RPG Codex Interview: Chris Avellone on Pillars Cut Content, Game Development Hierarchies and More

[Maculo]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

I thought about Sawyer, but it would surprise me if he and Avellone were in contact, given how little is confirmed about their professional relationship. Plus, Avellone won't respond to my autistic questions about Sawyer.

Which is not always a safe assumption to make though, especially when discussing interpersonal issues between people. We are not dealing with day to day assumptions or knowledge (e.g., gravity, water is wet), but rather messy interpersonal drama in which we do not have first hand knowledge. You bring up the example of rape as a justification, but consider that being an industry celebrated writer may not translate into an amazing business owner or partner.Picking sides is not always the immediate correct answer.

But an assumption doesn’t need to be safe or certain in testimonial matters. It only needs to be reasonable and plausible. Besides, I don’t think there is any reason to doubt that Avellone was a positive force in Obsidian. I will repeat this again. The only justifiable reason to treat Avellone like they did is something really serious and morally outrageous such as walking into the boardroom with a shotgun screaming “I’m the lord of darkness and you shall perish!” or forcing himself on a female developer. None of the other quibbles that they must have after all this years is enough to justify what they did.

Honestly, I actually think we are agreement on several points, despite my autistic posting spree. Where I differ is what reason Obsidian could have to want to part with Avellone, and it goes beyond the shotgun example. Specifically, someone who is artistically creative does not always have a mind for business or management (i.e., great artist, shit business partner). For all the amazing characters and stories Avellone has created, he may not have been an active owner/partner. To reference a prior post from Prime Junta, Avellone could have been very non-confrontational and hands off, which does not always make for a good partner/manager, especially in tough financial situations, which Obsidian has gone through.

I am not arguing for Obsidian's sake on this point. They may very well be the asshole in this situation, but I cannot imagine that partners would force another partner out in this manner without some degree of long time mutual resentment. We know Avellone's reason for being resentful, but I am holding out to hear why they would hold resentment for Avellone, provided there is any.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Ok I'll just make this one post and carry on.

At the time of MCA leaving the company I still kind of cared about games, but the conflicting testimonies of everyone involved just made me confused about what really was going on, and this last post didn't help, so I'll refrain from speculating about those events.

But...

Afterwards, the two tier approach that MCA speaks of when upper management was forced to deal with the terms of his departure is 100% clear and correct. Everything was done to cut him from severance, return investment pay and any compensation for being a former partner and co-founder.
When the chance arrived for a settlement in order for MCA get something, being in a pretty financially hard situation he went through because of his mother illness, upper management saw a chance of exploiting the one leverage they had, and offered a deal stopping him from working on RPGs for a while, a standard procedure on the gaming industry, I saw this happening to people on card games, action games, whatever.

But in this context this is impossible to excuse. It's a stain that will never be removed.

Oh well, later folks.

When strange anonymous voices from the past come in to testify, you know we have a Shakespeare grade drama on our hands.

 

[you know what time it is]

I finally realized what this thread reminds me of. Good old days when forums were the shit and a lot of 'inside' folks posted there regularly without much pretense. Like on sherdog way back when Pankration was still relevant and Bas Rutten was slapping fools around in-between posting voodoo curse accusations and just shooting shit with regulars about technique, upcoming events and whatnot... good times.

 

[Prime Junta]

I thought about Sawyer, but it would surprise me if he and Avellone were in contact, given how little is confirmed about their professional relationship. Plus, Avellone won't respond to my autistic questions about Sawyer.

As somebody AwesomeButton pointed out, he wouldn't have to be in contact with Sawyer to know about it.

It's also possible he is in contact with Sawyer, in which case he definitely would not talk about it, or indeed his contacts with Sawyer at all. Which funnily enough is what he's doing. :aliens:

 

[AwesomeButton]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

The exact words were "Creatively exhausted". They are on his twitter, from a couple of weeks ago.

 

[Rivmusique]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

I thought about Sawyer, but it would surprise me if he and Avellone were in contact, given how little is confirmed about their professional relationship. Plus, Avellone won't respond to my autistic questions about Sawyer.

Dude they're obviously lovers and hiding it from their partners for now, read between the lines and have some damn tact.

 

[Infinitron]

Sawyer has talked about continuing to do balance work on Deadfire after its release. That doesn't rule out a departure down the line but what Chris was talking about sounded like SOON.

 

[Projas]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

I thought about Sawyer, but it would surprise me if he and Avellone were in contact, given how little is confirmed about their professional relationship. Plus, Avellone won't respond to my autistic questions about Sawyer.

They are in contact because they are secretly planning to start a studio together. Mark my words. It will blow all of your minds.

 

[King Crispy]

I wonder if DarkUnderlord even knows this thread exists.

 

[Prime Junta]

Sawyer has talked about continuing to do balance work on Deadfire after its release. That doesn't rule out a departure down the line but what Chris was talking about sounded like SOON.

