Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Morality Games]

Not one of the Codex proudest moments.

Should have reversed places with Fallout, but Fallout 2 die hards had to split the vote instead of consigning Fallout 2 among the top 20 where it belonged. Planescape fans only had one game to focus their enthusiasm on.

 

[Immortal]

Yes. Does this remind you of anything: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Cordell

That's just one person.. from Amn.. That doesn't even remotely define the city or themes of Baldurs Gate 2.. IMO

It's a well known fact that almost everything in FR is lifted from some real life influence..
Ed Greenwood was a merciless plagiarizer of the real world. (Waterdeep was originally in the shape of Toronto)
So seeing a story like that kicking off from Amn (which is the closest point from the sword coast to Maztika) makes sense.

Especially because Amn is very wealthy.

However...
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Amn
http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Athkatla

Cordell is not mentioned once in the history of either locations though.

I think this was more about defining the colonization of Maztika more then defining Amn as a Spanish inspired location.

If you look at the history of Athkatla - it's founding was from the Shoon Imperium which was a family regency that ruled over Calimshan.
It's founding and history is almost wholly Arabic AFAIK

I think the Spanish influence was more about defining Maztika as this dangerous jungle with exotic goods that was being colonized by an outside force. I am not disputing there is some Spanish shenanigans going on -but- I think Amn's themes were defined before that ever happened.

I could be totally wrong though, if you have a source book or interview that states otherwise, I would be curious to find out more.

 

[Infinitron]

I wouldn't know where to look for interviews, but it's a commonly held fan perception going back years, eg: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5336

 

[Immortal]

I wouldn't know where to look for interviews, but it's a commonly held fan perception going back years, eg: http://forum.candlekeep.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=5336

That's actually a perfectly credible link - there's a post from Steven Schend

As for the Amn / Tethyr bits, you guys are on the mark; there is probably more Calishite leftover culture in Amn because they were always a bit removed from the lash, unlike Tethyr. Thus, while both were born from a mix of immigrant conquerors/overlords from Calimshan, Amn and Tethyr have their touches of the south in varying degrees. That's why I always hint at the links to Moorish Spain and southern France for them--the architecture and some of the religion and customs remain, even if they outwardly hate the culture from which it came.

So in a sense we were both right.

 

[Infinitron]

Adam and Josh talk a bit about Obsidian's current situation and future plans in the second half of this interview:



Adam says the company is in good shape. Confirmed that the next Kickstarter is in the works (yes, Adam actually says "Kickstarter", but then remembers to mention Fig as well). Josh talks a bit about PoE2, restating some things he said in the panel and also saying that it'll move to a more exotic setting like BG2 did.

More of this: http://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-...rwood-instead-someplace-not-quite-as-familiar

Pillars of Eternity 2 won't take place in the Dyrwood, instead "someplace not quite as familiar"

I spoke with Obsidian veteran Josh Sawyer recently about Pillars of Eternity, Kickstarter and the world at large, which was nice. Talk turned to the openly discussed but yet-to-be-confirmed Pillars sequel, which Sawyer says will take place in a less traditional setting than the lovely familiar greenery of the Dyrwood.

Sawyer's comments came while discussing Obsidian's thematic approach to Pillars of Eternity's expansions, the first of which (The White March part one) is out now and harkens back to Icewind Dale:

"For [The White March], we’re taking on the other side of the Infinity Engine equation, which is Icewind Dale. It’s not really that big of a departure, but in the base game we very much made something that was very cosy, very Dalelands, very temperate. Meadows and forests and things like that.

"I would say in Pillars 2, if we wound up doing a sequel, which we certainly want to do, we would probably take it to someplace which is not quite as familiar. Which is exactly what Baldur’s Gate II did. Baldur’s Gate II took you to Amn, to Athkatla, which is nearby the rest of the Sword Coast territories but it’s different enough that it feels new and interesting."

Sawyer name-checking BGII gives a good indication of the level of departure Pillars 2's setting will take from the Dyrwood. He's not implying a whole cloth fantasy written from the ground up like Planescape, but perhaps somewhere less well-travelled, carrying a greater air of danger.

