@devs How does the team look at the moment?

[C2B]

Recently, we have heard a lot of things about Eternity's team structure, including that Eric Fenstermaker is writing the Narrative. Due to George Ziet's formspring we also know that he hasn't been working on the game for a while (through the Vertical Slice phase at least).

 

But sadly, it's a bit confusing.

 

So, it would be interesting to know who's doing what at the moment and how big the core team actually is. Also will you get additional members (like Ziets) back on when they are needed again?

Edited August 6, 2013 by C2B

[Sensuki]

It's time for your meeting with the investors guyz!

 

Edited August 6, 2013 by Sensuki

[Nonek]

With their eyes?

[Monte Carlo]

There's a surprise tomorrow! I've heard it on the QT that Dave Gaider is going to write a bonus NPC, a romance-able, sexually ambiguous sofa called Humphrey.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Monte Carlo

[Malcador]

I want weekly status updates on tasks in progress on spreadsheets.

[KillerClowns]

There's a surprise tomorrow! I've heard it on the QT that Dave Gaider is going to write a bonus NPC, a romance-able, sexually ambiguous sofa called Humphrey.

 

It's about time! The sexually ambiguous sofa demographic is sadly under-represented in modern gaming, and this is a brave step forward.[/selfdeprecating]

Edited August 6, 2013 by KillerClowns

[lolaldanee]

There's a surprise tomorrow! I've heard it on the QT that Dave Gaider is going to write a bonus NPC, a romance-able, sexually ambiguous sofa called Humphrey.

well, there IS that talking wardrobe in the brothel in planscape torment, your idea is not as absurd as you might have thought

someone working at obsidion right now could be responsible for that character you know

Edited August 7, 2013 by lolaldanee

[Grivenger]

I want weekly status updates on tasks in progress on spreadsheets.

Aren't we able to demand this, as 'investors'?

[rjshae]

 

There's a surprise tomorrow! I've heard it on the QT that Dave Gaider is going to write a bonus NPC, a romance-able, sexually ambiguous sofa called Humphrey.

 

It's about time! The sexually ambiguous sofa demographic is sadly under-represented in modern gaming, and this is a brave step forward.[/selfdeprecating]

 

I really don't want to know what's down the cracks of that sofa...

[Malcador]

 

I want weekly status updates on tasks in progress on spreadsheets.

Aren't we able to demand this, as 'investors'?

 

No, we donated money to them.

[Monte Carlo]

I want to know what was for lunch. More interesting than spreadsheets.

[moridin84]

I want to know what was for lunch. More interesting than spreadsheets.

How about a spreadsheet depicting the lunch each team member has each day?

[Monte Carlo]

^ These are the sort of performance metrics I can believe in.

[Karkarov]

Why does a guy get trolled for asking something completely reasonable?  I don't see why wanting Obsidian to give a brief run down of how many people are actively working on the game right now is that big a deal.  It isn't like he was requesting lunch schedules, detailed time tables, or a point by point presentation on what Sawyer is doing today.  I can understand if Obsidian doesn't want to give the info, that's their prerogative, but there is nothing wrong with the dude asking. 

[C2B]

Eh, I'm sure there's no ill intent.

 

As for why it's interesting to know... There are two reasons from my perspective

 

1. It gives a pretty good impression on how certain parts of the game end up, if you have some knowdledge about the developers previous work. Their sensiblities, priorities and so on. To give an easy and obvious example I would expect a game with overall direction by Chris Avellone to be pretty different from a Josh Sawyer game.

 

2. It further prevents miscommunication. I'm sure there are lots of people that think Chris Avellone wrote/will write P:E's story for example. Credit where credit is due.

Edited August 10, 2013 by C2B

[KillerClowns]

Why does a guy get trolled for asking something completely reasonable?  I don't see why wanting Obsidian to give a brief run down of how many people are actively working on the game right now is that big a deal.  It isn't like he was requesting lunch schedules, detailed time tables, or a point by point presentation on what Sawyer is doing today.  I can understand if Obsidian doesn't want to give the info, that's their prerogative, but there is nothing wrong with the dude asking. 

