Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Nano]

Not enough branching.

 

[agris]

Occam's Paintbrush - a desperate attempt to paint over the whole point of Occam's Razor. Telltale signs: Usually involves watercolors and normally-straight flowchart arrows twisted into knots.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I hope that was a shot against sawyer

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

 

[luj1]

I'm sorry, but fuck this company.

im not sorry

 

[LESS T_T]

A blast from 2018: https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/josh-sawyer-part-1

December 8, 2021 In this episode, Soren interviews veteran RPG designer Josh Sawyer, best known for his work on Icewind Dale, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. They discuss how making a website for a tattoo parlor led to his game career, what is the purpose of traps in an RPG, and how much lore is too much lore. This episode was recorded March 24, 2018.

Games discussed: Adventure, Ultima series, Bard’s Tale series, Gold Box series, Dungeons & Dragons, Pillars of Eternity, Tyranny, Darklands, Quake, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale series, Baldur’s Gate series

 

[Roguey]

In this video Jeff Grub here drops an anecdote about how Obsidian was all ready to show off Avowed during this year's E3 but Microsoft told them "No, show Outer Worlds 2!" so they cobbled together that cringe trailer making fun of themselves for not having anything to actually show, and after the event was over Obs got a message from MS that was something along the lines of "WTF why didn't you show off Avowed?!?!?!?!" with a response of "We did what you told us to do!"


(properly timestamped)

An unexpected turn of events really.

 

[agris]

The fact that MS leadership didn't have insight into what their subsidiary was going to show during the event demonstrates the total and 100% completely unsurprising lack of professionalism on both sides.

 

[Sannom]

In this video Jeff Grub here drops an anecdote about how Obsidian was all ready to show off Avowed during this year's E3 but Microsoft told them "No, show Outer Worlds 2!" so they cobbled together that cringe trailer making fun of themselves for not having anything to actually show, and after the event was over Obs got a message from MS that was something along the lines of "WTF why didn't you show off Avowed?!?!?!?!" with a response of "We did what you told us to do!"


(properly timestamped)

An unexpected turn of events really.

Thank for the timestamp Roguey!

However, I'm shocked that every summary of that anecdote (including Roguey's) that I've read says that Microsoft didn't know what Obsidian was going to show at E3 when it's pretty clear in the video that the miscommunication was discovered before E3 but too late for Obsidian to prepare something for Avowed.

 

[agris]

Sannom do you think it is inherently better for MS to realize the wrong video is to be shown too late to facilitate change prior to the event, rather than realize the wrong video was shown after the event?

they appear functionally identical to me: communication and leadership too poor to affect change such that MS’s desired result is achieved.

 

[Smerlus]

One is slightly better.

You have one where Obsidian didn't listen and MS had a little time to be aware of it and do damage control if needed.

The other is Obsidian didn't listen and MS was too dumb to notice.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

mega-corporations with hundreds of thousands of employees tend to have major communication issues

 

[Mebrilia the Viera Queen]

I cant wait they Will show off a fpp only game((yawn)) on the pillars universe setting((yawn))..
I am not excited for It all.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

So, anyone have any second or third hand insight into the company nowadays? Have attitudes shifted? Anyone more fed up than usual?

 

[LESS T_T]

A blast from 2018: https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/josh-sawyer-part-1

https://www.idlethumbs.net/designernotes/episodes/josh-sawyer-part-2

January 10, 2022 In this episode, Soren interviews veteran RPG designer Josh Sawyer, best known for his work on Icewind Dale, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. They discuss the purpose of grinding, the difference between viable and optimal characters, and why RPG players don’t welcome rebalancing their games. This episode was recorded March 24, 2018.

Games discussed: Baldur’s Gate series, Icewind Dale series, Neverwinter Nights, Fallout series, Civilization series, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, Neverwinter Nights 2, Alpha Protocol, Fallout: New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity series, Into the Breach, Torchbearer, Tyranny, Darkest Dungeon, Phantom Doctrine

 

[TedNugent]

Wait a fucking minute; so, this sniveling studio gets acquired by Microshit and almost immediately starts developing a first person game based on Pillars of Eternity?

Not only will this clearly go well, I'm sure it had nothing to do with being acquired by Mickeysoft, the owners of Bethesda and the Halo IP.

