Incline Chris Avellone Appreciation Station

[Roguey]

Avellone raises a candle to Mitsoda.



Also if you're not following the Pillars thread, the novella's finally happening http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/81337-novella-comming-any-word-on-progress/page-2#entry1776716

 

[Jasede]

That's an amazing picture. Mitsoda looks like a goddamn badass and Avellone has his sheepish, winning smile that says "Suck my dick; you know you want to."

And he's right.

 

[Fairfax]

Another podcast with MCA as guest.



Host doesn't seem too promising, but at least it's not too long.

 

[Lacrymas]

So, I was interviewed 2 days ago for a TV broadcast by a reporter who knew what questions to ask. He totally bulldozed me and I really was at a loss for words, and here is why - I was warned beforehand that I shouldn't use words that are too technical or concepts that can be taken out of context without having read the entire continental philosophy. The reason for this is that it was for the ...let's say general population. The problem is that the questions were so precise and calculated that I really couldn't begin explaining what I wanted using simple words and sentences. I did everything I could though with what I had, but it mostly came out weak. On the other hand, even if I could use a more advanced language and knowledge base, I still couldn't explain it in the time frame that I had. This might explain why interviewers don't ask the hard questions, even if they do know what and how to ask them. This does tie to my previous statement that you can't really go into too much detail in an interview (be it lack of time or target audience). I still think they can skip the usual drivel at the start though. The lack of time part bothers me, because I've seen interviews with MCA that last like 1 hour+ and it's still the same old triviality.

 

[PeachPlumage]

Chris Avellone Da‘wah Station.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

 

[Fairfax]

I was just going to post that. And some people still think it was a friendly departure...

 

[Roguey]

the fuck

What profile is he referring to?

That's also apparently a friends-only post so this is kind of a breach in etiquette to post that here.

 

[Fairfax]

That's also apparently a friends-only post so this is kinda of a breach in etiquette to post that here.

You're right.

As for the profile, there seems to be no profile related to Obsidian, so it's not what it looked like.

 

[Excidium II]

wow such bad blood.

 

[Infinitron]

Uh he's obviously talking about some sort of gaming service.

 

[Fairfax]

I guess it could be his Metacritic profile. I remember this was very controversial a while ago, when they had averages for developers in the front page like actors and directors.

EDIT:
Nvm, he said "gaming company". Could be his account in any game, really.

 

[Tigranes]

So, I was interviewed 2 days ago for a TV broadcast by a reporter who knew what questions to ask. He totally bulldozed me and I really was at a loss for words, and here is why - I was warned beforehand that I shouldn't use words that are too technical or concepts that can be taken out of context without having read the entire continental philosophy. The reason for this is that it was for the ...let's say general population. The problem is that the questions were so precise and calculated that I really couldn't begin explaining what I wanted using simple words and sentences. I did everything I could though with what I had, but it mostly came out weak. On the other hand, even if I could use a more advanced language and knowledge base, I still couldn't explain it in the time frame that I had. This might explain why interviewers don't ask the hard questions, even if they do know what and how to ask them. This does tie to my previous statement that you can't really go into too much detail in an interview (be it lack of time or target audience). I still think they can skip the usual drivel at the start though. The lack of time part bothers me, because I've seen interviews with MCA that last like 1 hour+ and it's still the same old triviality.

This might also be why humanities scholars end up sounding like incoherent buffoons on the media, even though every humanities scholar knows this is terrible and vows they will not fail this way.

I think with MCA the problem is that he's not the sort of person who goes very deeply and systematically into the economic aspects, the institutional aspects, etc. of the industry, where he would benefit from having an hour, and neither is he the type to be willing to criticise, well, anybody publicly. He often regurgitates his general thoughts at a pretty simple level and you can hardly ask him about other people's games because he will always say they are wonderful. I think at this point he's done a million interviews, which also bleeds him dry.

 

[Excidium II]

Obsidian forums!!

 

[Excidium II]

They never let MCA do the projects he wanted and laughed behind his back.

 

[Diablo169]

the fuck

What profile is he referring to?

That's also apparently a friends-only post so this is kind of a breach in etiquette to post that here.

