Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Roguey]

hey rope kid how come you guys dont make an rpg thats not generic fantasy
POE was successful right
do it again except with guns

alpha protocol wasn't generic fantasy.

a lot of people at the studio want to make a sci-fi or post-apocalyptic game.

Nothing like Fallout or Wasteland please.

is the "historical settings don't sell" -- feargus *rope kid slinks out of office making the Okay... face* exchange historically true

yeah, though recently he has been pretty open about me working on a small scope historical game (turn-based).

Disregard Pillars 2, fuil-speed ahead on this.

 

[Immortal]

So burned out on the Fallout / Wasteland crap.
We need some breath blown into this stale ass genre.. It's getting more hammered than the Tolkien setting these days.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Nothing like Fallout or Wasteland please.



Disregard Pillars 2, fuil-speed ahead on this.

Would be way more excited for this than a PoE sequel.

Gib historical CRPG plox Obsidian.

 

[Infinitron]

A fanboy enters the holy sanctum: https://www.reddit.com/r/projectete..._just_got_to_meet_with_obsidian_theyre_super/

I don't have good pictures of my collection with me, but I made a trip out to GenCon earlier this year specifically to meet Obsidian for the first time. I brought with me my huge collection of Pillars of Eternity physical copies (I've got quite a few- all the different releases I can get my hands on), as well as a bunch of other Obsidian Games. Shane DeFreest mentioned to me then that if I was ever in the area (Irvine, etc.) I should reach out and that they would see about letting me visit.l their offices.

I flew in to LAX on Thursday for Blizzcon. After getting in and driving around for restaurants, I realized Irvine and Anaheim are just a few miles apart. I emailed Shane back (I had some minor communications back and forth after GenCon). He told me to email him back on Monday morning (today). I did so, and he told me to come by!

I explored the Irvine Spectrum shopping area for a bit before finally meeting up at their offices. It was really very surreal, and was a great experience. I won't soon forget this opportunity.

I went into their building, and rode the elevator up to their floor (second). The elevators open up to a balcony of sorts, with the Obsidian Entertainment sign (pictured in link!) posted up by the door leading straight into their offices. One of the employees was at the door, so I told her I was there to meet with Shane. She got him, he came out and showed me around the offices and introduced me to a few different people / teams.

Their offices are huge!! The entire thing is full of hallways and sections that are dedicated to different projects. It was also very cozy. The people all had space to operate, and there was a tremendous amount of nerd apparel and memorabilia everywhere. They had huge sweeping murals on walls, like the Armored Warfare one that took up what must have been 15 or so feet of wall space! There were posters of all their works up everywhere- everything you could imagine. There were also collections of things like the Lawful Good and Chaotic Evil NWN2 retail editions up at their front desk-- just really cool stuff! The offices were also full of their favorite things. I saw XMen posters (the 90s XMen series), as well as some über cool looking Icewind Dale posters in Sawyers office. There really was too much to take it all in or remember it all, as every bit of the place was personalized with neat things.

Back to the cozy- the entire thing was very warm and friendly. I work in IT myself, and where I work everything is cold and isolated. This was exactly the opposite, with the offices being open and inviting, and the people all smiling and looking quite comfortable in whatever they were doing. Shane introduced me to quite a few different offices, and in each one the employee was friendly and showed genuine enthusiasm for the introduction. I really could not have been more impressed with the obvious dedication to working (they were all multitasking and working on all sorts of neat looking things!) and also the apparent happiness to simply be where they were and with the other people around them. It's awesome to see that they're happy to work on these games that we love!

The break room area was a real treat to see- they've got bookshelves full of games and books, and a few arcade cabinets. Sadly the one that's referenced on the Obsidian Wikipedia article was not operational (last line of the entry). Still- the whole place was rockin' awesome to visit!

After getting a real quick run through all of the offices, Shane went around and asked a few different people if they'd like to join us for lunch. 7 of us made it over to Yard House (they're right across the street from some awesome dining!). It was amazing getting to hang out for a bit with these guys, especially the bigger names that I actually expected to be uninterested or too busy with other things. We spent the hour at Yard House chit chatting about Pillars and other games.

The first question I poised was: "how many fingers / toes do Xaurips have." The Guidebook has an illustration as well as an entry about them: the entry says 3 each, but the illustration has 5 each. They said we should go with the in game models / illustrations.

The second was whether or not there was anything that either they really loved about the game that maybe we as fans may not realize, or if there's anything that's not yet been found. Josh Sawyer said there's a few things that he doesn't believe have been found within Pillars. It was also brought up that the Philospher background had a branching tree with a "Nihilist" option during a conversation at some point in the game, that ultimately leads to a singular line much later in the game (in the 3rd chapter) that is only accessible of you had the Philosopher and Nihilist background chosen throughout the game before. Can't wait to see if someone discovers it and shares it- I'd like to see it!

We also talked about things like Fallout New Vegas, 3, and even 2. I hadn't heard this before, but Josh told a story about how he was severely under leveled when he found the station on Fallout 2, and kept getting ganked by turrets before being able to make any actions. He eventually was able to run in and through, steal a bunch of items, and make it back out (thus "robbing but not completing" the dungeon). He said this ultimately led to the creation of vault 34 as we know it today, where you can run in and get out with some mega loot, if you make it all the way through.

Over all they all had awesome stories about their favorite games, experiences with and during creation of Obsidian games, and about different parts of the job with Obsidian. Truly, it was surprising (though it shouldn't have been- Obsidian has always treated us fans well!) that all of the people I met were interested and enthusiastic about meeting with a fan.

After the lunch, we returned to their offices, where they presented me with a bunch of neat little Obsidian gifts (sadly no shirts this time, but I got a super cool Pillars of Eternity dragon poster!), that they had left out for employees to autograph. (I'll post pictures when I get this stuff home).

