Obsidian General Discussion Thread

Kem0sabe · Sep 21, 2015

Infinitron said:
Throne of Bhaal was in a different part of the world, though. Not to mention the most celebrated "sequel-pansion" of them all, Mask of the Betrayer.

Was an example of an epilogue expansion, so was Mask of the Betrayer, which was not a sequel because it needed the base game.

Sensuki · Sep 21, 2015

Someone here is starting to sound a bit like Daedalos

Roguey · Sep 21, 2015

Throne of Bhaal was a downgraded sequel because they realized it wasn't lucrative to make another full-fledged IE game.

Neither was an "epilogue" because they had nothing to do with the stories from their base campaign.

Kem0sabe · Sep 21, 2015

Roguey said:
Throne of Bhaal was a downgraded sequel because they realized it wasn't lucrative to make another full-fledged IE game.

Neither was an "epilogue" because they had nothing to do with the stories from their base campaign.

Roguey · Sep 21, 2015

a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.

Not "an entirely different adventure that has little to do with preceding events."

Moreover a PoE sequel-expansion couldn't be an epilogue because the main character's story wouldn't end with the x-pack, they want you to import your character into the real sequel.

Kem0sabe · Sep 21, 2015

Roguey said:
Not "an entirely different adventure that has little to do with preceding events."

Moreover a PoE sequel-expansion couldn't be an epilogue because the main character's story wouldn't end with the x-pack, they want you to import your character into the real sequel.

because they had nothing to do with the stories from their base campaign.

Both were a direct continuation of the main characters story arc from the base game, in the case of Baldurs Gate it was the bhaal spawn struggle, between themselves and the journey to godhood or not, in the case of NWN2 it continues the story of the shard bearer directly after the end of the base game.

Roguey · Sep 21, 2015

Kem0sabe said:
Both were a direct continuation of the main characters story arc from the base game, in the case of Baldurs Gate it was the bhaal spawn struggle, between themselves and the journey to godhood or not, in the case of NWN2 it continues the story of the shard bearer directly after the end of the base game.

That sounds like a sequel to me.

Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction is an epilogue, as it wraps up loose ends and ends that particular story. Brood War and the Starcraft 2 x-packs are expansion pack sequels.

Athelas · Sep 21, 2015

They do continue the story, but they're not epilogues. MoTB might as well have been an original story, with how shoehorned-in the references to the NWN2 OC were ('oh, what a coincidence how you and Akachi both used the same sword'). ToB isn't an epilogue either - BG 2 wasn't about the power struggle of different Bhaalspawn.

Kem0sabe · Sep 21, 2015

Athelas said:
They do continue the story, but they're not epilogues. MoTB might as well have been an original story, with how shoehorned-in the references to the NWN2 OC were ('oh, what a coincidence how you and Akachi both used the same sword'). ToB isn't an epilogue either - BG 2 wasn't about the power struggle of different Bhaalspawn.

BG1, BG2, ToB are one giant story arch, it's all about the bhaal spawn and his journey from a young boy/girl cloistered in candlekeep to the discovery of their heritage, the fight with the "brother", to someone trying to steal their godhood, to finally their ascension amongst all their siblings, ToB was the epilogue of all those struggles and characters exemplified in the slides at the end.

MotB finishes the story of the shard-bearer, tho the connections are more flimsy than in in the BG saga, it's assumed the character is the same.

Athelas · Sep 21, 2015

Kem0sabe said:
BG1, BG2, ToB are one giant story arch, it's all about the bhaal spawn and his journey from a young boy/girl cloistered in candlekeep to the discovery of their heritage, the fight with the "brother", to someone trying to steal their godhood, to finally their ascension amongst all their siblings, ToB was the epilogue of all those struggles and characters exemplified in the slides at the end.

'Not an epilogue' doesn't mean 'has no relation to'. Throne of Bhaal was a continuation of the previous BG games, but it's not an epilogue because it adds a new (part of the) story instead of putting closure on one. The specifics of the Bhaalspawn power struggle even contradict Sarevok's and Irenicus' plans on how to reach godhood in the previous games.

Kem0sabe · Sep 21, 2015

Then I used the epilogue term wrongly, what I meant is the conclusion of the characters story, and for me both motb and tob were that conclusion.

AwesomeButton · Sep 21, 2015

Sensuki said:
I agree with everything else you've said but Baldur's Gate Tales of the Sword Coast at least did not have new main menu art, it did have new launcher and loading screen art though.

I remember ToB added a new main menu/save game screen art but, I didn't know about ToSC (only played BGI with BGT), that's why I didn't specify a game

Major_Blackhart · Sep 22, 2015

So, did anyone find out what MCA left obsidian for?

IHaveHugeNick · Sep 22, 2015

Major_Blackhart said:
So, did anyone find out what MCA left obsidian for?

Yeah, he went full Sid Meier. Selling his name to games he does zero actual work on.

Major_Blackhart · Sep 23, 2015

Ahh, was it a money issue then or was something he was working on killed?

Akratus · Sep 23, 2015

Yeah he was working on his life but it got killed. :^)

<3sRichardSimmons · Sep 23, 2015

Almost certainly a confluence of things, but his project getting canned seems like the straw that broke the camel's back.

I also suspect that MCA would like to see Obsidian taking more/bigger risks than Feargus is willing to allow, but that part is purely speculative.

Jedi Exile · Sep 23, 2015

<3sRichardSimmons said:
I also suspect that MCA would like to see Obsidian taking more/bigger risks than Feargus is willing to allow, but that part is purely speculative.

That's what we want to think.

<3sRichardSimmons · Sep 23, 2015

Jedi Exile said:
That's what we want to think.

No, we want to think that MCA and JES swore a blood feud against one another upon their first meeting, nigh these twenty years ago. JES obviously finally executed his long-planned, backhanded coup to oust MCA out into OEI's shovelware division.

:troll:

To be straight though: yes, it is what many of we MCAites wish to believe, but it's also supported by Occam's razor; considering we're basically lacking any primary-sourced evidence, that's all I've got to go on.

Metal Hurlant · Sep 26, 2015

So what's Obsidian working on now? I can only see three games that I'm not interested in: Armored Warfare, Pathfinder card game and the second part to the expansion of Pillars. There doesn't seem to be much coming out of the Obsidian stable to keep me enthused. I'd have to say if the next 12-18 will produce these three games, it's going to be quite bleak.

hemtae · Sep 26, 2015

Metal Hurlant said:
So what's Obsidian working on now? I can only see three games that I'm not interested in: Armored Warfare, Pathfinder card game and the second part to the expansion of Pillars. There doesn't seem to be much coming out of the Obsidian stable to keep me enthused. I'd have to say if the next 12-18 will produce these three games, it's going to be quite bleak.

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...-of-eternity-battletech-banner-saga-2.103294/

The interesting part of this interview is the second half, where Josh and Adam talk about Obsidian's situation and current plans. According to Adam, the company's next crowdfunded game is currently in initial preparation stages. Interestingly, he refers to it as a Kickstarter project before remembering to bring up Fig as well. Josh, meanwhile, discusses his plans for a Pillars of Eternity sequel, reiterating what he said in the retrospective panel about modding and multiclassing, as well as his earlier promise to place the sequel in a less "traditional Euro fantasy" area of the setting, much like Baldur's Gate 2 did.