Heh. This ain't trolling. This is genetly giving a guy a bit of a ribbing. If we were trolling, trust me, things would be a lot uglier.

 

Personally, I'm not directly interested in the exact "who's doing what," but I've always been a sucker for good devlogs, which would implicitly give that sort of information anyways.

[Malekith]

Eh, I'm sure there's no ill intent.

 

As for why it's interesting to know... There are two reasons from my perspective

 

1. It gives a pretty good impression on how certain parts of the game end up, if you have some knowdledge about the developers previous work. Their sensiblities, priorities and so on. To give an easy and obvious example I would expect a game with overall direction by Chris Avellone to be pretty different from a Josh Sawyer game.

 

2. It further prevents miscommunication. I'm sure there are lots of people that think Chris Avellone wrote/will write P:E's story for example. Credit where credit is due.

As for part number 2, i'm not sure we will ever be to give credit to a single person. Obsidian said that PE is unigue in that it's story is the most joined efford they have done to date, with the whole of the team giving feedback and ideas. Even the main story is a result of mixing 3 designer's ideas, with Avellone and the rest adding things and giving feedback.

For better or worse PE story is a joined efford and not one person's baby like PS:T is Avellone's or T:ToN is McComb's

[C2B]

 

Eh, I'm sure there's no ill intent.

 

As for why it's interesting to know... There are two reasons from my perspective

 

1. It gives a pretty good impression on how certain parts of the game end up, if you have some knowdledge about the developers previous work. Their sensiblities, priorities and so on. To give an easy and obvious example I would expect a game with overall direction by Chris Avellone to be pretty different from a Josh Sawyer game.

 

2. It further prevents miscommunication. I'm sure there are lots of people that think Chris Avellone wrote/will write P:E's story for example. Credit where credit is due.

As for part number 2, i'm not sure we will ever be to give credit to a single person. Obsidian said that PE is unigue in that it's story is the most joined efford they have done to date, with the whole of the team giving feedback and ideas. Even the main story is a result of mixing 3 designer's ideas, with Avellone and the rest adding things and giving feedback.

For better or worse PE story is a joined efford and not one person's baby like PS:T is Avellone's or T:ToN is McComb's

 

Every game which has more than one dev working on it ever is a joint effort. Some more, some less. That doesn't mean that all of them just form a blob. You can still attribute certain things to certain people. You can still see the individuals.

 

(And T:TON isn't exactly McComb's either. They're sharing there too. It has a lot more dedicated writers as well.)

 

In P:E for example you can attribute the specfics (and specific writing) in the main story most likely to Fenstermaker (as he seems to be actually writing it). With the larger stuff being a mix of Ziets and Fenstermaker's sensibilities with some high level ideas of other writers.

 

Which you can pinpoint and attribute to said writers.

 

But, even then that high level stuff gets filtered through Fenstermaker (and Ziets) when it actually gets fleshed out and written down. So, who writes the story in the end does influence that particular element stronger. Joint brainstorming makes the it *just* better. (*Just* is not meant negativly here at all. Lack of a better word)

 

 

Edit: If you mean the game as a whole. Then yes. A certain group of people can make something very unique if they put together. But I'm talking of giving credit to specific elements. Not the whole thing.

Edited August 10, 2013 by C2B

[Malekith]

 

 

Eh, I'm sure there's no ill intent.

 

As for why it's interesting to know... There are two reasons from my perspective

 

1. It gives a pretty good impression on how certain parts of the game end up, if you have some knowdledge about the developers previous work. Their sensiblities, priorities and so on. To give an easy and obvious example I would expect a game with overall direction by Chris Avellone to be pretty different from a Josh Sawyer game.

 

2. It further prevents miscommunication. I'm sure there are lots of people that think Chris Avellone wrote/will write P:E's story for example. Credit where credit is due.

