Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian

Chris Avellone tweets his departure from Obsidian, saying "I have officially left Obsidian Entertainment to accept a sudden opening as the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts." The acclaimed RPG designer follows by confirming that while he is indeed leaving the developer he helped found in 2003, he has not actually become a wizardry instructor. Eurogamer reached out to him asking about his plans, and he told them: "On the future, I'm off to pursue new projects, but I can't say anything more at this time beyond life is short, and the ideas keep growing." Thanks nin.
View : : :
64 Replies. 4 pages. Viewing page 1.
Newer [  1  2  3  4  ] Older
64.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 12, 2015, 09:00
64.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 12, 2015, 09:00
Jun 12, 2015, 09:00
 
Jerykk wrote on Jun 11, 2015, 23:40:
Axis wrote on Jun 11, 2015, 08:48:
You are wrong, I never said "Divinity has sold more units because it's a better game" Nor did I say anything about Pillars being a failure. You just wasted a ton of your life googling dumb shit that don't matter.

I said Pillars was a good game, and I said better games get better attention for longer. And the subject was length of time on steam charts.

So... you claim you never said that Divinity sold more because it's a better a game, but you did say that Divinity got more attention because better games get more attention. Do you not see the inherent contradiction there? Probably not, actually. I don't think you've put a lot of thought into this.

While I believe D:OS is most definitely a better game, time hasn't proven it to make it conclusive in context of sales charts. We're comparing AAA RPG giant Obsidian vs Lil Larian. Obsidian had the money, marketing, history, and sales pitches, Larian had word of mouth.

It's you who hasn't put any thought into this, just a bunch of links trying to prove something that not only isn't provable, but isn't worth trying as you did.
Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
63.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 11, 2015, 23:40
63.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 11, 2015, 23:40
Jun 11, 2015, 23:40
 
Axis wrote on Jun 11, 2015, 08:48:
You are wrong, I never said "Divinity has sold more units because it's a better game" Nor did I say anything about Pillars being a failure. You just wasted a ton of your life googling dumb shit that don't matter.

I said Pillars was a good game, and I said better games get better attention for longer. And the subject was length of time on steam charts.

So... you claim you never said that Divinity sold more because it's a better a game, but you did say that Divinity got more attention because better games get more attention. Do you not see the inherent contradiction there? Probably not, actually. I don't think you've put a lot of thought into this.

As for googling facts to help establish the truth, I don't really see that as a waste of time. Apparently you can't be bothered which is why your argument isn't holding up too well.

On a side note, you probably shouldn't criticize others for wasting time when you're arguing on an internet forum.
Avatar 20715
62.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 11, 2015, 13:52
62.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 11, 2015, 13:52
Jun 11, 2015, 13:52
 

Gimme a fucking break Verno, that's the kind of argument that makes me not take you seriously often.

Obsidian sequeled the Fallout series, SWTOR series, NWN, made SPSOT, Wasteland 2, marketed with constant dips in the Baldurs Gate pool, etc. AND, are going to be making the Pathfinder series. They have some of the heftiest RPG nostalgia factor in the business with plenty of modern mega hits, all before the Pillars hype.

Comparing Obsidian to Larian would be laughable in any normal conversation with most of you "where the wind blows" opinion riders...

I'm not arguing anything, its not a fight or something. I was just saying I don't think Obsidian really qualifies as a "juggernaut" but obviously you meant resume when I thought size. Frankly I don't think either company has much of a reputation with the average gamer and that both are fairly niche though Obsidian obviously less than Larian.

I liked both games and feel no need to declare undying loyalty toward video game products. If people need to make one THE BEST then ugh whatever, have fun.
Avatar 51617
61.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 11, 2015, 13:06
61.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 11, 2015, 13:06
Jun 11, 2015, 13:06
 
Gimme a fucking break Verno, that's the kind of argument that makes me not take you seriously often.

Obsidian sequeled the Fallout series, SWTOR series, NWN, made SPSOT, Wasteland 2, marketed with constant dips in the Baldurs Gate pool, etc. AND, are going to be making the Pathfinder series. They have some of the heftiest RPG nostalgia factor in the business with plenty of modern mega hits, all before the Pillars hype.

Comparing Obsidian to Larian would be laughable in any normal conversation with most of you "where the wind blows" opinion riders...

