Kickstarter Comment Questions Answered by Obsidian

[SnideCipher]

*Incomplete*

 

Obsidian have been active on Kickstarter and answering a lot of questions. This is what I pulled from the last few hours.

 

Wes - @Feargus, what do you think about the possibility of Jeremy Soule coming on to write the musical score?

 

Obsidian - @Wes Not really sure at this point. Personally, I was really happy with what our internal audio guy, Justin Bell, did in the video. Not saying that is the choice, but he is itching to give it a shot.

 

Ross - @Obsidian Entertainment (profile manager): Quick shout out to you! You don't have to answer this question now (and I would prefer a more official means because with this volume of regular comments I would never find your answer tomorrow morning ), but would Avellone, Cain, and co. comment as to how much modding your engine might allow? I beta tested with the Sith Lords Restored Content Mod and I remembered how much of a joy it was to the community to insert custom content and tweak the game to their liking.

On another note, cheers! Mac OS X version and storyline expansion achieved!

 

Obsidian - @Ross You got me tonight - Feargus. We are really not sure about the modding side of things yet. We will try to have more information out about that before the end of the campaign.

 

Dablue - @Obsidian: How will the playing map be.. like in BG1 where you could walk from one map to the next.. or like in BG2 where you had a map with intrest points?

 

Obsidian @Dablue We are thinking more like BG2, with the caveat that exploration is important so we are making sure the areas have plenty of open-ness about them.

 

Raedwulf - @Obsidian Entertainment

Could you give us some information on localization? Which languages will get support? There are would-be-backers who do not speak english at all.

Also there is some information lacking about designing an NPC or high level item. A list of detailed questions gets gathered in your forum:

http://forums.obsidi...h-level-widget/

 

Obsidian - @Raedwulf We will start having more coverage on our forums in the coming days. The reception has been pretty staggering and, to be honest, we were unprepared. Darren (co-founder) has been working practically night and day to move all of our hosting over to Amazon so we don't go down anymore. It seems like we are doing better today than we were doing a day or two in that area.

 

Angus - @ Feargus

any suggestions on what game to try if i want to get a feel for what PE will be like?

 

Obsidian - @Angus I think your best bet is BG2. Torment is an awesome choice as well, however we were never totally happy with how combat ended up being in Torment. However, it was never the largest focus.

 

Lukasz - @OE: Digital only tier:

First, placing it between $65 and $100 is a little steep - Wasteland had at $55 and i think it was ideal.

As for the addition to this tier in order of importance: Access to Beta, in game pictures/avatars, additional high res. art, additional copy of a game for friend (especially if the tier will be70+).

Additionally, but not sure if this should restrict to any tier: as someone mentioned, DF documentary is great, I'm not saying it has to be movie, maybe some other cheaper digital form, but documenting the creative process, letting us know how step by step the idea becames final product. And letting us know the teazm behind the project better.

And about the game content :I'd love as much as possible great art, I believe one or couple of great pictures are better than any cut-scene (I think game-engine generated cut-scenes nowe is the worst that could happen to games).

 

Obsidian - @Lukasz Absolutely on the price, we have gotten a lot of requests in messages about having a medium priced digital tier ($55-ish) and a higher one (~$80-ish). Actually we've gotten requests for ones over $100 as well. Trying to listen and figure out how to make them all make sense and be worth it.

 

Obsidian - @Dablue Special histories are what we did in the IWD games, in particular, where we wrote unique histories for the cool, more unique items that you can find in the game.

 

Onsidian - Fun article on TIME - http://techland.time...ise-10-million/

 

Wodwo - @OE

Has a decision been made about character avatars? Static portraits or customizable slider system? I really enjoy making a unique looking character and spend tons of time playing with sliders.

What about camera? Static or rotating? Zoom?

 

Obsidian - @Wodwo I don't want to speak out of turn on what we are doing with portraits just yet. As for the camera, it is going to be static. We are looking at zoom and a zoom that isn't just a blurring of the pixels.

 

Chad -@Feargus

What are your thoughts on romance? I know there are a lot of people against it - but I'm one of those people who finds that it humanizes the characters and adds more meaning to the adventure. I don't think romance should be front and centre, but it was great in BG2...

 

Obsidian - @Chad Sorry!!! Totally meant to respond and got sidetracked. Rob (Art Director) just sent me over some new header art for updates. So romances. We are talking about them and seeing how we want to handle them. That's not a great answer I know. I do think that if we get another writer on board that we are talking right now (maybe an announcement soon on that) we will be able to talk about them more.

