PoE at GDC 2014?

[Merlkir]

Do we know what PoE news we might see coming from GDC this week? Another design talk maybe? Or a gameplay video at last? 

That'd be quite nice. I know we've been told Obs want to wait until the game is polished enough, but come on now. We know what Alpha means, right? 

[Bryy]

I know we've been told Obs want to wait until the game is polished enough, but come on now. We know what Alpha means, right? 

Apparently you don't.

[khalil]

 

I know we've been told Obs want to wait until the game is polished enough, but come on now. We know what Alpha means, right?

Apparently you don't.

 

It means the state DF is in, a game I play constantly.

[lolaldanee]

i doubt we will see too much new information at GDC

 

and btw, alpha means "feature complete but not all content is finished", nothing more or less (even though only like 1% of the population seems to remember this these days)

Edited March 18, 2014 by lolaldanee

[Tigranes]

Maybe not Eternity, but what you will see is:

 

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Chris Avellone‏@ChrisAvellone

@dphanto Yes, Obsidian is revealing its secret project at GDC.

 

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[DCParry]

 

Maybe not Eternity, but what you will see is:

 

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Chris Avellone‏@ChrisAvellone

@dphanto Yes, Obsidian is revealing its secret project at GDC.

 

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I hope it is a monkey-pony monster. 

[ManifestedISO]

i doubt we will see too much new information at GDC

 

and btw, alpha means "feature complete but not all content is finished", nothing more or less (even though only like 1% of the population seems to remember this these days)

 

 

Not according to Adam.

 

 

We have a similar definition of Alpha. Not only do we have all the features, but all of the content is in the game as well.

[Kjaamor]

Wars have started over less.

[Lephys]

Not according to Adam.

 

We have a similar definition of Alpha. Not only do we have all the features, but all of the content is in the game as well.

 

I have a feeling his use of the word "content" is very general. As in, nothing's specifically missing. For example, it doesn't seem like polished spell animations/effects are considered additional content, but rather, "spell effects/animations" are considered a whole piece of content, with their quality/finalization being separate.

[Merlkir]

It can be alpha version of the content, as we've learnt before, they do everything in passes. So much of the content may be there, but the graphics are not yet painted over, animations are placeholder etc.

[Bryy]

It can be alpha version of the content, as we've learnt before, they do everything in passes. So much of the content may be there, but the graphics are not yet painted over, animations are placeholder etc.

This, basically.

 

Complete does not mean complete in most cases. That's why it's called Alpha and not the finished game. I don't get why everyone is acting like it's ready to demo if it's in the first of two stages. I don't think there are any PoE-specific talks.

 

And as far as I know, PoE is going to Early Access. 

 

But I think the thing that we're all forgetting here is that GDC is not a convention. It's a trade show, like E3 or the International Halloween Trade Show. 

[Merlkir]

A gameplay video doesn't mean "demo", I don't want a carefully pre-scripted rail for a Todd Howard type to take me through and pleasure-shower me with wow moments. Especially in an Infinity type game this would be a bit more difficult.  (and honestly, I kinda hate these demos. Just play the game like you would in testing, let me see what it really plays like.)

 

There's nothing wrong with showing alpha stage gameplay, I'd really love to see how combat looks at the moment and so on. I understand their concerns about how people might mistake alpha state for final polish though, which is why I'm not really expecting to see gameplay any time soon.

 

Still, it'd be pretty neat.

[Bryy]

There are only two panels that Obsidian people will be at - MCA on a Writing Panel and Justin Bell for Stick of Truth at an Audio panel.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

I have an idea of what the secret project might be. They're currently hiring for developers on a "highly stylized MMO." Feargus fairly recently mentioned some ideas.

"There's something we're talking about that would be really cool, but it's not an original property," he revealed. "It's a licensed property. But it's not Alpha Protocol!

"It's something we can still do a ton of creative stuff with, though. And then the other thing is an original property. Also, there's a third thing that somebody approached us with, but I really don't think that's going to work out."

This is forward-thinking and a necessity for a 100-plus-sized studio such as Obsidian. Only 15 people are making Eternity, more or less, while the rest are finishing South Park: The Stick of Truth, now a Ubisoft game. That's a lot of people to keep busy.
"

 

I feel like I also read somewhere he was exploring the idea of creating procedurally generated maps but for the infinity engine styled games, so it would be kind of like Skyrim but in the style of the IE games. However I don't know if I'm confusing this with the same article I referenced above, either way that would be cool. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-12-17-what-will-obsidians-second-kickstarter-project-be

[Chaos Theory]

I thought MMOs were dying?  People still care about them?

[Sannom]

The secret project is out, it's called Armored Warfare. Some sort of Counter Strike, but with tanks.

 

Some of your quotes sound like they were said before South Park was announced.

[Infinitron]

I thought MMOs were dying?  People still care about them?

 

WoW clones are dying. F2P tank games are alive and well.

[Chaos Theory]

 

I thought MMOs were dying?  People still care about them?

 

WoW clones are dying. F2P tank games are alive and well.

 

 

Yeah I suppose that is true.

[Bryy]

I thought MMOs were dying?  People still care about them?

That's a great thing to say about a company you care about and their new product.

[ManifestedISO]

I didn't read any malice in that ... I've asked the same question myself. I thought F2P MMOs were as passe as hipsters already. 

 

I am disappoint, but I understand contract work, and want Obsidian to thrive, more than I want my personal demands expectations to be fulfilled.  

[Bryy]

 thought F2P MMOs were as passe as hipsters already. 

I think there will be a resurgence as people figure out how to use it. I think we'll see what's going to happen in the next year or so. 

[Hiro Protagonist II]

I thought MMOs were dying?  People still care about them?

 

MMOs are more popular than ever, especially freemium MMOs. Personally, I'd rather not play them.

[Fatback]

Gdc != e3 gdc is a conference for developers to share with each other. E3 is an expo for publishers to show off shinies to journalists.

[Lephys]

I think an indie, Kickstarted MMO could be pretty interesting. The problem with MMOs is that no one wants to change the mold, at all. Oh sure, they fill it with different weapons, and lore, and races, etc. But, at the end of the day, they're always pretty much the same.

 

Even stuff like Guild Wars 2, which throws out some pretty on-the-right-path ideas when in development, doesn't really actually break the mold much. You've got "dynamic" events (which have appeared in some form in various previous games) instead of just straight up quests -- which is a vast improvement over static, individual-instance quests. But then... what do they do? Just repeat themselves exactly, over and over. No advantage taken of the dynamicism at all.

 

"Hey, maybe this event has a few factors, and the game actually roulettes through them whenever this event 'respawns.' Maybe this time, a merchant in a different place needs an escort through a different route (or different path through the same area), and has different goods with him, and different guards to help you out, etc. Maybe different enemies attack (instead of just the exact same bandits).

 

But no. Same merchant, same schedule, same routes, same bandits, same everything, every time. Sure, it was more interesting than everyone just, somehow, all individually protecting the merchant, alone, one at a time, and they're more active quests, at least. But, jeez. At least SOMETHING could be mixed up to feel different.

 

If there were just a way to simulate a dedicated team of GMs just sparking different specific scenarios out of common scenario components or something, that'd be pretty amazing. If different stuff was going on every time you played (even if sometimes very similar stuff, or repeat stuff eventually happened again), an MMO would actually be about what you're doing, and not the just about the reason you're doing it (to gain levels and gear and complete stuff so that you can be lvl XX and look uber.)

[Fatback]

Guild wars 2 did more wrong than right IMO