RPG Codex Interview: Chris Avellone on Pillars Cut Content, Game Development Hierarchies and More

[fantadomat]

Newbies and others who don't know about the Codex's past issues with inXile - just read this thread: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...orment-gamescom-appointment-cancelled.110327/

Said the man and posted a link to the dark side of the codex,a place where newbies don't have access to. Why the fuck moved this thread is beyond me,it was in the right part of the forum and it was about games.

 

[ArchAngel]

Go home guys, Chris has passed out from alcohol finally. No more show tonight. Be sure to gather here next evening when we get to "Drink and chat" with Chris again

 

[AN4RCHID]

Having played the uh final product, the revelations that resources were stolen from Tranny to finish up PoE are absolutely not surprising. I guessed something like that had happened, I just figured it must have been copasetic with Paradox somehow. Lol fergie.

I guess "Upper Management" is wishing they shelled out that month of health insurance right now.

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Go home guys, Chris has passed out from alcohol finally. No more show tonight. Be sure to gather here next evening when we get to "Drink and chat" with Chris again

Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name! And they're always glad you came!

 

[Harold]

I'm sure Paradox is especially "happy" with MCA's revelations, given that, around the time of Tyranny DLC-release, they paid for the biggest media-blitz PR campaign Obsidian had ever seen since its inception.

 

[fobia]

This thread is quite the read.

Somebody saved all of Avellone's posts before he wakes up and deletes/edits them?

The change in tone and earnestness throughout the thread leaves some doubt whether every aspect of it is completely trustworthy.

 

[Quillon]

Man leaves a company, cannot post from his work account anymore.

What a shocking development.

It actually was a surprise, since I was told it was okay - then suddenly, not.

When "not" happened and I realized I couldn't access my account, I asked it be deleted, and they refused and was told it was impossible to delete my account. Which I suspect was an untruth because the delete function is... like... basic functionality.

Overall, it was.... weird. But I have faith Darren Monahan, holder and keeper of the Backer Portal for Pillars knows the truth.

Also, your user name - provided you aren't Darren, which is a legitimate question - always makes me laugh.

This goes to show us that you've been using every little thing you have against Obs. So tell us which of the upper management dude looked at you sideways on the 20th of November 2012?

Also you won't come as genuinely fearless against Obs/what they could throw at you until you'll be able to spell these words: "Josh Sawyer" and explain what went down between you two? Why have you stopped writing love letters to each other?

 

[Maculo]

This is trusting the evidence as it presents itself.

Which is not always a safe assumption to make though, especially when discussing interpersonal issues between people. We are not dealing with day to day assumptions or knowledge (e.g., gravity, water is wet), but rather messy interpersonal drama in which we do not have first hand knowledge. You bring up the example of rape as a justification, but consider that being an industry celebrated writer may not translate into an amazing business owner or partner.

Picking sides is not always the immediate correct answer.

I'm sure Paradox is especially "happy" with MCA's revelations, given that, around the time of Tyranny DLC-release, they paid for the biggest media-blitz PR campaign Obsidian had ever seen since its inception.

I am really curious what fallout, if any, would result from Paradox.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Let's speculate - who do you think Chris meant when he remarked about more people leaving Obsidian soon?

Spoiler

 

[Blaine]

Damn, they really hate his ass over on Somethingawful.

That's because they get to be buttbuddies with Sawyer and feel special.

Also, Obsidian has been surreptitiously filled up with dangerhair "writers" (the equivalent of a hipster dude in Starbucks "writing" on his Macbook, but dangerhairs are women, so progressives are required to take them seriously), and m'ladies' honor must be defended from FUCKING WHITE MALES.

 

[Grauken]

Thankfully we're not buttbuddies with MCA here, just bros and all

 

[Alienman]

Late to the party as usual. Another great timing for me. Just pre-ordered Deadfire collectors edition after thinking about it for a day, then I come here and read this thread and apparently Obsidian is worse than OCP

 

[Infinitron]

Also, Obsidian has been surreptitiously filled up with dangerhair "writers" (the equivalent of a hipster dude in Starbucks "writing" on his Macbook, but dangerhairs are women, so progressives are required to take them seriously), and m'ladies' honor must be defended from FUCKING WHITE MALES.