 

Sam - @Obsidian - A lot of RPGs generally have problems with evil - you're often forced to be really blunt, thuggish and stupid. Will Eternity allow for a more intelligent and cunning evil, and let you plan ahead to do things that aren't obvious, but definitely on the darker side of morality?

 

Obsidian - @Sam Our goal would be more sublime with evil. I don't know if I've every actually used sublime and meant it before. Josh and Avellone are great writers and believe in portraying evil in an interesting way rather than the knocking grandma down and taking her money rather than helping across the street way. However, there can be a place for that here and there as well.

 

Obsidian - @Ronnie Keller - Totally get you and the "role" part of Role Playing is about getting to be someone you are not. So I think we will have your getting to play evil handled.

 

Angus - @Feargus as i have never played any of the games you guys have said you guys have made (i know they are great games though) is this game along the lines of a kinda skyrim feel??? or is there another direction you guys are trying to take

 

Obsidian - @Angus The games are pretty different. Skyrim is really a first person RPG that feels a little like GTA. The IE games are more about tactical combat and story. Now when it comes to lots of characters and deep RPG systems - they have more in common.

 

Adam - @Feargus,

I loved how BG was really an epic story stretched over two games and two expansions. I also loved being able to take my character from the goblin clubbing longbeard to the daemon destroying dwarven annihilator he was by the end of Throne of Bhaal.

Is that something you would consider replicating for Eternity? i.e multiple games

 

Obsidian - @Adam We would love to make multiple games and we are pretty sure that the first PE game will be a success. So, what we will probably do is launch another Kickstarter after PE is finished to fund the sequel. Getting to move away from publishers is, well, it's hard to explain...

 

Ronnie - @Feargus

Will it be possible to play a really evil character and to finish the game with him? Most of the times because of storytelling it is not possible to play the real bad guys. Will there be many different endings for the game?

And please finish the game in an epic BG2 like way. I love to read about the rest of the lives about my characters.

 

Obsdian - @Ronnie Keller - Absolutely on the endings, we love doing them that way. As for really evil - that's hard to answer. I don't know if we will go to cutting up children and storing them in your freezer level - but we will let you be pretty not nice person.

Edited September 19, 2012 by SnideCipher

[Lexx]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

[IcyDeadPeople]

Thanks for collecting all of these SnideCipher - there is a lot of great info here.

 

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Unbelievable! I wonder which publisher that was.

Edited September 19, 2012 by IcyDeadPeople

[kirottu]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Well, at least they were honest about it.

[MacArthur]

I just think it's a good place to put it :

 

question :

 

I am sorry to ask a question that many probably have asked before, but I very much would like to know what's your plan on the translation thing : Which langage ? Will it be a stretch goal ?

I know several friend that I can convinced to pledge if the game was localised in french. I also feel that it's a very important thing to bring many more backers to the project.

Thanks for the answer in advance.

 

answer :

 

Hi Blackstaff,

We are trying to figure out how to fund other languages. We may have to take a leap of faith and say we are doing them before we actually have the funding to do so. We will see.

Thanks for the incredible support!

-Feargus

[NoxNoctum]

Thanks a lot for compiling these man, I'll have to check out the page to read more. Lots of good info.

[Gyges]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Wow, is that normal in the business?

[dlux]

Good job OP.

[Mamoulian War]

Thanks for collecting all of these SnideCipher - there is a lot of great info here.

 

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Unbelievable! I wonder which publisher that was.

 

wow... Just wow...

Edited September 19, 2012 by Mamoulian War

[Pop]

Thanks for collecting all of these SnideCipher - there is a lot of great info here.

 

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Unbelievable! I wonder which publisher that was.

Either the publisher's really dense, or they were leveraging some IP that they owned, in other words, letting Obsidian use some property of theirs, but putting nothing into it and getting everything out of it - Kickstarter takes care of the costs (and therefore, the risk) and the publisher takes a substantial cut of profit. At least, that's would I would propose were I a publisher. And were I Obsidian I'd turn them down - as we've seen here, there's more than enough goodwill to create a self-funded new IP under studio control. But were I a smaller studio with no Names on staff, well... A recognizable IP would go a long way toward getting the support I wouldn't otherwise have.