As for part number 2, i'm not sure we will ever be to give credit to a single person. Obsidian said that PE is unigue in that it's story is the most joined efford they have done to date, with the whole of the team giving feedback and ideas. Even the main story is a result of mixing 3 designer's ideas, with Avellone and the rest adding things and giving feedback.

For better or worse PE story is a joined efford and not one person's baby like PS:T is Avellone's or T:ToN is McComb's

 

 

Edit: If you mean the game as a whole. Then yes. A certain group of people can make something very unique if they put together. But I'm talking of giving credit to specific elements. Not the whole thing.

 

That's what i meant, yes. If you meant only the main story then yes, it seems to be Fenstermaker's and Ziets'. As an aside, is Fenstermaker the official narrative lead in PE or not?

[C2B]

 

 

 

Eh, I'm sure there's no ill intent.

 

As for why it's interesting to know... There are two reasons from my perspective

 

1. It gives a pretty good impression on how certain parts of the game end up, if you have some knowdledge about the developers previous work. Their sensiblities, priorities and so on. To give an easy and obvious example I would expect a game with overall direction by Chris Avellone to be pretty different from a Josh Sawyer game.

 

2. It further prevents miscommunication. I'm sure there are lots of people that think Chris Avellone wrote/will write P:E's story for example. Credit where credit is due.

 

As for part number 2, i'm not sure we will ever be to give credit to a single person. Obsidian said that PE is unigue in that it's story is the most joined efford they have done to date, with the whole of the team giving feedback and ideas. Even the main story is a result of mixing 3 designer's ideas, with Avellone and the rest adding things and giving feedback.

For better or worse PE story is a joined efford and not one person's baby like PS:T is Avellone's or T:ToN is McComb's

 

Edit: If you mean the game as a whole. Then yes. A certain group of people can make something very unique if they put together. But I'm talking of giving credit to specific elements. Not the whole thing.

That's what i meant, yes. If you meant only the main story then yes, it seems to be Fenstermaker's and Ziets'. As an aside, is Fenstermaker the official narrative lead in PE or not?

No idea. Though they seem to be taking the roles regarding writing a bit looser anyway. Edited August 10, 2013 by C2B

[jamoecw]

most of you guys are asking for the credits before the game is even finished, which is silly.  the larger the project the more things are in flux as far as who does what, heck stuff could be done by multiple people, then one of them is selected for the final product, they might not even be done simultaneously.  as for a devlog, that time can be used for further developing, and we do get semi regular updates already, so maybe how big the team is or something would be nice for the next update, but have a second series of updates is a bit silly for time efficiency when things have to get done.  at the very least we should trust in the work ethic of those we have hired and be patient, though the OP question isn't a bad one to ask, whether or not it is included in the next update or someone simply gives a 1-2 sentence answer here on the forum.

[C2B]

most of you guys are asking for the credits before the game is even finished, which is silly.  the larger the project the more things are in flux as far as who does what, heck stuff could be done by multiple people, then one of them is selected for the final product, they might not even be done simultaneously.  as for a devlog, that time can be used for further developing, and we do get semi regular updates already, so maybe how big the team is or something would be nice for the next update, but have a second series of updates is a bit silly for time efficiency when things have to get done.  at the very least we should trust in the work ethic of those we have hired and be patient, though the OP question isn't a bad one to ask, whether or not it is included in the next update or someone simply gives a 1-2 sentence answer here on the forum.

 

None of that is what I asked, but....

Edited August 12, 2013 by C2B

[Lephys]

Heh. This ain't trolling. This is genetly giving a guy a bit of a ribbing. If we were trolling, trust me, things would be a lot uglier.

And a lot more regenerative/killable-only-by-fire.

[Adam Brennecke]

We haven't done a production update in some time. I'll talk to Brandon about it.

[Sensuki]

Brandon's updates are also a lot more slap dash than yours or Josh's updates too, a bit more 'meat' to his updates would be better

Edited August 13, 2013 by Sensuki