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

[masteratt]

I also have a question for mods:
I've tried to access Chris Avellone's post history through his profile so I can compile all his responses into a Q&A format or something more easy to follow than forum posts where what he's responding to and the reply can be pages apart, but when I've tried to navigate to his profile, I was greeted by: "This member limits who may view their full profile."

Is there a mod or someone compiling Chris' responses into that format? Is that something that would even be useful? If the answer to question one is "No" and to question two is "Yes", I'm happy to do it if I can have access to Chris' profile so I can skim through his post history / responses in this thread. Thanks either way.

Or you could, you know, respect his wishes to not have his full profile viewed.

That is very true. I was just trying to get to the post history to compile his responses in a more readable format. I wasn't interested in spying on his private profile perse, but I see how it came across that way.

TT1 has formatted the responses in a Google Doc now, so it's all good.

 

[Prime Junta]

Yeah Codex profiles are serious business, can't have just anyone looking at them.

 

[Your Kindness]

This thread does certainly look incomplete without my comment. I'm reading it for two days in a row and it's one of the best things happened to internets. I'm happy to be a part of such an awesome place, yaay!

 

[mondblut]

Edit: Kit Walker, every time I read your post, I momentarily think it is Avellone and question why his writing style drastically changed.

Agreed. Kit Walker, we hereby revoke your avatar rights until such time as you can no longer be confused with MCA.

That's just mean. MCA has no claims on the Nose. It's only fair for Kit Walker to have it as an avatar:

 

[Mustawd]

Meanwhile, Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness has raised $48,000+.

 

[Trashos]

Re: Unions (or making it into Prime Junta 's kill list)

Of course, form unions. Economic miracles like those of Brazil, Greece, and the awesome quality of US highschools would not be possible without the god given right to form a union.

However, do not assume that the union leaders are going to give a shit about the organism that feeds you -they will be much more interested in improving their resume for their upcoming political career. So please don't be surprised when the organism that feeds you... dies.

Also, for some reason workers tend to assume that their bosses have an obligation of giving them a job -they don't. The US industries keep outsourcing work to cheaper countries, and you think this is a good time for you to form unions and demand more *as a group*? I will tell you exactly what is going to happen: at some point your businessmen will flee to greener (for them) pastures, and you 'll be out of work.

So, assuming we are not here to kill the (already shaky) US economy, forget about unions, work on your skills and CV, offer the best value you can on an individual level, and reap what you harvest.

 

[Molina]

Re: Unions (or making it into Prime Junta 's kill list)

Of course, form unions. Economic miracles like those of Brazil, Greece, and the awesome quality of US highschools would not be possible without the god given right to form a union.

However, do not assume that the union leaders are going to give a shit about the organism that feeds you -they will be much more interested in improving their resume for their upcoming political career. So please don't be surprised when the organism that feeds you... dies.

Also, for some reason workers tend to assume that their bosses have an obligation of giving them a job -they don't. The US industries keep outsourcing work to cheaper countries, and you think this is a good time for you to form unions and demand more *as a group*? I will tell you exactly what is going to happen: at some point your businessmen will flee to greener (for them) pastures, and you 'll be out of work.

So, assuming we are not here to kill the (already shaky) US economy, forget about unions, work on your skills and CV, offer the best value you can on an individual level, and reap what you harvest.

Germany, France or the UK, only third world countries.

 

[toro]

Finally ... I can read some other thread on codex.

 

[Iskramor]

Feargus and Josh would often make what I would consider to be owner decisions independently. For example, I heard about Josh becoming Project Director second-hand (before you read into that as a negative or I wanted it, I didn't for reasons said earlier - I was fine with that decision, but I didn't like how the decision was made: hearing about it secondhand and not discussing it with the other owners I felt wasn't a good practice even if I would have agreed to the decision).

I do think Josh has an advantage with Feargus b/c Feargus is a little needy (I don't have a better word for this, and I actually don't mean to be insulting with this)* when it comes to seeking Josh's approval - I suspect this is because it makes Feargus feel good to have someone like Josh respect his opinion and listen to him, and I think Josh works with that very effectively (it's a good talent for a Director to manage upwards, and Feargus has got some easy tells you can manipulate if you know what to look for).

Sawyer truly is balance incarnate. Even brings balance to Feargus.

Now i become death the balance of the gaming world.

 

[Rostere]

pineapple-on-pizza eaters

I am italian and this is extremely offensive.

So what. This is no safe-space for italian-culture-warriors.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Come on man. Cut him some slack

Oh, but I am cutting Chris some slack. I mean, so what if he spent 30 hours furiously shitposting on the internet and then had a drunken meltdown. We've all done it, so I'm not gonna judge Chris for it, he's just a human being.

I'm sure that such an upstanding gentleman will apologize once he sobers up for his hateful comments towards me and we're gonna be bros again.

Maybe things *are* this bad at Obsidian? Why do you think that there is no chance of that whatsoever?

I don't recall ever denying that things are bad at Obsidian.

 

[Jedi Master Radek]

Chris Avellone, have you played any of Piranha Bytes games (Gothic series, Risen series, recent Elex)?
If yes, what do you think about them?

