People News Leonard Boyarsky has joined Obsidian Entertainment

[Duraframe300]

If Boyarsky left Blizzard on his own will, he abandoned a really good job, I don't think he did that because he couldn't wait to work on Obsidian knowing that Obsidian is unstable as hell to the point that it could close at any minute if it wasn't the tank MMO on 2012. I guess that Obsidian has secured the funding for a secret project, three theories:
1)They refurbished a cancelled project with new funding.
2)WoD game from Paradox.
3) Fallout 4 spin off.

Of the three, the refurbished cancelled project and even a Fallout 4 spin off seems more likely to me than an WoD game. From where Paradox would get the kind of funding to pay for an AAA Bloodlines kind FPS?

Again they are not unstable anymore and they are much further from closing even if Armored Warfare was done. At least they are not in a worse situation than any other comparable developer.

Otherwise true, yeah. He left a really good job.

 

[Excidium II]

Who's comparable to Obsidian anyway?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah I don't know what people are talking about. Obsidian is in best shape it's ever been.

They have several projects coming down the pipeline, they finally have their own IP that can be milked for centuries, they have a partnership with publisher that is actually sort of sensible. Last but not least, Armored Warfare alone will keep the lights on for years to come, as MMOs are in constant development even after launch.

 

[Black]

WoD
+
Tanks

Whoa

 

[DeepOcean]

WoD
+
Tanks

Whoa

Who would be the Malkavian Tank?

 

[Zeriel]

WoD
+
Tanks

Whoa

Who would be the Malkavian Tank?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerer_Gustav

 

[Immortal]

What's Jason Anderson up to these days by the way?

At Turtle Rock studios. A bloody waste.

I have a few friends at Turtle Rock. It's not so bad.. it was much better before. They had a huge flop recently but back in the steam co-op days they did some amazing work from a technical point of view.

 

[Fairfax]

Yeah I don't know what people are talking about. Obsidian is in best shape it's ever been.

They have several projects coming down the pipeline, they finally have their own IP that can be milked for centuries, they have a partnership with publisher that is actually sort of sensible. Last but not least, Armored Warfare alone will keep the lights on for years to come, as MMOs are in constant development even after launch.

In 2009 they still had MCA, Ziets, Gonzalez, Kevin, Stout, et al., and they were working on Alpha Protocol (their first original IP), Fallout: New Vegas, Dungeon Siege III, Aliens and a cancelled title or two. It all went downhill from there with the exception of FNV, but it was probably their best shape (on paper).

 

[Black]

What's Jason Anderson up to these days by the way?

At Turtle Rock studios. A bloody waste.

I have a few friends at Turtle Rock. It's not so bad.. it was much better before. They had a huge flop recently but back in the steam co-op days they did some amazing work from a technical point of view.

You can just say Evolve.

 

[agris]

. From where Paradox would get the kind of funding to pay for an AAA Bloodlines kind FPS?

Aren't they planning an IPO? And while everyone is hoping for Bloodlines 2, theoretically speaking a WoD game could be anything (Would they risk the disappointment though?)

God this is a horrible idea. A publicly traded company must slavishly try to satisfy the board of directors and place profit incentives above all else (fiduciary responsibility towards shareholders).

Lets look at some examples of publicly traded developers and publishers:

• Activision
• Blizzard
  
• Electronic Arts
• Take-Two Interactive
• Square Enix Holdings Co
  
• Atari SA
• Konami
• Nintendo

Paradox will be joining an elite pantheon of... shit.


[Add Microsoft, Sony and Hasboro to those lists - but they're in a different league]

 

[Flou]

God this is a horrible idea. A publicly traded company must slavishly try to satisfy the board of directors and place profit incentives above all else (fiduciary responsibility towards shareholders).

If they keep majority of the shares that board of directors should be quite friendful towards their decision making.

 

[Infinitron]

MMORPG: http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/39242/General-Blizzards-Leonard-Boyarsky-Joins-Obsidian.html
Shacknews: http://www.shacknews.com/article/94...oins-obsidian-with-former-troika-pal-tim-cain
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/13/11422418/leonard-boyarsky-blizzard-obsidian-diablo-3

 

[Diggfinger]

What's Jason Anderson up to these days by the way?

At Turtle Rock studios. A bloody waste.

I have a few friends at Turtle Rock. It's not so bad.. it was much better before. They had a huge flop recently but back in the steam co-op days they did some amazing work from a technical point of view.

