Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Fry]

Nah... he's done more since. Just nothing the Codex would care much about.

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

A bunch of writing on Shadow of Mordor and now lead writer on this:

 

[Fairfax]

He suffered from not really having any part in the Fallout franchise or Obsidian/Black Isle (or for crpg players) before that. The vast majority of players I came across believed Chris Avellone wrote it. (Van Buren connection additionally hurt)

That and he also never put his name out there. I mean, is there a single interview with him from that time?
I know some are naturally shy and all, but it really helps once fans know the people behind the stuff they like. It can even protect one's job and give leverage when negotiating a salary. It's a shame InXile fired Kevin and there was zero backlash, for instance.

 

[Roguey]

Hey hey hey Kevin was successfully guilt-tripped into voluntarily leaving. There was no termination, inXile doesn't have to pay unemployment benefits, it's all good.

 

[Rev]

Finally one case where I strongly agree with Sawyer. "Choices in games are always illusions" is one of the most punchable arguments out there.
The irony is that PoE is filled with Biowarian illusions of choice.

Well, to be honest he said that it's not "even hard if you make it a priority", on PoE it probably wasn't a major one (first they had to build the framework, evoke the feeling of the IE games, etc). On the other hand, he had the same role on New Vegas and there is a lot of reactivity there.

Same role, different involvement. He wrote most of PoE's lore and the 1st pass on the main quest, for example.
I agree that it wasn't a priority, but they did promise a lot of reactivity back in the Kickstarter campaign.

Yeah, they also promised (well, not really but it was implied by the KS) that MCA and Tim Cain would have a major role on the game and in the end neither had a huge impact on the game. But they hadn't really thought much about the project before the campaign, so it's somewhat surprising that they managed to fulfill many other promises. I still believe (and hope) they will expand the reactivity and a bunch of other stuff in the sequel, though.
About Sawyer's role on PoE and FNV, I think he had pretty much the same involvement with both games, actually. Of course, in New Vegas he only rebalanced the systems instead of creating it from scratch and in PoE he also designed the setting (which is actually pretty good and with a lot of potential imho), aside from the pantheon which was Ziets' work.

 

[Excidium II]

I wonder where he'll end up, not many CRPG developers around.

A bunch of writing on Shadow of Mordor

He worked on the Nemesis system, which is p. cool. Would be nice to have something like that in CRPGs.

 

[Neanderthal]

Watched that GDC talk wi Gonzalez an Fenstermaker were it? Anyway Gonzalez seemed really switched on an knowledgable, i'd look at a game twice if I saw his moniker on it.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Fuck yeah, Josh. Fuck yeah. You've talked the talk, now walk the walk (and yes, I know NV walked the walk, I mean with regards to the PoE franchise).

 

[DosBuster]

I get the feeling that he was too pre-occupied with designing the ruleset and managing a project which may of been the downfall with PoE.

 

[Duraframe300]

Nah... he's done more since. Just nothing the Codex would care much about.

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

A bunch of writing on Shadow of Mordor and now lead writer on this:

I meant stuff PRIOR to FNV for what he would have been known for.

 

[Aoyagi]

I see PE is 9th top seller now due to the sale. Any idea how does it fare business-wise? As in, was it profitable? I assume the crowdfunding campaign didn't cover all the developments costs.

 

[CptMace]

It'll be profitable during the long trail. Obviously.
Don't know if it worked that much so far though.

 

[ArchAngel]

I see PE is 9th top seller now due to the sale. Any idea how does it fare business-wise? As in, was it profitable? I assume the crowdfunding campaign didn't cover all the developments costs.

Steam stats says: 683,266 ± 19,11 owners. Add GoG owners to that and I am certain it was profitable.

 

[Prime Junta]

Pretty sure it's solidly in the black. It's sold maybe 700,000 units so far. That adds up to $20M or more in gross revenue. Even after accounting for the Steam/GoG/Paradox cut, that ought to be more than enough to put it into profit.

 

[CptMace]

Don't forget that the tail of the trail always represents 80-90% of the profit while the head, even if more visible, only represents 10-20%.
ie. They're gonna get cash for decades (supposedly they live that long ) from PoE.

