IDtenT
Menace to sobriety!
It's a corporate problem and all corporates suffer from it. Want something done well enough first try? Do a startup.
Sounds like Cain should join his old pals Anderson and Moore at Fargo's Playhouse if he wants to get away from Urquhart and Parker-style micromanagement.This Tim Cain's quote was related to the question (22:53): "What is the thing you (Cain) miss the most from the old days?".
His answer was alarming: " I suppose I miss being able to make a game without so much advanced planning and of constant oversight. "It weird and I hope I don't depress anyone who want to get in the game industry, but even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do, "are you sure you want to put that in?", "are you sure that make sense for this setting", "are you sure it's a good feature to put that in?, and I'm like, we can talk about that again, and it's weird because some of the thing people have told me are just so strange, I had somebody tell me that our factories in outer world shouldn't have smoke stacks on them, because smoke stacks are not sci-fi, and I was like, have you seen the beignnig of Blade Runner movie?, have you seen city of lost children?."
There is an indication of self scrutiny and censorship that deriaves from key creative postions and from lower postion creative employees in Obsidian and probably in other studios. This kind of behavior has a destructive outcome on the final product, I think it's one's of the driving forces of decline that we witnessing in entertainment in general across the 10's.
Well
I wonder what happened at Obsidian before they developed this. Someone important must have left, right?
>make your own studio and invite your old pallsSounds like Cain should join his old pals Anderson and Moore at Fargo's Playhouse if he wants to get away from Urquhart and Parker-style micromanagement.This Tim Cain's quote was related to the question (22:53): "What is the thing you (Cain) miss the most from the old days?".
His answer was alarming: " I suppose I miss being able to make a game without so much advanced planning and of constant oversight. "It weird and I hope I don't depress anyone who want to get in the game industry, but even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do, "are you sure you want to put that in?", "are you sure that make sense for this setting", "are you sure it's a good feature to put that in?, and I'm like, we can talk about that again, and it's weird because some of the thing people have told me are just so strange, I had somebody tell me that our factories in outer world shouldn't have smoke stacks on them, because smoke stacks are not sci-fi, and I was like, have you seen the beignnig of Blade Runner movie?, have you seen city of lost children?."
There is an indication of self scrutiny and censorship that deriaves from key creative postions and from lower postion creative employees in Obsidian and probably in other studios. This kind of behavior has a destructive outcome on the final product, I think it's one's of the driving forces of decline that we witnessing in entertainment in general across the 10's.
>make your own studio and invite your old pallsSounds like Cain should join his old pals Anderson and Moore at Fargo's Playhouse if he wants to get away from Urquhart and Parker-style micromanagement.This Tim Cain's quote was related to the question (22:53): "What is the thing you (Cain) miss the most from the old days?".
His answer was alarming: " I suppose I miss being able to make a game without so much advanced planning and of constant oversight. "It weird and I hope I don't depress anyone who want to get in the game industry, but even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do, "are you sure you want to put that in?", "are you sure that make sense for this setting", "are you sure it's a good feature to put that in?, and I'm like, we can talk about that again, and it's weird because some of the thing people have told me are just so strange, I had somebody tell me that our factories in outer world shouldn't have smoke stacks on them, because smoke stacks are not sci-fi, and I was like, have you seen the beignnig of Blade Runner movie?, have you seen city of lost children?."
There is an indication of self scrutiny and censorship that deriaves from key creative postions and from lower postion creative employees in Obsidian and probably in other studios. This kind of behavior has a destructive outcome on the final product, I think it's one's of the driving forces of decline that we witnessing in entertainment in general across the 10's.
>ship a game
>start leaving one by one due to "bad working environment" and "stifled creativity"
>make your own studio and invite your old palls
The Black Isle shuffle.
Cain's problem with Interplay was that middle managers/marketing were telling him what to do. Doesn't seem to be the case at inXile. His problem at Troika was that none of them liked running the company. Fargo's running inXile.Cain grabbing a bunch of friends and going off on their own?
What could possibly go wro-
Cain's problem with Interplay was thatCain grabbing a bunch of friends and going off on their own?
What could possibly go wro-middle managers/marketingFeargus Urquhart were telling him what to do. Doesn't seem to be the case at inXile. His problem at Troika was that none of them liked running the company. Fargo's running inXile.
The triple A gaming industry is being like this since late 2000s. It's sad but only Indie or smaller studios have full control over their work, otherwise a bunch of Who's that doesn't know shit about the craft with stupid suggestion but Hey they control the money..This Tim Cain's quote was related to the question (22:53): "What is the thing you (Cain) miss the most from the old days?"."[...] It's weird [...] Even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do"
His answer was alarming: " I suppose I miss being able to make a game without so much advanced planning and of constant oversight. "It weird and I hope I don't depress anyone who want to get in the game industry, but even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do, "are you sure you want to put that in?", "are you sure that make sense for this setting", "are you sure it's a good feature to put that in?, and I'm like, we can talk about that again, and it's weird because some of the thing people have told me are just so strange, I had somebody tell me that our factories in outer world shouldn't have smoke stacks on them, because smoke stacks are not sci-fi, and I was like, have you seen the beignnig of Blade Runner movie?, have you seen city of lost children?."
