Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[RepHope]

That’s a pretty quick turnaround on TOW2 if it’s already playable. I was surprised they announced it so soon since I thought they’d wait until after Avowed came out.

 

[KyivAfter12am]

That’s a pretty quick turnaround on TOW2 if it’s already playable. I was surprised they announced it so soon since I thought they’d wait until after Avowed came out.

I assume it uses the same engine and mostly the same assets as the first game, in this case it's not very surprising that it's already playable in some form.

 

[Infinitron]

Devs try to make their games playable as quickly as possible. Doesn't mean they're anywhere near complete. He could have been playing a test build with wireframe maps and placeholder character models.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Aoyagi]

Any idea if that Eternity 2D/3D technology (reused in Torment as well) is going to have some future use? I thought it looked really nice.

Outer Worlds 2 is already playable huh.

Could be just a vertical slice.

 

[Shadenuat]

Sawyer is a huge fan of using buffs to pass dialogue checks so it makes sense that will be an element in his Disco clone.

yea that makes some sense. he said many times he wanted "alternative" (non combat) game for him; making a plagiat of Disco would be a solid choice. It's even a game that not just consoles but even tablets could run. if I was Ferg-rus I'd approve it.

meanwhile, their 2 flagships are copies of bethesda fantasy game and bethesda fallout respectively.

a solid strategy for what one could call a "Fallen Empire" studio that can't afford traditional RPGs no more.

a problem I see tho, is that Josh is not an insane estonian novelist.

 

[J_C]

I have my doubts about current Obsidian members being able to write a truly memorable vile character.

 

[Butter]

I have my doubts about current Obsidian members being able to write a truly memorable vile character.

Orange Man insert.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I have my doubts about current Obsidian members being able to write a truly memorable vile character.

White male who pays taxes.

 

[Nano]

Can we side with him?

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Do you guys remember POE1's antagonist? Neither do I.

 

[Ninjerk]

Do you guys remember POE1's antagonist? Neither do I.

Of course I do! He's the guy that killed those two people I rode on a wagon with once AND I knew him in a past life AND he kicked my dog.

 

[markec]

I'm sure he committed the most heinous crime of all, RACISM!

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

As far as I can tell Josh is a better writer than most of the other people currently working at Obsidian. Hanlon was far more competently done than anyone from TOW.

 

[Roguey]

A character even worse than Cook Cook? Seems unlikely, but we'll see.

 

[Tom Selleck]

Oh man, I don't want to play this game now, this guy probably misgendered someone

 

[Flou]

Some new writers at Obsidian:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefiel...ofile:ACoAAAH1zZkBpd63M4-aJWoBHWlPuxf8teXPZCA

Joe Fielder, he has worked on Bioshock Infinite, Deathloop and Ghosts of Tsushima. (+ multiple other games as well).

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kdmhoon...ofile:ACoAAAnz7ykBn4IQPCfoDQ2wC085SJFNxK8AV5U

Kelsie Mhoon. 3 years of experience, don't know any of the games she worked on. Now working on Outer Worlds 2. And since for Codex people hair color is everything, her hair color is natural.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lismobe...ofile:ACoAAAp4mn4BddO4pentS2Oa74vMh0NhU_A7Tro

Lis M. (cba to find her full name). Experience from Avalanche and few smaller studios.

There's a 4th new hire as well. I think he had very limited experience (his LinkedIn was open before, now it's closed and can't see it anymore).

Also they hired a guy in suit:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-...ofile:ACoAAATA55oBg3JEmtI6Nxm_WbFdIvlEMTqRLtk

Replacent for Parker and possibly in the future for Feargus?

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Potentially good.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefielder/?miniProfileUrn=urn:li:fs_miniProfile:ACoAAAH1zZkBpd63M4-aJWoBHWlPuxf8teXPZCA

Joe Fielder, he has worked on Bioshock Infinite, Deathloop and Ghosts of Tsushima. (+ multiple other games as well).

