Interview MotB interview at GameBanshee

[MetalCraze]

I think the sales numbers in those stats tell how many copies were printed and sent to shops. I read some info about this somewhere. I could be wrong though. Or I could be right - because I don't believe there's any possible way to know how many copies each shop sold.
...MotB is such a reassuring game.

 

[cardtrick]

Wow, this was a tragically honest interview. I really felt badly for the guy, and for Obsidian in general.

Great job, though, Brother None - this was a really interesting read.

I hope you guys are wrong about what kind of message Obsidian is going to take away from this . . . MOTB really is a great game. I'd hate to see them get discouraged.

 

[aweigh]

Your fanboyism is embarassing. And, the 180 you've pulled over Obsidian is hilarious as well.

Again, it should be noted, MOTB is a good game; but it is no 'masterpiece', and it's FAR from perfect.

It's much better than both the original NWN + its expansions and the NWN2 OC, which was already heads and shoulders above the previous games in the franchise. This is indisputable fact.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Your fanboyism is embarassing.

I can live with that.

And, the 180 you've pulled over Obsidian is hilarious as well.

180? I wasn't overly impressed with KOTOR 2, I was very disappointed with NWN2, but I've never EVER said that Obsidian is a shitty company. I think the fact that I maintained good relationship with Obsidian developers and interviewed 3 or 4 of them speaks for itself.

Again, it should be noted, MOTB is a good game; but it is no 'masterpiece', and it's FAR from perfect.

OMG! My opinion is different from yours. Duel at dawn, bitch! I demand satisfaction and won't rest until one of us is dead.

 

[pkt-zer0]

So basically, this means that buying multiple copies of MotB would be advisable? Arrrgh.

 

[pug987]

That's a very nice interview. It's always refreshing to see an interviewer ask questions that we actually care to know the answer to instead of the usual generic crap most interviewers ask.

As for the answers I always liked the fact that the people at Obsidian are so honest, quite unlike most other companies. The Patron of the Arts quest sounds very interest and it's a shame then didn't have the time to implement it. Still, it's better to do a few less things but do them good instead of trying to do more and failing to do them right (like we've seen in a number of otherwise good rpgs these past years).

Of great interest is the fact that most of the people who worked on Mask of the Betrayer didn't work at Black Isle. That shows that there are many competent and creative people at Obsidian, not only those that worked on PS:T. Still, I liked Gann and One-of-Many (if I'm not mistaken the companions writen by Chris Avellone) far more than the other three.

 

[Jora]

I think Avellone wrote Gann and Kaelyn based on the descriptions written by Ziets.

 

[Volourn]

"It's much better than both the original NWN + its expansions and the NWN2 OC, which was already heads and shoulders above the previous games in the franchise. This is indisputable fact."

Nah. Hordes is just as good.


"180? I wasn't overly impressed with KOTOR 2, I was very disappointed with NWN2, but I've never EVER said that Obsidian is a shitty company. I think the fact that I maintained good relationship with Obsidian developers and interviewed 3 or 4 of them speaks for itself."

Please. Obsidian made two games. You weren't a big fan of their first two (and only) games, and made tons of fun about them over it and now you pretty much are giving them a blow job here.

As for having a 'good relationship' with them. It's not that impressive. You've interviewed Dave Gaider all the while bashing him, and his work as well. *shrug*


"OMG! My opinion is different from yours. Duel at dawn, bitch! I demand satisfaction and won't rest until one of us is dead."

My chocie of weapons is words. I only use violence ins elf defense; not in pre planned fighting. So, you'd have to start the swinging.

 

[MetalCraze]

now you pretty much are giving them a blow job here.

Volourn, let's not start counting your fanboy blowjobs you gave to EA Edmonton.

Nah. Hordes is just as good.

C&C and non-linearity in Hordes. Where?

 

[Vault Dweller]

Please. Obsidian made two games. You weren't a big fan of their first two (and only) games, and made tons of fun about them over it and now you pretty much are giving them a blow job here.

Because I think that MotB is a fantastic game. Would you have preferred if I dismissed it or criticized it simply because the first two games were crappy?

