will say will change this. Did you even liked it yourself...

 

[jaydee2k]

Sawyer is way overhated over here...
Not everything he's done is golden, but it isn't complete shit either...

 

[Roguey]

Stop with the Sawyer preaching. We have all seen the end result. Nothing you will say will change this. Did you even liked it yourself...

Didn't you see my PoE review, it's fantastic. Most who have played Pillars 3.0 agree that's it a leap ahead of 1.0.

 

[l3loodAngel]

Stop with the Sawyer preaching. We have all seen the end result. Nothing you will say will change this. Did you even liked it yourself...

Didn't you see my PoE review, it's fantastic. Most who have played Pillars 3.0 agree that's it a leap ahead of 1.0.

I am sorry to say that I did not, but from what I seen in comments it did little to solve the main disease boringasfuckitus. Systems are the same, atributes are bland and the same etc. Did it change anything important? And even if it did, is it really better. I bet its not...

 

[Infinitron]

Are all of these threads doomed to be derailed in the same way?

 

[l3loodAngel]

I wasn't first who put sawyer in my posts. So what the fuck do I know...

 

[Severian Silk]

Tim Cain's role in FNV hasn't been discussed enough in this thread.

 

[Fairfax]

Didn't you see my PoE review, it's fantastic.

Are you saying your review was fantastic or the game?

 

[l3loodAngel]

Didn't you see my PoE review, it's fantastic.

Are you saying your review was fantastic or the game?

His excuses, extenuation and vindication were brilliant, stunning, marvelous and fantastic! His splendid verbal gymanastics, logical fallacies and sophism has deceived a Yuge number of readers!

 

[Q]

If the God tells me to love Bethesda, I will. It's that simple.

 

[A horse of course]

It's 2016 and white people are STILL defending PoE

 

[Fenix]

causals do none of those things because causals aren't people

 

[Crooked Bee]

MCA being positive about Bethesda is nothing new. He's been doing this for a long time already, long before he left Obsidian. So, while the way he's talking about Obsidian is new, the way he's talking about Bethesda really isn't.

Has he ever praised anything other than their marketing (which really is highly efficient) or their exploration (which is, de facto, enjoyed by a whole lot of people), though? I don't remember him ever praising their writing or reactivity or RPG systems or anything of that sort.

 

[deama]

Stop with the Sawyer preaching. We have all seen the end result. Nothing you will say will change this. Did you even liked it yourself...

Didn't you see my PoE review, it's fantastic. Most who have played Pillars 3.0 agree that's it a leap ahead of 1.0.

Could you post a link to it? I donno where to look for it.

 

[Roguey]

I am sorry to say that I did not, but from what I seen in comments it did little to solve the main disease boringasfuckitus. Systems are the same, atributes are bland and the same etc. Did it change anything important? And even if it did, is it really better. I bet its not...

This is not accurate.

Are you saying your review was fantastic or the game?

Both.

It's 2016 and white people are STILL defending PoE

It wasn't good until 2016.

Could you post a link to it? I donno where to look for it.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...nt-from-the-1st-disciple-of-sawyerity.111666/

 

[Fairfax]

MCA being positive about Bethesda is nothing new. He's been doing this for a long time already, long before he left Obsidian. So, while the way he's talking about Obsidian is new, the way he's talking about Bethesda really isn't.

Has he ever praised anything other than their marketing (which really is highly efficient) or their exploration (which is, de facto, enjoyed by a whole lot of people), though? I don't remember him ever praising their writing or reactivity or RPG systems or anything of that sort.

He wrote a pros and cons for Fallout 3, in which he only criticizes or praises relatively minor stuff. AFAIK he's never talked at length about Skyrim and only played a bit of Fallout 4.

Both.

I really didn't get the impression you thought the game was fantastic, by the way.

 

[Roguey]

I really didn't get the impression you thought the game was fantastic, by the way.

As for what I thought about this combat? I played on Hard difficulty, and I thought it was fantastic.

 

[Fairfax]

I really didn't get the impression you thought the game was fantastic, by the way.

As for what I thought about this combat? I played on Hard difficulty, and I thought it was fantastic.

You didn't really praise the story, reactivity, exploration or quest design.

 

[Roguey]

You didn't really praise the story, reactivity, exploration or quest design.

I wouldn't do that for any of the Infinity Engine games either. They are what they are. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Kev Inkline]

It's 2016 and white people are STILL defending PoE

It's 2016 and people are STILL discussing PoE in EVERY fucking thread.