This comment was edited on Jun 11, 2015, 13:38.
Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
60.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 11, 2015, 09:50
60.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 11, 2015, 09:50
Jun 11, 2015, 09:50
 
I don't care about the larger debate here but I'm just going to point out that Obsidian is not a juggernaut, they employ like 130 people during crunch and tend to layoff a good chunk of those after, they've also only been around since 2003ish. Larian employs something like 40-50 and have been around since the late 90s. EA and Ubisoft are juggernauts. Neither Obsidian nor Larian qualify, they are both small companies who can barely staff more than a project or two at once. Obsidian has tended to take a lot of contract work from the AAA side of the industry to pay the bills but they've also worked on smaller projects like Larian. I don't think Obsidian has the same cachet as Bioware or something either, I bet if you asked the average gamer most would stare blankly at you just like if you said Larian but I guess YMMV. Not that it really matters in the first place, if Larian was a 2 man studio and Obsidian employed 2000 I would still compare their respective games based on their merits. Fun is fun no matter the size of the company who made the game.

Anyways I'm bored with this so I'll just wish Mr Avellone well and hope that he lands somewhere to continue great work in games. Maybe at Larian!
Avatar 51617
59.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 11, 2015, 08:48
59.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 11, 2015, 08:48
Jun 11, 2015, 08:48
 
You are wrong, I never said "Divinity has sold more units because it's a better game" Nor did I say anything about Pillars being a failure. You just wasted a ton of your life googling dumb shit that don't matter.

I said Pillars was a good game, and I said better games get better attention for longer. And the subject was length of time on steam charts.

And since we have a no-name developer Larian versus a juggernaut like Obsidian, the facts speak for themselves.

So there ya have it, epeen, fanboy, and egg on your face Jerykk -- your subconscious is getting the better of you.
Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
58.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 23:29
58.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 23:29
Jun 10, 2015, 23:29
 
CJ_Parker wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 13:20:
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 12:42:
Your reading comprehension is lacking. "Pays homage" is not the same as "from the makers of." If you watch the Kickstarter video, they actually give themselves credit for a bunch of RPGs but BG is not among them.

Uuhh... so you are illiterate then? Why did you skip the second paragraph where they clearly state "Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG's that we enjoyed making" and "At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games".

Seriously, I'm speechless at your lack of reading comprehension and your profound lack of ability to process information. Then you claiming to "offer facts" (more like grade A bullshit) while ignoring REAL facts presented to you is simply cute at this point.

Again demonstrating your probably intentional lack of reading comprehension. Go back and read your quotes again. At no point did Obsidian claim that they worked on Baldur's Gate. They said "we have the people responsible for many of those classic games." Not all, just many. That's an accurate statement. They have staff that worked on the Fallout games and the Icewind Dale games and Planescape Torment and Arcanum and Temple of Elemental Evil. Just not Baldur's Gate, which is why they didn't include it in the video when listing the games they actually worked on.

I'm pretty sure you're just being intentionally dense at this point. When you claimed that Obsidian's name holds legendary historic value amongst mainstream gamers, that was a pretty obvious tell.

The facts speak for themselves which isn't very important depending on how they are taken in. It was your "IWD re-release poor sales means BG fans aren't around" that made me realize you were getting desperate.

Firstly, I never claimed that the IWD remaster's lackluster sales meant that BG fans aren't around. I suggested that it proves that Obsidian's history doesn't hold value for most gamers. The BG remasters actually sold well, though that only proves that Bioware and/or the BG franchise still hold value. BG was always the most successful and most well-known of the IE games and Bioware has a released a lot of modern hits so this is no surprise.

Secondly, you're still ignoring the facts that undermine your argument. You claim that Divinity has sold more units because it's a better game. Let's look at the facts:
- PoE has a MC critic score of 90 while D:OS has a score of 87.
- PoE has a MC user score of 84 while D:OS has a score of 87.
- PoE has a higher peak concurrent player count than D:OS (almost double).
- PoE has a higher active player count than D:OS.
- D:OS was featured in the first daily deal of the 2014 Steam Summer sale and officially launched on the last day.
- PoE hasn't been a part of any Steam sale.
- D:OS sold 500k total over the span of two months while PoE has sold 370k on Steam within two months. There are no figures for PoE's non-Steam sales.
- PoE has an average playtime of 32 hours while D:OS has an average playtime of 35 hours.

How you can look at this data and claim that PoE is a failure compared to D:OS just seems absurd. If anything, the facts suggest that both games share similar success. D:OS has more sales overall, but it's also been out a lot longer and has been part of multiple Steam sales.