 

[Prime Junta]

Don't forget that the tail of the trail always represents 80-90% of the profit while the head, even if more visible, only represents 10-20%.
ie. They're gonna get cash for decades (supposedly they live that long ) from PoE.

I'm sure they're thinking along these lines when planning a sequel. Pillars 2 is sure to boost Pillars 1 sales as well, and at that point it's pure profit.

 

[Immortal]

I recently installed PoE with all the patches and DLC from my kickstarter pledge. Gonna give it another whirl and see how it shakes out.
I am pretty pessimistic because my biggest gripes with the game were always story, encounter / world / quest design, itemization and I doubt any of that has been overhauled in a meaningful way.

Here's hoping PoE 2 doesn't suck.. but I won't be holding my breath.

 

[Prime Junta]

With the itemization, pay attention to how the unique item abilities mesh with each other and various character abilities, talents, and other stats. There's a lot of mileage in them. Very few are genuine vendor trash; you just have to figure out how to make the most of them.

 

[Immortal]

With the itemization, pay attention to how the unique item abilities mesh with each other and various character abilities, talents, and other stats. There's a lot of mileage in them. Very few are genuine vendor trash; you just have to figure out how to make the most of them.

Very few of the items (outside the rpgcodex shop) were unique at all. I would get some named item that would make me -think- I got something interesting and unique.. but it always amounted to mundane affix stats that could be improved through the crafting system.
Items were never unique with some special ability or functionality that changed my gameplay and after getting a few floors deep in the multi-dungeon.. they were also rarely an upgrade..

Without Cherry picking I would love to see some strong evidence of interesting items.

 

[Prime Junta]

Very few of the items (outside the rpgcodex shop) were unique at all. I would get some named item that would make me -think- I got something interesting and unique.. but it always amounted to mundane affix stats that could be improved through the crafting system.

Look again, 'cuz that just ain't true. Almost all of them have unique properties that you can't apply by enchanting (and in fact somewhat ironically given what you just said, several of the RPGCodex shop ones don't.)

Items were never unique with some special ability or functionality that changed my gameplay and after getting a few floors deep in the multi-dungeon.. they were also rarely an upgrade..

Very few of them are upgrades, that's true. There is no "gear progression" in Pillars and it is IMO much the better game for it.

Without Cherry picking I would love to see some strong evidence of interesting items.

The items qua items aren't interesting. The builds and strategies said items enable are. Here are a few examples off the top of my head:

• Persistence, the hunting bow which applies DoT. Give that to a ranger with theMerciless Companion feat and you've got a massive damage boost. Have your wizard cast Combusting Wounds to boost it even more. Add Stalker's Link for a free +10 ACC for great murder.
• Shod in Faith, the boots which trigger Consecrated Ground on crit. Give these to a frontline monk and you don't need a healer anymore.
• Spelltongue, the rapier which steals buff duration on hit. Give this to a high-INT, high-PER barbarian, and his Carnage will get so many hits that his buffs will last through the entire fight.
• St. Garam's Spark, the Marking pistol. Give this to a Darcozzi paladin with Inspiring Liberation and Coordinated Attacks, and you can give +30 ACC at will to any party member. That's 10 levels equivalent.
• Forgemaster's Gloves. Give these to a barbarian, Frenzy, and trigger. You've got a human fireball that'll mow through an entire mob.
• Gaun's Share. Give this to a priest of Eothas with Hope Eternal and Weapon and Shield style, and you've got a decent off-tank that also does damage.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Just about every single one of those unique properties can be used to great effect when given to the right character and/or used in combination with the right ability or other item or items. You just need to look carefully at what it does and think up ways to combine it with other things.

I know this is more complicated than just +4 is better than +3 and 2d6 fire damage is (usually) better than 1d6 shock damage, but it's worth the work. At least I find it so.

 

[Immortal]

Very few of the items (outside the rpgcodex shop) were unique at all. I would get some named item that would make me -think- I got something interesting and unique.. but it always amounted to mundane affix stats that could be improved through the crafting system.

