Josh Sawyer's tweets and teasers, part III

[Katarack21]

 

 

 

 

as a fully voiced indie game of this size probably carries weight.

This is not an indie game.

*confused*

 

Obsidian is a mid-size independent developer who is making a game using a combination of self-funding and crowdfunding.

 

Unless you’re operationally defining “indie” some other way

Yes, I can understand that you are confused.

 

You seem to think all independent game companies are indies. They're not.

 

Indie companies have small budgets and few employees (less than 25 atleast).

 

So no, Obsidian is not an indie.

You’re gonna be so shocked when I tell you what word “indie” is a bastardization of.

 

"There is no exact, widely accepted definition of what constitutes an "indie game", however, indie games generally share certain characteristics. Indie games are developed by individuals, small teams, or small independent companies; companies that are often specifically formed for the development of one specific game. Typically, indie games are smaller than mainstream titles. Indie game developers are generally not financially backed by video game publishers (who are risk-averse and prefer big-budget games) and usually have little to no budget available. Being independent, indie developers do not have controlling interests or creative limitations and do not require publisher approva as mainstream game developers usually do. Design decisions are thus also not limited by the allocated budget."

 

They are not an "indie studio". They do not make "indie games". Just because "indie" is a shortened form of "independent" does not make them equivalent, any more than "bro" and "brother" are interchangeable terms (they are not).

[injurai]

Indie has two meanings:

 

Independently Published.

In the style that Independently Published material tends to.

 

Supergiant Games are the later not the former, Pillars is the former.

 

Not only is this dual usage found in the games world, it's found in the music and movie world. So it's pretty well established even if people from all over still argue it can only have one of those two meanings. If meanings is too strong of a way to put it, then it has two connotations.

[Gfted1]

Indiana Jones? They are named after a dog?!

Don't be silly, it refers to soda.   Or, you know, the abbreviation for "independent".

[Mannock]

You’re gonna be so shocked when I tell you what word “indie” is a bastardization of.

By that logic Witcher 3 is an indie game. But it's okay. I know you feed off the lulz you get by trolling like this.

[CottonWolf]

 

You’re gonna be so shocked when I tell you what word “indie” is a bastardization of.

By that logic Witcher 3 is an indie game. But it's okay. I know you feed off the lulz you get by trolling like this.

 

Technically it is. All we're pointing out here is that indie is a functionally meaningless term.

[Mannock]

Technically it is. All we're pointing out here is that indie is a functionally meaningless term.

No indipendent developer making a multi million dollar game have ever claimed to have made an indie game. And the term is not meaningless because anyone who isn't trolling is able to tell the difference between Spelunky and Deadfire, where one is an indie game and the other isn't.

[morhilane]

 

 

You’re gonna be so shocked when I tell you what word “indie” is a bastardization of.

By that logic Witcher 3 is an indie game. But it's okay. I know you feed off the lulz you get by trolling like this.

 

 

Technically it is. All we're pointing out here is that indie is a functionally meaningless term.

 

Technically it is not. The studio that made The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) is owned by the publisher (CD Projekt). Like EA and BioWare/DICE/Motive/etc or ZeniMax/Bethesda Softwork and Bethesda Gaming Studio. Those gaming studio have no independence from their publishers.

[Guest]

 

 

 

You’re gonna be so shocked when I tell you what word “indie” is a bastardization of.

By that logic Witcher 3 is an indie game. But it's okay. I know you feed off the lulz you get by trolling like this.

Technically it is. All we're pointing out here is that indie is a functionally meaningless term.

Technically it is not. The studio that made The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) is owned by the publisher (CD Projekt). Like EA and BioWare/DICE/Motive/etc or ZeniMax/Bethesda Softwork and Bethesda Gaming Studio. Those gaming studio have no independence from their publishers.

This is correct.

 

Obsidian isn’t receiving money from a publisher for Deadfire. They showcased from the “indie” side of the aisle at GDC. Feargus refers to his company as a mid-sized, independent dev studio.

[Mannock]

Technically it is not. The studio that made The Witcher 3 (CD Projekt Red) is owned by the publisher (CD Projekt). Like EA and BioWare/DICE/Motive/etc or ZeniMax/Bethesda Softwork and Bethesda Gaming Studio. Those gaming studio have no independence from their publishers.

Yeah, technically. But in practice it's pretty much one and the same.

 

And again, only trolls will claim they can't tell the difference between Spelunky and Deadfire. Indie games have few developers with limited budget. Deadfire is not even on the same map.

Edited April 16, 2018 by Mannock

[Guest]

Having no reference for Spelunky, I cannot comment on it. I have played Papers, Please so maybe I can use that instead.

 

Yes, there is a clear and discernable difference between Deadfire and Papers, Please. There is also a clear and discernable difference between Deadfire and God of War. Are you suggesting that Deadfire belongs in the same category as God of War?

 

It seems to me that “independent” is a word that means something. It also seems to me that we can take a look at which dev studios/teams are independent, without resorting to some weird form of gatekeeping that relies on nothing more concrete than someone’s perceptions. My 2 cents.

