Auxilius

Well, for me, Arcanum is better than Fallout 1 or 2. Let me explain why. Back in 2001, I was already a teen but I was new to video games. That's when I really started to buy stuff, mainly on Dreamcast and PC, instead of playing endlessly games given with the computer, like Comix Zone or Duke Nukem 3D, and failing miserably. Thanks to Arcanum, I understood what is a good RPG. A real good RPG. The map to explore was gigantic, you got fun characters, excellent worldbuilding, different ways to play and your choices mattered, in true Black Isle fashion. The first time I reached Qintara, damn son, I felt like I was Christopher Colomb or Captain Picard, exploring new lands and discovering new civilizations. That negociation with the Caladon council? Truly epic. I never witnessed such a piece of great writing since. KOTOR2 and Mask of the Betrayer are better on their own rights, because they touch interesting subjects and are excellent atstudying them. They just doesn't give you the possibility to unite two countries and change geopolitics on that degree. That's why I also hope Brian Mitsoda, who was a creative lead on Arcanum, will start a kickstarter for that zombie RPG he talked about. It's been years but nobody want to give him a chance apparently. It's sad when the best people of the industry got such problems. Between Mitsoda, Fargo, Garriott, Spector and even Avellone, it's like all those cool old guys who made the best video games ever back in the day can't do jack**** now. It tells a lot on our beloved video games industry. See Troika, they made three great games but thanks to Activision and Valve, it is dead, which is a shame. Arcanum is still my favorite RPG of all times, even if I'm not objective because this is kind of a childhood memory now, but Vampires: Bloodlines was also awesome and Temple of Elemental Evil is the game that follows the best D&D rules today still. They had a true respect for their customers, considering them smart enough to be challenged with good, deep content. That's why I was rejoiced when Tim Cain, Tim mother****ing Cain, founder of Troika, joined Obsidian. He worked on MMORPGs for a while and I truly felt like he was wasting his talent. Tabula Rasa? Man, it never had any chance back then, when WoW was in full motion against old school titans like Everquest or Day of the Camelot. I hope Parker & Stone will be somehow generous with Obsidian and let them earn some profits coming from the sells, because as it is, they got a Dream Team, which could craft the best written RPG ever made. The industry needs it, I need it, because currently, it's not Bioware or Blizzard that will offer gamers these possibilities. There are other good actors, who do a fine job, like Larian Studios (Divinity 2) or CDProjekt (Witcher 2), but I will be direct, they do not share the passion for good writing than Obsidian has. They truly must remain independant.

You have to check the FAQ. I think it's the second entry.

Pledged 10$. I better know if the first game is good before considering buying the 2 (possible) sequels.

To not like criticism sound like Bioware forums allright. Dudes, just let people express themselves, as long as it stays civil, it's fine this way. Because otherwise, this forum would be hella boring if it was just one massive circlejerk.

I feel your pain, bro.

For lack of a better thread, I'll psot that here: Schafer can be proud of himself. He sure started a new wave and wrote despite him a new page of the history of gaming. Serious RPG projects are now flourishing on the kickstarter website. More important, Brian Mitsoda, of Vampires: Bloodlines, Mask of the Betrayer and Alpha Protocol fame, admitted he's going to launch a kickstarter project soon. Apparently, it's going to be about a Survival RPG set after a Zombie Apocalypse. Learn more here: http://www.irontower...pic,2482.0.html. I didn't really know the man but considering his background, I sure will pledge several bucks for his game. Then, while browsing the new projects page of the kickstarter website, I met this: http://www.kickstart...the-banner-saga. This is some kind of viking RPG that promotes good art and real choices and consequences, ala Alpha Protocol apparently. Considering it already earned half the money they want in half a day, I suppose they're from a serious company or at least, have a good community that follows this game. Maybe that's because they're ex-Bioware employees. Mister Avellone should speed up if he doesn't want to be a mere dot in the sky. I shouldn't worry though. Obsidian really has A LOT of pull with nerds gamers.

Indeed. During the party Double Fine made after their kickstarter ended successfully, Schafer talked online with some backers. One of them asked Tim if his relationships with publishers changed after that. Schafer then wrote than publishers couldn't care less about the matter. I don't remember the exact words but basically, it went along those lines: "You got the money you wanted for your project, that's great. Now let's talk about our contract." Double Fine is like Obsidian, trying to make AAA titles. It's not a 3 millions dollar project that will trouble people with the means and money to make them, especially when it is so niche. Besides, according to Fargo this time (you can find his message on the Wasteland 2 kickstarter page), 1 million dollars is like 7% of a normal budget. ... I should become a video games journalist. My message is more sourced than this stupid kotaku article. Damn me if this industry isn't a complete joke.

