Incline Josh Sawyer appreciation station

[Drakortha]

You said it easily pleased normies like F3 did, which wasn't true. Sure, the trailers got them to buy it but they didn't enjoy it. It was too different.

 

[Viata]

You are right.
I should have said it easily pleased trans, but at this point I fail to see the difference between both groups.

 

[Roguey]

Deadfire didn't have a long tail. It flopped so hard that more people are playing the first Pillars right now.

You don't seem to understand what long tail means. The fact that its player count is just a bit under PoE's despite having a lower maximum player count is proof of the long tail. A slow-but-consistent seller that eventually made a profit.

 

[Viata]

PoE 1 was so bad it will take some time for people to give PoE 2 a try. I did like it when I played it, but shitty notebook + Unity (which means long loadings) made me drop the game. But it was far more interesting than the first game (which I bought on release and never finished it kek).

 

[Cross]

Deadfire didn't have a long tail. It flopped so hard that more people are playing the first Pillars right now.

You don't seem to understand what long tail means. The fact that its player count is just a bit under PoE's despite having a lower maximum player count is proof of the long tail. A slow-but-consistent seller that eventually made a profit.

You don't seem to understand that sequels, by being the more recent entry in a series, should have more active players by default.

For example:

Deadfire fails this basic test, because it was a massive flop. The first game only sold well because Kickstarter hype and false promises. Naturally, people steered clear of the sequel.

 

[Roguey]

You don't seem to understand that sequels, by being the more recent entry in a series, should have more active players by default.

Look at the maximum player count on Wrath.

Deadfire fails this basic test, because it was a massive flop.

On release. Not anymore.



The man bought an expensive watch with the bonus he got from Deadfire's eventual success.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

6 year old game isn't "recent".

 

[Cross]

Look at the maximum player count on Wrath.

That actually proves my point. Wrath's maximum player count is only double Deadfire's, but the amount of active players is more than 5 times that of Deadfire. Wrath has better player retention and a longer tail than Deadfire, contrary to your claims.

On release. Not anymore.

That tweet is from a few months ago. Breaking even half a decade after release isn't the success story you think it is. And Deadfire was crowdfunded, which makes it even worse.

The fact that he engraved that on his watch is further proof that it flopped. That's some massive cope.

 

[Tyranicon]

This is a legitimately funny post. Respect for Sawyer + 1.

Still not playing Deadfire tho.

 

[Modron]

6 year old game isn't "recent".

It is when you haven't released anything good since 2010.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Deadfire didn't have a long tail. It flopped so hard that more people are playing the first Pillars right now.

You don't seem to understand what long tail means. The fact that its player count is just a bit under PoE's despite having a lower maximum player count is proof of the long tail. A slow-but-consistent seller that eventually made a profit.

You don't seem to understand that sequels, by being the more recent entry in a series, should have more active players by default.

For example:

Deadfire fails this basic test, because it was a massive flop. The first game only sold well because Kickstarter hype and false promises. Naturally, people steered clear of the sequel.

I'd say Roguey is still somewhat correct. Deadfire is "POE2", WotR is not (even if it's technically a sequel). Plus, they do have the benefit of a license, as niche as Pathfinder might be. I think some people are starting to give PoE1 a chance, it's almost a decade since it came out and therefore it qualifies as retro now.

 

[Roguey]

That tweet is from a few months ago. Breaking even half a decade after release isn't the success story you think it is.

The fact that he engraved that on his watch is further proof that it flopped. That's some massive cope.

What I actually said:

Deadfire's long tail eventually vindicated his choices.

Obsidian Entertainment and Sawyer have concluded that Deadfire's underperformance was a marketing failure. If it was a truly bad game, it would have never turned a profit. Like Alpha Protocol which can't even be bought anymore because it didn't even make enough to justify renewing the rights to Turn Up the Radio after its 10-year license went up.

 

[lukaszek]

The man bought an expensive watch with the bonus he got from Deadfire's eventual success.

never said that he bought that watch then! Bonus was good enough of engraving on piece he already owned

 

[Infinitron]

I think if Sawyer were to go freelance, he'd be in demand as a "fixer" providing advice on how to manage projects and prevent scope creep and so on, not so much as a "celebrity contributor" like Avellone (although I guess somebody trying to appeal to New Vegas fans might find value in that as well).

Being the actual lead systems designer of a game probably isn't something you can do as a part-time freelancer.

 

[Desiderius]

Deadfire didn't have a long tail. It flopped so hard that more people are playing the first Pillars right now.

