Elerond

Marketing is something that you need to do if you want to sell copies, if you don't get lottery jack pot and get your product become viral sensation for some reason other than marketing. Developers pay for that announcement in GOG, but I think it is included in their regular fee. There is probably options to get more coverage in the store with additional fees. GOG offers that promotion because they want developers and publisher to release their products also there, and it has worked to some extend to lure indie developers in, but larger studios and publishers have yet mostly used GOG as place where they re-release their games to get bit more out of them. Although that is somewhat result from GOG originally focusing on old games, which let them to build their customer base by offering products that really nobody else was offering, but it has created them imago that they now try to shake off as they try to get more new releases in their service.

Visibility in stores that sell hundreds/thousands of products don't usually come free. Stores are paid by splitting sales percentages, i.e. sharing profits. It's not free sure, but that's expected. You don't need to pay anything upfront to them though. So I'm not sure what you mean by "marketing fees". It's the first time I hear about it. Stores are paid percentage for every copy they sell, but if you want them to promote your game you can be quite sure that you need to pay them extra to do so. Of course there are cases where stores offer to promote your product if your sell it through them but in those cases you usually have product that store things that will bring them new customers, which is why they are paying to you to get your customers to use their store. And of course sometimes stores just do independent marketing for products that they think their existing customer base will be interested in. As for example in scenario where you want to your product be shown in store's adds in web pages outside of said store for example YouTube ads by said store then that store will most likely make you pay for such promotion, by direct fee or by higher percentage of sales or some other way. Because said store has lots of products which makers/publishers/developers/etc. want their products be the ones that are show in those ads, because those ads are thing that usually increase sales of shown products significantly. Also number of products that can be shown on those ads are very limited, which increases value of getting your product in those ads. And usually product makers/developers/publishers/etc. want to promote/market their products because it isn't enough that it is in store if nobody knows that it is there.

Yeah, because there are no such things like marketing fees, etc when signing a distribution agreement What are "marketing fees"? Signing legal agreements has lawyers' fees if anything which is a one time thing. Visibility in stores that sell hundreds/thousands of products don't usually come free.

There was quite lot articles in gaming magazines how Obsidian had made new web page that told that they will soon announced something and that announcement was their Kickstarter campaign for Project Eternity (later renamed to Pillars of Eternity)

You find some answers to your questions from here http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/66254-update-79-graphics-and-rendering/

Tyranny™ is a trademark of Paradox Interactive. All rights reserved. 2016 Paradox Interactive

Major selling point of GOG is DRM-free distribution, so significant amount of GOG users don't use Steam. Anyway, simply having the game in multiple stores increases discoverability and potential reach. Sadly it isn't that significant in reality, especially after all Steam isn't DRM tosh that goes around internet forums (even GOG's own). In theory multiple store add discoverability, but even with that sad reality is that Steam has such dominance that if you get coverage there then other store's effect on your games discoverability is quite insignificant. Other stores are good if your game don't get coverage in Steam. And Paradox has good relationship with Steam and all their games get significant coverage there. And for potential additional reach to people that don't buy game from Steam significance is still questionable. I have been big supporter of GOG from beginning and bought couple hundred games from there in past 8 years, but during that time it is also become quite clear that GOG can't compete really with Steam when it comes to new games. But hopefully their new branding, galaxy and other things that they have done will let them attract enough customers to start give even little challenge for Steam and its suffocating dominance in PC market. Maybe couple big hits more from CD Project will give them enough status.

Demolition Man predicts that there is 100% change that Arnold Schwarzenegger will win presidency. That is the one prediction that I am betting on.

What about growth of Steam's competitors? That's surely happening every year. Do Obsidian have numbers for sales percentages per distributor? Would that be enough to bust the exclusivity logic? My expectation is that it's already at the point when not using more distributors means significant amount of lost sales. Locking game in Steam don't necessary cut sales, because even though people may prefer to use different distributors if such option exist that preference don't necessary mean that they will not buy the game from Steam if it is only store that sells the game. So loss comes only from those people that will not buy game if Steam is its only distributor. Although Tyranny to non-Steam distributors is simpler thing than with many other Paradox titles as number Steam features that it use is nearly non-existent in comparison, lack of use of features like steam match making, or steam workshop make releasing games in non-steam stores much easier and simpler process and as single player game there isn't even threat of dividing player base.

I think you bit underestimate how big studio Obsidian Entertainment actually is or how many people worked on PoE in your estimates how many projects they can develop in same time. Also Tyranny seems to use tech (custom shaders, light mapping and etc. things) that Obsidian made over Unity to allow them to do the things they wanted to do, as Unity3D is created 3d environments in mind and its features didn't support everything that Obsidian needed for game like PoE that uses prerendered backgrounds and nearly everything happens on single 2d plane.

Microsoft will let game developers run their own e-sports tournaments in Xbox Live MS seems to want move to offer services instead of platforms

Obsidian should just for you put in option to solve any situation with pepper gas drone(s)

"Killed" is perfectly acceptable, in fact it's the proper term, when anyone dies unexpectedly, whether it's accidental or premeditated. Another person doesn't have to be involved. Whether a tree fell on them, someone shot them, or they were in a car and a drunk driver ran into them, killed is appropriate in all those circumstances. So if i die because of heart attack i was killed? seems strange to me, but oh well It can be said that you were killed by heart failure. But most often you see killed by used when there is person or object that does the killing.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/03/16/ben_ginsberg_explains_what_happens_to_marco_rubios_delegates.html Interesting information how unbound delegates work

Tyranny isn't WoD related according to Paradox and PoE is Obsidian's property not Paradox also leads from PoE have been working only for short time different project, which they moved after PoE was finished. Where Tyranny has been in oven for sometime already gathering from fact that they plan to release Tyranny during this year which usually means that they have developed it already for quite long time. Also Paradox has not had really time to get anyone to make anything WoD related in such shape that it could be announced. Only WoD products (meaning computer and console games) that we can really except hear this year are ones that they started before Paradox's acquisition or where they seek public funding (as it isn't usually that good idea to announce thing if you can't show anything to public for long time after announcement).

From how they introduced Brian in live stream I gathered that he is the lead.

I am pretty sure that they don't use PoE setting, as one it is world where Evil has won (and PoE/Eora is setting where everything is nuanced) and two they didn't use PoE in their trailer anyway which indicates they don't want people link these two games to belong in same setting. So it seems to be new IP with new setting.

40-hour game is enough if content quality is higher IMO, but I would guess that for many the fear is that they will not actually see content quality improving even though game time is cut shorter.

They say that game is coming out this year, so it is quite clear that they have developed it along side with PoE and I would say that it is unlikely that they have had time to port PoE tech to unity 5 even for this game.

I would call theme Evil. As it sets in world where evil has won.

From trailer one could gather that game uses Unity + PoE's technologies. and is isometric.

Florida seems to be was Trump&Clinton show. Poor Rubio, even home state don't like EDIT: Also first numbers from North Carolina predict clear Trump&Clinton win (Clinton won) EDIT2: Clinton seems to go up from poll predictions, if it holds to end Sanders is virtually out. EDIT3: First numbers from Ohio predict massive victory for Clinton. For GOP side numbers predict Kasich, but Trump is close (Clinton & Kasich won) EDIT4: First numbers from Missouri also predict big win for Clinton&Trump. EDIT5: Also Illinois seems to go for Trump&Clinton axle

Onion seems to represent only most vital and interesting information about every candidate and doing better job than mainstream media, which is bit scary.