Obsidian have a lot of Forgotten Realms-inspired real estate to draw inspiration from. The rights to the D&D name and territories have been traded back and forth exhaustively and now probably lie forgotten in a lawyer's shoebox somewhere, but even without the license Obsidian managed to nail the tone of Black Isle's officially affilliated CRPGs very effectively. The world's their oyster, provided that world isn't named explicitly after somewhere on a D&D map.

And while we all bate our breath for that eventual sequel announcement, there's always the Pillars card game, eh?

 

[Drax]

Do it in Morrowind.

 

[Fairfax]

He says Dyrwood, so it can still be in the Eastern Reach. Hope it's not their silly version of African-Italian Vailian Republics.

 

[Athelas]

Being so self-conscious about the settings of the IE games seems pretty silly to me. Was there really much demand for an expansion taking place in an area reminiscent of Icewind Dale? Judging by the abysmal sales of Beamdog's enhanced edition, I doubt it. As discussed before, BG2's 'exotic' setting was just a traditional fantasy backdrop.

 

[Infinitron]

Being so self-conscious about the settings of the IE games seems pretty silly to me. Was there really much demand for an expansion taking place in an area reminiscent of Icewind Dale? Judging by the abysmal sales of Beamdog's enhanced edition, I doubt it. As discussed before, BG2's 'exotic' setting was just a traditional fantasy backdrop.

At least one guy cared about it: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...gate-series-thread.80753/page-47#post-3726295

 

[LESS T_T]

http://www.pcgamesn.com/pillars-of-...ended-to-make-baldurs-gate-3-says-josh-sawyer

Black Isle never intended to make Baldur's Gate 3, says Josh Sawyer

When Obsidian announced to the world that they were working on an isometric RPG with a Forgotten Realms-y setting and old school D&D style rules, what a lot of people heard was "here's Baldurs Gate 3." But while Pillars of Eternity does include a few nods to the long-cancelled Project Jefferson, or "The Black Hound" as it was known internally, Black Isle and Obsidian developer Josh Sawyer says neither project was actually concieved as a Baldur's Gate threequel.

In a recent interview, Sawyer (who also discussed the setting for Pillars of Eternity 2) told me the original, cancelled Black Hound was only linked to the Baldur's Gate brand through contractual obligations Interplay held at the time.

"To be honest, when we were working on Jefferson – The Black Hound was its informal name – it became Baldur’s Gate III because Interplay had the Baldur’s Gate license and needed to use either Icewind Dale or Baldur’s Gate in the title of any game they were making."

It did share similarities, Sawyer continues, such as its AD&D rule set and Forgotten Realms settings, "but it wasn’t really meant to be a continuation of those games."

But what about the idea of Pillars of Eternity being a spiritual Baldur's Gate threequel - are there any specific elements the Black Isle veterans at Obsidian carried over to Pillars?

"There are some mechanical things that we carried over," he tells me. "For example, the reputation system that tracks different personality types and has people react differently to the certain personality that you gave your character, that was something that we initially conceived for Jefferson.

"Obviously the name of the inn in the first town being The Black Hound is not a coincidence, but I would say that almost all the other stuff we wound up putting in the game was a whole cloth. I mean, I shouldn’t say whole cloth because it draws inspiration from the Forgotten Realms and lots of other games. But the story is very different from what we were doing with Baldur’s Gate III. And really none of the characters came over. It was its own thing, although obviously we tried to evoke the feeling of the Forgotten Realms, and the Dalelands, specifically."

It's a good time to be an isometric CRPG fan - Pillars of Eternity's first expansion, The White March part one, is out now.

 

[Infinitron]

Can't they just post the full interview?

 

[Athelas]

Yeah, you'd think they have to make as many news posts as possible to rack up brofists or something like that.

 

[Starwars]

But this isn't really news right? It's been mentioned before.

 

[Jaesun]

I wonder if Wizards of the Coast ever contacted them and asked them to possibly do a D&D game in the new PoE engine?

I'd actually play that....

 

[tuluse]

I wonder if Wizards of the Coast ever contacted them and asked them to possibly do a D&D game in the new PoE engine?

