Incline Josh Sawyer appreciation station

[Spukrian]

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.

Yeah, I figured. Best you keep it to yourself if you know something...

 

[Roguey]

the average Codexer

Whatever that means nowadays.

It's reasonable to say that most people here have a far greater understanding of crpgs than the average rpg player, but there is a range even here. The popular opinion here is that Pillars combat was not very interesting or demanding. Me, I thought Hard was difficult enough, so I would be below-average in the context of this forum.

 

[Gargaune]

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

This isn't the Awowed thread :D

But I was... And then he was... Did they move it, or was I posting in here all along? I need a drink. I'm getting a drink.

 

[Tyranicon]

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.

This industry is so fickle and cancel happy that I can't imagine actually working in one of these godless slop factories.

Going independent is much better. At least then you won't get fired just because of some false accusations. Ridiculous.

 

[Nikanuur]

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.

This industry is so fickle and cancel happy that I can't imagine actually working in one of these godless slop factories.

Going independent is much better. At least then you won't get fired just because of some false accusations. Ridiculous.

As one independently artful creator of artsy ...something that artistically changes some hues, lightnings, and all in the not-so-much-of-an-art-game Hogwarts Legacy to another independent creator of a game, I agree.
(Please don't kill me in my sleep.)
I don't even know why I am saying this here.
I also need a drink.
It's those Friday evenings... it must be...

 

[AwesomeButton]

the average Codexer

Whatever that means nowadays.

It's reasonable to say that most people here have a far greater understanding of crpgs than the average rpg player, but there is a range even here. The popular opinion here is that Pillars combat was not very interesting or demanding. Me, I thought Hard was difficult enough, so I would be below-average in the context of this forum.

I've found it depends a lot on the thread you're in, heh. In the occasions I've opened a reddit thread from some google search result, I've been surprised how much the shallow, uninformed opinions and poor vocabulary resemble those that are predominant here. "Knowledge of RPGs" has devolved to lobbing memes and not especially well thought-out truisms about one game or another. "This and that had good writing" "This other one was too woke". If the game is part of a series, then the ones after the first inevitably "sucked". Explanations and analysis are so basic, you're better off not starting a discussion at all.

 

[AwesomeButton]

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.

This industry is so fickle and cancel happy that I can't imagine actually working in one of these godless slop factories.

Going independent is much better. At least then you won't get fired just because of some false accusations. Ridiculous.

But you must have a day job, I guess?

 

[Desiderius]

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.

This is such a stupid line to take.

The fights gating Fort Joy were harder than anything in either version of Deadfire and D:OS II sold like hotcakes. The long tail happened *after* they got rid of the faceroll at release.

Stop insulting your audience = sell more games!

 

[Tyranicon]

But you must have a day job, I guess?

Me in particular, or indies in general?

Personally, gamedev is my fulltime. It pays my bills (for now). But yeah solodev is a rough gig and while there was a time I was more optimistic about it, now I would discourage basically 99.999% of people from ever attempting fulltime solo. Or even fulltime with a small team.

Unless of course you have industry connections, years of experience, and are somewhat (hopefully?) semi-wealthy like Sawyer, Avellone and others.

You have to be insane and stupid to quit a well-paying career just to go off and spend 12 hours a day to make weird niche RPGs with no promise of financial security.

 

[Roguey]

This is such a stupid line to take.

The fights gating Fort Joy were harder than anything in either version of Deadfire and D:OS II sold like hotcakes. The long tail happened *after* they got rid of the faceroll at release.

Stop insulting your audience = sell more games!

Obsidian's always made the kind of games they're capable of playing themselves.

I can personally test things on Hard, as can Bobby and a few other folks, but most of the other devs cannot. Or rather, they wouldn't really get anywhere. If I listened to them for tuning advice, Hard wouldn't be hard at all.

If Obsidian's designers played D:OS II, I imagine they had to do it on Easy and/or never made it past the opening area (the average Larian fan experience).

 

[Desiderius]

Then they need to git gud.

