Eternity Josh Sawyer wants to make Pillars of Eternity 3, but only if...

[luj1]

Why is this fruitcake doing so many interviews? What the fuck has he done

Because he has nothing else to do.

Remember, when Dumpsterfire crashed the man went on tours to explain why. He lives off the myth of his own failures, like a travelling beggar

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah honestly fuck those people. They could have done any project they wanted and choose to screw the fans that kept them afloat and Avowed, a game nobody asked for. But now that BG3 broke the box office they suddenly want to make a cRPG again.

 

[Darkozric]

I'd rather see him eaten by a deadfire shark

 

[luj1]

I'd rather see him eaten by a deadfire shark

Deathfire > Deadfire

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

Wood elf (male), just like my girl (male)

 

[Sigourn]

I don't want a New Vegas 2 because it won't live up to what I already imagined.

 

[Yosharian]

I will actually give rare praise to Sawyer and his team, the interface in Deadfire is fantastic and much, much better than BG3's.

Not a high bar, but there you go, some praise for Deadfire

 

[processdaemon]

Waiting for Xbox to call and tell me they want Pillars 3 with a $120M budget.
Any day now, I’m sure.

If Swen had waited around for someone to call him with $120 million BG3 would never have been made either.

 

[Roguey]

He's one of the last big names in game development

AHAHHAHAHAH

Yeah he is. In your fanboy head where he lives rent free

I haven't even liked the guy in years. He's still a big name. 95,000 followers on twitter compared to Has-been Avellone's 50,000. Back when blue checks were given to favored people, he got one for free, Avellone had to buy his when Musk took over.

Yeah honestly fuck those people. They could have done any project they wanted and choose to screw the fans that kept them afloat and Avowed, a game nobody asked for. But now that BG3 broke the box office they suddenly want to make a cRPG again.

The guy you want to be mad at is Feargus Urquhart.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...-at-obsidian-entertainment.65183/post-1827634

GS: Are games that feature only turn-based combat "dead"? Do you think any RPG you produce will need some form of real-time combat, at least as an option (in spite of the fact that a lot of fans of the Fallout series loved the turn-based combat)?

FU: Dead? I think that has to do with the available time people have, more than any other reason. People need to get through combat quickly, and turn-based combat can drag things along. Turn-based combat is fine if there are three turns. I get frustrated in Wizardry 8, spending four turns just to get to the creatures I want to fight and then spending a long time in battle--sad to say, I just don't feel like I have time for all that, and I think a lot of gamers feel the same way.

GS: And yet turn-based strategy games, like Civilization III, still seem to have a viable market.

FU: That's true because you're not waiting. Except for very short periods of time, you're always in control of the game. In a role-playing game, since you're playing the heroes, your party members will typically be fighting twice as many monsters, and you'll have to wait for all of those enemies to take their turns.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...-at-obsidian-entertainment.65183/post-1827682

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/5 ... allout.php
What did you personally think of Fallout 3?

FU: I don't want to just say that I really enjoyed it, because that feels like I'm just kissing ass: "It was a wonderful experience!" But I am not a guy who was caught up in the notion that Fallout had to be an isometric, turn-based experience. To me, Fallout was always just the feeling of the world.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/interviews/9 ... uhart.html
GB: Did you ever try to convince them that you should do an isometric turn-based Fallout after Fallout 3?

Feargus: [laughter]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/get-your-dungeon-siege-iii-demo.60286/post-1672602

My main issue with that direction was that if we show a little character on the screen, it’s going to look too much like a PC game – and I’m not saying I hate PC games - but it’s going to look too much like a last-gen game. And that means we’re screwed. We’re just screwed. With modern games, you have to have people say how pretty the game is and it is one a real expectation. That probably sounds bad to say, but it's what even most of us expect.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Doesn't Feargus have like 5 million hours played on X-com? It's a 2004 interview, things change.

 

[Roguey]

Doesn't Feargus have like 5 million hours played on X-com? It's a 2004 interview, things change.

Sawyer had to threaten to quit to get him to agree to the Project Eternity kickstarter, these were not games he was excited about.

 

[0sacred]

Doesn't Feargus have like 5 million hours played on X-com? It's a 2004 interview, things change.

Sawyer had to threaten to quit to get him to agree to the Project Eternity kickstarter, these were not games he was excited about.

let's not forget that Good Guy Feargus gave him the directive "make it like BG" and Sawyer was like "gotchu fam, high IQ Barbarians"

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Doesn't Feargus have like 5 million hours played on X-com? It's a 2004 interview, things change.

Sawyer had to threaten to quit to get him to agree to the Project Eternity kickstarter, these were not games he was excited about.

Well turns out none of them were excited about it, that's why they jumped the ship first chance they got and moved onto 3D popamole.

 

[Axel_am]

If PoE 3 gets made it should be by Sawyer. It just wouldn't feel right otherwise. I imagine if Sawyer doesn't do it something like what happened to Baldur's Gate is likely to happen here. Let the franchise rest for x amount of years and make a 3rd installment that doesn't have much to do with the previous 2 titles. Zombifying the franchise if you will.

 

[Sherry]

Hi.

gosh. Gosh! JOSH!