This comment was edited on Jun 10, 2015, 23:58.
Avatar 20715
57.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 15:09
nin
57.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 15:09
Jun 10, 2015, 15:09
nin
 
jdreyer wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 15:03:
Right, that was my contention: did it make enough to justify a sequel. I'm not sure that it did. I guess they could do another KS and see how much they get, but they'd better wait until folks are jonesing again. People are probably pretty satisfied with this kind of game right now given that we've seen a bunch come out: either new IP, or repackages of older games like BG and IWD.

We're getting at least one expansion first, hopefully more. And I'm pretty sure they've said they've now broken that into two pieces, with the first coming soon, while the second could be a little ways off.



56.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 15:03
56.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 15:03
Jun 10, 2015, 15:03
 
Verno wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 13:42:

Where is this all leading? If PoE sold more copies than D:OS or Witcher 3, would that make it a better game? If it sells less is it suddenly terrible? Jerykk's points seem pretty clear to me and that's coming from someone who has argued with him him countless times in the past. Neither game was a mainstream success and PoEs sales being what they are shouldn't surprise anyone nor is it indicative of its quality (or lack thereof depending on your view). These games are a niche market now and POE is no exception. Perhaps if it was released at a different point or during a Steam sale it would've done better but that's in the past. The bigger question is did it make enough to do a sequel? If not then its unfortunate because I think it has a lot of promise and just needs refinement.

Right, that was my contention: did it make enough to justify a sequel. I'm not sure that it did. I guess they could do another KS and see how much they get, but they'd better wait until folks are jonesing again. People are probably pretty satisfied with this kind of game right now given that we've seen a bunch come out: either new IP, or repackages of older games like BG and IWD.
If Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. Slava Ukraini!
Avatar 22024
55.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 13:42
55.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 13:42
Jun 10, 2015, 13:42
 
CJ_Parker wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 12:09:
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 02:17:
Obsidian never advertised themselves as the makers of BG, which is easily the most well-known of the IE games and the series that received successful remasters across multiple platforms. Here's another fun fact: The Icewind Dale remaster has sold around 45k copies on Steam. Pretty popular, eh? All those mainstream gamers really embracing Obsidian's legendary historical status!

I'm not going to address all of the complete additional bullshit you posted on top of your already very impressive pile but just to illustrate how uninformed you are... here it is straight from the Project Enternity Kickstarter website under the introductory "Welcome to Project Eternity" headline. It's literally the first paragraph on the project:

Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG's that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back… and that’s why we’re here - we need your help to make it a reality!

^ so... yeah, Obsidian did not advertise themselves as the makers of BG or other Infinity engine games at all, right? Naaaaahhh. Not at all. Why would they? Rolleyes

I don't see anything factually incorrect or deceptive about the text, you seem to be just interpreting it a different way than he is. I read that and I think that they are trying to make a game like those games, not that they made all of those games and are making a new one.

Where is this all leading? If PoE sold more copies than D:OS or Witcher 3, would that make it a better game? If it sells less is it suddenly terrible? Jerykk's points seem pretty clear to me and that's coming from someone who has argued with him him countless times in the past. Neither game was a mainstream success and PoEs sales being what they are shouldn't surprise anyone nor is it indicative of its quality (or lack thereof depending on your view). These games are a niche market now and POE is no exception. Perhaps if it was released at a different point or during a Steam sale it would've done better but that's in the past. The bigger question is did it make enough to do a sequel? If not then its unfortunate because I think it has a lot of promise and just needs refinement.
Avatar 51617
54.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 13:20
54.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 13:20
Jun 10, 2015, 13:20
 
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 12:42:
Your reading comprehension is lacking. "Pays homage" is not the same as "from the makers of." If you watch the Kickstarter video, they actually give themselves credit for a bunch of RPGs but BG is not among them.

Uuhh... so you are illiterate then? Why did you skip the second paragraph where they clearly state "Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG's that we enjoyed making" and "At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games".

Seriously, I'm speechless at your lack of reading comprehension and your profound lack of ability to process information. Then you claiming to "offer facts" (more like grade A bullshit) while ignoring REAL facts presented to you is simply cute at this point.
53.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 13:00
53.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 13:00
Jun 10, 2015, 13:00
 
I guess offering facts that undermine your argument makes me a troll?

The facts speak for themselves which isn't very important depending on how they are taken in. It was your "IWD re-release poor sales means BG fans aren't around" that made me realize you were getting desperate.

As for epeen, if there's a game I''m hopeful for but tanks (Wii U, Ouya, etc), I admit it. If one I hate does well (GW2), I admit it. But this board has a history of posters who don't admit it when it's plain for all to see, and I have no problem calling them out...
Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
52.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 12:42
52.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 12:42
Jun 10, 2015, 12:42
 
^ so... yeah, Obsidian did not advertise themselves as the makers of BG or other Infinity engine games at all, right? Naaaaahhh. Not at all. Why would they?