As for having a 'good relationship' with them. It's not that impressive. You've interviewed Dave Gaider all the while bashing him, and his work as well. *shrug*

I've always liked Dave. Does liking a guy must absolutely come with worshiping everything he made? Sadly, your argument is lame.

 

[Volourn]

That's right. My blowjob of 'EA Edmonton' that consisted of giving NWN OC a 75%, claling SOU ok but overrated, KOTOR a fun but not spectatcular, haven't bothered to play two of BIO's games, etc.

Remember, if I was a 'true' fanboy I'd have been one of the whiners crying that they were sold to EA. HAHAHAHA! Yet, I don't care one way or the other. BIO means NOTHING to me outside of making games I want to play. No different than any otehr company that has come and gone.

 

[MetalCraze]

That's right. My blowjob of 'EA Edmonton' that consisted of giving NWN OC a 75%, claling SOU ok but overrated, KOTOR a fun but not spectatcular, haven't bothered to play two of BIO's games, etc.

Remember, if I was a 'true' fanboy I'd have been one of the whiners crying that they were sold to EA. HAHAHAHA! Yet, I don't care one way or the other. BIO means NOTHING to me outside of making games I want to play. No different than any otehr company that has come and gone.

Being a mass-effect fanboy is much worse than being a bioware fanboy.

giving NWN OC a 75%

giving such high mark to the NWN OC is actually a mortal crime against the whole RPG genre.

 

[Volourn]

That must explain my expressed doubts about the dialogue system. R00fles!


P.S. Do you know what the defintion of 'fanboy' is? Just wonderin'.

 

[MetalCraze]

That must explain my expressed doubts about the dialogue system. R00fles!


P.S. Do you know what the defintion of 'fanboy' is? Just wonderin'.

fanboy - obviously this was created from fanatic. The guy who rejects to see the truth behind his own beliefs.
Actually calling Mass Effect - the best Bioware game EVAR - which you did - is a fanboyism at it's purest.

 

[Volourn]

"Actually calling Mass Effect - the best Bioware game EVAR - which you did"

Nah. Did not. What i said is that it LIKELY will be, and I have no doubt it'll be better than KOTOR the game it's most going to be comapred to out of previous BIO games.


"The guy who rejects to see the truth behind his own beliefs."

It's also the guy who can't say any fualts in the object of his fanship. I have repeatedly pointed out w ekaness in BIo's agmes, and have pointed out things I do not like from what iIve seen of ME. That doesn't sound like a fanatic or fanboy to me.

A fanboy is someone who will surgarcoat any weaknesses of, say, the spirit meter (which I overall like) and call anyone who claims the SM has *any* weaknesses as retarded.


"giving such high mark to the NWN OC is actually a mortal crime against the whole RPG genre."

Yeah. 75% is so so high. Whatever. Then again, most RPGs aren't worthy of 75% ratings - espicially the so called 'old skool' ones like the GB games. *shrug*


"C&C and non-linearity in Hordes. Where?"

Throughout the game. That's where. Have you actually played HOTU, or do you smoke dope and pretend that you did?



"Because I think that MotB is a fantastic game. Would you have preferred if I dismissed it or criticized it simply because the first two games were crappy?"

1. I don't know why anyone would buy an expansion or sequel to a agme they disliked. You probably hated SW E1 and watched E2, anyways. HAHAHA! Lame.

2. You call MOTB a masterpiece, and a classic. That's illogical, and doesn't fit the game. The writing, for example, is good; but not original. In fact, IIRC, the post Avatar trilogy novels had the same basic storyline of delaing with the Wall, and the Faithless, and Kelemvor's ascent to Godhood. The characters, save possibly Kaelyn, aren't that deep. The C&C is very good, mind you, but definitely not mindblowing enough to white wash stuff that holds the game back.

Plus, I won't forgive the fact that the Red Wizards won't recognize the PC as a Red Wizard. HAHAHAHA! (not to emntion the fact the illogicies of the PC being one. ). Talk about 'choice and consequence.

 

[Solaris]

Suck it up, the world is entering a brave new dumbfuck era. Where games should be tailor made for non-thinking sheepish assholes. Anyone who dares to defy this new dictum will be trashed.