For an overview of Anderson's career, check out the Wiki I did:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Anderson_(artist)

 

[Diggfinger]

We want Troika!!!

 

[Flou]

Shacknews: http://www.shacknews.com/article/94...oins-obsidian-with-former-troika-pal-tim-cain
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/13/11422418/leonard-boyarsky-blizzard-obsidian-diablo-3

Lots of "free" publicity for both Obsidian and Tyranny, even though it's doubtful he is even working on Tyranny. Now all we need is Feargus being Feargus and giving mystical hints about what he is actually working on.

 

[agris]

Shacknews: http://www.shacknews.com/article/94...oins-obsidian-with-former-troika-pal-tim-cain
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/13/11422418/leonard-boyarsky-blizzard-obsidian-diablo-3

Lots of "free" publicity for both Obsidian and Tyranny, even though it's doubtful he is even working on Tyranny. Now all we need is Feargus being Feargus and giving mystical hints about what he is actually working on.

Well you see... um.. ah, well, uhh eh it's actually - heh - uhhhh

If they keep majority of the shares that board of directors should be quite friendful towards their decision making.

Right, but that kinda counters the whole point of the IPO - they could raise money via limited partnerships or the vesting of private stock instead of going IPO. I assume they're going IPO to get a boost in valuation and therefore borrowing power.

 

[Fairfax]

Shacknews: http://www.shacknews.com/article/94...oins-obsidian-with-former-troika-pal-tim-cain
Polygon: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/13/11422418/leonard-boyarsky-blizzard-obsidian-diablo-3

Lots of "free" publicity for both Obsidian and Tyranny, even though it's doubtful he is even working on Tyranny. Now all we need is Feargus being Feargus and giving mystical hints about what he is actually working on.

Well you see... um.. ah, well, uhh eh it's actually - heh - uhhhh

If they keep majority of the shares that board of directors should be quite friendful towards their decision making.

Right, but that kinda counters the whole point of the IPO - they could raise money via limited partnerships or the vesting of private stock instead of going IPO. I assume they're going IPO to get a boost in valuation and therefore borrowing power.

You forgot '...like..." in between each word.

 

[SionIV]

If we're going to get a master piece from Tim Cain and Loenard Boyarsky, at the same quality as Arcanum and Fallout, they need to be working from a garage/basement with mediocre computer equipment and live on pizza.

 

[Excidium II]

Also need to erase all their memories past year 2000.

 

[Lhynn]

i think the prequels fucked most people in the head very badly, it practically defined 2000s stupidity

 

[Infinitron]

Moar:
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/...designer-leonard-boyarsky-joins-obsidian.aspx
https://www.vg247.com/2016/04/13/diablo-3-vampire-the-masquerade-obsidian/
http://gameranx.com/updates/id/4826...rd-boyarsky-leaves-blizzard-to-join-obsidian/ (Rex!)
http://www.gamezone.com/news/the-lead-designer-for-diablo-3-leaves-to-join-obsidian-3436032

 

[Jaesun]

Rex' crap site is still up? lol

 

[Black]

Yes, he even un-sjwed himself some time ago.
Flips gonna flop etc

 

[cherry blossom]

Possibly has no significance but there is a live trademark for "Vampire The Masquerade" (serial#: 86853419) for "a video game software; computer game software", filed on December 18, 2015 and has become effective on October 26, 2015 -> that's a couple days before Paradox announced the White Wolf buyout from CCP. Worth noting is that only two of the currently live trademarks owned by White Wolf are in video games and software category which are "Vampire The Masquerade" and "Vampire" and the latter is from 2001. I wonder if they waited for the trademark to become effective before announcing the deal.

Oddly, despite the buyout, CCP still seems to own the trademarks to White Wolf brands (World of Darkness; Vampire The Masquerade, Redemption, Requiem; Werewolf The Forsaken, Apocalypse; Mage The Awakening, Ascension; Kindred of the East, and a bunch of others) for "Downloadable role-playing books and manuals via the internet and wireless devices" and all Vampire 13 clan names (Gangrel, Tzimisce, Lasombra, Ventrue, Malkavian etc.) for "Role playing game equipment in the nature of game book manuals; Series of fiction books". How odd.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Paradox will refocus the WoD ips from tabletop and books to computer games, which are not covered by those trademark rights.