The irony here is that the age ~50, married, all-white male team of owners who gave MCA the banhammer are quite likely to be a bunch of good ol' boy Orange County Republicans

 

[Father Foreskin]

There was a jittery sound of pieces of worn plastic rubbing together in addition to the roar of an engine. The italian sportscar Chris bought years ago was slowly falling apart. He parked the car and walked to a bench on a beach. Just a typical Californian location to find an artist. Sitting on the bench he looked at his watch. His friend and former employer Brian had given it to Chris during the good times. The watch had stopped, he had all the time he needed.

Chris was concentrating on his small sketchbook he always had with him. Suddenly a giggly voice behind him asked "are you an artist". He had been approached by Mandi and Chantral, two students at UCLA studying modern arts or whatever pointless shit.

Things led to things. The night was long and the dormroom small. In the wee hours of the morning Chris stood on the campus parking lot. His eyes were red and his fly open. He could not remember where the car was so all he had left was a sketchbook and his greatness. Time would not chance the nature of a man, the clock was busted.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Damn, they really hate his ass over on Somethingawful.

That's because they get to be buttbuddies with Sawyer and feel special.

Also, Obsidian has been surreptitiously filled up with dangerhair "writers" (the equivalent of a hipster dude in Starbucks "writing" on his Macbook, but dangerhairs are women, so progressives are required to take them seriously), and m'ladies' honor must be defended from FUCKING WHITE MALES.

It's equally embarassing to watch people here wetting their panties because the celebrity spoke to them.

Infinitron , explain that rating? :D

 

[Lycra Suit]

Newbies and others who don't know about the Codex's past issues with inXile - just read this thread: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...orment-gamescom-appointment-cancelled.110327/

I missed much of the MMarkland vs Fargo stuff, can you point me in the right direction?

Right beside it in Retardo land: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...s-men-mass-mayhem-with-monty-markland.120041/

Why did you have to go and hide it?

 

[Maculo]

Let's speculate - who do you think Chris meant when he remarked about more people leaving Obsidian soon?

Spoiler

In my opinion, the implication was that (a) more layoffs are imminent or (b) Chris still is in contact with employees, who are disgruntled. If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big. When it comes to office-wide interpersonal drama, my immediate suspicion is that there is a "clique" dynamic that is favorable to some, but off putting to others. Of course, this is borderline blind speculation, but it could explain the radically different accounts of Obsidian. For example, Chris said that a developer would react differently to the same feedback depending on the person reporting it, if I recall correctly.

 

[Prime Junta]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Cliques tend to form when people work together for a long time.

However, Chris doesn't necessearliy need to be in contact with Josh himself in order to learn that Josh would be planning on leaving.

 

[Briosafreak]

Ok I'll just make this one post and carry on.

At the time of MCA leaving the company I still kind of cared about games, but the conflicting testimonies of everyone involved just made me confused about what really was going on, and this last post didn't help, so I'll refrain from speculating about those events.

But...

Afterwards, the two tier approach that MCA speaks of when upper management was forced to deal with the terms of his departure is 100% clear and correct. Everything was done to cut him from severance, return investment pay and any compensation for being a former partner and co-founder.
When the chance arrived for a settlement in order for MCA get something, being in a pretty financially hard situation he went through because of his mother illness, upper management saw a chance of exploiting the one leverage they had, and offered a deal stopping him from working on RPGs for a while, a standard procedure on the gaming industry, I saw this happening to people on card games, action games, whatever.

But in this context this is impossible to excuse. It's a stain that will never be removed.

Oh well, later folks.

 

[2house2fly]

Having played the uh final product, the revelations that resources were stolen from Tranny to finish up PoE are absolutely not surprising. I guessed something like that had happened, I just figured it must have been copasetic with Paradox somehow. Lol fergie.

I guess "Upper Management" is wishing they shelled out that month of health insurance right now.

