Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Immortal]

Yea I just went through the item list. The Codex items are boring as fuck. Not sure why I thought they were interesting. I totally misremembered that.

Good Point Guys.

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.

Thanks for making up shit I didn't say then clarifying in brackets.

 

[CptMace]

I'm pretty sure the cape was already there at release. I although am pretty sure it was broken
Lilith's shawl or something.

 

[LizardWizard]

The vile loner lance is pretty good if you rush for it early game, or at least it was at release. But putting no effort into the Codex inn is kinda funny in itself.

 

[Prime Junta]

There are a few other nice items there too.

BTW it's completely unfair to say there's no effort put into the Codex inn. The place looks cool, there are little easter eggs around the game referring to it, and it has loads of character.

 

[Infinitron]

It's true that it's not FO:NV either: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...reciation-station.101693/page-25#post-4282790

So I don't know where this first pass critical path thing came from at all

From the very link you posted (well, imo not directly, but its mentioned)

The high-level design of the companions and areas in F:NV (outside of the Strip) was entirely mine,

And my and others memory took care of the rest. Though I'm pretty sure the initial quote this came from is older than that and Akil Hooper was mentioned.

No, wait, here's where the "1st pass critical path" phrase came from...it's about MCA and PS:T

 

[Duraframe300]

It's true that it's not FO:NV either: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...reciation-station.101693/page-25#post-4282790

So I don't know where this first pass critical path thing came from at all

From the very link you posted (well, imo not directly, but its mentioned)

The high-level design of the companions and areas in F:NV (outside of the Strip) was entirely mine,

And my and others memory took care of the rest. Though I'm pretty sure the initial quote this came from is older than that and Akil Hooper was mentioned.

No, wait, here's where the "1st pass critical path" phrase came from...it's about MCA and PS:T

Ahh, the phrase in general. Not its application to fnv.

 

[Urthor]

Pretty sure that's blowing up the first pass of the crit path into something bigger than what it is.


Using PoE as an example, first pass for the crit path would still be the throwing darts at a Bethesda logo on the wall stage of writing. Thaos could have been a girl in Sawyers initial draft, the final chronology and the final revision can look very, very different. Hell, the first pass might have had the player starting in Twin Elms and finishing at Cilant Lis.

Failure is collective, success is individual.

 

[Nihiliste]

Assuming they do a POE2 I'm sure it would be much better than the first, as seems to be the trend with games where the engine/system groundwork is mostly done and the team can focus on creativity. However, knowing that Avellone/Zeits are gone and that Fenstermaker/Patel will do the lions share of the writing really gives me pause. Writing staff has gone from the biggest strength to a significant weakness for this company.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Just what I was thinking yesterday - the quality of writing is the most difficult aspect of the game to be improved in a sequel. It's ironic that this has become a concern for an Obsidian game.

 

[Abu Antar]

I keep saying this, but I still wonder what they have on the drawing board. It'd be nice with a new announcement. While I don't hate Dungeon Siege 3 or South Park, it is not those kind of games I want from Obsidian. Armored Warfare does not interest me and the Pathfinder card game, I might try a couple of times, but I won't spend any money.

I don't expect anything groundbreaking so that is why I hope for an isometric, turn-based with controllable part Pathfinder rpg.
Pillars of Eternity will probably be revealed soon. They should announce it before E3.

Are they still working with any big publisher on a big budget game?

 

[Infinitron]

Are they still working with any big publisher on a big budget game?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...o-be-announced-in-the-next-few-months.104738/

 

[Abu Antar]

Are they still working with any big publisher on a big budget game?

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...o-be-announced-in-the-next-few-months.104738/

 

[Roguey]

However, knowing that Avellone/Zeits are gone and that Fenstermaker/Patel will do the lions share of the writing really gives me pause. Writing staff has gone from the biggest strength to a significant weakness for this company.

I've seen few complaints regarding the writing in the White March part 2, it seems to be the Obsidian game people were expecting.

