Chris Avellone's Blog

I would love to see something similar to the original Fallout (minus the time limit). A wide open game where you have a fairly simple objective(s) but with several ways to go about this. How you solve quests and the choices you make in the story have consequences/affect the game world and any option is viable in each quest (i.e. diplomats or sneaky thieves won't end up in forced combat sequences). Fallout's scale is also probably the best approach for something of a fairly smallish scope like a kickstarter 'indie' game.

 

In terms of combat I'd prefer Turn based or Real time with Pause (preferably TB though) system with full party control (rather than Fallout/Arcanum's approach of just giving you one character and companions moving on their own). As a story fan, companions having their own arcs with the player being able to influence that (similar to FNV or Alpha Protocol) would also be awesome, but please no romance options.

 

I don't really have any preferences towards the setting as I have full faith that Obsidian can pull it off regardless of what it is, but something outside of the usual fantasy/sci-fi RPG setting would be cool.

 

And this might be too much but a toolset that players can use to mod the mechanics or make their own campaigns would be awesome as well.

Turn Based, Isometric RPG - Original IP

Pretty much this. Go wild MCA!

How about The Black Hound? I'm still hoping that someday Mr. Sawyer could get it done one way or another.

 

If that is off the table, something like turn-based or RTwP RPG with complex story, interesting characters and C&C that really matters. If it has Planescape/MOTB -esque writing and atmosphere, even better. You can choose the setting. And if it has voice acting, silent protagonist is a must, I can still use my imagination. Maybe made with Onyx?

Honestly, I'd just like to see a game that exemplifies what you and the rest of Obsidian do best. You have some fantastic writers, a great sense of how to make an RPG that actually offers a true role-playing experience, and you've created some complex, enjoyable, and immersive settings that are fun to get lost in.

 

Something like that. To me, it doesn't matter if its isometric or 3D, I'd buy it.

 

Here's a list of things I'd personally like to see in it:

 

-Character Creation

-Muted Player Character

-Lots of dialogue/responses

-Exploration

-Make it possible to get to the end of the game without killing anyone

 

Pretty much what you guys have already done with Planescape, KotOR 2, NWN2, and Fallout: New Vegas. I'd just like to see you guys carry on that tradition in some way.

 

Good luck! If it happens, I'd support it!

I want 7th Sea RPG please.

If you make a TB, isometric, party based game with a controllable party and good tactical combat like ToEE, I will give you at least $500.

 

 

If you make it RTwP I will give you nothing!

-Muted Player Character

That's a must, yup. I can't feel like the hero is my own character if he starts talking with his own voice. It's not even about role-playing, it's about immersion.

Give me the tools to make my own game that my friends and I could play. A "game" that takes what Second Life and Minecraft both have; the ability for us to create our own story and share it with friends with an easy to use interface to create in.

 

A game (editor) that gives us the ability to modify the landscape, texture objects, make objects, animate basic movements, put events in, even record our own own dialogue and have it linked to characters/NPCs in the game.

 

 

Something where when we're done making it, we can post it somewhere, have other people download it and either play it or connect to our hosted server to play it with other players.

 

 

Sell a client and creator versions (client can only download and play what's made, editor has the ability to act like a client and in addtion allows you to make the game world).

 

 

This is the one thing that those games that surprised everyone did that nobody seems to understand yet. They gave you the ability to create what was in your imagination and then share it with others to enjoy.

 

If I could create a world as detailed as the Skyrim world with the easy-to-use interface like Second Life has, have my friends log on and play it with me like we can in Minecraft, and be able to record voices and create stories like the dialogues in SWTOR, I would buy the game in a heartbeat.

 

Additionally (and this is pushing it I know), if I could take the worlds I make, and have the opportunity to sell (or allow download for free) them in some kind of developer moderated marketplace, even if a developer takes a cut of my profits, I would pay any price for that, because the game would always be changing, people would get to tell their stories, show their worlds, and it would be always changing.