Your reading comprehension is lacking. "Pays homage" is not the same as "from the makers of." If you watch the Kickstarter video, they actually give themselves credit for a bunch of RPGs but BG is not among them.

It's also very amusing how you first started calling BS on SteamSpy and are now obviously using SteamSpy numbers to "prove" that IwD only sold 45K copies. Which is it? Is SteamSpy reliable only if it fits your agenda, Mr. Hypocrite?

When did I ever call BS on SteamSpy? I said that SteamSpy doesn't account for non-Steam sales (which it doesn't), so its numbers will be lower than actual numbers. However, since Steam is by far the largest distributor of PC games, SteamSpy still offers a good indication of game's overall success.

Your claims are getting increasingly easy to refute, Mr. Troll.

I was taking you serious at first, but the last few replies you sound like an angry Pillars troll who can't accept that a nobody like Larian beatdown your favorite developer on every front.

I guess offering facts that undermine your argument makes me a troll?
Avatar 20715
51.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 12:09
51.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 12:09
Jun 10, 2015, 12:09
 
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 02:17:
Obsidian never advertised themselves as the makers of BG, which is easily the most well-known of the IE games and the series that received successful remasters across multiple platforms. Here's another fun fact: The Icewind Dale remaster has sold around 45k copies on Steam. Pretty popular, eh? All those mainstream gamers really embracing Obsidian's legendary historical status!

I'm not going to address all of the complete additional bullshit you posted on top of your already very impressive pile but just to illustrate how uninformed you are... here it is straight from the Project Enternity Kickstarter website under the introductory "Welcome to Project Eternity" headline. It's literally the first paragraph on the project:

Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPG's that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back… and that’s why we’re here - we need your help to make it a reality!

^ so... yeah, Obsidian did not advertise themselves as the makers of BG or other Infinity engine games at all, right? Naaaaahhh. Not at all. Why would they? Rolleyes

It's also very amusing how you first started calling BS on SteamSpy and are now obviously using SteamSpy numbers to "prove" that IwD only sold 45K copies. Which is it? Is SteamSpy reliable only if it fits your agenda, Mr. Hypocrite?

As I said you're just arguing for arguing's sake, flip-flopping, and grasping at non-existent straws, all just because you can't admit you were totally wrong.
50.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 11:45
50.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 11:45
Jun 10, 2015, 11:45
 
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 00:42:
So, all things considered, PoE has done pretty well. Had it launched during a Steam sale, it would likely have numbers pretty close to Divinity's.

Yep exactly. Not sure why people are turning it into some weird epeen thing. Neither game was a blockbuster so it seems pretty silly to be debating who had 100k more sales on X service or whatever. All I care about is that they do well enough to get sequels. They were good games in their own way, I had frustrations and annoyances with both but there is a lot of promise there too.
Avatar 51617
49.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 09:40
49.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 09:40
Jun 10, 2015, 09:40
 
jdreyer wrote on Jun 9, 2015, 15:49:
jacobvandy wrote on Jun 9, 2015, 15:28:
Breaking even is plenty good enough when you're able to spend a few years making a living off of a passion project. That's a dream situation for anyone even remotely interested in their job as a game developer.

Still, I'm thinking they made a good chunk of profit. What makes you think they spent twice as much as they crowdfunded? Sorry, no, three times as much... $4.1 mil raised beforehand, plus more than $9 mil in sales, and you're saying they only broke even?

Because more than 100 people work at Obsidian, and you're burning through $1M per month easily with that many people. In the past 4 years they've made Pillars, Stick of Truth, and helped with Wasteland. If Pillars generated $12-13M in revenue for Obsidian between KS and post release sales, that's enough to fund them for a single year only. Stick of Truth sold well (1M+), but a lot of that revenue was sucked up by Ubi and Comedy Central. The old saw in game development is that you're only one bad release away from bankruptcy, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're putting all their hopes on Armored Warfare. I doubt they'd be going the free to play microtransaction action game route if their traditional revenue model was doing it for them.

Also, with no RPGs in the pipe, it's no surprise Chris is leaving. There's nothing for him to do on Armored Warfare.

Only about 15 of Obsidian's staff worked on PoE, not the entire studio. The rest was working on other projects. They said very early on that they couldn't afford to have the whole studio working on it off their KS funds.