 

Sorry that you think this is trolling.

[bleedthefreak]

Everyone here is arguing semantics. There isn't a clear definition of "Indie" anywhere, it's just a label and it means literally nothing. At all. Whether you feel Obsidian is an independent developer or not does not matter to anyone, it doesn't even mean anything in terms of tax breaks or software costs like being a non-profit might, for instance. At the very least, break the discussion off into it's own thread, maybe?

 

And Spelunky is freaking awesome, everyone should be playing it whenever they have a few minutes to kill.

[rjshae]

Independent publisher typically means a publisher that is not part of a large conglomerate or multinational corporation. I think that applies to Obsidian. Size is relative and definitions vary. I don't think that matters anyway. The key element is whether an outside publisher can control the development process of a game.

[IndiraLightfoot]

What I think of when I hear the term "indie" - like it has no substance, it's just peeps horsing around

 

 

Edited April 16, 2018 by IndiraLightfoot

[SaruNi]

 

What I think of when I hear the term "indie" - like it has no substance, it's just peeps horsing around

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I hear "Indie" I think Harvey Weinstein and Coldplay.

[Jayngo]

Whether Obsidian is considered "indie" or not, I think we can all agree in this day and age, that sometimes getting a big publisher to back your game is not always a safe bet. Too many great studios have been ruined in the past decade due to "certain" publishers I will not name here.

 

The fact that Obsidian is currently "indie" is a great thing, as they have total creative control over PoS. I pray the kickstarter/fig thing continues to work for them for future projects. I have way more trust in their work than in some big publisher taking them on, only to have certain "demands" that hinder great creativity and fairness to the end user (us).

 

I get that it's probably a super tough business decision not to have a big publisher on some of this stuff, but I'm really glad Obsidian has stuck to their guns with PoE. It's working great for them AND for us.

[draego]

Reddit AMA. lots of Josh and others answers

[morhilane]

That AMA is a goldmine and it's not even done yet.

Edited April 16, 2018 by morhilane

[Jayngo]

That AMA is a goldmine and it's not even done yet.

Well, I just tried the 6 digit code in the web address on that reddit thread. No dice.

 

8cpydj = Fail

[The Sharmat]

I'd say PoE is riding in a weird forgotten middle place between a small indie game and a big budget AAA game, and that's a good thing. The market has lacked flexibility until recently thanks to logistical realities that made the whole industry reliant on large publishers. Thanks to digital delivery this is less and less the case, and we should be glad. Having more market niches can only benefit the consumer. It leads to experimentation, innovation, and greater choice and competition.

[Enoch]

That AMA is a goldmine and it's not even done yet.

Indeed.  Some bits I hadn't seen anywhere else:

 

Kate on what Rekke is saying

 

Ominous hint from Josh:

 

 

I should also warn that for at least one returning companion, the reactivity [to how they ended Pillars 1] is not just limited to when you first meet them, but can play out much later in the game.

 

Neat little thread on accents.  Huana & Rauatai have American-ish accents mostly because they didn't think they'd be able to implement something more exotic consistently.

 

No playable Steel Garotte or Woedica Priests.  They considered it, but didn't have time.

Edited April 17, 2018 by Enoch

[jf8350143]

White March's story will have relvance in the Deadfire(which is expected).Wonder how that will play out though, since lots of people didn't really finish white march. I doubt they get to choose what happens in the DLC separately if they import a save without finishing the DLC but only the main game.

 

 

Also Josh confirmed lesbian romance being in the game, kind strange, since they have been keeping things vague on the romance topic.

[rjshae]

Also Josh confirmed lesbian romance being in the game, kind strange, since they have been keeping things vague on the romance topic.

 

As long as they don't have lispian womance, I'm okay with that.

[The Sharmat]

Lesbos betrayed Athens and the Delian League and i will certainly not be engaging in any relations with the vile Lesbian oathbreakers, in particular any from the city of Mytilene.

[SaruNi]

Lesbos betrayed Athens and the Delian League and i will certainly not be engaging in any relations with the vile Lesbian oathbreakers, in particular any from the city of Mytilene.

 

Μήτ᾽ ἔμοι μέλι μήτε μέλισσα

 

Οἶον τὸ γλυκύμαλον ἐρεύθεται ἄκρῳ ἐπ᾽ ὔσδῳ

ἄκρον ἐπ᾽ ἀκροτάτῳ λελάθοντο δὲ μαλοδρόπνεσ

οὐ μὰν ἐκλελάθοντ᾽ ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἐδύναντ᾽ ἐπίκεσθαι

 

Πέρροχοσ ὠσ ὄτ᾽ ἄοιδοσ ὀ Λέσβοισ ἀλλοδάποισιν

Edited April 17, 2018 by SaruNi

[Mannock]

Also Josh confirmed lesbian romance being in the game, kind strange, since they have been keeping things vague on the romance topic.

Well, he has spoken about that before so it's really no news. He's said there will be gay romances for both male and females as well as straight romances.