 

This is obviously a basic idea that needs a lot of development, but I've been waiting for SOMEONE to do it. You have hundreds of thousands of people who play D&D in groups, making their own adventures and games. As we grow up, we move, we change, but we all remember those wonderful adventures. Give us a way to play more online with one another. A new way to create and play an RPG game.

 

p.s. don't impliment voicechat, no need to recreate the wheel when there's so many clients already out there that do that.

Yeah, going to have to agree with everybody else on one thing: New Intellectual Property, something unique, or at least not painfully and utterly generic. No elves and dragons, please. Preferably with bucketloads of worldbuilding and characters.

 

More specifically, there's something I've always wanted from my Western RPGs, and that's a viable Diplomatic character build. A character who just sails through the game entirely on the merits of his or her charisma and intelligence alone. Or, if that's not entirely possible, at least would passively provide buffs for companion characters.

Give me Temple of Elemental Evil's engine and combat, and Torment's writing. How simple is that ?

Yeah, going to have to agree with everybody else on one thing: New Intellectual Property, something unique, or at least not painfully and utterly generic. No elves and dragons, please. Preferably with bucketloads of worldbuilding and characters.More specifically, there's something I've always wanted from my Western RPGs, and that's a viable Diplomatic character build. A character who just sails through the game entirely on the merits of his or her charisma and intelligence alone. Or, if that's not entirely possible, at least would passively provide buffs for companion characters.

 

I'm going to have to disagree with you...I really want a sequel to Arcanum,Planescape,Alpha Protocol.Any of the Black Isle/Troika games franchises that had to be dumped.Seriously do it.And without a publisher you can take your time and make the best thing ever.Actually even a sequel on Fallout Tactics:Brotherhood of Steel's continuity!Obsidian,do anything just take my money!

 

Also I had a charismatic persuasive character in Arcanum.Just talked my way and had 8 companions that basically handled anything bad my way.Felt like getting carried xD.

For me, the most important thing is what you want, Mr. Avellone. Watching you guys at Obsidian run wild with all that ridiculous amounts of talent is awe inspiring, and I really enjoy beingpleasantly surprised while playing your games.

 

But I'll take this opportunity to share a piece of mind with you.

 

Now, about the things that would be great to have in a game, for me the starting point would be the world. What made Planescape have its cult following all these years was the unique universe. For your game it doesn't have to be exactly that, but having something new and refreshing would be nice. In all honesty, I think players are getting tired of all the dwarves-beer-drinking-fights-starting high fantasy that is just Tolkien rehashed. Think of all the wondrous things you could create in a completely new steampunk or cyberpunk setting, with races that have not yet been imagined by the game designers worldwide. Races with so alien physique and mentality that game interaction would change when communicating with, let's say, a small group of insect-like workers in the hive stationed near a city landfill of a large Metropolis of the undisclosed future. Make that world a place of mystery and lost history, for the purpose of easier introduction to the game lore for players and the sense of accomplishment whenever the intricate workings of a society are being presented throughout the story. Don't pull the amnesia card. It worked for PST because it was pivotal for the story of the main character. Instead let the players build their own character and his/hers story through the desire to explore the world. The way I would do that is quite simple. The main character of the game could be a product of artificial design and/or breeding, being one of the many in a society heavily reliant on technology/magic to produce its inhabitants. And just one more thing from the top of my head - don't force the player to start the game with conflict. Because, if you empower the player to cut his way through the game from the early start, it just kills the mystery of building a new IP. Don't give the main character some disabillity like eternal soul hunger in Mask of the Betrayer. It worked there because of great setting and a love story. But it can get tiresome to chase for spirits. More solipsism, please.