It's the Underworld Ascendant writer. Good luck to him, I guess.

 

[agris]

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefielder/?miniProfileUrn=urn:li:fs_miniProfile:ACoAAAH1zZkBpd63M4-aJWoBHWlPuxf8teXPZCA

Joe Fielder, he has worked on Bioshock Infinite, Deathloop and Ghosts of Tsushima. (+ multiple other games as well).

It's the Underworld Ascendant writer. Good luck to him, I guess.

Writer for the game that they cut all interactive dialogue from? Oh boy, Obsidian are lucky ducks!

 

[Flou]

Also bunch of new artists, producers, audio guys and some animators. Too many to list here. LinkedIn has them at 245 which probably mean they are above 225 now.

 

[Roguey]

Head of Strategy and Operations
Obsidian Entertainment

Jul 2021 - Present 3 months

Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Lead business operation functions such as HR, legal, communications, and business development for Obsidian Entertainment – a premiere Xbox game studio.

Accountable for creating a studio environment that enables the development of beloved games and delivering a strategy that enables us to reach and exceedingly satisfy players around the world.

Microsoft

2 years 1 month

Senior Manager, Global Product Marketing - Xbox Game Studios

Aug 2020 - Jul 2021 1 year

It's over for Obsidian's former owners, they messed up so much with Avowed that they have an official babysitter.

 

[Flou]

It's over for Obsidian's former owners, they messed up so much with Avowed that they have an official babysitter.

I don't think he is there just because of Avowed. He is there to actually change the damn culture at Obsidian which by some is quite fucking toxic (if you trust the Glassdoor reviews). They are not independent anymore, so I'm quite sure MS will do an interview on those who leave the company and if they see damn pattern there (Parker, Feargus etc. creating a horrible environment), they will react. Obviously they can't fire Feargus as it would be a huge PR issue for them and probably would cost them a lot of money to get rid of the owners sooner rather than later.

That's a lot of if's though. There are only few recent reviews from Obsidian to begin with. 3/200 people saying it's toxic doesn't necessarily mean it is that.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Accountable for creating a studio environment that enables the development of beloved games

really shouldn't lie like that

 

[agris]

It's over for Obsidian's former owners, they messed up so much with Avowed that they have an official babysitter.

Obviously they can't fire Feargus as it would be a huge PR issue for them and probably would cost them a lot of money to get rid of the owners sooner rather than later.

Oh sweet summer child, this has been thought through and addressed by corporate raiders decades ago. Let me illuminate you:

Owners selling to big corpo Daddy Cashbags are seeing $$$ in their future, but if they don’t already *want* to exit post-haste - perhaps their ego still demands that they “are the only thing keeping this damn ship afloat” - Daddy Cashbags needs a way to handle the owners’ likely poor leadership and managerial ability.

Anticipating this, buried in the employment contract will be, in an innocuous boiler-plate sounding section, a provision allowing the corp to modify the specific roles and responsibilities of the owner, and/or how their decisions are approved. This section is framed as “if needed and subject to change” and if even discussed verbally with the owner, down played as marginalia needed by the lawyers because “owner clearly knows their shit”.

Fast forward to owner(s) not only not knowing their shit, but actively hindering the realization of project milestones and thus revenue projections, the executive team responsible for managing obs will execute their contractural right and limit owners ability to conduct oversight.

Are you following? Because this is where the magic happens. The execs who do this know how to exert oversight in such a way that it damages owners ego and infuriates them. With no contractural recourse and flush with cash, the most reasonable move is to quit. The ego is assuaged because “the idiots won’t let me manage!”, and the Corp gets the product of the Peter-principle off their hands without the messy optics of firing them. This is a long slow process usually, and HR massages the acquired company’s staff concerns throughout the whole thing, and can even convince the dolt owner it’s for the best and he’ll help calm staff as well.

Nothing new about this, legacy owners are almost always a problem after acquisition so this play has been performed many many times such that the director refined its execution long ago.