Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Chaotic_Heretic]

...with a shitposting mod.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

General Shitposting Tread

 

[Infinitron]

Another day, another Avellone podcast: http://gamerstavern.org/?p=153

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

Does he mention that mario jump thing again?

 

[Infinitron]

Hey, Excidium, I heard you hate podcasts: http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/113073-chris-avellone-interview-2.html

See the comments.

(they're not stealing, though, the interview was posted by one of the guys who did the podcast)

 

[Glyphwright]

I love Obsidian and every single game they ever released, with the exception of Alpha Protocol that I haven't played (yet) and South Park wtf that is irrelevant to their overall scheme of making awesome games with awesome stories and characters.

Black Isle RIP

Troika RIP

Obsidian VIVA LA OBSIDIANA!

I wonder what they will make of their Pillars of Eternity, but I'm confident it will be ahead of Faggot Age Dickuisition or anything churned out by Bethpizda. After all, Obsidian may not be financially successful enough to always have complete creative control over their games, often resorting to taking whatever dribbles they get from Biowhore, but it's not like they would ever resort to taking up completely worthless and talentless shlock.

Proud List of Obsidian Accomplishment

2004 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords
2006 Neverwinter Nights 2
2007 Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
2008 Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
2010 Alpha Protocol
2010 Fallout: New Vegas
2011 Dungeon Siege III
2014 South Park: The Stick of Truth
2014 Pillars of Eternity
TBA The Wheel of Time

Wait, what.

TBA The Wheel of Time

Wh.... wh... wha.... what does... what am I reading... are my senses betraying me?

"Obsidian riding Wheel of Time"
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/obsidian-riding-wheel-of-time/1100-6250423/


WHEEL OF TIME? OBSIDIAN IS DOING WHEEL OF FUCKING TIME YOU BASTARDS I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU ALL YOU WILL ALL DIE YOU WILL SUFFER MURDER DEATH KILL MURDER DEATH KILL FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU

 

[Infinitron]

Welcome to 2010.

 

[Infinitron]

It's fun to revisit these old interviews. Here's one with Josh Sawyer from 2009: http://www.grupo97.org/articulos/17-juegos/341-jesawyerinterview

You have worked for one of most respected companies among all computer RPG games fans, Black Isle. Would you share with us some of your best moments from that time?

Easily the best personal moment was reading an e-mail from Brian Fargo to Feargus about Icewind Dale. Brian really was a gamer. I know people think the whole "By Gamers, For Gamers" thing was a load of crap, but the man liked playing games. He was competitive and would get just as worked up over a hard level or a challenging multiplayer match as the most passionate among us.

He sent Feargus an e-mail to let him know that Icewind Dale was the first game he had finished in years and that he really enjoyed it. I was just one designer on Icewind Dale, but that meant a lot to me. Bard's Tale was a milestone in my youth. Because of that game, I met a good friend who introduced me to AD&D, Phantasie, and dozens of other tabletop games and CRPGs. His name was Tony Uñate, and he wanted to be a game programmer. He committed suicide a few years after he graduated from high school. I didn't become a game developer because of Tony, but I couldn't help but think about him when I read that letter. It really was like a dream coming true.

- Fallout, Baldur's Gate, Planescape Torment... Great games were developed at Black Isle, kind of games not easy to see today on the shelves. Some of them sold great, as Baldur's Gate. Do you believe would it be still possible to develop similar games to those today?

I guess it depends on how similar they need to be. In terms of mechanics, I think a lot of gamers wouldn't accept the controls or conventions of those old games. In terms of content, I believe it's still possible to do, but it's harder now.

- Those were really long games, offering multiple secondary quests and ingame texts, as in Planescape Torment for example. J. Kaplan from Blizzard has recently remarked videogame developers are not any Shakespeare so they should stop writing whole books for videogames, because nobody is going to read them. Do you share his point of view?

I don't think we should be writing books, no. Any text we write should engage the player in the game. That said, I don't think developers should shy away from trying to create high quality writing for players. Just be sure that the player is involved in the process, not being vomited on by the game authors.

That said, if you're not a good writer, the solution to the problem is not to stop writing. That is the exact opposite of the solution. I've never met an artist who's the equivalent of Bouguereau, but that doesn't stop them from trying to improve their skills every day. Learn from others, be realistic, be humble, and work hard.

- It seems a common tendency today to develop increasingly simpler and more accesible games, publishers completely avoiding any potential complex or too difficult idea, assuming it will not sell well for sure. On the other side are us, players, thinking in videogames as an artistic expression full of possibilities, but limited due to that strong commercial orientation they have. The shocking fact is that old games are still selling really well, anyone can check Gog.com results for the last months. Would you say publishers are taking players as immature and lazy?