 

Make the combat turn based, it has historically proven itself to be the most reliable way of controlling the battlefield in multi- party members based RPGs. Don't be shy to introduce a new mechanic to it, mind. Like having a mechanic where the party/player could threaten the NPC with weapons and violence and effectively intimidate him to do their bidding, because it would add a level of humanity to the game. No one starts attacking his foe while having a gun pointed point blank to the head. Well, unless he got something really special. Also, make that mechanic a two way street. Have the main characters lose their heads when they're being ****y in a high risk situation.

 

For me, character building in RPGs have always been a process of rewards only, but let's introduce some punishment to it. Make the players regret some decisions, by making the game and quests harder, by twisting and turning the story from predictable to undesirable, make the broken hearted companions the source of treachery. And implement the mechanic of choices and consequences into the game the way that would make save/load game options useless. You could even make a special game difficulty for it.

 

I have no doubts that the writing and characters in your game will be superb, just make them a strange bunch of companions, even if that makes them unrelatable.

 

If more things come to mind, I'll make another post. I'll just stop here before this turns into quite a wall of text.

More specifically, there's something I've always wanted from my Western RPGs, and that's a viable Diplomatic character build. A character who just sails through the game entirely on the merits of his or her charisma and intelligence alone. Or, if that's not entirely possible, at least would passively provide buffs for companion characters.

 

I love the Idea of a Diplomat class, in fact non-combat class in an RPG sounds great.

 

How about having a Healer class that isn't designed to be mainly used in combat.

 

Or an engineer class, who's job is to make stuff most of which is unrelated to combat unless you spec them that way.

 

Or how about a entire dual class system, with each character having a normal class and a combat class.

Revisit all those ideas in Planescape: Torment, then go from there... go further.

Well I would love a spiritual sequel to Alpha Protocol, but I imagine that is out of the question. As long as this project has tons of choices, especially of the morally gray variety, and a reputation system with npcs like Alpha Protocol it should be all good.

Revisit all those ideas in Planescape: Torment, then go from there... go further.

 

Revisit all those ideas in Planescape: Torment, then go from there... go further.

 

This.

 

Go wild ! Noone will tell you that this games is for 12-21 audience.

Breake bariers in gaming.

 

So Obsidian where is my kickstart link to donate money ?

 

Oh **** Obsidian making AO game not respecting any norms and standards in gaming industry.

 

I mean why the **** books can describe things like prostitution slavery rapes etc and films and games should be all goody goody ?

 

Is there someone who thought all above in :To Your Scattered Bodies Go book by Philip Jos

More specifically, there's something I've always wanted from my Western RPGs, and that's a viable Diplomatic character build. A character who just sails through the game entirely on the merits of his or her charisma and intelligence alone. Or, if that's not entirely possible, at least would passively provide buffs for companion characters.

I love the Idea of a Diplomat class, in fact non-combat class in an RPG sounds great.How about having a Healer class that isn't designed to be mainly used in combat.Or an engineer class, who's job is to make stuff most of which is unrelated to combat unless you spec them that way.Or how about a entire dual class system, with each character having a normal class and a combat class.

 

A game where we could have a unique setting, double class so we don't gimp ourselves to enjoy dialogue, and companions that are worth caring about... seriously. Not sure if I could continue to exist should this occur.

 

Serious though, Planescape sequel or something equally strange and smart. I know people think Asian history is played out, but something Mongolian Horde style would be great, Cultural Revolution stuff would be heretofore untouched. End of the day, I'd give you some money for about any damn worthy RPG!

No (spiritual) sequel, Original IP.

 

(spiritual) sequel has a limited appeal, Original IP can have much greater appeal.

 

Plus kickstarter is supposed to about innovation, about get rid of publisher based limit (some of which can be left over in prior IP).

I would like to cover a few things.

