Obsidian General Discussion Thread

[Roguey]

Only you liked DS3 Roguey.
It was the shitiest game Obsidian ever made

No and no. Josh Sawyer agrees with me that it and New Vegas are the funnest games Obsidian's created.

 

[Rake]

Only you liked DS3 Roguey.
It was the shitiest game Obsidian ever made

No and no. Josh Sawyer agrees with me that it and New Vegas are the funnest games Obsidian's created.

Josh opinion means nothing. Their fanbase opinion is what matters. And DS3 is the least liked of Obsidian games, and the only one that it's not a cult classic or on the way to become one.
At best Obsidian fanboys say "it's...fun i quess" and that's it. No one puts it in his favorite games, no one will remember it 3 years from now, no one will take something from it to copy.
josh is technicaly correct that it has the most solid gameplay among Obsidian games, but that doesn't mean anything if it's lacking in all other aspects. Especialy among Obsidian games where the "best gameplay" doesn't mean anything special. All their games had bad gameplay, DS3 had mediocre

 

[J_C]

Their last game, Dungeon Siege, was a POS with no redeeming features. Their next game is South Park, which looks complete shithouse.

So no, the don't.

It had fun combat and a good antagonist.

Only you liked DS3 Roguey.
It was the shitiest game Obsidian ever made

Someone summoned me? DS3 was good and fun. Who cares if it is not on the best games ever list? Who cares if noone will remember it 10 years from now? Who cares if noone wants to copy its elements? It was a fun hack and slash game, and for some game that is enough. And LOL at "all their games had bad gameplay" part. Some of them were rought (Alpha Protocol), but others had good or average gameplay, just buggy.

 

[Turisas]

Their last game, Dungeon Siege, was a POS with no redeeming features. Their next game is South Park, which looks complete shithouse.

So no, the don't.

DS3 was bad, yeah, but Stick of Truth shall be glorious.

 

[Rake]

It was a fun hack and slash game, and for some game that is enough.

But that is for me the definition of mediocre. Not bad per se, but nothing special either. Just good for what it is.
Also, i'm not sure i would trust your opinion for how good or bad a game is.
For better or worse you seem to like ALL games J_C

 

[Duraframe300]

Only you liked DS3 Roguey.
It was the shitiest game Obsidian ever made

No and no. Josh Sawyer agrees with me that it and New Vegas are the funnest games Obsidian's created.

Josh opinion means nothing. Their fanbase opinion is what matters. And DS3 is the least liked of Obsidian games, and the only one that it's not a cult classic or on the way to become one.
At best Obsidian fanboys say "it's...fun i quess" and that's it. No one puts it in his favorite games, no one will remember it 3 years from now, no one will take something from it to copy.
josh is technicaly correct that it has the most solid gameplay among Obsidian games, but that doesn't mean anything if it's lacking in all other aspects. Especialy among Obsidian games where the "best gameplay" doesn't mean anything special. All their games had bad gameplay, DS3 had mediocre

Yeah, because you are the voice of the fanbase.

DSIII is actually pretty well liked and most people consider it to have actually good gameplay. It's also valued higher than the NWN2 OC generally, so stuff it with *Obsidian's least liked game*. (And I hope you are not going to argue the NWN2 OC, which is downright atrocious in places is better)

There is just not much about it where you go *UHHHH, Alpha Protocol's C&C, UHHHHHH KOTOR II's deconstruction of star wars*.

Its main problem is online multiplayer and a few mechanical kinks. (Teleporting before boss fights, for example). Apart from being really low on content which is the result of having a budget less than some kickstarters.

 

[Darth Roxor]

DS3 was coolio

 

[Rake]

DSIII is actually pretty well liked and most people consider it to have actually good gameplay. It's also valued higher than the NWN2 OC generally, so stuff it with *Obsidian's least liked game*. (And I hope you are not going to argue the NWN2 OC, which is downright atrocious in places is better)

I forgot about NWN2 OC completely.
You have a point here. DS3 was indeed better.

 

[Duraframe300]

DSIII is actually pretty well liked and most people consider it to have actually good gameplay. It's also valued higher than the NWN2 OC generally, so stuff it with *Obsidian's least liked game*. (And I hope you are not going to argue the NWN2 OC, which is downright atrocious in places is better)

I forgot about NWN2 OC completely.
You have a point here. DS3 was indeed better.

I would actually argue that there are a few things they could learn from it for other games (though they are pretty small) and one actually big one.

Not in the main game, though. In the DLC you had a choice at the end that was (although a bit binary) very interesting, since it presumably hadn't affected what happens IN the next game, but what happens between them.