He posted in publicly on twitter half an hour ago as well, so not really a private matter it would seem. I doubt it's Obsidian related though.

 

[Excidium II]

That bit was for dramatic effect.

 

[Fairfax]

What was the beef between Sawyer and Avellone? I'm a bit out of the loop.

The beef is a rumour.
This is roughly what we know about the two:

• They worked together on IWD and IWD2.
• Chris worked on Van Buren for 3 years, Sawyer for the last 6 months before it was cancelled.
• Sawyer assigned MCA to write the companions for NWN2. MCA wrote them, but he only inherited their design.
• He said it was a terrible experience and Cass was the last companion he'd inherit, and only because he liked the concept.
• They worked together on Aliens: Crucible. Sawyer was Lead Designer, MCA was Lead Writer.
• A few months later MCA left to work on AP. According to George Ziets, the game didn't look as good after he left.
• Obsidian got the gig to make FNV while MCA was working on AP. Sawyer became the Project Director.
• MCA joined the team after AP was finished. He was assigned to a few major characters, Cass, and worked on a companion of his own (Ulysses).
• He wrote so much for Ulysess that Sawyer decided it would be too much work to implement him, so he cut the companion entirely.
• 2012, Obsidian in shambles, etc. Sawyer pushes for a KS project after seeing the Double Fine Adventure one.
• According to Eurogamer, Sawyer threatened to quit during one of the heated discussions about it.
• MCA was against a Kickstarter because he didn't think it'd work. He later changed his stance and now loves KS.
• MCA's role in PoE was to write 2 companions, give feedback on the story and edit some of the writing.
• Sawyer and Fenstermaker cut and/or changed so much about Durance and Grieving Mother that MCA said he couldn't take credit for them. He said about 3/4 of what he made was changed or cut.
• In the interviews with MCA since PoE's release he barely mentioned Sawyer's name.
• The last time MCA mentioned or talked to Sawyer on twitter was in Feb 2013. They do not follow each other at the moment.
  
• In a PAX panel Sawyer and other members of the PoE talked about the game's development. They talked about cut content (but not MCA's content), and Sawyer said the cut content they didn't talk about was just "bad" and laughed.
• Sawyer sort of retracted his statement, and said he wasn't talking about MCA's content when he said that.

 

[Infinitron]

• Sawyer assigned MCA to write the companions for NWN2.

That would imply that the companions were entirely written in the last half year of the game's development, which seems doubtful

 

[Excidium II]

• Sawyer assigned MCA to write the companions for NWN2.

That would imply that the companions were entirely written in the last half year of the game's development, which seems doubtful

Considering the end product...

 

[Fairfax]

• Sawyer assigned MCA to write the companions for NWN2.

That would imply that the companions were entirely written in the last half year of the game's development, which seems doubtful

I lost all my bookmarks, but he did join the project late in the development cycle. Another dev (or maybe Feargus) also said he was a wreck afterwards, because he worked really intense hours to make it.

 

[Roguey]

What was the beef between Sawyer and Avellone? I'm a bit out of the loop.

There wasn't any. It is true that Avellone's style (colorful, over the top characters) doesn't particularly mesh well with Sawyer's (dry, down-to-earth).

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

MCA was against a Kickstarter because he didn't think it'd work. He later changed his stance and now loves KS.

Do you have any source proving this?
I'm following Chris on twitter for a long time, and he was very excited about kickstarter since the first day of Double Fine campaign.

 

[SymbolicFrank]

Honest question: when was the last time MCA made a game worth buying?

 

[Infinitron]

MCA was against a Kickstarter because he didn't think it'd work. He later changed his stance and now loves KS.

Do you have any source proving this?
I'm following Chris on twitter for a long time, and he was very excited about kickstarter since the first day of Double Fine campaign.

Bit of conjecture there. We know that certain Obsidian owners were skeptical about Kickstarter to the point of not wanting to do one, and we also know that in certain interviews in 2013, Chris Avellone admitted that he'd been skeptical about Kickstarter's long-term viability until he saw the success of Torment and Star Citizen. So it's tempting to assume that he was among those owners who didn't think an Obsidian Kickstarter would work.