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Feargus almost fired Josh Sawyer and Adam Brennecke during production of Pillars of Eternity

Urthor

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Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
...beta was so unstable, it left a sour first taste.

By September 2014, it had dawned on most of the Pillars of Eternity team that shipping that year would be difficult. It wasn’t just the backer beta; the whole game needed more work. Obsidian needed to polish, to optimize, to spend more time zapping bugs and making sure that every area of the game felt both interesting and fun to play. “Everyone’s looking at each other: ‘No. We’re not even near this. We’re just not there yet,’” said Justin Bell, the audio director. “You have to be able to play from the beginning of the game all the way to the end and feel like it’s a total experience, and that just was not even close to being the case.” Adam Brennecke and Josh Sawyer asked Feargus Urquhart for a meeting.

Over lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, one of Urquhart’s favorite haunts, Brennecke and Sawyer explained that trying to release the game in November would be a disaster. The team needed more time.

Yes, they were out of Kickstarter money and would now have to dip into Obsidian’s own funds, but for a game like Pillars of Eternity—Obsidian’s most important game to date—the extra investment felt necessary. Urquhart argued against it, but Brennecke and Sawyer were persistent. In their minds, the choice was already made.

“Feargus sat Josh and me down,” Brennecke said. “He said, ‘If this game does not come out in March, you guys are both gone after this project.’” Recalling the pressure, Brennecke could only laugh. “OK, we’ll get it done.”

Schreier, Jason. Blood, Sweat, and Pixels: The Triumphant, Turbulent Stories Behind How Video Games Are Made

tl;dr I could write more but book quote says it best. Fergus and the Cheesecake factory is not an association that surprises me in the slightest given his shape.
 

shihonage

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I quit that game after it started by sending me off to find berries.

Berries, Carl!

eg8m0m.jpg
 
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taxalot

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Josh Sawyer clearly would have had no trouble finding work elsewhere at another talented studio ; whether Larian, Piranha Bytes, Bioware, or Bethesda.

Clearly the management of Obsidian would never have had the guts, because it would mean those other studios would have now been able to rivalize with them, considering Avellone is now a hired gun.

Imagine what it could have meant : The Elder Scrolls VI written by Avelonne, designed by Sawyer !
Or Fallout 5 even !
 

WhiskeyWolf

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Josh Sawyer clearly would have had no trouble finding work elsewhere at another talented studio ; whether Larian, Piranha Bytes, Bioware, or Bethesda.

Clearly the management of Obsidian would never have had the guts, because it would mean those other studios would have now been able to rivalize with them, considering Avellone is now a hired gun.

Imagine what it could have meant : The Elder Scrolls VI written by Avelonne, designed by Sawyer !
Or Fallout 5 even !
Let's be serious here, Bioware and Bethesda would never hire them for a normal salary when a legion of clueless interns that can do all the work.
 
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taxalot

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I was not serious obviously.
But still, Sawyer and Avelonne have now become marketing arguments. I would not be shocked if this happened in an alternate universe.
 

J_C

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I think there was a video interview with Feargus months ago where he himself told this story. "I told them, if this game is not coming out, you're done". And everybody laughed. So no news here.
 

Paul_cz

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I kinda feel like Fergus was not actually serious when he said that. I can't imagine him actually threating anyone with firing like that. That said, it would have been a total fuckup if they had to delay it even further.
 

badler

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I wasn't in that meeting, but that was probably less Feargus saying he would fire either of them and more letting us know that there wouldn't be another extension beyond March.
 

SausageInYourFace

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Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Bubbles In Memoria A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. My team has the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Pathfinder: Wrath
Crunch time bullshit, terrible job security, constant time pressure, super hard fought market.

And then, when you guys manage to somehow tack together something half decent despite all of this crap, you can be sure your fans on the internet will take it apart and call you a bunch of fags.

RPG developers, man. You guys must be a bunch of tough motherfuckers.
 
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Imagine what it could have meant : The Elder Scrolls VI written by Avelonne, designed by Sawyer !
Or Fallout 5 even !

Well, we can safely assume it would still have terrible gameplay, but one of the romanceable companions would be a balanced, well adjusted one armed old hag named Kreia.
 

Iznaliu

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I wasn't in that meeting, but that was probably less Feargus saying he would fire either of them and more letting us know that there wouldn't be another extension beyond March.

It could have carried the implication of firing, though.
 

Latro

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I wasn't in that meeting, but that was probably less Feargus saying he would fire either of them and more letting us know that there wouldn't be another extension beyond March.
Did they also meet in a New York Deli and not a cheese-cake factory?
 

Neanderthal

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Threatened to fire em, fucking weak management I say. I remember me old boss Nige were a lot more bloody harsh, once had me horsewhipped for having two gulps o water wi me midday bowl o slumgullion. Had another employee shot for walking on lawn out front o firm. Crucified a lass who turned up quarter on an hour late for clocking on. Harsh but firm, we respected him and we knew us place.
 

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