Whose bright idea was this? Just read an article saying Obshittian refused a prior takeover and suggested they allowed themselves to be bought out by Bill Gates' demonspawn because "it had to be someone they could sit down and have a beer with." Now, I will admit that among behemoth publishers, Microshit and Sony appear to be far from the worst offenders, and have such monolithic pockets that they can afford to fund and nurture a little bit more creativity than the bloodsuckers at the big three, but what? Sit down and have a beer?

At first glance, this makes me feel kinda gross and apprehensive to ambivalent. They're quite literally on the same portfolio as Bethesda, making a first person RPG. Trying not to retch rn. Do I even need to watch the trailer?

According to this website, Obsidian is planning to "release one game every year, for the next 7 years".


https://technewsinc.com/xbox-rumors-1-obsidian-game-a-year-and-xbox-game-studios-details-xbox-one/

Xbox Rumors: 1 Obsidian Game a Year and Xbox Game Studios Details | Xbox One
The latest rumors about Xbox Studios’ plans were shared in the latest Xbox Two podcast hosted by Rand al Thor 19 and Jez Corden. The latter has already proven in the past that it has reliable sources within Microsoft and has shared a lot of information about some of the projects going on at Xbox. With three hours of podcasts to listen to, we bring you a recap!

The latest rumors from Xbox Studios
A lot of information was shared during the show and while we already know a lot of Xbox exclusives are in the works, a few more details have arrived with this podcast. It should be borne in mind that these are rumors until anything is officially confirmed, but that is already enough to wait before future announcements at the end of the year.

Avid, Outer Realms 2 and Obsidian
Avowed has already been talked about recently with details suggesting that the medieval RPG looks like it will follow in the footsteps of The Elder Scrolls and The Outer Worlds. About 100 people are currently working on Avowed according to Jez Corden, and about 70 are on The Outer Worlds 2. The podcast talks about more than 120 people, but Jez later changed his mind.

Studio Obsidian actually aims to release one game per year for 7 years, or one game per year for the entire current generation of consoles. Therefore, 2022 will be allocated to Grounded and 2023 to Avowed. But another secret game, Josh Sawyer’s, is said to be in development. This will be developed by a small team, somewhat similar to the team that took care of Grounded.

How the fuck do companies keep falling for this acquisition trap? I hope the faggot gets his golden parachute, at least.

 

[Infinitron]

FYI they were acquired by Microsoft before Bethesda.

 

[TedNugent]

Sigh. Gonna have to read this thread now.

I just remember reading the acquisition news headline in a side panel, and rolling my eyes.

 

[razvedchiki]

is it like 4 years they got bought by microsoft right? where are the games?

 

[TedNugent]

is it like 4 years they got bought by microsoft right? where are the games?

Hopefully in development, like they should be. That rumor of one game every year is a ghastly thing.

 

[Sannom]

Wait a fucking minute; so, this sniveling studio gets acquired by Microshit and almost immediately starts developing a first person game based on Pillars of Eternity?

As I'm sure you can find on your own on Josh Sawyer's social media accounts, that was something that Feargus had been wanting for a while now.

Whose bright idea was this? Just read an article saying Obshittian refused a prior takeover and suggested they allowed themselves to be bought out by Bill Gates' demonspawn because "it had to be someone they could sit down and have a beer with."

To be fair, that first offer for a takeover came from a company that was apparently very transparent about wanting Obsidian not for creating games but to add to their workforce. I can understand why any other pitch would be more appealing than that.

 

[Quillon]

So why isn't anyone excited for Arcanum sequel now that Activision's part of MS?

 

[AwesomeButton]

So why isn't anyone excited for Arcanum sequel now that Activision's part of MS?

The optimists here will rate you "optimistic". I'm actually expecting them to resurrect the Arcanum IP, but then just produce something mediocre like The Outer Worlds.

"A company is the people who work in it, who bring their passion to the project they are working on..." -- Josh Sawyer, in an IGN interview.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Is it possible that Ulysses was the courier responsible for his accusations and he is just having a mental breakdown from realizing what he did and projecting his guilt onto you?
What ingame events would refute this that aren't told to you by Ulysses?

 

[S.torch]

acquisition trap?

Trap? Videogame companies (and many others) are often purchased by million of dollars. People who sold these companies are not ignorant of the many drawbacks of selling yourself to a megacorporation (like less artistic freedom or being forced to do this or that in the game). That's being naive. They just don't care at all about making good games (or books, or music). They only care about money and that's already solved.