Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[IHaveHugeNick]

I remember how proud they were of the engine when they released Pillars. I think they lated denounced it as hard to use?
At any rate, I don't think the players accepted it as a particularly meaningful investment. People who like Pillars don't do so because of the stunning visuals.

Engine is the one thing they can and should be proud of, it's been almost 5 years and still nothing can touch Deadfire's visuals.

 

[Butter]

I remember how proud they were of the engine when they released Pillars. I think they lated denounced it as hard to use?
At any rate, I don't think the players accepted it as a particularly meaningful investment. People who like Pillars don't do so because of the stunning visuals.

?

The visuals are arguably the best aspect of that game. They may have done a goatfuck of the mechanics, but they absolutely nailed the painterly environment art.

 

[Atlantico]

I'll die on the hill that PoE OC was just that meh that not as many people were willing to give the second one a shot especially when it turned out not to be as good as the White Marsh expansions.

I concur. PoE OC needed some inspired writing, nothing ground breaking, just a good PnP adventure. Something relatively small scale in a large world, where a group of adventurers bounced around. Nothing epic.

 

[Ryzer]

The copium lies in the sales. Pathfinder games (Kingmaker and Righteous) have less positive score but much MUCH better sales.

I'll die on the hill that it came down to marketing. PoE2 was marketed like a pirate game, I even skipped it at launch because of that, the Pathfinder games are clearly marketed as medieval fantasy.

The core audience of these games are clearly more interested in 'swords & sorcery' than fucking pirates.

I don't think the poor POE2's sales are caused by the pirate theme but instead by the terrible disappointment that was the first Pillars of Eternity game.
It was so mediocre on every level with very sloppy writing that nobody cared anymore to buy the later chapter.
I'm one of the people who got immensely deceived by the first Pillars of Eternity and I said to myself " Never again" when I saw POE2 trailer.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

PoE2 is the best obsidian game.

 

[Ryzer]

I admit that Turn-based mode Sawyer video almost sold me the game.

My only gripe with Baldur's Gate 2 is that it is RtwP.

 

[OSK]

Also despite being from Texas, she sounds like she has an north-central american accent?

Either she lost it, like Sawyer did with his Wisconsin accent, or she was raised in one of the big cities in Texas.

 

[Roguey]

Also despite being from Texas, she sounds like she has an north-central american accent?

Either she lost it, like Sawyer did with his Wisconsin accent, or she was raised in one of the big cities in Texas.

Oh sure but I'm confused how someone with this background

Carrie Patel was born and raised in Houston, Texas. An avid traveller, she studied abroad in Granada, Spain and Buenos Aires, Argentina.She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas A&M University and worked in transfer pricing at Ernst & Young for two years.

sounds like she's from Minnesota.

 

[OSK]

Carrie Patel was born and raised in Houston, Texas. An avid traveller, she studied abroad in Granada, Spain and Buenos Aires, Argentina.She completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Texas A&M University and worked in transfer pricing at Ernst & Young for two years.

sounds like she's from Minnesota.

It doesn't sound upper Midwest to my ears (Wisconsin here). The vowels don't sound right. I think being raised in Houston explains it.

I found a Houston example here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4JGUfF6KtE

 

[Readher]

They shouldn't have made PoE2 a sequel. I couldn't bear to finish the first game and I'm not playing a direct sequel to a game I didn't finish. As for sales, this says it all:

People find PoE boring, so they don't buy PoE2, which looks like more of the same. It's a direct sequel, so newcomers will feel like they need to play the first game beforehand. Assuming they do, they'll most likely find it boring and don't buy the sequel.

People don't find Kingmaker boring, so they buy Wrath of the Righteous. Furthermore, it's not a direct sequel, so everyone can jump in, even if they didn't play Kingmaker.

Obsidian has worse business sense than some ragtag group of Russians, which honestly isn't that surprising considering the gigabrains like Feargus or Parker are still there and still make decisions, even under MS.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

They shouldn't have made PoE2 a sequel. I couldn't bear to finish the first game and I'm not playing a direct sequel to a game I didn't finish. As for sales, this says it all:

People find PoE boring, so they don't buy PoE2, which looks like more of the same. It's a direct sequel, so newcomers will feel like they need to play the first game beforehand. Assuming they do, they'll most likely find it boring and don't buy the sequel.