 

Kickstarter is fine but IMHO, Alpha Funding is better. Heck, if you kickstarted and then gave access to a alpha and future versions, that would be ideal really. I get something to play with, even if it is buggy and feature incomplete and I get to feel like a part of the development. $1-5-10-15-20 makes it an impulse buy because its a range of money I won't feel like I have lost anything, its hard for me to fault games in that price range. Steam probably makes hand over fist because of sales that dip into that range for me and supporting Indie Devs alphafunding projects on Desura is little different to me, I feel like a poor man who can afford to be a patron of the arts because I get to pool resources with others to let someone else have good quality of life while they entertain me.

 

Next up, what kind of game would garner the most interest for me personally? An RPG that has point buy for the character and goal based rewards aka you let my character that may very well be silly power built or very unoptimal still complete a goal any way they want and then I get a reward that allows me to place new points. I want to know that killing or ridiculously rail roaded quests are not the only ways to improve characters. I don't want classes and I don't want D&D - this is not a slight on games where you have used those character building mechanics, I just don't want to play RPGs like that any more. From past games of yours, I think you can pull it off.

 

Personally, I would like to see a cyberpunk setting. I would use Shadowrun as an example (others would likely disagree) but allow me to be clear, I don't really want an existing IP because I would like you to keep licensing costs to a minimum. Also another reason I don't want to see D&D used. Oh, and no sequels.

 

Thank you for your consideration and I hope I can help the community collaborate on one of your projects in the future and that we will get to label you an Indie Dev that works and communicates candidly with us, your customers, fellow gamers.

As I looked to reply to this I tested an old account and, lo and behold, it still works. An account I created back in 2004.

 

I've been a fan of Obsidian for quite a long time and would love to see you guys given the freedom to create without answering to a publisher.

 

I won't give specific suggestions as I'm sure everyone at Obsidian has a game idea they'd like to see made and you certainly know best what your resources are. However, as others have written, it has been a long time since we've seen a nice turn based iso rpg and I think I would enjoy that very much.

 

Good luck

Definitely not a sequel.

 

Definitely something that focuses on complex, somewhat non-linear storyline with tone-down combat.

 

Isometric and original IP strongly preferred. And when I say "original", I mean something bigger than "not D&D". I would prefer an uncommon setting that hasn't been explored very often.

 

Another thing I would appreciate is a complex, interactive and diverse in-game environment. Doesn't have to be huge, but I'm really tired of "rat maze" games where most of the things you see are essentially decorations.

 

Wouldn't mind the game to be in real time. In fact, if the in-game time would matter by the virtue of things happening on their own, I would like that as well. (Then again JA had that and yet had TB combat, so it's reconcilable.)

 

But I guess the first response has a good point. The best game you can make is the one that's based on your vision and ideas.

I think another Planescape or Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale won't be possible but I would expect something new, but in the spirit of those games, old school isometric story-driven RPG!

 

Please make this happen, I'm willing to donate an obscene amount of money

Also I had a charismatic persuasive character in Arcanum.Just talked my way and had 8 companions that basically handled anything bad my way.Felt like getting carried xD.

 

Yeah, me too. But I want something... deeper. I want several types of Conversation Skills (instead of a catch-all Skill, like Speech), like Charm, Intimidate, Seduce, Deceive, Outwit, etc.,

 

Like, instead of having my companions deal with every threat, I'd rather convince that bloodthirsty rabble of Thugs to join a local youth group and do volunteer work cleaning up the city.

My suggestion: Give us the tools to make our own RPGs and share them with others.

 

Instead of spending your resources on an expensive pre-made campaign, give us something like the NWN2 Toolset with your Onyx Engine, but polished and streamlined, with the ability to create our own classes, abilities, and skills with ease. Make art assets and a multiplayer component, and let the community create and share their own stories, RPGs, coop campaigns, and persistent worlds.

 

In short, a spiritual succesor to NWN2, but without anyone pressuring you to release it before it's ready!

Old school isometric RPG please, preferably fantasy, but I'd be happy with any genre really.

 

Is the Infinity Engine still a viable option? Would be easier then making a fresh engine, that's for sure, and with some professional tuneups could still look amazing.