What I don't get is, when Pillars ended up selling well why didn't they frantically pump those resources right back into Tyranny. They had almost a year after the White March was done with. This seems like something that could have been completely avoidable.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

Which is not always a safe assumption to make though, especially when discussing interpersonal issues between people. We are not dealing with day to day assumptions or knowledge (e.g., gravity, water is wet), but rather messy interpersonal drama in which we do not have first hand knowledge. You bring up the example of rape as a justification, but consider that being an industry celebrated writer may not translate into an amazing business owner or partner.Picking sides is not always the immediate correct answer.

But an assumption doesn’t need to be safe or certain in testimonial matters. It only needs to be reasonable and plausible. Besides, I don’t think there is any reason to doubt that Avellone was a positive force in Obsidian. I will repeat this again. The only justifiable reason to treat Avellone like they did is something really nasty and morally outrageous such as walking into the boardroom with a shotgun screaming “I’m the lord of darkness and you shall perish!” or forcing himself on a female developer. None of the other quibbles that they must have after all this years is enough to justify what they did.

I think Obsidian is avoid to answer now to release Deadfire then drop the Ultimate Damage Control Bomb.. This is something i seen happening a lot back at the time people were bashing bioware for Dragon age 2.

Who cares? If they bother to address this polemic in public it will be just more PR talk. If they had a silver bullet that would put this thing to bed they would already used it. They don’t have anything against him. This is pettiness of work environment 101. Feargus and Sawyer wanted him out and the rest of the team took their side. That’s it.

 

[v1rus]

Just started reading the thread, and all i can say is this - as long as video game studios are corporate shitfests, this is gonna continue to happen, and games are gonna suffer the most, next to game developers themselves.

That corporate bullshit has gotta go, asap, and the industry should adapt a model similar to the film industry.

Lemme repeat this once again - C.F.E.O.'s and all that have got to go.

 

[Ninjerk]

I did it as a joke and could never figure out how to undo it since he never appeared as an actual member - I managed it by sliding his name in the HTML or whatever it is. Pretty sure I have another industry figure on ignore, but I'm on my phone and too lazy to chat.

No drama, so sorry.

SO tsundere

 

[Maculo]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

I thought about Sawyer, but it would surprise me if he and Avellone were in contact, given how little is confirmed about their professional relationship. Plus, Avellone won't respond to my autistic questions about Sawyer.

Which is not always a safe assumption to make though, especially when discussing interpersonal issues between people. We are not dealing with day to day assumptions or knowledge (e.g., gravity, water is wet), but rather messy interpersonal drama in which we do not have first hand knowledge. You bring up the example of rape as a justification, but consider that being an industry celebrated writer may not translate into an amazing business owner or partner.Picking sides is not always the immediate correct answer.

But an assumption doesn’t need to be safe or certain in testimonial matters. It only needs to be reasonable and plausible. Besides, I don’t think there is any reason to doubt that Avellone was a positive force in Obsidian. I will repeat this again. The only justifiable reason to treat Avellone like they did is something really serious and morally outrageous such as walking into the boardroom with a shotgun screaming “I’m the lord of darkness and you shall perish!” or forcing himself on a female developer. None of the other quibbles that they must have after all this years is enough to justify what they did.

Honestly, I actually think we are agreement on several points, despite my autistic posting spree. Where I differ is what reason Obsidian could have to want to part with Avellone, and it goes beyond the shotgun example. Specifically, someone who is artistically creative does not always have a mind for business or management (i.e., great artist, shit business partner). For all the amazing characters and stories Avellone has created, he may not have been an active owner/partner. To reference a prior post from Prime Junta, Avellone could have been very non-confrontational and hands off, which does not always make for a good partner/manager, especially in tough financial situations, which Obsidian has gone through.

I am not arguing for Obsidian's sake on this point. They may very well be the asshole in this situation, but I cannot imagine that partners would force another partner out in this manner without some degree of long time mutual resentment. We know Avellone's reason for being resentful, but I am holding out to hear why they would hold resentment for Avellone, provided there is any.