Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[tuluse]

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 know the saying "you have to spend money to make money"? Hasbro doesn't want to spend any money on making a serious cRPG. They don't even really care about D&D. WotC is the Magic the Gathering company to management. D&D is this sort of weird thing they do and put minimum effort into.

Now yes, I'm sure if Obsidian came to Hasbro and said "we'll fund all development and then pay you 50% of profits once we make the game", Hasbro would say yes, but there's no upside to Obsidian to something like that.

It's not a matter of making money, it's a matter of what you're willing to do to make money, and since no one is making a real D&D cRPG, it's clear that Hasbro is not willing to do whatever it is that would get them made.

 

[Infinitron]

Hey, why is everybody forgetting Siege of Dragonspear?

 

[Roguey]

Beamdog shovelware you can only play if you bought their previous cash-in.

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

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

I remember reading that article and thinking that Hasbro requiring Fargo to make a formal proposal before they would provide any meaningful response was basically a way of saying no without saying no. A formal proposal would require the kind of effort no one expends without at least some basic indication of interest already shown.

 

[Duraframe300]

Obsidian related

 

[Infinitron]

Anthony Davis Do you guys really sit in dark rooms like that looking all cool and intense

EDIT: DAVIES?!

 

[Bonerbill]

Obsidian related

Only one black guy in that room full of white people. Typical.

 

[Ninjerk]

 

[Athelas]

Uh, was the example about scrapping that vehicle because people went all 'muh realism' supposed to be a positive anecdote?

I see Feargus is rocking that 5 o'clock shadow.

 

[Anthony Davis]

Anthony Davis Do you guys really sit in a dark room like that looking all cool and intense

EDIT: DAVIES?!

The hallways are mostly lit, but most of the rooms are dark. I don't know about the cool and intense part.

...and yes, they misspelled my name, which has been a source of amusement here at the office:

As for scrapping the vehicle, we didn't scrap it. There is a legitimate argument about which role the vehicle fills. However it takes time to re-tune the vehicle, so for now it's just been temporarily removed from the game - it will return.

 

[Immortal]

I think Josh would do a great job on the tank game.. They should really move him over to the tank game.
It looks like it really requires a lot of skill and expertise to properly tune all those tanks and stuff.

Please?

 

[Fairfax]

I think Josh would do a great job on the tank game.. They should really move him over to the tank game.
It looks like it really requires a lot of skill and expertise to properly tune all those tanks and stuff.

Please?

+1

 

[Zed]

"this tank was historically inaccurate so we removed it from the game"

gj war tank community

 

[Curious_Tongue]

He asked, they said no,

He never asked for the license.

Wizards of the coast came out and said that no-one came to them about it.

Fargo doesn't need established brands to sell games anymore, and he doesn't want to pay for licensing.

 

[Infinitron]

He never asked for the license.

Wizards of the coast came out and said that no-one came to them about it.

Fargo doesn't need established brands to sell games anymore, and he doesn't want to pay for licensing.

Well, now we're at the stage where you need to ask yourself who you're going to believe.

I don't really care myself, but I will say this: Brian Fargo may be the kind of guy who trips your sleazy salesman alarm, but keep in mind that CMcC said the same thing.

 

[Immortal]

Lets all trust the company behind Money - The Gathering and whose literally been raping DnD franchises for the last 8 years.

 

[Fairfax]

If he did make the offer, I believe 100% that they rejected it. They've retconned/eliminated most Planescape stuff over the years, even though it's better than anything they've released after 2e. Why would they let other people use that and make it even more obvious to everyone that D&D has been getting the shaft for years?

 

[Ninjerk]

Well, now we're at the stage where you need to ask yourself who you're going to believe.

I don't really care myself, but I will say this: Brian Fargo may be the kind of guy who trips your sleazy salesman alarm, but keep in mind that CMcC said the same thing.

Colin was a sleazy salesman all along!

 

[Kem0sabe]

CMcC wrote the book of elves for them... Conspiracy.

 

[Roguey]

Fargo doesn't need established brands to sell games anymore, and he doesn't want to pay for licensing.

Isn't he paying for the Numenera license????

 

[Harg Harfardarssen]

Probably less than they would have paid for planescape. Torment is probably raising Numenera's profile more than Numenera raises Torment's.

 

[Fairfax]

I doubt they paid to use Numenera, it's probably a simple licensing deal where InXile pays royalties. As in, they will pay for it, but it's unlikely that they paid upfront. And yeah, clearly TToN does more for Numenera than the other way around.

 

[Fry]

Closest I could find to a tin foil hat troll.

 

[Athelas]

oooh

 

[prodigydancer]

Probably less than they would have paid for planescape. Torment is probably raising Numenera's profile more than Numenera raises Torment's.

Using Torment to raise Numenera's profile was a very good idea. Numenera is a great setting but it's still new (read: unfamiliar) and comes with its own ruleset. Having your own ruleset isn't necessarily a bad thing but it's still a higher entry barrier than DnD because everyone and their dog already knows how to play DnD.

I may like Planescape more - mostly for sentimental reasons - but Hasbro will never let it go so it's as good as dead. And Numenera is the next best thing.