I've seen people gradually get closer to the edge until they finally fall off. Up to that point they tend to fluctuate between talking about what they're going to do in their current job in the future, and... other stuff. Then one day they wake up and realise, shit, I really don't want to work here anymore, and hand in their notice.

 

[AwesomeButton]

As somebody pointed out, he wouldn't have to be in contact with Sawyer to know about it.

That was me. Say it!

Sawyer has talked about continuing to do balance work on Deadfire after its release. That doesn't rule out a departure down the line but what Chris was talking about sounded like SOON.

Enter Josh Sawyer, freelance balancer of games

 

[Quillon]

If it is the latter, I do not suspect it would be Sawyer or anyone too big.

Given his recent talk, his complaints about being so stressed out about DF that he put on a lot of weight, and his comments on creative exhaustion, I would be mildly surprised if it's not Sawyer.

Avellone was waiting for Sawyer to quit so they'll open a new studio this summer. Sawyer's been convincing good devs from inside and Avellone's working on devs across industry. Everything's making sense naow :ehue:

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

Damn, they really hate his ass over on Somethingawful.

That's because they get to be buttbuddies with Sawyer and feel special.

RPGCodex --------------------------- Chris Avellone

Something Awful ------------------- Josh Sawyer

RPGWatch---------------------------- ????????????

 

[Blaine]

Thankfully we're not buttbuddies with MCA here, just bros and all

That is actually true. For example, a goodly portion of the people who rated this post of yours positively are clearly on Team Josh, apparently unaware that their very existence here proves that dissenting opinions are allowed on the Codex.

That won't stop the mentally retarded brigade from trotting out their "HAHA YOU DO THE SAME THING, YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK LMAO!" antics, of course. See: the post directly above mine.

 

[2house2fly]

Damn, they really hate his ass over on Somethingawful.

That's because they get to be buttbuddies with Sawyer and feel special.

Also, Obsidian has been surreptitiously filled up with dangerhair "writers" (the equivalent of a hipster dude in Starbucks "writing" on his Macbook, but dangerhairs are women, so progressives are required to take them seriously), and m'ladies' honor must be defended from FUCKING WHITE MALES.

Sawyer very clearly does not want to comment on any of this either way, so if they really wanted to be buttbuddies they'd determinedly ignore all of this rather than defending Obsidian's honour.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

Let's speculate - who do you think Chris meant when he remarked about more people leaving Obsidian soon?

Spoiler

Oh, now you believe him, do you?

 

[Blaine]

Sawyer very clearly does not want to comment on any of this either way, so if they really wanted to be buttbuddies they'd determinedly ignore all of this rather than defending Obsidian's honour.

Doesn't matter, he's still /theirguy/ even in absentia.

As for me, I've exchanged rude words on the Codex with developers of classic games from my childhood nostalgia. I don't instantly turn into an autograph-seeking sycophant, because I possess several old-fashioned qualities such as a sense of dignity and self-respect that so many lack these days.

 

[agris]

Enter Josh Sawyer, freelance balancer of games

Freebaser for short?

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Josh can't leave now that the possibility of his own Darklands finally is within his grasp.

I do not believe it anyway, he is Obsidians top dog at the moment, really no reason to leave. Neither will it be Cain now that he can finally work on a big new project with his bestie Leo. Do we even care about anyone else?

 

[Bohr]

I wonder if DarkUnderlord even knows this thread exists.

Thread may be fun, but doubt it's as interesting as ratings buttons

 

[Prime Junta]

Josh can't leave now that the possibility of his own Darklands finally is within his grasp.

He recently said he won't be directing anything in a while, being creatively exhausted. So no Joshlands incoming.

 

[ArchAngel]

Damn, they really hate his ass over on Somethingawful.

That's because they get to be buttbuddies with Sawyer and feel special.

RPGCodex --------------------------- Chris Avellone

Something Awful ------------------- Josh Sawyer

RPGWatch---------------------------- ????????????

RPGWatch---------------------------- Todd from QA

Spoiler

Just kidding, even lowest devs avoid that place like a plague

 

[Blaine]

creatively exhausted

This actually occurred prior to the development of Pillars of Eternity.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Josh can't leave now that the possibility of his own Darklands finally is within his grasp.

He recently said he won't be directing anything in a while, being creatively exhausted. So no Joshlands incoming.

Yep. The only thing that doesn't add up for this hypothesis, IMO, is that Chris said that "their revelations will likely be more interesting". And whatever the circumstancial evidence that it might be Josh, I simply can't imagine Josh dropping bombs left and right. It doesn't seem his style.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Josh can't leave now that the possibility of his own Darklands finally is within his grasp.

He recently said he won't be directing anything in a while, being creatively exhausted. So no Joshlands incoming.

Yep. The only thing that doesn't add up for this hypothesis, IMO, is that Chris said that "their revelations will likely be more interesting". And whatever the circumstancial evidence that it might be Josh, I simply can't imagine Josh dropping bombs left and right. It doesn't seem his style.

If PoE wasn't a bomb then I don't know what is.