Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Starwars]

I liked Carrie Patel's writing for PoE, except for the Barbarian companion who was just... terrible. But the other companions she wrote were good and the main problem I had with them was that they didn't have enough writing/content attached to them. The Devil's quest was not very good but the soul flashback at the ending of her quest was very well written I thought, as was the interaction with the gods (think she wrote a lot of that also). Also really enjoyed the final moments of Sagani's quest.

I really hope Fenstermaker will be involved in PoE2 though. Eder and Zahua were my favorite companions I think.

 

[Athelas]

It's possible he may do some more writing in the future though, you never know.

From the wording of this, it doesn't sound like he'll remain writing for Obsidian in a freelance position. 'It's possible' and 'you never know' are about the most broad platitudes possible.

 

[Infinitron]

I suspect that Josh Sawyer may have a larger role in determining the PoE2's main story compared to the first game, so the "Lead Narrative Designer" may not be as important this time.

It's possible he may do some more writing in the future though, you never know.

From the wording of this, it doesn't sound like he'll remain writing for Obsidian in a freelance position. 'It's possible' and 'you never know' are about the most broad platitudes possible.

Even with an emoticon?

 

[Athelas]

Especially with an emoticon.

On the other hand, it's possible that statement is just about the short-term and stuff like companion writing doesn't start in earnest until like a year into development, so it's possible he could still contribute later.

 

[Sannom]

I liked Carrie Patel's writing for PoE, except for the Barbarian companion who was just... terrible. But the other companions she wrote were good and the main problem I had with them was that they didn't have enough writing/content attached to them. The Devil's quest was not very good but the soul flashback at the ending of her quest was very well written I thought, as was the interaction with the gods (think she wrote a lot of that also). Also really enjoyed the final moments of Sagani's quest.

What is the problem with Maneha? I liked her quite a bit.

As for content, I would say that Aloth had a lot of stuff attached to him : specific conversation after meeting the Delemgan sisters in Twin Elms, the same after meeting Iovara, etc. His main "problem" is that his personal quest is flagged "done" when really it's only done in the conversation you have with him after the Delemgan.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Maneha was the worst companion by far. So obnoxious.

Aloth was good except for the double soul thing. I cringed hard through all those parts.

 

[Bubbles]

With the new focus on zanier companions for PoE 2, I wouldn't be surprised if we got half a dozen Maneha-type followers.

 

[Sannom]

I thought that Zahua was the zaniest companion of all, to be honest. Maneha feels mostly grounded compared to that guy.

 

[yes plz]

I thought Maneha had a great concept but the execution of it was fucking awful from her super chipper personality to her awful voice actress. Beyond her, though, I thought Patel's stuff was great.

 

[Rev]

What did Patel write exactly? Aloth, Maneha, The Council of Stars, maybe the conversation with the goddess in TWM2, and...?
I preferred other people's companions but overall other stuff she wrote seemed to be good.

Anyway, there are also McLean and Kirsch who could take the lead on PoE2, after finishing their writing duties on Tyranny.
Also, as Infinitron said, I recall Sawyer saying that he wanted to manage his current project more like he did with New Vegas, and less like PoE, so he may impose a stricter vision/narrative themes/guidelines on the designers.
Still, I think Fenstermaker is a good designer and in the Codex interview he seemed to have the right ideas, so it's a shame to lose him on the next Obsidian games. Hopefully he can come back in some years, or provide feedback/work part-time.

 

[Sannom]

What did Patel write exactly? Aloth, Maneha, The Council of Stars, maybe the conversation with the goddess in TWM2, and...?

Sagani and the Devil of Caroc.

 

[AN4RCHID]

I recall Sawyer saying that he wanted to manage his current project more like he did with New Vegas, and less like PoE, so he may impose a stricter vision/narrative themes/guidelines on the designers.

I seem to remember someone who worked on F:NV (fenstermaker?) Saying John Gonzalez doesn't get enough credit for the narrative design, and I seem to remember Sawyer saying that he only gave designers high level directions for areas.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Morality Games]

Because consooooooooooooooooole (brb going back to 300 hour New Vegas playthrough)

If you remove the core PC RPG element from the Codex's identity then all that happens is that we'll become an alt-right forum composed of gamers who love dumb console games = or > than PC games. All traces of respectability will be gone.

 

[Rev]

I seem to remember someone who worked on F:NV (fenstermaker?) Saying John Gonzalez doesn't get enough credit for the narrative design, and I seem to remember Sawyer saying that he only gave designers high level directions for areas.

He established the high design (aka vision) of the game and gave the team some principles/guidelines to follow (like the fact that every NPC could die at any moment). The actual story was then fully fleshed out by Gonzalez, who also wrote some of the main characters (I think House, Benny, Vulpes and some others).
From what I understood of PoE's development process, Sawyer spent more time laying out the setting and the ruleset but he had less input over the story and general high design of the game compared to NV, while the story had a less tight direction from the start and there were several writers who tried to pitch their vision (eventually Fenstermaker won and became narrative lead) without Sawyer being that much involved in the process. Ofc I could be wrong, but I also remember that Josh wasn't too much happy with that process and wanted to manage things differently in that regard with his next project, maybe Roguey might know or provide quotes.

 

[Latelistener]

Why are we not onboard yet?