People don't find Kingmaker boring, so they buy Wrath of the Righteous. Furthermore, it's not a direct sequel, so everyone can jump in, even if they didn't play Kingmaker.

Obsidian has worse business sense than some ragtag group of Russians, which honestly isn't that surprising considering the gigabrains like Feargus or Parker are still there and still make decisions, even under MS.

I'm playing Deadfire again , after droppign two times. I having fun but it's always back in the mind how much better would be if i actually finished the first game and DLCs, also i miss sixth party member..

 

[cvv]

As for sales, this says it all

What, that a 2015 game is still peaking at 600+?

That PoE1 has twice the all-time peak than Pathfinder 1?

Or does it say anything else that hasn't been said ITT?

 

[Readher]

As for sales, this says it all

What, that a 2015 game is still peaking at 600+?

That PoE1 has twice the all-time peak than Pathfinder 1?

Or does it say anything else that hasn't been said ITT?

All time peak is a good indicator of initial interest in the game (assuming it happened near release, which it did in all the cases here). PoE2 had half the numbers of PoE1, while WotR had twice the numbers of Kingmaker. With that in mind, re-read what I wrote under the screenshot.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah Deadfire's drop by 50% is brutal, although with both games people seem give up very quickly,. Turns out, caravan stopping because PC has diarrhea or 3 hour tutorial island where fuck all happens might not be the most compelling way to start your game. Who knew?

 

[PlanHex]

Seems more to me that "all-time peak" just measures hype levels at release and the others have an obvious bias toward recency and/or steam sales, and I don't think you can totally compare customer satisfaction or quality with just those numbers.

PoE1 was very hyped and one of the first big kickstarter successes of the kickstarter boom, with many glowing mainstream reviews, while PoE2 did weird Fig shit and just sort of released one day as I recall?

I haven't played the Pathfinder games though, I think they look about as boring as the PoEs.

Edit:
To be clear, I'm not saying the conclusion is necessarily wrong, I just don't think these numbers "say it all".

 

[Infinitron]

Part Four:

The look back on 20 years of Obsidian Entertainment hits it’s penultimate episode! Told by those that helped make the games happen, hear stories about Tyranny, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and the start of another new IP from the studio, The Outer Worlds.

 

[Roguey]

"I did not do a great job with the main plot and story of Deadfire, I was responsible for that."

"I think the narrative team did a great job on Pillars one and on Deadfire, I feel responsible for kind of botching that."

"I think that every other thing in Deadfire is just better." - Josh Sawyer

I believe he is perhaps a bit too diplomatic regarding the skill of the narrative teams. Fenstermaker and Avellone made their mistakes with the first one, others made mistakes with Deadfire companion writing.

"I wish it had done better commercially." - Chris Parker

Feargus wanted Tim to be the lead on The Outer Worlds (who has mentioned in his video series that "I don't ever want to be a lead again" was one of the first things he brought up at Obsidian) so he called up Leonard at Blizzard and begged him to remove the burden of leadership from him.

 

[Swen]

 

[whydoibother]

Part Four:

The look back on 20 years of Obsidian Entertainment hits it’s penultimate episode! Told by those that helped make the games happen, hear stories about Tyranny, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, and the start of another new IP from the studio, The Outer Worlds.

This mustached 1960s uncle look for Sawyer is cursed.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Volrath]

Ah yes reminiscing about a long forgotten past which you'll never be able to emulate ever again. I amost feel bad for him.

Almost.

 

[Infinitron]

Part Five:

In the finale of our multi-part documentary series, hear from the founders of Obsidian Entertainment on their being acquired by Microsoft as well as stories about The Outer Worlds, Grounded, Pentiment, Avowed, and the future of the company.

Roguey

 

[Roguey]

Avellone gets thanked at the end along with the other founders, so there's that. Certainly the least interesting video.

 

[grimace]

Does the Obsidian 20th Anniversary Documentary 5 part series spoil any of their game stories?

 

[ferratilis]

There are fentanyl addicts out there who look more dignified than this. At this point, I hope PoE3 never gets made.