Editorial RPG Codex Report: Wasteland 2 Release Party

[lurker3000]

Should have asked where our boxed copies are.

 

[MRY]

Alas, I can't figure out how to tag people efficiently. . . [EDIT: Thanks, for explaining how!]

Berekän: I mentioned Primordia once or twice, but clearly no one had heard of it. Which, frankly, makes sense.

Amasius: Though some of you weren't sold on his style, Dan is a great writer and a great artist. We'll have a chance to show off some of his stuff shortly, as he's doing art (and hopefully writing, down the line) on Wormwood Studios' current project.

Charles-cgr: Charles leaves out some amusing political debates between him and Fargo on the topic of environmentalism, which were sadly but fittingly cut off by the Frenchman's need to go have a cigarette. Despite a purported lack of "ammunition," Charles almost perfectly embodies the Codex's combination of smarts, trivia, and refusal to kowtow. And, yeah, as noted, Dan an I are making a game. Hope to reveal it soon.

Deuce Traveler: Yeah. It's interesting the extent to which the Codex "punches above its weight." At the same time, though, I was pretty disheartened to see the degree to which the ironic/offensive memies and small percentage of jerks were considered to represent the core character of the Codex. Makes me assume that most people's impression is second-hand.

Sometimes it seems like the Codex is akin to Fallout's Vault Dweller: after long years in the desert saving RPGs from corruption into stupid, sterile giants, the Codex hopes to enjoy the years of peace and comfort, only to find that no one else can accept the harsh character that the years of struggle required. Time to go build a Temple of Trials, I guess.

jiujitsu: Amazingly fun.

Diablo169: As far as I could tell, none had played Primordia (or, as said above, even heard of it!). I'd be happy to give copies to any and all of them. But it's kind of a cheap knock-off of PS:T, whereas my hope is that T:TON will blaze new ground.

Anyway, many thanks to all who made such a fun night possible.

 

[Infinitron]

MRY No space between @ and the name. Don't make any typoes.

That 3/5 from Joystiq is going to haunt Fargo forever. :D

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/19/w...efSrc=permalink#lf-content=94943893:216601385
https://twitter.com/SusanArendt/status/515549825459560448
https://twitter.com/SusanArendt/status/515550540756180992

 

[Brother None]

Glad you had fun MRY and Charles-gr and the rest!

MRY I've played Primordia and bounced the name around with the Torment team before. The writing in your game is outstanding and the setting and world very Torment-y, so it is definitely relevant to our interests.

 

[Diablo169]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/227000/

For anyone who has not yet played Primordia go check it out, it's a point and click but it's great.

 

[tuluse]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/227000/

For anyone who has not yet played Primordia go check it out, it's a point and click but it's great.

But? What's that supposed to mean

 

[Infinitron]

Buying Primordia is like the Codex equivalent of praying a rosary. We encourage you to do it many times. It's good for your soul.

 

[Diablo169]

Broken Age has kind of sullied the genre. That was my attempt to stop people comparing it to that

 

[Deleted member 7219]

These guys are truly gods among men. So pleased to hear they are nice and friendly. It makes my worship of them feel justified.

 

[MRY]

Glad you had fun MRY and Charles-gr and the rest!

MRY I've played Primordia and bounced the name around with the Torment team before. The writing in your game is outstanding and the setting and world very Torment-y, so it is definitely relevant to our interests.

Thanks! If you want so keys to pass around, I'm more than happy to share.

Buying Primordia is like the Codex's version of praying a rosary. We encourage you to do it many times. It's good for your soul.

But better not to pay full price. I'm sure it'll be on sale again sometime soon. Golden age of cheap media!!

[EDIT: That said, early and often ratings on Steam and GOG and Metacritic are very helpful and probably matter a lot more than individual sales.]

 

[Deleted member 7219]

George Ziets and I talked about emotions that games seldom touch upon -- melancholy, ennui. I groused to him and Kevin Saunders about the stupid Venetian Carnival mask I had to wear in MOTB to boost my charisma; when I lavished them with praise for their intelligent use of transitional text in loading screens, they drilled down into other non-traditional mechanisms for conveying story.

When Ziets left Obsidian I was dismayed. The guy had so many great ideas and it would have been such a shame for them to have gone to waste. But now he's working for both Obsidian and inXile, it's amazing. I think we're only just getting started with this guy.

Same with Saunders.

 

[Diablo169]

George Ziets and I talked about emotions that games seldom touch upon -- melancholy, ennui. I groused to him and Kevin Saunders about the stupid Venetian Carnival mask I had to wear in MOTB to boost my charisma; when I lavished them with praise for their intelligent use of transitional text in loading screens, they drilled down into other non-traditional mechanisms for conveying story.