I'd actually play that....

Nah, WotC/Hasbro has no interest in anything but shovelware. It sounds like Paizo wants Obsidian to make a real Pathfinder game though.

 

[Shammy]

Nah, WotC/Hasbro has no interest in anything but shovelware. It sounds like Paizo wants Obsidian to make a real Pathfinder game though.

A shame too, so much potential but WotC/Hasbro just won't take advantage. A pathfinder game i can get behind though.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

You say it's Hasbro who doesn't want money, but that doesn't many any sense. They probably don't get approached by anyone, that's all. Nobody (I don't mean just publishers, even gamedev studios like Obsidian) is interested in these franchises anymore. Somebody approached them for NWN MMO and they sold them the license, no big deal. The game is even shit, and they still went ahead and gave them the license. Then there's this new generic D&D game that's going to be released soon - they got the license too. It's a question of interest it seems.

 

[Roguey]

They told Fargo to buzz off when he asked about Planescape and then lied about it.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

Quote? Details of what Fargo offered and what they wanted?

I don't see him offering points on the game, and I don't see him offering a solid sum. And I don't even see him really wanting to work with an old franchise instead of working with a cheap, but new and cool one. He probably offered something minimal and wanted to get rejected in the first place, so he'd be able to say "hey I tried.., so let's do Numenera!"

 

[Excidium II]

They told Fargo to buzz off when he asked about Planescape and then lied about it.

They probably don't want any planescape stuff from third parties until they decide to unbury it themselves.

But if he asked for D&D...

 

[Fairfax]

Quote? Details of what Fargo offered and what they wanted?

I don't see him offering points on the game, and I don't see him offering a solid sum. And I don't even see him really wanting to work with an old franchise instead of working with a cheap, but new and cool one. He probably offered something minimal and wanted to get rejected in the first place, so he'd be able to say "hey I tried.., so let's do Numenera!"

You think he went out of his way to get a license he wanted them to reject just to tell people he tried and "justify" the use of Numenera? Oh, no, he just wanted to be able to say that.
Why the fuck would he do that? Why would he waste everyone's time like that and not even tell everyone about it, as you suggest? The world revolves around internet forum speculation, I'm sure, it's not like the guy's running a business over there.

 

[Sannom]

You say it's Hasbro who doesn't want money, but that doesn't many any sense. They probably don't get approached by anyone, that's all. Nobody (I don't mean just publishers, even gamedev studios like Obsidian) is interested in these franchises anymore. Somebody approached them for NWN MMO and they sold them the license, no big deal. The game is even shit, and they still went ahead and gave them the license. Then there's this new generic D&D game that's going to be released soon - they got the license too. It's a question of interest it seems.

You're confusing Hasbro and Games Workshop, I believe. Hasbro are still very successful and don't have their whole business strategy undermined by consumers and a competition that is getting better and better, right?

 

[Roguey]

Quote? Details of what Fargo offered and what they wanted?

I don't see him offering points on the game, and I don't see him offering a solid sum. And I don't even see him really wanting to work with an old franchise instead of working with a cheap, but new and cool one. He probably offered something minimal and wanted to get rejected in the first place, so he'd be able to say "hey I tried.., so let's do Numenera!"

https://twitter.com/Dracogen/status/301519247874605056


He asked, they said no, the strong reception to a new Torment made WotC change their mind, they made a big show of changing their mind (while pretending it had never changed in the first place), and only then did Fargo cry/laugh about it.

From the article itself. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...lares-that-it-is-open-to-licensing-planescape

Colin McComb, key member of the Planescape: Torment team, reached out to Wizards of the Coast about reviving Planescape: Torment game. But it "yielded no fruit", he told me.

Brian Fargo, inXile boss, was "rebuffed" by Wizards of the Coast when he asked the same sort of thing.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I would trust anything Fargo says, he manages to look least trustworthy than Monsanto's CEO.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Still looking to bask in the light of IE games' titles. This looks so just as pathetic as I imagined it would. A game developer prefers to associate his game's sequel with a 15-years old franchise instead of with the first game which was released months ago.