 

[Dwarvophile]

Coming back to ththis game after a short and undecisive test 10 months ago. The music, the art, the writing, most gameplay mechanics, almost everything in this game is just pure awesomeness. The question is why do this guys favour RT combat over turn based. It force them to deal with bad AI and terrible pathfinding, it encourage mob trashing, it's anti-clicmatic. Damn, I really don't get it. I can't help trying to imagi,ne what POE would be with TOEE's combat system. Maybe this is what they call being uinsatiable in nature.

 

[AN4RCHID]

I've seen few complaints regarding the writing in the White March part 2, it seems to be the Obsidian game people were expecting.

Here's one: Maneha is hands down the worst companion yet. I mean I'm not that far in so maybe she gets better, but she would have to get a LOT better.

 

[Rake]

However, knowing that Avellone/Zeits are gone and that Fenstermaker/Patel will do the lions share of the writing really gives me pause. Writing staff has gone from the biggest strength to a significant weakness for this company.

I've seen few complaints regarding the writing in the White March part 2, it seems to be the Obsidian game people were expecting.

It seems to me most of the praise is of the type "improved direction compaired to part 1 and the base game. Where the first part was just an IWD clone and the base game a mess. Not exactly a high bar to clear
And while there are few complains, ithere isn't any true excitement about the writing either. MotB it is not

 

[Sizzle]

I've seen few complaints regarding the writing in the White March part 2, it seems to be the Obsidian game people were expecting.

Here's one: Maneha is hands down the worst companion yet. I mean I'm not that far in so maybe she gets better, but she would have to get a LOT better.

Oh yeah, definitely. But I think it's mostly due to her voice acting. She sounds like an even more annoying Imoen.

And she doesn't cover any new ground - her conflict is the same as Aloth's, minus the extra personality.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Isn't she part of Pt. I though?

 

[Sizzle]

Nope, got introduced in Part 2.

 

[AN4RCHID]

yeah you can find her at the same time you find Zahua, but she was added with Part 2

 

[Infinitron]

Writing staff has gone from the biggest strength to a significant weakness for this company.

Uh no, writing is a "significant weakness" of Larian. Or Bethesda. Lacking perspective is lacking.

What Pillars really needed was some kind of "What can change the nature of a man?" wham line moment so people would get it

 

[Sizzle]

Writing staff has gone from the biggest strength to a significant weakness for this company.

What Pillars really needed was some kind of "What can change the nature of a man?" wham line moment so people would get it

What PoE needed even more was a more convincing driving conflict - the "curse" of the Watcher was an interesting premise, but the way they handled it was not. All the companion NPCs were talking about how the PC was tired, spent, etc. but that was totally disjointed from what the game was telling us - you were becoming stronger, more in tune with your abilities, not weaker.

Even BG2, the moment your divine soul was stolen, had a bit of a payoff to it - you lost your Bhaalspawn powers, only for them to be replaced by the Slayer. It wasn't nearly as good as MoTB, of course, but at least it was something.

They could have easily added something subtle to indicate the PC was going bonkers. When the game first starts out, you see the souls of dying and tortured people all the time. And then it just stops. Perhaps something similar to the Malkavian from VTMB could have been done with it - nothing as off-the-walls as that, but eerie whispers out of nowhere and sudden bursts of insight could have been interesting ways to indicate the PC was gradually losing it, while still not diminishing his powers and effectiveness.

 

[CptMace]

It's been long stated and illustrated that narration in PoE is shit.

 

[Immortal]

This whole conversation has drifted into highly subjective territory, when PoE really has so many low hanging fruits you can rip on.

But to say losing Zeits and MCA wasn't a blow to Obsidians writing prowess is just plain Hubris. I would be kicking myself as a company.

 

[AN4RCHID]

I wonder if MCA will come back as a stretch goal for PoE 2

I think Fenstermaker did a good job overall with limited time and budget resulting in the second half being gimped. But a few standout characters like Durance and Grieving Mother makes a big difference in making the setting feel less 'plain'.