Look again, 'cuz that just ain't true. Almost all of them have unique properties that you can't apply by enchanting (and in fact somewhat ironically given what you just said, several of the RPGCodex shop ones don't.)

Items were never unique with some special ability or functionality that changed my gameplay and after getting a few floors deep in the multi-dungeon.. they were also rarely an upgrade..

Very few of them are upgrades, that's true. There is no "gear progression" in Pillars and it is IMO much the better game for it.

Without Cherry picking I would love to see some strong evidence of interesting items.

The items qua items aren't interesting. The builds and strategies said items enable are. Here are a few examples off the top of my head:

• Persistence, the hunting bow which applies DoT. Give that to a ranger with theMerciless Companion feat and you've got a massive damage boost. Have your wizard cast Combusting Wounds to boost it even more. Add Stalker's Link for a free +10 ACC for great murder.
• Shod in Faith, the boots which trigger Consecrated Ground on crit. Give these to a frontline monk and you don't need a healer anymore.
• Spelltongue, the rapier which steals buff duration on hit. Give this to a high-INT, high-PER barbarian, and his Carnage will get so many hits that his buffs will last through the entire fight.
• St. Garam's Spark, the Marking pistol. Give this to a Darcozzi paladin with Inspiring Liberation and Coordinated Attacks, and you can give +30 ACC at will to any party member. That's 10 levels equivalent.
• Forgemaster's Gloves. Give these to a barbarian, Frenzy, and trigger. You've got a human fireball that'll mow through an entire mob.
• Gaun's Share. Give this to a priest of Eothas with Hope Eternal and Weapon and Shield style, and you've got a decent off-tank that also does damage.

I could go on, but you get the picture. Just about every single one of those unique properties can be used to great effect when given to the right character and/or used in combination with the right ability or other item or items. You just need to look carefully at what it does and think up ways to combine it with other things.

I know this is more complicated than just +4 is better than +3 and 2d6 fire damage is (usually) better than 1d6 shock damage, but it's worth the work. At least I find it so.

Did this change in a patch or something.
When I played the reverse was true. All the codex items had some really strong ability.. then some weakness on them. They were actually unique.
Everything else was a multitude of +might +elemenal damage +some other thing.

 

[Infinitron]

A majority of the items in the Codex store are just Fine/Exceptional/Superbs with unique names (in other words, like half of BG1 weapons, trolol). Only a few have any additional properties at all.

 

[Prime Junta]

Did this change in a patch or something.
When I played the reverse was true. All the codex items had some really strong ability.. then some weakness on them. They were actually unique.
Everything else was a multitude of +might +elemenal damage +some other thing.

No, the Codex store ones always were that way.

You're remembering the rest of it wrong too. I can't think of any + Might weapons (although there are a few wearables), and only a few +Elemental weapons. The "some other thing" is the key. On weapons, these are stuff like

• Inflict Prone on crit
• Drain Endurance on hit
• Inflict DoT on hit
• Marking (+10 ACC for nearest ally attacking same target)
• Coordinating (+6 ACC if attacking same target as an ally)

...and so on.

If you can't see how those could be used to support interesting builds or strategies, then I guess you really are SoL.

 

[Bleed the Man]

By the way, speaking of itemization, did they change several items properties in the base game during patches? I remember that the sanguine plate was changed pretty early on, but I've found a cape in the Lighthouse quest that grants an aura of 5m of +1 stealth (and 3+ perception). I don't remember having seen any of this type of bonus when I first played it, and I would bet that several other items i encountered have also been tweeked.

 

[Infinitron]

By the way, speaking of itemization, did they change several items properties in the base game during patches? I remember that the sanguine plate was changed pretty early on, but I've found a cape in the Lighthouse quest that grants an aura of 5m of +1 stealth (and 3+ perception). I don't remember having seen any of this type of bonus when I first played it, and I would bet that several other items i encountered have also been tweeked.

That cape was definitely there in 1.x, but they may have tweaked the description to make it more clear what it does.

 

[Prime Junta]

They have made some adjustments in patches, including new properties. There's a list somewhere if you use your Google-fu.