I'll let tvtropes answer that question for me: Sounds accurate.

Dude, chill.

I wanted to write something about international publishing, reminding you that The Witcher 1 was published by Atari, but then I checked Wikipedia to be sure and saw CD Projekt was indeed a publisher at the very beginning, even if it concerned only the polish market. What I said about GOG still works though. Maybe Obsidian should try a new activity.

Daaaaamn. I wish we could get some more feedback like that here. That would be interesting. It's ironic though. Whenever I read video games forums, Alpha Protocol became a Cult Classic when Dungeon Siege 3 is regularly trashed. Amusingly, it's a standard opinion on those SAF forums. That shed some light on those kickstarter projects we love to talk about here. I think Obsidian has the potential to make games that last. Games than people will remember fondly 10 years later. But the regular gamer is not really interested by those games, for various reasons, meaning an AAA title like AP was couldn't really work as it was. Especially since it was technically flawed (I never had such problems with AP though). If there was a small branch in the company that was dedicated to make such games, maybe (and I stress the word because as far as I know I could spout ridiculously retarded arguments here) that would be a good way for Obsidian to remain independant and financially secure, at least to some extent. The budget would be way too low to keep making AAA titles, but the qualities Obsidian is known for would remain while they would make other games with more... appeal to the mass. That's something that goes with the current situation of the industry. Independant developers making AAA games are becoming rarer. Sure, with the lack of competitors, it means Obs can sell favorably his status to any publisher, but like we understood here, it also means they're not covered whenever cancellations happen. The amount of "unannounced project' we can see here on this topic made me rage for a good reason. CDProjekt secured its status by launching GOG and selling some retro-games. Maybe there is something here to think about for Obsidian.

Forced romances as "You can't avoid the awkwardness and have to go through a romance to unlock some pieces of the scenario". Or as "we consider you as the worst nerds ever and will shove them down your threat until you take it willingfully" but that would be too radical. I have friends who think that way though. They think those romances went down a creepy way. Concerning ME3, I must admit I never played more than the demo but as far as I know, it's the same than in ME2, meaning conversations are suddenly stopped with several characters unless you decide to get it on with one of them. Damn was that bad in ME2. I just wanted to talk to people, not getting insulted because I couldn't choose or because I chose someone else when I thought I had to do that if I wanted to progress. It's like those characters were defined by their genitals, with nothing beyond that. Besides, I tend to think like Chris. Romances in video games are only interesting if they are a way to convey something else. In KOTOR2 for example, it was a result of the Exile's Force Brainwashing and it was genuinely creepy to Visas pledge her life for him. These romances were handled were better in ME1, when it wasn't a full feature nor marketed to death. Alas...

Well, for ME3, Bioware dug its own grave. Between Origin, the DLCs, the forced romances, the forum that doesn't accept any criticism, the stock photos and the endings, it's hard to root for them. If only it started with ME3. But to the previous mess I listed, you can add the horrible Dragon Age 2, the awful business practices that were enforced concerning SWTOR and the complete lack of good customer services. It's like they try their hardest to get such backlash. Granted, it's not totally their fault. After all, they have to follow to some extent what their publisher says. Still, it doesn't excuse their lazyness and the quality drop in several games at once. I never was a Bioware fan to begin with so I don't really mind but it's still saddening to see that a company that was supposed to make good RPGs back in the day goes to hell like that. KOTOR, NWN or Jade Empire weren't masterpieces but they were satisfying to play. Although considering how I love good writing above anything else in a video game, I couldn't ask for more. Even Chris in KOTOR2 mocked Bioware's writing. Do you remember those lines from HK-47 where he calls Carth and Bastila completely neurotic? Then he adds the current crew doesn't seem to have such problems? I sure do. it was hilarious. For the rest, I agree with the guys above. Play, uninstall, forget. I never was attached to my characters in their games. While with the Exile or the Knight-Captain, they were my heroes and what they did were the results of my own choices and actions, with Revan and the Neverwinter hero, it was just gun and run. I feel the same when I compare the Courier to the Lone Wanderer. Props to the Knight-Captain by the way. You really get the chance to go through an impressive character arc with him.