I actually hope they do something similiar in the P:E series, since I think its a really elegant way to develop meaningful and flexible (for the dev) carry-over choices.

 

[Azrael the cat]

DSIII is actually pretty well liked and most people consider it to have actually good gameplay. It's also valued higher than the NWN2 OC generally, so stuff it with *Obsidian's least liked game*. (And I hope you are not going to argue the NWN2 OC, which is downright atrocious in places is better)

I forgot about NWN2 OC completely.
You have a point here. DS3 was indeed better.

I would actually argue that there are a few things they could learn from it for other games (though they are pretty small) and one actually big one.

Not in the main game, though. In the DLC you had a choice at the end that was (although a bit binary) very interesting, since it presumably hadn't affected what happens IN the next game, but what happens between them.


I actually hope they do something similiar in the P:E series, since I think its a really elegant way to develop meaningful and flexible (for the dev) carry-over choices.

Sometimes it's actually EASIER to identify the few good aspects of a game that would be average or shit without them (AP's utterly magnificent implementation of C+C is a great example - though it also should warn developers against placing SOME C+C behind 'telegraphed choices', creating the expectation that ALL important C+C will be behind such choices (whereas the important stuff requires multiple criteria that only SOMETIMES includes one the telegraphed choices, but always involves some combination of reputation (sometimes amongst multiple characters), conversation options, finding hidden info, the order that you take your missions and other factors (with the various endgame consequences - characters too smart to engage you openly unless you either force them or seriously enrage them - hard when they're whole personality makes them good at brushing off insults, requiring you to go deeper; characters you can turn multiple ways, characters you can trck etc) all requiring multiple criteria before they're available.

Deus Ex 2 is another example that Bioware could learn from. Terrible game, but with one good idea as to how to respond to a prequel with multiple ending. Run with the unreliable narrator. Make it plausible that any, or even all, of the 1st game's endings may have occurred in one way or another, but despite giving some information about the backstory, never go so far as to confirm which particular ending was canon. All of the endings are possible. None of them worked out as planned. But nobody knows what exact ending took place, other than that there are a number of interested parties left standing at the end of the first game (the rapidly recovering illuminati, as illustrated by the late-game logs showing that they've taken covert control of the NSF and turned them into a far more effective fighting force (they're clearly wiping the floor with MJ12 and holding their own against the military), Helios, the military finally acting directly and becoming a faction in their own right, and presumably UNATCO isn't totally neutralised whether as a reformed organisation or a corrupt one that no longer has a figurehead.

 

[Crooked Bee]

DS3 was... okay. The only hack and slash ARPG I've ever finished so that's gotta count for something!

Nothing too memorable though, and the combat really suffered from unimaginative special abilities/attacks and generally limited skill tree. Alright for a single playthrough, but I don't think anyone would call it replayable.

It also had some nice touches here and there (the antagonist, the DLC content) but felt pretty empty on the whole, unfortunately.

 

[Roguey]

I completed it with all four characters.

 

[Stinger]

I LIKED DUNGEON SIEGE 3 this much

 

[Volourn]

"forgot about NWN2 OC completely.
You have a point here. DS3 was indeed better."

No. DS3 was so shitty, I played the demo, and didn't even bother with the game,. even the crappy AP was able to sucker me into buying it. DS3 couldn't even fake itself looking good pre release. That is pathetic. L0L

 

[Vadeross]

Now the only question is why they don't hire Ziets fulltime already?

They probably want to keep costs low for now and don't need the extra writer full time. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired him back after P:E releases though.

At least I know I'm going to make my voice loud for Ziets hard sci-fi crpg if Obsidian asks what new projects we wanna see apart from P:E 2. (Or towards the end of P:E's development cycle anyway)

Do you have a link about this "Hard sci-fi" crpg idea?

 

[Rake]

Now the only question is why they don't hire Ziets fulltime already?

They probably want to keep costs low for now and don't need the extra writer full time. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired him back after P:E releases though.

At least I know I'm going to make my voice loud for Ziets hard sci-fi crpg if Obsidian asks what new projects we wanna see apart from P:E 2. (Or towards the end of P:E's development cycle anyway)

Do you have a link about this "Hard sci-fi" crpg idea?

I don't think there was one. But their next kickstarter will be a new ip, and with post apocalyptic becoming more overused than fantasy, sci-fi is a logical way to go. Unless they go for a weird/horror philosophical Avelone PS:T successor.

 

[Cursed Platypus]

Now the only question is why they don't hire Ziets fulltime already?