I played a little of Gothic 3 and liked it. I want to play Elex based on discussions I've seen on this site.

Gothic 3 is meh. Gothic 2 is what you should play. Just to see the best NPC schedules, glorious trainer system and why level scaling enemies is a cancer.

 

[Chris Avellone]

Owner share divisions are here, if curious, TechRaptor asked some more questions over the weekend:

https://techraptor.net/content/interview-chris-avellone-obsidian-entertainment

 

[Maculo]

Part of the article.

Chris Avellone: There were 5 owners. Feargus had the biggest share, Chris Parker and Darren Monahan had the 2nd largest, and Chris Jones and I had a small %. The ownership was not equal. Between the owners, as long as Feargus, Parker, and Monahan agreed, that was usually the end of things (we didn’t often vote on things – sometimes we’d just hear about things that had been decided). We considered them the “production triad.”

TechRaptor: When exactly did financial and managerial issues start becoming an ongoing issue between you and Feargus? Was there a particular moment or meeting, or was it more of a gradual change in perception over the years?

Chris Avellone: About a year before the split, Feargus became someone I reported to directly (aside from the leads on projects I was on that I worked for). When I did report to Feargus, more and more issues came to light about how things were done that were hard to unsee – and sometimes I didn’t even know about them until after the fact.

I objected to a number of these things because they seemed wrong (they’re at the Codex, but they’re too many to repeat here). Even if my objections weren’t personal, I’m sure that didn’t generate any goodwill, but I did bring up objections because I was genuinely surprised by the answers I was getting (I thought Obsidian’s employee review process had problems, for example, but even that was refuted).

So you did have stock. Forced buyback? Chris Avellone, how did they calculate the worth of your stock, if I may ask? I am curious because you said the FMV of the company hadn't changed in years, if at all.

Edit: This raises so many more little questions.

 

[Iskramor]

I did enjoy creating lore for Tyranny

You did?

KIS was written by megan starks

 

[deepfire]

Edit: Kit Walker, every time I read your post, I momentarily think it is Avellone and question why his writing style drastically changed.

Agreed. Kit Walker, we hereby revoke your avatar rights until such time as you can no longer be confused with MCA.

Dark Underlord, don't you think it would make sense to add a properly face-less Nihilus to the Codex portraits, though?

The way things currently stand, the wrong version is being promoted/encouraged -- which can be sad for some people we care about..

 

[Sentinel]

is there a faceless Nihilus portrait or art piece? Don't think I've ever seen one

 

[Black]

I did enjoy creating lore for Tyranny

You did?

Kis? More like kys.

 

[Quillon]

Owner share divisions are here, if curious, TechRaptor asked some more questions over the weekend:

https://techraptor.net/content/interview-chris-avellone-obsidian-entertainment

fucking no sleep for the watcher...

 

[Tormented Seph]

Italian safe space when?

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

Also, for some reason workers tend to assume that their bosses have an obligation of giving them a job -they don't. The US industries keep outsourcing work to cheaper countries, and you think this is a good time for you to form unions and demand more *as a group*? I will tell you exactly what is going to happen: at some point your businessmen will flee to greener (for them) pastures, and you 'll be out of work.

That is obvious to any adult, except communist larpers.

So, assuming we are not here to kill the (already shaky) US economy, forget about unions, work on your skills and CV, offer the best value you can on an individual level, and reap what you harvest.

Or make a sacrifice and try to be a good boss and stop bitching.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

That's just mean. MCA has no claims on the Nose. It's only fair for Kit Walker to have it as an avatar:

Solomonic judgement

 

[deepfire]

is there a faceless Nihilus portrait or art piece? Don't think I've ever seen one

I think this thread proves it beyond reasonable doubt that it, indeed, exists.. Note that I don't mean to say mask-less, just face-less.

 

[The_Time_Master]

Owner share divisions are here, if curious, TechRaptor asked some more questions over the weekend:

https://techraptor.net/content/interview-chris-avellone-obsidian-entertainment

The biggest shock, though, came when the matter arose about paying back employees (not the owners, but our employees) who had given up their paychecks to keep Obsidian from going bankrupt. When we did start getting money in the bank again after this bleak period, however, the company’s spending began accelerating again. And when this occurred, it made me uncomfortable. At that time where our finances had become healthy again, I brought up that since we had the means to do so, we should pay back the employees who gave up their paychecks to keep us going. That comment was met with silence by all the owners.

Holy shit... how is that not illegal as fuck in California?

 

[Molina]

Owner share divisions are here, if curious, TechRaptor asked some more questions over the weekend:

https://techraptor.net/content/interview-chris-avellone-obsidian-entertainment

The biggest shock, though, came when the matter arose about paying back employees (not the owners, but our employees) who had given up their paychecks to keep Obsidian from going bankrupt. When we did start getting money in the bank again after this bleak period, however, the company’s spending began accelerating again. And when this occurred, it made me uncomfortable. At that time where our finances had become healthy again, I brought up that since we had the means to do so, we should pay back the employees who gave up their paychecks to keep us going. That comment was met with silence by all the owners.

Holy shit... how is that not illegal as fuck in California?

You need to thanks Aaron Kimball.