So many possibilities, so few results, so much RAGE!

I'm all for a BG3 if Obsidian does it. They sure need some contracts at this moment. Otherwise, I've some doubts. Bioware's writing went down recently and I never was a fan of the previous games. BG1 felt dull and because of that, I never found the courage to launch BG2. Qui vivra verra.

And 85 is the score where shareholders are happy. As a result, it's a regular thing to see developers give themselves the objective to reach 85 on metacritic. It's not surprising at all, yes, but it's still sad. By the way, Chris' twitter is becoming viral. According to some numbers I read on the Internet (So basically deal with them carefully), FNV sold more than 5 millions copies. Add the DLCs and FNV earned Zenimax 300 millions dollars. This is quite upsetting. Obsidian must become a publisher (not possible for lack of money), be bought like Bioware was or remain independant and keep dealing with these difficulties everyday. That's... not gleam.

I decided to check metacritic to see if it's true. PS3: 82 Xbox 360: 84 PC: 84 ... I have no word to express my discontent.

I could start swearing but that would be censored. What else can I say? It sucks for sure. And to learn that just after I read an excellent Powerpoint Josh did to explain how choices and consequences must be done in a video game... You can read it here by the way: http://diogenes-lamp.info/GDC12_Do_Say_The_Right_Thing.pdf I expected Obsidian to be in better shape after the success of Fallout New Vegas. What happened? By the way, I may be mistaken but I think any kickstarter possibility is out of the question for the moment since Chris is already on it. On better news, I saw on forums a lot of expectation considering an Obsidian kickstarter project.

Chris should wait a little though because people will get sick of kickstarter projects fast if they're multiplying like Indie Bundles. But since he started to think about it only recently, he won't do it soon anyway.

Got an interview for a job... at last! If I get it, I'll be sure to pour 100$ in this project. The industry should thank tim Schafer, he started something that opens a lot of perspectives.

Is that even possible? It seems like they work on a more complex engine. That would be really cool though.

Parker got it good here. I warmed up to silent protagonists since I realized they managed to convey a much better image of the hero i want to play. When the hero is voiced, you have to go along with what he's saying, how he's acting. With a silent hero, you choose how he behaves and what his personality is. It's way better for roleplay and it permitted to get attached much more easily to my characters in KOTOR2 or NWN2 while I couldn't bring myself to care during Mass Effect or The Witcher. The only game that managed to bring us a talking protagonist while still giving us the possibility to choose his behavior was Alpha Protocol but it required a ton of work. Deus Ex: Human Revolution also worked fine but not always, with the hero sometimes spouting lines you didn't want him to. Oh, and GEH? That's an awesome idea! I hope someone from the creative design team will read and implement it.

God, do they dumb down the matter. Besides, those gender and sexuality issues are really starting to erode Bioware's credibility. When Helper was harassed on her twitter account, it was cringing to see her write that people were jealous of her because she got a vagina [and a job in the industry] and not them. Seriously, was that her best answer? She should has come out of this mess as a victim, not as a jackass. If I'm talking about this, it's because I think this is the same problem here. (I hope) People don't care about homosexuality, they just don't like the whole marketing that has been built around this and how it shoved it down our throats... ahem. It's like the whole thing is engulfing every negativity around Bioware. People are not that insecure. For Forbes to play this angle like Helper did mean they don't even try to understand why is the Internet reacting like that. And this article will certainly fuel the hate more than anything. What a trainwreck. You just have to read video games webcomics to see how fine this marketing worked by the way. So far, I checked Penny Arcade, Virtual Shackles, VG Cats, Nerfnow and another one whose name I forgot. The random ME drawing is always about Shepard's sexuality or a random character's sex-appeal. Shepard is half the time, insane. Edit: Hey, Forbes did a second update, doubting what they said earlier. Well, all for the best.

Still snippy, cool down. And the DS3 forum is (sadly) almost dead, like the Alpha Protocol one. Guess I'll have to hold my will to communicate here and wait until the SP RPG comes out. But like someone said before (my man!), while I trust Obsidian's work, it's not the most exciting project they ever worked on. We'll see. I wonder who is the creative designer for this game. Gonzalez? Ziets? Well, have fun people.

Don't be snippy people. Because it saddens me doesn't mean I want people to hate the game. I just expected people to talk more about Obsidian games on the Obsidian forums. Hey, I tried *sigh*.