They probably want to keep costs low for now and don't need the extra writer full time. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired him back after P:E releases though.

At least I know I'm going to make my voice loud for Ziets hard sci-fi crpg if Obsidian asks what new projects we wanna see apart from P:E 2. (Or towards the end of P:E's development cycle anyway)

Do you have a link about this "Hard sci-fi" crpg idea?

I don't think there was one. But their next kickstarter will be a new ip, and with post apocalyptic becoming more overused than fantasy, sci-fi is a logical way to go. Unless they go for a weird/horror philosophical Avelone PS:T successor.

Steampunk and Post Apocalyptic are, recently, more overused than fantasy. But Sci-Fi isn't too far behind either.
I would say the horror or gothic genre are pretty underused right now. Urban fantasy too, something a la Vampire Bloodline The Masquerade would be cool.

Or just any kind of Historical Rpg/low fantasy( with some small folk element of fantasy) A la conquistador or Legend of Eisenwald.

Anything that is realistic (present or past, future is speculative) with maybe a slight bit of fantasy, subtle.

 

[Duraframe300]

Yes, there is. What do you think I was talking about?

Another setting that I think is underused is “real” science fiction. Most scifi games are actually space fantasy, like Star Wars. Mass Effect pays lip service to some actual or predicted technologies, and it includes Earth, but it still feels like a collection of space fantasy tropes. I’d like to see a game that projected technological trends two or three hundred years into the future and based its gameplay and narrative around what *could* really happen. Obviously, these projections would be exaggerated for the sake of fun, but I think a scifi game could be far more surprising and interesting if it was based on “real” projective science fiction than the usual conglomeration of jump gates, “the force,” insectoid aliens, etc.

 

[Rahdulan]

Steampunk and Post Apocalyptic are, recently, more overused than fantasy. But Sci-Fi isn't too far behind either.
I would say the horror or gothic genre are pretty underused right now. Urban fantasy too, something a la Vampire Bloodline The Masquerade would be cool.

Only if you rely on a very limited and recent timeframe. In the grand scheme of released RPG titles, steampunk, post-apocalyptic and SF aren't nearly as numerous compared to fantasy titles. I wish I lived in a world where I could genuinely say "man, all these SF and steampunk RPGs are getting on my nerves".

 

[Cursed Platypus]

Steampunk and Post Apocalyptic are, recently, more overused than fantasy. But Sci-Fi isn't too far behind either.
I would say the horror or gothic genre are pretty underused right now. Urban fantasy too, something a la Vampire Bloodline The Masquerade would be cool.

Only if you rely on a very limited and recent timeframe. In the grand scheme of released RPG titles, steampunk, post-apocalyptic and SF aren't nearly as numerous compared to fantasy titles. I wish I lived in a world where I could genuinely say "man, all these SF and steampunk RPGs are getting on my nerves".

We're talking about following and waiting for release here. So when someone's is waiting for new RPGs he can indeed say "man, all these SF and steampunk RPGs are getting on my nerves" .
Thought Steampunk is apparently more popular in the UK than in the rest of Europe.

 

[Gurkog]

Now the only question is why they don't hire Ziets fulltime already?

They probably want to keep costs low for now and don't need the extra writer full time. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired him back after P:E releases though.

At least I know I'm going to make my voice loud for Ziets hard sci-fi crpg if Obsidian asks what new projects we wanna see apart from P:E 2. (Or towards the end of P:E's development cycle anyway)

Do you have a link about this "Hard sci-fi" crpg idea?

I don't think there was one. But their next kickstarter will be a new ip, and with post apocalyptic becoming more overused than fantasy, sci-fi is a logical way to go. Unless they go for a weird/horror philosophical Avelone PS:T successor.

Steampunk and Post Apocalyptic are, recently, more overused than fantasy. But Sci-Fi isn't too far behind either.
I would say the horror or gothic genre are pretty underused right now. Urban fantasy too, something a la Vampire Bloodline The Masquerade would be cool.

Or just any kind of Historical Rpg/low fantasy( with some small folk element of fantasy) A la conquistador or Legend of Eisenwald.

Anything that is realistic (present or past, future is speculative) with maybe a slight bit of fantasy, subtle.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines crossed with Dark Souls. I made a mess in my pants just thinking about it.

 

[Infinitron]

Chris Avellone‏@ChrisAvellone
10th Anniversary party for @Obsidian tonight. Can't believe it - 10 years. 10. Years.

Duraframe300

 

[Roguey]

And to think it'll take at least 11 for them to finally deliver a great game.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Echo Mirage]