You don't seem to understand what long tail means. The fact that its player count is just a bit under PoE's despite having a lower maximum player count is proof of the long tail. A slow-but-consistent seller that eventually made a profit.

Long tail compared to its pinhead.

 

[Desiderius]

That tweet is from a few months ago. Breaking even half a decade after release isn't the success story you think it is.

The fact that he engraved that on his watch is further proof that it flopped. That's some massive cope.

What I actually said:

Deadfire's long tail eventually vindicated his choices.

Obsidian Entertainment and Sawyer have concluded that Deadfire's underperformance was a marketing failure. If it was a truly bad game, it would have never turned a profit. Like Alpha Protocol which can't even be bought anymore because it didn't even make enough to justify renewing the rights to Turn Up the Radio after its 10-year license went up.

Was the faceroll release dictated by marketing?

 

[Spukrian]

(until cancellation).

Please elaborate. What did Sawyer do?

EDIT: Clarified.

 

[Tyranicon]

(until cancellation).

Please elaborate. What did he do?

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...wsuit-over-sexual-assault-accusations.146634/

TL;DR: Got accused of sexual assault, sued, won and cleared his name, supposedly got 2 mil(?) USD too.

It was a great bonding/vindication moment for the codex even though Avellone hasn't publicly visited us in years.

 

[Roguey]

Was the faceroll release dictated by marketing?

Deadfire targeted a larger and thus more casual audience.

When it came to Pillars of Eternity his attitude was

The game is being designed for relatively high difficulty at first and later tuned down for lower levels of difficulty. It's easier to lower difficulty from a high bar than to raise it from a shallow baseline.

With Deadfire it was

“When Deadfire came out, we erred a little—or a lot, depending on what your play style is—it being too easy,” said Sawyer. By the time Deadfire launched on May 8 of 2018, wheels were already in motion on rolling out patches that would increase difficulty for players. “I said, ‘Well, between too easy and too hard, I'd rather err on the side of too easy, and tune up from there,’” Sawyer continued.

They are ultimately not interested and not very good at making any kind of RPG tuned for the average Codexer.

 

[Spukrian]

(until cancellation).

Please elaborate. What did he do?

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...wsuit-over-sexual-assault-accusations.146634/

TL;DR: Got accused of sexual assault, sued, won and cleared his name, supposedly got 2 mil(?) USD too.

It was a great bonding/vindication moment for the codex even though Avellone hasn't publicly visited us in years.

Well, what I meant was "What did Sawyer do?" because I'm up to speed with Avellone.

 

[Gargaune]

You don't seem to understand what long tail means. The fact that its player count is just a bit under PoE's despite having a lower maximum player count is proof of the long tail. A slow-but-consistent seller that eventually made a profit.

I wish more of you would take into account the concepts of financing and opportunity cost when discussing profitability. A "long tail" is a case of diminishing yields even before inflation becomes a factor, publishers assess profitability against specific dates and revenue targets for a reason. Otherwise, given a million years, fucking Redfall might earn more dollars than it cost, that won't mean it will have retroactively made a profit.

As for Deadfire, it was disappointing commercially (and not only), it was more expensive than Pillars and it sold less. Straight from the horse's mouth:

[...] I do think that the relatively low sales of Deadfire mean that if we consider making another Pillars game in this style, we’re going to have to re-examine the entire format of the game. [...] Pathfinder: Kingmaker, which generally had lower review scores than Deadfire, sold better than Deadfire and had RTwP combat. [...] I’m sure some of the people reading this think they know precisely why Deadfire sold worse than Pillars 1.

And guess what? The third "Pillars of Eternity" game is in a different "style", let alone format, and getting promoted primarily under a new brand, in case anyone's missed this here thread's title the title of that thread over there.

 

[AwesomeButton]

the average Codexer

Whatever that means nowadays.

 

[AwesomeButton]

, in case anyone's missed this here thread's title

This isn't the Awowed thread :D

 

[Roguey]

Well, what I meant was "What did Sawyer do?" because I'm up to speed with Avellone.

He existed in the past. Plenty of things a person with the will can use against him to end his career.

As for Deadfire, it was disappointing commercially (and not only), it was more expensive than Pillars and it sold less. Straight from the horse's mouth:

He wrote that before it made enough money to give him a nice bonus. Failures don't get bonuses. Sorry man but it's not 2018 anymore. Deadfire was a belated success.

 

[Gargaune]

Sorry man but it's not 2018 anymore.