People News SHOCKER: Chris Avellone leaves Obsidian Entertainment

[Kz3r0]

With all the fucking secrecy

Considering how NDAs are ubiquitous in the gaming industry this can be just a case of personal privacy or simply keeping things under wraps until all contract requirements are fulfilled.
Besides is pretty normal to keep silent until all is settled, in fact the anomaly here is MCA letting people know that he left the way he did.

 

[Volourn]

"Considering how NDAs are ubiquitous in the gaming industry this can be just a case of personal privacy or simply keeping things under wraps until all contract requirements are fulfilled.
Besides is pretty normal to keep silent until all is settled, in fact the anomaly here is MCA letting people know that he left the way he did."

That's if he actually has an 'official' contract with Obsidian. He's an owner and a founder of the company.

 

[Metro]

Have to agree with Volly. I doubt he ever signed an NDA being a co-founder of the company. Of course, it might have been part of the incorporation documents/whatever legal entity they operate as. It's probably just a matter of not saying anything until he lands somewhere else which isn't that uncommon.

 

[Ninjerk]

I'm sure they had some contingency about owners self-ejecting.

 

[Kz3r0]

That's if he actually has an 'official' contract with Obsidian. He's an owner and a founder of the company.

 

[Metro]

It's not a statement. He wasn't a hired employee that's handed a boilerplate contract. But, as Ninjerk says, there is probably some language in the organizing documents (I dunno if they're a corp or LLC or whatever) that provides for when a member/shareholder withdraws. Still... I just think it's a matter of propriety and not that he's legally bound to abstain from talking about it.

It's not hard to connect the dots. He wants to do more creative work and in order to stay afloat Obsidian kept taking on more banal/boring contract work for shitty AAA IP's.

 

[Volourn]

"I'm sure they had some contingency about owners self-ejecting."

This is Obsidian we are talking about. This is a company that signed a contract where they made a game that solid more copies than any BIO game ever yet still didn't make any real profit off of it because they agreed they would only get paid if they had a 85% rating on some stupid review site.

\LMFAO

 

[Sabin Rene Figaro]

This is pretty sad news, Chris Avellone did some great contributions to Obsidian, including Pillars.
I just don't want his talent to be wasted. I'm sure he could be a really great addition to Fargo's team or as a lead of his own new studio.
Just please, don't go to fucking Bethesda. They have never made an interesting game and they won't start anytime soon no matter how many good writers you throw to their bland and soulless "game" making machine.

 

[DwarvenFood]

There is no way he is going to any major big company, finances will not be a motivation and the bigger the place, the more limited you get in what you are allowed to do usually. Even at OBS his stuff was cut. So smaller studio or just freelancing would be the move here, if he is staying in the industry - which he most likely is.

 

[Zed]

put on your deerstalkers it's time for another mystery clue.
https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/614194037923295232

A big Torment fan came by the office and walked out with a bunch of signatures. @realkatbella

person goes to inxile to get shit signed.
all signatures looks to have been signed with the same pen.
brian menze signature suggests they have been signed at different times tho.
unless menzr is jumping ship as well because obsidian is a SINKING SHIP.

but anyway there's a chris avellone signature.
which potentially suggests he was at the inxile office.

btw the person visiting is a UI designer.
maybe inxile is actually hiring an actual UI designer wouldn't that be swell.
altho I think the UI for numanuma torment looks nice.

 

[Excidium II]

MCA Van Buren Lead Writer confirmed

 

[Athelas]

Isn't that Feargus' signature under Brian Menze's? Pretty sure it wasn't signed then, especially since InXile has employees working all over the world.

There is no way he is going to any major big company, finances will not be a motivation and the bigger the place, the more limited you get in what you are allowed to do usually. Even at OBS his stuff was cut. So smaller studio or just freelancing would be the move here, if he is staying in the industry - which he most likely is.

Various Obsidian employees have said that publishers generally don't care what they do story-wise.

 

[Fry]

Eh... the dude brings the pen with him. That tells us nothing about the chronology of signatures.

Also, Avellone has said several times he isn't done with work on T:ToN. His presence in the inXile offices doesn't necessarily suggest anything permanent.

 

[Forest Dweller]

Or maybe he just wants to be left the fuck alone.

If he doesn't want to be stalked maybe he shouldn't be so brilliant and charming. Did you ever think of that?

He's clearly asking for it.

 

[mindx2]

put on your deerstalkers it's time for another mystery clue.
https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/614194037923295232

A big Torment fan came by the office and walked out with a bunch of signatures. @realkatbella

Whatever, that's not even a 1st edition boxed copy.....

 

[Zed]

put on your deerstalkers it's time for another mystery clue.
https://twitter.com/BrianFargo/status/614194037923295232

A big Torment fan came by the office and walked out with a bunch of signatures. @realkatbella

Whatever, that's not even a 1st edition boxed copy.....

oh you don't have to tell me. I've got a european first pressing.

 

[TwinkieGorilla]

Obviously he's on his way to Prosper's office.

 

[Morality Games]

I'm really not convinced that Avellone's disagreement with Obsidian had much to do with Pillars of Eternity or the cut content.

It probably had more to do with things like how Urquhart thought developing a relationship with Sega and working with them after Alpha Protocol on Alien was an overall good idea because Sega was a well established video game developer and publisher, whereas Chris Avellone might have liked the idea of doing a Star Trek RPG with Paramount would have been great because he could read every Star Trek novel to deconstruct the setting.

That's just one example. The fact is the origin of the dispute is probably long term and business orientated. At the onset of Obsidian, the agreement (in paper or otherwise) was probably Avellone would design the games and Urquhart would run the business. Later, Avellone probably wanted a say in the business and the contracts it took or pursued commiserate with his ownership in the company. He didn't get that according to his notions, so he left.

 

[Jaesun]

RPGCodex: The Queens of making up shit you know nothing about.

 

[Morality Games]

RPGCodex: The Queens of making up shit you know nothing about.

Speculation's the fun part. When we all know what's true then we all know and there is nothing to talk about.

 

[Jasede]

You don't even know what you don't know.
MCA is under my desk right now.

 

[ROARRR]

Obviously he's on his way to Prosper's office.

the more I watch this the more I get disgusted and angry

It is a creative puke of mind illness!
I am super

 

[Lockkaliber]

If MCA blamed Feargus for whatever things happened at Obsidian, it would have shown earlier. Whatever made him leave most likely has something to do with things out of his control.

 

[Elhoim]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/the-bards-tale-iv/posts/1276496

Avellone?

 

[Excidium II]

Pete Hines