The market that publishers want to sell to grows larger and larger with each project. More money is invested and thus more units need to be sold to find a return (unless someone comes up with some new monetization scheme) on that SKU. A wider target market will typically skew away from hardcore players and toward more mainstream gamers.

The threshold of simplicity that a hardcore gamer will accept is a lot lower than the threshold of difficulty that a mainstream gamer will accept.

A hardcore gamer may accept an automapping tool but scoff that in "the old days", he or she had to write things out on graph paper. A mainstream gamer will probably not accept the absence of an automapping tool. He or she will stop playing the game and tell everyone they know that it is terrible.

I think it's important for developers and publishers to start recognizing the differences between hardcore and mainstream gamers and include different gameplay elements for the two groups. Having a difficulty slider that shifts numbers around doesn't really solve the problem. Hardcore gamers want an additional level of engagement that mainstream gamers absolutely do not. And just to be clear, I don't think this is because hardcore gamers are a sophisticated elite group of super geniuses and mainstream gamers are drooling morons. Hardcore gamers devote an enormous amount of time to the games they play and are incredibly well-versed in the conventions of the genres they enjoy. What presents a challenge to a bright but ignorant new player simply does not stimulate most "veterans".

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/feed-dump/8712-Runners-Sliders-Designers

 

[Duraframe300]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/feed-dump/8712-Runners-Sliders-Designers

They're friends of Chris and he was visiting them a few? weeks ago.

 

[Rivmusique]

That was awful.

 

[jdinatale]

Because of that game, I met a good friend who introduced me to AD&D, Phantasie, and dozens of other tabletop games and CRPGs. His name was Tony Uñate, and he wanted to be a game programmer. He committed suicide a few years after he graduated from high school. I didn't become a game developer because of Tony, but I couldn't help but think about him when I read that letter. It really was like a dream coming true.

Lik dis if u cry evrytime. RIP in peace Tony

 

[Xor]

That's one of the two guys who do unskippable, which I actually really enjoyed for a while, although I stopped watching it a few years ago.

But yeah, that wasn't funny and a waste of MCA.

 

[Duraframe300]

Placeholder Post for sumethin'.

 

[Hormalakh]

CA has really gone off the deep end hasn't he? He's spending all his time doing things outside of game design that he's lost his touch. That's why he is calling it in with area designs like the one in Wasteland. The further away he is from PoE, the better.

that's right, he's lost the M.

 

[Duraframe300]

CA has really gone off the deep end hasn't he? He's spending all his time doing things outside of game design that he's lost his touch. That's why he is calling it in with area designs like the one in Wasteland. The further away he is from PoE, the better.

that's right, he's lost the M.

?

What?

First off as mentioned before Chris has always been this way. Secondly he's also been doing area design for a long time. (Even if its not his strength) He works plenty on games.

What he does now is more or less enjoy opportunities. He also does most/all of that stuff in his free time so he can do whateverthefuck he wants.

 

[WhiteGuts]

He's also doing something with FTL right ? Regarding the next free DLC they are releasing in a few weeks.

 

[Rake]

CA has really gone off the deep end hasn't he? He's spending all his time doing things outside of game design that he's lost his touch. That's why he is calling it in with area designs like the one in Wasteland. The further away he is from PoE, the better.

that's right, he's lost the M.

BURN THE HERETIC!



What mekes you say that? As long as his writing and stories are staying good, what do you care how he spends his time?

 

[Xor]

CA has really gone off the deep end hasn't he? He's spending all his time doing things outside of game design that he's lost his touch. That's why he is calling it in with area designs like the one in Wasteland. The further away he is from PoE, the better.

that's right, he's lost the M.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Mr. Chris Avellone is indifferent to your opinion.

 

[Chaotic_Heretic]

CA sure is into Grimrock larping. Also how are those tro avatars coming up?

 

[Decado]

I had 2 CTDs and one quest bug (which was fixed by reloading a save from 10 minutes before) in my entire 50 hour playthrough of New Vegas, but I was playing with the nocd crack which I'm told fixed a few of the major problems the initial release had. Still, once those were sorted out it was less buggy than any given Bethesda game, so I don't really get what all the bitching is about there.

This is old, but I don't give a shit. I agree. New Vegas had less bugs than FO3, and less than a lot of major release games.

 

[Gurkog]

MCA is writing for https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waysidecreations/legend-of-grimrock-the-series ...

 

[Infinitron]

MCA is writing for https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/waysidecreations/legend-of-grimrock-the-series ...

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...k-the-series-funded-by-kickstarter-wtf.88565/

 

[Infinitron]

Duraframe300