Spoiler

 

[Morality Games]

With the new focus on zanier companions for PoE 2, I wouldn't be surprised if we got half a dozen Maneha-type followers.

Not challenging you, but how do we know the companions are going to be zanier? (beyond general trends and inevitability)

 

[Flou]

It might be just me, but seems a bit contradictory to quit your job when you have a baby.

Unless you're filthy rich, of course.

Grandparents are a big help with a newborn, so instead of Eric and his gf/wife handling everying on their own, they chose to move back "home" where they have some help with the baby. I presume Eric has freelancing writer stuff to work on, even though he does not have a steady job at Obsidian.

Damn babies, ruining everything.

 

[Abu Antar]

Eric sent me a link on twitter: http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/89393-is-eric-fenstermaker-still-at-obsidian/?p=1848444

Hi guys,

Sorry I'm late to the party, and thanks for the congratulations! Darren pretty much said it all. It's not so much that I've "moved on from Obsidian" so much as any work I do for them in the foreseeable future would be as a contractor. We'll get that all hashed out in the near future, I'm sure. For the moment it's nice not to have to think about work for a few months after an 11-year run.

I have seen in a few places concerned comments about what this change means for the quality of PoE2 going forward. I want to assure you that all of these comments have come from sock puppet accounts that I myself have created to raise my social cachet. (Not really, but now that I mention it I'm disappointed I didn't think of it sooner.)

Better writers than me have come and gone. But Obsidian's always managed to reload. (Not to mention, it takes a lot more than one writer to make or break the quality of a game with PoE's scope.) It's a rigorous hiring process, and as long as they remain as demanding as they have been, they'll be good for a long time. They've got some excellent people there now - they're just not all household names yet. Personally, knowing the narrative staff, I can't wait to play PoE2. For everyone else, all I can say is I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Infinitron]

With the new focus on zanier companions for PoE 2, I wouldn't be surprised if we got half a dozen Maneha-type followers.

Not challenging you, but how do we know the companions are going to be zanier? (beyond general trends and inevitability)

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...expansion-thread.100006/page-175#post-4699840 "Player feedback"

 

[axedice]

Spoiler

New Vegas was done for consoles too. Most of its shortcomings were the result of a shitty base game, not console porting. I think exposure to beth games has left us vulnerable against consoles but consoles by themselves are not the real problem here. Corporations just prefer catering to mediocrity since it's cheaper and sells the same.

Obsidian is not a corporation in that sense, at least not yet. They have this niche PC-RPG market, if they roll with consoles then they might have the rest as well. And if they're really going for a "Skyrim sized" game, then they'll need the workforce from Armored Warfare and the budget to feed them. Who's gonna pay for a non dumbed down open world U4 RPG is a worthwhile question though. Crowdfunding a high target campaign to secure publisher/investor interest could become their MO.

 

[Grape_You_In_the_Mouth]

Eric Fenster probably just wants to play PoE2 and enjoy it instead of having to make it and see all it's flaws. I bet he couldn't care less about his kid. Kid vs. CRPG?? No contest. The man is drunk right now adding nude mods to Skyrim.

 

[Roguey]

It's a rigorous hiring process, and as long as they remain as demanding as they have been, they'll be good for a long time.

*Starks short story*

 

[Flou]

It's a rigorous hiring process, and as long as they remain as demanding as they have been, they'll be good for a long time.

*Starks short story*

Good thing writing for a game is more than just writing a short story... I couldn't care less if someone isn't capable of writing good short stories. What I care about is his/her writing ability when it comes computer games, that includes quests, characters etc.

 

[Trodat]

Obsidian is not a corporation in that sense, at least not yet. They have this niche PC-RPG market, if they roll with consoles then they might have the rest as well. And if they're really going for a "Skyrim sized" game, then they'll need the workforce from Armored Warfare and the budget to feed them. Who's gonna pay for a non dumbed down open world U4 RPG is a worthwhile question though. Crowdfunding a high target campaign to secure publisher/investor interest could become their MO.

For example, I doubt no one is forcing Bethesda to dumb down Skyrim, or when they have a meeting with the publisher demands are thrown out that every dungeon or cave must be copy pasted or whatever. The reason is that they simply feel it is not important, their games are selling like fake money, so why bother?

Brent Knowles mentioned it in one of the interviews... EA had hardly anything to do with the dumbing down of Bioware's recent titles, it was their own decision.

 

[Latelistener]

Obsidian is not a corporation in that sense, at least not yet. They have this niche PC-RPG market, if they roll with consoles then they might have the rest as well. And if they're really going for a "Skyrim sized" game, then they'll need the workforce from Armored Warfare and the budget to feed them. Who's gonna pay for a non dumbed down open world U4 RPG is a worthwhile question though. Crowdfunding a high target campaign to secure publisher/investor interest could become their MO.

If, hypothetically, Obsidian is going to present a PC-oriented RPG with Arcanum-like world on UE4 with modern visuals (by modern I mean not the usual crap restricted by obsolete mobile hardware installed into the current consoles), do you think people won't throw money at them? And Steam has larger audience than PSN and XLive combined together, enough to sustain project of any size, not to say about the Early Access program.
Not going to happen though. Considering what we know about the whole Kickstarter story, higher-ups seems to be stuck in the past.