So your analogy is a bit skewed, because they never expected to feed their entire studio from PoE, so to speak.

The sales on top of the 4M of KS'ed funds have easily helped them recoup all the money they spent on it, so where that's concerned, it can definitely be considered a success.
Avatar 15604
48.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 09:12
48.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 09:12
Jun 10, 2015, 09:12
 
harlock wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 09:09:
Axis wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 08:51:
I was taking you serious at first, but the last few replies you sound like an angry Pillars troll who can't accept that a nobody like Larian beatdown your favorite developer on every front.

CJ is 100% correct. So am I.

i bet you were the kind of kid who went around crying "my dad can beat up your dad!"

keep it up guys, your antics goes great with coffee

Apparently you are the kind of kid who goes around trolling at anything, first true 'troll' I've seen in this thread. Jerykk was just sounding like one at the end there, you are.
Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
47.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 09:09
47.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 09:09
Jun 10, 2015, 09:09
 
Axis wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 08:51:
I was taking you serious at first, but the last few replies you sound like an angry Pillars troll who can't accept that a nobody like Larian beatdown your favorite developer on every front.

CJ is 100% correct. So am I.

i bet you were the kind of kid who went around crying "my dad can beat up your dad!"

keep it up guys, your antics goes great with coffee
46.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 08:51
46.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 08:51
Jun 10, 2015, 08:51
 
Jerykk wrote on Jun 10, 2015, 02:17:
Again: You started with the "mainstream appeal" so you'd have to defend your use of it and not I.

I already explained my use of "mainstream appeal." I used it the same way anyone would use the term "mainstream." Apparently you're the one exception?

In any case, no, there's not a very high chance of mainstream (and by mainstream, I mean average/casual/non-hardcore) gamers having heard of BG, ID or PST. Go to E3 and take a survey of how many people have played or even heard of PST (the game Avellone is most known for). I'd love to see the results.

The Obsidian brand holds value to people who loved FO1&2, ID and PST. To anyone else, it is meaningless.

So if a KS RPG is advertised as "from the makers of BG, IwD and PST", games which have sold in the millions of copies and that have a legendary historical reputation PLUS that have pretty popular remakes that were made available across a wide range of platforms including Steam, GOG, and even mobile crap like iOS, come on... no contest on ALL levels compared to the rather unknown dudes from Belgium with their poorly handled (by their publishers) international releases Divine Divinity or the Dragon Knight Saga.

Obsidian never advertised themselves as the makers of BG, which is easily the most well-known of the IE games and the series that received successful remasters across multiple platforms. Here's another fun fact: The Icewind Dale remaster has sold around 45k copies on Steam. Pretty popular, eh? All those mainstream gamers really embracing Obsidian's legendary historical status!

I was taking you serious at first, but the last few replies you sound like an angry Pillars troll who can't accept that a nobody like Larian beatdown your favorite developer on every front.

CJ is 100% correct. So am I.

Yours truly,

Axis
Avatar 57462
45.
 
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian
Jun 10, 2015, 02:17
45.
Re: Chris Avellone Leaves Obsidian Jun 10, 2015, 02:17
Jun 10, 2015, 02:17
 
Again: You started with the "mainstream appeal" so you'd have to defend your use of it and not I.

I already explained my use of "mainstream appeal." I used it the same way anyone would use the term "mainstream." Apparently you're the one exception?

In any case, no, there's not a very high chance of mainstream (and by mainstream, I mean average/casual/non-hardcore) gamers having heard of BG, ID or PST. Go to E3 and take a survey of how many people have played or even heard of PST (the game Avellone is most known for). I'd love to see the results.

The Obsidian brand holds value to people who loved FO1&2, ID and PST. To anyone else, it is meaningless.

So if a KS RPG is advertised as "from the makers of BG, IwD and PST", games which have sold in the millions of copies and that have a legendary historical reputation PLUS that have pretty popular remakes that were made available across a wide range of platforms including Steam, GOG, and even mobile crap like iOS, come on... no contest on ALL levels compared to the rather unknown dudes from Belgium with their poorly handled (by their publishers) international releases Divine Divinity or the Dragon Knight Saga.

Obsidian never advertised themselves as the makers of BG, which is easily the most well-known of the IE games and the series that received successful remasters across multiple platforms. Here's another fun fact: The Icewind Dale remaster has sold around 45k copies on Steam. Pretty popular, eh? All those mainstream gamers really embracing Obsidian's legendary historical status!
Avatar 20715
64 Replies. 4 pages. Viewing page 1.
Newer [  1  2  3  4  ] Older