When Ziets left Obsidian I was dismayed. The guy had so many great ideas and it would have been such a shame for them to have gone to waste. But now he's working for both Obsidian and inXile, it's amazing. I think we're only just getting started with this guy.

Same with Saunders.

The Ziets hype is real, I hope he gets creative lead on their next title.

 

[Amasius]

Amasius: Though some of you weren't sold on his style, Dan is a great writer and a great artist. We'll have a chance to show off some of his stuff shortly, as he's doing art (and hopefully writing, down the line) on Wormwood Studios' current project.

I don't doubt that, he surely has a way with words, but in my eyes the style he has choosen doesn't suit him. Or anyone who isn't on drugs. Or expects to be read by people not on drugs. Now I'm really curious about your project though. Don't tantalize us to long, will you?

 

[MRY]

I won't!

 

[CWagner]

Great write-up, good to know those guys are as chill as they seem

 

[Jaedar]

Sometimes it seems like the Codex is akin to Fallout's Vault Dweller: after long years in the desert saving RPGs from corruption into stupid, sterile giants, the Codex hopes to enjoy the years of peace and comfort, only to find that no one else can accept the harsh character that the years of struggle required. Time to go build a Temple of Trials, I guess.

I really like this description.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Sometimes it seems like the Codex is akin to Fallout's Vault Dweller: after long years in the desert saving RPGs from corruption into stupid, sterile giants, the Codex hopes to enjoy the years of peace and comfort, only to find that no one else can accept the harsh character that the years of struggle required. Time to go build a Temple of Trials, I guess.

I really like this description.

I find it apt in terms of the perception that the Codex hates modern RPGs - it clearly doesn't, it's a broad church. But I think criticisms of racism and misogyny at the Codex are justified.

The Codex has done great work in the past few years, with the fundraisers for the incline (the Codex is putting its money where its mouth is - an honorable trait), but the casual racism and misogyny in many areas of the site are what give it a really bad rep.

 

[Berekän]

Berekän: I mentioned Primordia once or twice, but clearly no one had heard of it. Which, frankly, makes sense.

Oh well, don't sell yourself short. Should've pushed it a bit more, the people there would surely like your job.

 

[cvv]

Hehe, I didn't get the Joshua easter egg since I have never seen War Games.

So of course I had to watch it RIGHT NOW and lol, what an awesome little romp!
Kudos inXile :D

 

[Jasede]

I won't!

You made that Primordia shit?
Good job! Feels like an old adventure, mostly. Really dig the music, too. 7/10. (That's a lot from me!)

 

[MRY]

FFS, why must everyone give Primordia 7/10!?! Would an 8 kill you? In all seriousness, thanks. I appreciate people who treat all 10 points of a 10-point scale as being on the table. And, of course, I didn't make the game myself. The coder (James Spanos), the artist (Victor Pflug), and the composer (Nathaniel Chambers) made it. I just filled it with words.

[EDIT]

@Matt7895 I don't wade into the general discussion forums, so I couldn't say what those are like. In the forums I do check out, it seems like it's offensive, but mostly ironic, memes (which I don't enjoy) and a few jerks (who I also don't enjoy). Neither of those things seem to be the site's defining character. A fairly high degree of toleration for that nonsense is probably helpful for the forum retaining its sharp critical edge because by pushing the taboo boundary pretty far out, it leaves a broad interior for legitimate criticism that never seems "close to the line." (Obviously, I would rather lose the bad and keep the good; who wouldn't?) In my opinion, incidentally, the Codex's most important work was not in contributing a relatively insignificant amount of Kickstarter money, but in "carrying the fire" during the dark years. That said, maybe my views are too rosy.

 

[Infinitron]

7/10

Banned Jasede.

MRY Keep in mind that inXile's view of the Codex may also be colored by that embarrassing-in-retrospect "handful of disgruntled beta testers temporarily turn the forum into a cesspool of anti-Wasteland 2 butthurt for eight months" episode.

 

[Roguey]

That 3/5 from Joystiq is going to haunt Fargo forever. :D

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/09/19/w...efSrc=permalink#lf-content=94943893:216601385
https://twitter.com/SusanArendt/status/515549825459560448
https://twitter.com/SusanArendt/status/515550540756180992

Considering the horrid state California's in, and likely will be for the next few months, Fargo has a lot of nerve complaining about a review that focuses on bugs.

 

[Infinitron]

Considering the horrid state California's in, and likely will be for the next few months, Fargo has a lot of nerve complaining about a review that focuses on bugs.

Play the game Roguey

 

[MRY]

Considering the horrid state California's in, and likely will be for the next few months, Fargo has a lot of nerve complaining about a review that focuses on bugs.

I read this and thought to myself, "What does Roguey want Fargo to do about persistent droughts, unemployment, and poor government serviceS?" Then I remembered reading a review about bugs in the latter part of the game.