If the freaking Belge can do it anyone can. This is just the usual Soyer selling other people short to pump up that ego.

It’s not the average Larian fan experience not to make it past the opening area. Why would a gazillion people buy a game they can’t play (and its sequel)?

This is @Fedora Master’s cue to remind people I barely made it out of Act 1 in BG3, but that’s just because it was so freaking full that it triggered my completionism. Obsidian games have a lot of shit to try out too.

But Larian has some (relatively) tough gates while Obsidian once you get established there’s nothing really there that scares you. Steep roller coasters and horror movies are popular. People like getting taken out of their comfort zone.

 

[AwesomeButton]

You have to be insane and stupid to quit a well-paying career just to go off and spend 12 hours a day to make weird niche RPGs with no promise of financial security.

I'll put this on my list of dream activities for post-retirement, along with writing a fantasy novel.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Why would a gazillion people buy a game they can’t play (and its sequel)?

 

[Roguey]

It’s not the average Larian fan experience not to make it past the opening area.

Oh indeed it is.

D:OS Classic and D:OS Enhanced

33-31% make it as far as Evelyn. 23-25% actually complete Cyseal by beating Braccus Rex. 75% of D:OS players never get out of it.

D:OS 2

57% of players make it out of Fort Joy. 46% of players beat Alexander. 54% of D:OS 2 players never leave the island.

BG3

51% finish act 1 which obviously means that 49% did not.

A lot of people just fuck around for a while until they get bored or hit a brick wall, then move on. They enjoyed fucking around, so they get the next one.

 

[gurugeorge]

It’s not the average Larian fan experience not to make it past the opening area.

Oh indeed it is.

D:OS Classic and D:OS Enhanced

33-31% make it as far as Evelyn. 23-25% actually complete Cyseal by beating Braccus Rex. 75% of D:OS players never get out of it.

D:OS 2

57% of players make it out of Fort Joy. 46% of players beat Alexander. 54% of D:OS 2 players never leave the island.

BG3

51% finish act 1 which obviously means that 49% did not.

A lot of people just fuck around for a while until they get bored or hit a brick wall, then move on. They enjoyed fucking around, so they get the next one.

That pattern seems to hold for most games, and in that context one can hardly blame developers for front-loading their games.

(Frankly, the only game in recent years that has been a consistently "dense" experience all the way through to the very end for me has been Disco Elysium.)

 

[Cross]

 

[Artyoan]

Let's send him a new watch that says 'PoE3 will be just as good' and wait for his reaction.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Let's send him a new watch that says 'PoE3 will be just as good' and wait for his reaction.

Codex fundraiser? But let's make it "PoE3 will be better"

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

"Eothas did nothing wrong"

 

[Sinder Velvin]

It's probably a joke

I've found an interview from 8 months later that corroborates it.

 

[Late Bloomer]

As Helldivers 2 draws Metal Gear Solid 5 comparisons, Obsidian RPG master Josh Sawyer says "more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good"

https://www.gamesradar.com/as-helld...uld-just-directly-copy-stuff-that-feels-good/

"I’m not kidding when I say more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good from games they like and then riff from there,"

"The act of copying something requires you to do a lot of critical analysis and it’s extremely informative even if you scrap everything and start over," Sawyer adds.

 

[normie]

he's just given up now

 

[mediocrepoet]

As Helldivers 2 draws Metal Gear Solid 5 comparisons, Obsidian RPG master Josh Sawyer says "more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good"

https://www.gamesradar.com/as-helld...uld-just-directly-copy-stuff-that-feels-good/

"I’m not kidding when I say more games should just directly copy stuff that feels good from games they like and then riff from there,"

"The act of copying something requires you to do a lot of critical analysis and it’s extremely informative even if you scrap everything and start over," Sawyer adds.

He saw us making fun of him and started trying to copy things he thinks men do.

 

[Butter]

Somebody had a deadline and needed a quick 250-word article. I wonder if Soyer gets a cut.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Apparently Josh likes Groucho Marx.