[Umberlin]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

And people wonder why my general view of some, if not most, publishers is about the same as my view of lawyers. Not evil, really, just . . . bleh. Some people just make you feel unclean for knowing about their existence, you know?

[SnideCipher]

You are welcome guys. I have seen Feargus get into Q&A twice now - I think my work hours are at just the right time. If it happens again and I am not too busy I will give it an update.

[Monkcrab]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Wow.

 

You have to wonder if Obsidian has some sort of an unlucky jinx buried in their basement or something, that makes publishers see them as the universe's greatest butt monkey developers.

[Suen]

fredgiblet - @OE

Do you think they honestly thought is was a good deal for you or do you think they were hoping you were dumb?

 

Obsidian - @fredgiblet I think they were trying, honestly, to be able to do something with us and they felt that was the easiest way to do it. They would then not need to go get budget approved and deal with the challenge of that. What I don't think they did was to think about our side of it and what they were really asking.

[CommissarMega]

Obsidian - @fredgiblet I think they were trying, honestly, to be able to do something with us and they felt that was the easiest way to do it. They would then not need to go get budget approved and deal with the challenge of that. What I don't think they did was to think about our side of it and what they were really asking.

 

However, the way they asked and offered was completely and utterly devoid of both empathy and intelligence to a level I for one didn't think was possible.

 

Seriously, what the hell?!

[Stun]

Sam - @Obsidian - A lot of RPGs generally have problems with evil - you're often forced to be really blunt, thuggish and stupid. Will Eternity allow for a more intelligent and cunning evil, and let you plan ahead to do things that aren't obvious, but definitely on the darker side of morality?

 

Obsidian - @Sam Our goal would be more sublime with evil. I don't know if I've every actually used sublime and meant it before. Josh and Avellone are great writers and believe in portraying evil in an interesting way rather than the knocking grandma down and taking her money rather than helping across the street way. However, there can be a place for that here and there as well.

 

This question is unnecessary. We've seen Obsidian writers do evil really well. Best in the industry, actually. I can't remember an Evil run through a game that was more satisfying than in Mask of the Betrayer

Edited September 19, 2012 by Stun

[Hornet85]

Publishers know no shame. Kickstarter is not for them, and yet they are willing to go as far as to exploit the dev to get their share of Kickstarter.

 

These people are fueled by greed and nothing else, what a shame

 

BTW, thank you snidecipher for compiling everything. Much appreciated

Edited September 19, 2012 by Hornet85

[CommissarMega]

Mind you, the capacity to do an evil Torment run should be a measure of criminal psychopathy.

[Stun]

Publishers know no shame. Kickstarter is not for them, and yet they are willing to go as far as to exploit the dev to get their share of Kickstarter.

 

They're sending feelers out, is what they're doing. Trying to worm their way into the only part of the industry that is currently closed off to them

 

Feargus said "NO" to the publishers, which is good, but It makes you wonder if its only a matter of time before Publishers manage to find companies who will say yes. And when that happens, we won't even be able to turn to Kickstarter anymore without seeing Publisher taint.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Stun

[Hoverdog]

Mind you, the capacity to do an evil Torment run should be a measure of criminal psychopathy.

I'd say... practicality.

[Olauron Mor-Galad]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

Expectable.

[Lexx]

Publishers know no shame. Kickstarter is not for them, and yet they are willing to go as far as to exploit the dev to get their share of Kickstarter.

 

They're sending feelers out, is what they're doing. Trying to worm their way into the only part of the industry that is currently closed off to them

 

Feargus said "NO" to the publishers, which is good, but It makes you wonder if its only a matter of time before Publishers manage to find companies who will say yes. And when that happens, we won't even be able to turn to Kickstarter anymore without seeing Publisher taint.

 

Yeah, but if this comes out to public, it will probably burn the company name. Who would ever give money to them again for a KS project after such betrayal (yeah, let's call it like that)? Probably not many people.

[Jozape]

The best one:

 

@Steven We were actually contacted by some publishers over the last few months that wanted to use us to do a Kickstarter. I said to them "So, you want us to do a Kickstarter for, using our name, we then get the Kickstarter money to make the game, you then publish the game, but we then don't get to keep the brand we make and we only get a portion of the profits" They said, "Yes".

 

Anybody that would ask Feargus that had better have one hell of an amazing IP to work with considering the popular names at Obsidian.