Well, thats what it feels like to me anyway...I do feel Obsidians pain.

 

[LarsWestergren]

i d be interested in sales, if gamestar is accurate for once (cause in their reviews they for sure arent....) MOTB is selling pretty well in the U.S. ( 3rd place last week, 4th place this week), but then again charts are hardly reliable, are they ?

I think that it has been selling really well. Obsidian hinted that sales tend to be better in Europe, and at the biggest game store in Stockholm it was at #3 all platforms counted for a couple of weeks, beaten only by (#1 for years now) WoW, and Halo 3 (I think).

Seems it was profitable enough that Atari didn't instantly cancel the development of the "Adventure Pack" premium modules program at least. Personally I look more forward to the Black Hound and the Planescape Trilogy though.

 

[Starwars]

Yes, I believe JE Sawyer said on the Obsidian forum that at least NWN2 itself did better in Europe, so it's likely that MotB sales would be the same.

The feeling I get is that there is a decent buzz about the expansion, but not really in the mainstream crowd (like Shivering Isles). While it's not conclusive at all, NWN2 is the "top PC game" (though I don't know what that actually means, if it counts hits or whatever) at Gamefaqs. It's been on the top 10 list since release, and moved up when MotB was released. Mask of the Betrayer itself is at the 4th spot.

 

[Norfleet]

Actually calling Mass Effect - the best Bioware game EVAR - which you did - is a fanboyism at it's purest.

I dunno, calling something the "best X ever" is not necessarily a glowing review. After all, something can be the best shit ever, but that doesn't mean it isn't still shit.

 

[pkt-zer0]

1. I don't know why anyone would buy an expansion or sequel to a agme they disliked. You probably hated SW E1 and watched E2, anyways. HAHAHA! Lame.

"HAHAHA! Lame." indeed. The only reason anyone would buy a sequel/expansion is because they liked the original - whether said sequel/expansion is great/awful doesn't matter at all. I guess Fallout fans should rush out and buy Fallout 3 as soon as possible, after all it's a sequel.

No wonder you're the forum equivalent of the village idiot, Volly.

 

[Jasede]

Can we get back to discussing the interview? Volourn is only here because he and VD have some semi-secret affair. If you read their posts to each other carefully it's easy to pick up the raw attraction of their hate/love relationship. Everything regarding Volourn has been said many times already, and there's no need to repeat it for the n-th time.

Anyway. Yeah, the interview. Go buy MotB 10 times or something.

 

[Vault Dweller]

"Because I think that MotB is a fantastic game. Would you have preferred if I dismissed it or criticized it simply because the first two games were crappy?"

1. I don't know why anyone would buy an expansion or sequel to a agme they disliked. You probably hated SW E1 and watched E2, anyways. HAHAHA! Lame.

Indeed. I should have ignored that 12-page thread where everyone who played the game said that it's either really, really good or great and very different from NWN2. I should have called them morons and written a review based on reviews I've read. Makes sense.

Plus, I won't forgive the fact that the Red Wizards won't recognize the PC as a Red Wizard. HAHAHAHA! (not to emntion the fact the illogicies of the PC being one. ). Talk about 'choice and consequence.

Won't recognize? I didn't know that and now I'm changing my opinion to "the worst game evar!"

 

[Noceur]

Nice interview.

I really need to get back to playing MotB but I'm kinda fed up with D&D (the rules) at the moment.

I honestly think that the devs at Obsidian should listen to the players rather than the on-line magazines before feeling good or bad about their game. Then again, mediocre reviews can hurt sales, so...

 

[Azarkon]

I really do feel terrible for Kevin & Obsidian, as the scores were mostly undeserved relative to the crap that gets 85%+. Not much to say beyond that except to hope that the sales were good enough, as I'd hate to see this small CRPG revival sputter out.

Though, I should point out that being top 10 on the PC games sales chart doesn't necessarily mean much, given the state of the PC platform. If you look at that list carefully, the only game that you *know* performed well and was released recently is the Orange Box, and the difference between that and MoTB is unstated. The rest... Well, let's just say that WoW: The Burning Crusade being still that high in the top 10 list isn't a good sign.