There is an indication of self scrutiny and censorship that deriaves from key creative postions and from lower postion creative employees in Obsidian and probably in other studios. This kind of behavior has a destructive outcome on the final product, I think it's one's of the driving forces of decline that we witnessing in entertainment in general across the 10's.
Ye of little faith. It has barely begun.So what is the current state of Obsidian? Is really over?
The triple A gaming industry is being like this since late 2000s. It's sad but only Indie or smaller studios have full control over their work, otherwise a bunch of Who's that doesn't know shit about the craft with stupid suggestion but Hey they control the money..This Tim Cain's quote was related to the question (22:53): "What is the thing you (Cain) miss the most from the old days?"."[...] It's weird [...] Even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do"
His answer was alarming: " I suppose I miss being able to make a game without so much advanced planning and of constant oversight. "It weird and I hope I don't depress anyone who want to get in the game industry, but even now, after 41 years, I have people second-guessing everything I do, "are you sure you want to put that in?", "are you sure that make sense for this setting", "are you sure it's a good feature to put that in?, and I'm like, we can talk about that again, and it's weird because some of the thing people have told me are just so strange, I had somebody tell me that our factories in outer world shouldn't have smoke stacks on them, because smoke stacks are not sci-fi, and I was like, have you seen the beignnig of Blade Runner movie?, have you seen city of lost children?."
There is an indication of self scrutiny and censorship that deriaves from key creative postions and from lower postion creative employees in Obsidian and probably in other studios. This kind of behavior has a destructive outcome on the final product, I think it's one's of the driving forces of decline that we witnessing in entertainment in general across the 10's.
The Outer Worlds was explicitly a lower budget title published under Take-Two’s indie games label.
Price of a game has no bearing on its budget, Obsidian didn't become 200 until after MS bought them and even then they didn't have the entire studio working on it (TOW was made by a core team of about 80).60 dollar game from a studio with 200 employess.
I was referring to it being under Take Two's "Indie Game Label". It's not an indie game no matter what label it was published under.
I was referring to it being under Take Two's "Indie Game Label". It's not an indie game no matter what label it was published under.
I didn’t say it was an indie game. I said it was a lower budget game that was released on a label Take-Two created to do indie games. The point was, the way Take-Two looked at it, it was something that should be released under that branding instead of being published by them like a normal title. It wasn’t a AAA game. And it costing $60 has nothing to do with whether or not it’s a AAA game.
it needs to have sliding down the hill animation and at least 5 sections where you're slowly moving through a narrow spaceI was referring to it being under Take Two's "Indie Game Label". It's not an indie game no matter what label it was published under.
I didn’t say it was an indie game. I said it was a lower budget game that was released on a label Take-Two created to do indie games. The point was, the way Take-Two looked at it, it was something that should be released under that branding instead of being published by them like a normal title. It wasn’t a AAA game. And it costing $60 has nothing to do with whether or not it’s a AAA game.
Then what exactly is your personal criteria for a AAA game?
I was referring to it being under Take Two's "Indie Game Label". It's not an indie game no matter what label it was published under.
I didn’t say it was an indie game. I said it was a lower budget game that was released on a label Take-Two created to do indie games. The point was, the way Take-Two looked at it, it was something that should be released under that branding instead of being published by them like a normal title. It wasn’t a AAA game. And it costing $60 has nothing to do with whether or not it’s a AAA game.
Then what exactly is your personal criteria for a AAA game?
This tweet by Lis Moberly (current Avowed's narrative designer) strengthened my aforementioned observation:in the same note i would like to remined that a writing position in a gaming studio is a steady writing job which is very rare in the publishing industry, maybe thats the main reason that in the last 10 years we are witnessing a migration of failing YA novelists into to the field of video games writing.
It looks like people don't read anymoreBack in May 19 2022 I have noted that writing jobs for a game studio is desirable to YA writers and lit major academics because the steady wages and cooperate benefits. also worth mentioning that the publishing industry is highly unstable (financially) and basically running on the fumes of prestige (therefore it's has a socioeconomic gatekeep biased toward wealthy people).
This tweet by Lis Moberly (current Avowed's narrative designer) strengthened my aforementioned observation:in the same note i would like to remined that a writing position in a gaming studio is a steady writing job which is very rare in the publishing industry, maybe thats the main reason that in the last 10 years we are witnessing a migration of failing YA novelists into to the field of video games writing.
This Meghen Daum's aritcle provide an accurate obsoravation about the state of creative writing (throught a response to the highly controversial Alex Perez interview for Hobart magazine): https://meghandaum.substack.com/p/who-killed-creative-writing
It looks like peopledon'tcan’t read anymore