I spent about an hour and a half with them all said and done, and it was really neat to do so. This was my first interaction actually with a game company, much less one that has produced so many of my favorite games.

I got no word on the White Wolf / Paradox acquisition and whether or not Obsidian is going to get to work on any of those IP's within the World of Darkness (here's crossed fingers hoping!), or of the status of a second Pillars of Eternity gam (again- here's hoping!), but they were still open and friendly about projects we currently know about.

Also- I'm pretty sure they want some feedback about the Novels within the world of Eora, as they were upset with me for not having read them yet. I've got some homework to do!

 

[Roguey]

The Yard House and not the Cheesecake Factory, eh? Guess that's just a Feargus thing.

So burned out on the Fallout / Wasteland crap.
We need some breath blown into this stale ass genre.. It's getting more hammered than the Tolkien setting these days.

There's always Elex.

 

[Irenaeus II]

"how many fingers / toes do Men-Pygra Xaurips have." ~~ Taylor Swift

Can't wait for PoE 2!!

 

[Theldaran]

An hour and a half stay and a bunch of baubles. This seems out of a dream.

 

[Ivan]

Fallout: LA


When, OBSIDIAN?

Also, would Saywer/Cain direct? Would Avellone work on it? Find out soon

 

[Sensuki]

Bethesda aint giving Obsidian another contract ever again.

 

[Roguey]

Bethesda aint giving Obsidian another contract ever again.

They might. New Vegas made a lot of money and that's what matters.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

They might. New Vegas made a lot of money and that's what matters.

That Three Dog guy didn't know his place and revealed the existence of Fallout 4, which seems to have cost him the role.

Josh Sawyer didn't know his place and revealed an unfixed bug in the PS3 version of Skyrim...

 

[Roguey]

That Three Dog guy didn't know his place and revealed the existence of Fallout 4, which seems to have cost him the role.

Josh Sawyer didn't know his place and revealed an unfixed bug in the PS3 version of Skyrim...

Three Dog's not even in Fallout 4 so I don't see why he'd be expected. It's not like they recast the character.

Josh was specifically talking about an engine bug in New Vegas. Furthermore, most people don't even remember or care about any of that.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Don't assume corporate scumbags are going to put profits above punishing the little people who don't know their place.

Dellums fucked with their big reveal, and Sawyer exposed what appears to be an outright lie by Bethesda regarding their PS3 version of Skyrim.

 

[Sensuki]

They might. New Vegas made a lot of money and that's what matters.

From what I can gather though they seem a bit uppity regarding how well it was received, but you're right.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Keep in mind that Obsidian developing another Fallout means the studio becomes more experienced with a formula that's very valuable to Bethesda.

If Obsidian were to develop 2 successful AAA open-world RPGs, then Obsidian might be hired or purchased by a rival publisher trying to get some of Bethesda's market share.

 

[Sensuki]

Yeah it was also before Skyrim, now they don't need external help. It seems like Josh's negative comments about the engine didn't help the situation either.

 

[Duraframe300]

Randomly checking in to drop Linkedin profile

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kstarks

Narrative Designer - Unannounced Title
Obsidian Entertainment
October 2015 – Present (2 months)Orange County, California Area
Writer and game designer on an unannounced project for Obsidian Entertainment. Primary areas of focus include character dialogue, item and area descriptions, quest text, etc.

Worked previously on MMO's Wildstar and Fallen Earth

 

[Roguey]

Don't assume corporate scumbags are going to put profits above punishing the little people who don't know their place.

Dellums fucked with their big reveal, and Sawyer exposed what appears to be an outright lie by Bethesda regarding their PS3 version of Skyrim.

Everyone knew another Fallout game was going to happen after Skyrim and Sawyer mentioned nothing about Skyrim's engine in response to that question. Some badgamer asked him about it earlier this year and he responded with

i don't remember getting in hot water about that unless being in hot water means someone on the internet is mad at me. in that case i exist in a perpetually warm cauldron.

what does "really mad" mean?

i don't remember getting in trouble at work for it.

 

[Sensuki]

Randomly checking in to drop Linkedin profile

That's interesting. Do you think it's the unannounced RPG or something new?

 

[Immortal]

They might. New Vegas made a lot of money and that's what matters.

I hope your right for once..

Randomly checking in to drop Linkedin profile

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kstarks

Narrative Designer - Unannounced Title
Obsidian Entertainment
October 2015 – Present (2 months)Orange County, California Area
Writer and game designer on an unannounced project for Obsidian Entertainment. Primary areas of focus include character dialogue, item and area descriptions, quest text, etc.

Worked previously on MMO's Wildstar and Fallen Earth

Ohh man.. Which one is it?
Another Pillars of Abortion Directed by Josh Sawyer or Fallout 4: The Real One..?

 

[Duraframe300]

That's interesting. Do you think it's the unannounced RPG or something new?

Dunno. Her area of focus seems to hint the project is further along so may be not something that started in the last year.

 

[Athelas]

she previously worked as a senior game designer on the critically acclaimed sci-fi MMO Wildstar at Carbine Studios

She has the same credentials as the creator of Fallout.

 

[Irenaeus II]

PoE 2 hopefully.

 

[Hegel]

"Pitfalls of entertainment 2: shut up and suck my dick Josh Sawyer's dream RPG 2, this time a proper BG2-like game trust us and give us your money, we are not lying fuck you"

Yeah, they might have perfectionated the formula. Another game Roguey will surely play.

 

[Fairfax]

Feargus said in this interview in the Game Informer show that they've signed with a publisher to make a repurposed version of the north carolina project, and it should be announced "in the next few months".
Interview begins at ~1:20, but he talks about this at ~2:30.