You can almost hear the engine getting louder as the light is about to turn green and Pillars of Eternity III zooms to the front of the project line and old friends are reunited and they can make the YouTube video about it sharing in the excitement with fans of the series showing off what they have already put together and just how the previous two tales shaped Eora with Ashley Johnson returning to narrate the history of time that has passed since the Wheel was shattered. Gosh the white board in the conference room is ready okay? OKAY!

Thanks,
Sherry

 

[Roguey]

Well turns out none of them were excited about it, that's why they jumped the ship first chance they got and moved onto 3D popamole.

Most people don't get a say about what projects they get to make. Deadfire's turn-based mode was something a couple of people made in their spare time.

 

[sser]

There has to be severe marketing/sales whiplash swerving from cRPG to FPS with swords and then seeing a turn-based BG3 blow the brakes off.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

There has to be severe marketing/sales whiplash swerving from cRPG to FPS with swords and then seeing a turn-based BG3 blow the brakes off.

Especially when Starfield is playing second fiddle to BG3. I've seen media outlets claiming that Starfield is the XBOX game of the year, which helps when you're "the" game released for the xbox this year.

 

[Axel_am]

Not really sure why people were so excited with Starfield. Tons of space exploration games came out the last few years and none of them reached the heights everybody was setting up for them or the ones the devs were aiming for. Howard games have always been kinda sameish. What the hell made people think that this would be any different? The slightly better graphics? Maybe the marketing?

BG3's success definitely opened the possibility for many new CRPGs and of course for PoE 3. I just hope we don't burry ourselves in Turn Based combat the next few years. RTwP might not be perfect but it's a rewarding to learn system that can flow pretty great once you get the hang of it.

 

[Jacov]

A New Vegas 2 game from the man who confessed he doesn't understand why New Vegas became a cult classsic? Or a PoE 3 from the guy who said this:

«Would I do it again, personally? (about PoE ruleset). Noooo! I don't even like classes».

 

[duskvile]

I just hope we don't burry ourselves in Turn Based combat the next few years. RTwP might not be perfect but it's a rewarding to learn system that can flow pretty great once you get the hang of it.

Yes. Pillars 3 should be with RTwP system but upgraded for better control.

 

[OttoQuitmarck]

you know why most western studios turn to shit sooner or later while most japanese studios maintain quality? Arrogance. Once western studios grt big they start thinking they’re the shit. They stop playing video games and start spending more time on cocaine and hookers… or riding your bike if you’re gay. Japs stay humble and continue to play games and listen to feedback that’s why they don’t forget how to make good games.

Name one good jap game made in the last 10 years that wasn't made by from soft. I'll wait.

They only know how to make cringe anime garbage.

 

[Mortmal]

Yeah honestly fuck those people. They could have done any project they wanted and choose to screw the fans that kept them afloat and Avowed, a game nobody asked for. But now that BG3 broke the box office they suddenly want to make a cRPG again.

The worst part is that they want to make a CRPG without learning from their errors and without understanding the reasons behind BG3's true success and POE's failure. Larian's philosophy is to ensure their players, their customers, have fun and to produce something that pleases their customers. They likely have read Bioware forums thoroughly, including everything, and have also taken into account tabletop book critiques with extreme attention to detail.

One common topic on the Codex is the false outrage about the bear and illithid romance. However, some people have short memories. Remember the kinds of threads we had on Bioware forums? Many here are Bioware refugees, so they should remember. There were threads to romance absolutely everything, mega-threads about Dragon Age Varrick's chest hair, with fan art and all. That was the true Bioware forums, and I'm pretty sure the folks at Larian were reading about it.

Sawyer will write his own system, albeit a poorly done one, while Larian uses the well-known and popular 5E system. But you know what? The system has zero importance. 5E is popular, and you might feel like playing RPGs is more widespread, but they're not. I was talking to some girl 30+ years younger than me, you know, the kind with weird hair colors, and it turns out 5E groups don't use 80% of the rules because they're too complicated. It was evident when reading Reddit that the most common practice was just imagining stories and posting character art. The RPG practice, the combat wargame aspect, is not more popular than ever. It's exactly as niche as before. What's popular is a good story, like the romance novels of old, with good graphics.

 

[Vic]

you know why most western studios turn to shit sooner or later while most japanese studios maintain quality? Arrogance. Once western studios grt big they start thinking they’re the shit. They stop playing video games and start spending more time on cocaine and hookers… or riding your bike if you’re gay. Japs stay humble and continue to play games and listen to feedback that’s why they don’t forget how to make good games.

Name one good jap game made in the last 10 years that wasn't made by from soft. I'll wait.

They only know how to make cringe anime garbage.

mario and zelda have been going strong since the 80s with the recent zelda game being a strong contender for game of the year

 

[Butter]

I'm not convinced anyone at Obsidian is competent to direct a $120 million game, and Sawyer has demonstrated over the past decade that he's happiest when he's designing for himself rather than for a wide audience. But it's all moot because nobody is going to offer Obsidian $120 million for any project, let alone another Pillars, and no game should cost that much anyway. Nearly every discussion on this forum is about how games were better when they were made by small teams with unified visions (and more importantly, creativity-promoting constraints).