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Development Info Aliens RPG cancelled, Obsidian fires staff, future in doubt

sheek

Arbiter
Joined
Feb 17, 2006
Messages
8,659
Location
Cydonia
AndhairaX said:
Sad news to hear Obsidian in trouble.

The game industry is in the same dire straits as when Baldurs Gate 1 was published and rescued the crpg genre and brought about an instant revival that lingers to this very day.

Will Dragon Age do the same?
Baldur's Gate brought a revival? In crap perhaps, not in RPGs.

As for Obsidian, MotB was fun and fairly interesting, apart from that it means very little to me. Obviously it's sad people lost their jobs but I wasn't expecting any great games from them.
 

Silellak

Cipher
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
Messages
3,198
Location
Tucson, AZ
skyway said:
Man - with the mentality like this one we can forgive any shit to any corporation.
The fact - the are guilty of PC market's decline, people who work for them know that perfectly. EA also closed other studios, making more talented people lose their jobs (LGS, Westwood, Bullfrog, Origin) while keeping talentless pricks. Hey I will be very happy when EA will go belly up.

Okay. I am going to explain this to you once again, since clearly the divide between your mind and reality is great indeed. There is a difference between feeling empathy for people who are losing their jobs and forgiving stupid shit a corporation does. It sucks that the peons at Enron had to suffer because of the fuck-ups the higher-ups made, and feeling empathy for those people does not "forgive" the company's inexcusable business practices.

However, we're not even talking about something nearly as serious as Enron. We're talking about a company that makes fucking LEISURE products - a luxury, not a necessity. Most of the people who work for EA have absolutely no idea that EA helped cause the PC market's decline. In fact, many of them probably have very little idea about the gaming industry in general. The marketing people, the accounting people, the office administrators, and yes, even some of the developers - I really doubt they have any perception of the PC market's decline, based off of my own experiences working for software and non-software companies. There is not some giant conspiracy between the thousands of people who work at EA to high-five each other at the downfall of PC gaming. Most of the people who work there are just everyday people trying to make a living, and probably couldn't give two shits if PC gaming survives or not as long as they can get a paycheck the next week. And why the fuck should they?

I mourned the loss of those studios as well, especially Origin, and if the people who made the call to purchase/rape/dissolve those studios lost their jobs, I'd be glad, as they hurt not only the industry but the people in it. However, if EA were to announce layoffs today, I would still think it sucks that people who had no say in those decisions also have to lose their jobs.

In real life in general - not just software companies - the people most responsible for a company's fuck-ups are not usually the ones who suffer for it. Are you SERIOUSLY not able to see the difference between a company and the lower-level people who work for it and that it's absurd to wish for bad things to happen to those people who had NO control over the things you didn't like? You seem to view corporations as giant evil monsters and everyone who works there shares the responsibility for everything that company does that you don't happen to like.

I can't believe that in a single hour I got more flawed logic from a one man (at the fucking Codex no less) than I usually get when I troll xbawks kids at their own forums from many of them.

No wonder you claim the "xbawks kids" have "flawed logic" if you twist their arguments as much as you do mine.

You can't compare video game market to anything

There are metaphors you can use for video games and the video game industry. "Getting served shit after you've been promised steak" is not one of them. Just because you fucking suck at coming up with proper analogies doesn't mean they don't exist, and I never claimed otherwise.

You can't criticize games because you don't make one

As I made quite clear, there is a difference between valid criticisms of a game - and every game has SOMETHING to criticize - and just whining incessantly. Take VD's review of Oblivion - accurate and scathing, criticizing the game on the aspects that deserved to be criticized. Yet somehow he doesn't feel the need to go into every thread regarding Oblivion or Bethesda and shout "OBLIVION FUCKING SUCKED!" That's the difference between being a critic and being a whiner. There's a reason everyone here considers you a whiny cunt - and that's in the company of the already-elitist Codex.

You can't criticize shit product because people are making it!
So instead of twisting an existing argument, you've just decided to make new shit up entirely. Feeling empathy for another person because they lost their job - even if the company does shit you don't approve of - doesn't have ANYTHING to do with not criticizing the things they make. Where the fuck did you even find this argument, the same place you found your shitty metaphor?
 

BethesdaLove

Arbiter
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Messages
1,998
Silellak is a pretty cool guy, eh defends the humanity, is serious buisness and doesnt afraid of anything!

Skyway on the other hand rocks! I love you :oops: :truepatriot:
screenshot038.jpg
 

Seboss

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 27, 2006
Messages
947
NiM82 said:
Don't think there will be anymore SoTS content, they're probably too busy working on the sequel and North Star atm, I think.
Yes, so I read. I'm still having tons of fun with Murder of Crows so that's all right.

I haven't noticed they got another game in development until you mentioned it.
Got to keep an eye of this Northstar thing. I've been waiting for an Elite/Traveller hybrid for quite some time now. Could it be this game?

EDIT: I guess it is...
http://www.kerberos-productions.com/for ... =21&t=8174
 

Starwars

Arcane
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Messages
2,829
Location
Sweden
Well, after looking some more at the thread over at the OEI forums, plus some minor info digging on my own, it appears that the game may not be canned after all.
 

crakkie

Arcane
Joined
Nov 20, 2004
Messages
1,608
Location
Louisiana
Moar rumars suggest that Sega might have put it on hold so that OE can get Alpha Protocol out as soon as possible. They've thinned their staff until after AP ships & ARPG picks back up. This way Sega can get their AP money faster. ARPG can wait until after AvP3 ships.
 

mondblut

Arcane
Joined
Aug 10, 2005
Messages
22,205
Location
Ingrija
Silellak said:
I'd rather see dedicated workers lose their jobs than have companies making video games I don't like!!!!

Well, you can't deny it's a delightful irony when a previously hardcore niche developer tries to sell out to the mainstream but ends up broke instead. A divine retribution of sorts. Origin after Ultima 9, SSI after Deathkeep, Interplay after FOBOS and Dark Alliance - who would shed a tear for them after their crimes?

Yes, those ultimately responsible for the company's treason typically get away with their pockets full of cash and a warm chair waiting for them in another company. Then again, so do the common workers, it is not hard for a competent coder or modeller to find another job. But we're speaking not of individuals (whom we hardly ever noticed, except a select few luminaries), but of public entities - companies, whose failures are just and symbolic. God did not smite Herve Caen for his travesty, nor a minor IPLY coder John Doe for working for the former, but he did smite IPLY, and there was much rejoicing.

(not referring to Obsidian in any way here, I still have a plenty of faith into the company, although I already firmly hate AP and plan to ignore it).
 

Ogg

Prophet
Patron
Joined
Jan 14, 2008
Messages
1,005
Location
River Seine
Codex 2012 Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Codex USB, 2014 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech
The question is: will Obsidian learn from their mistakes?

This story reminds me of Terry Gilliam's misadventures with Munchausen or Don Quixote. We know the man has talent. We've all felt sorry when he worked on boring mainstream movies. But what we don't want to see is his complete failing at following a budget or choosing good partners for a project.
 

bhlaab

Erudite
Joined
Nov 19, 2008
Messages
1,787
crakkie said:
Moar rumars suggest that Sega might have put it on hold so that OE can get Alpha Protocol out as soon as possible. They've thinned their staff until after AP ships & ARPG picks back up. This way Sega can get their AP money faster. ARPG can wait until after AvP3 ships.

Makes sense I guess, they need to recoup the money they spent on the license

but I'm not keeping my hopes up.
 

Spec

Novice
Joined
Nov 16, 2007
Messages
43
bhlaab said:
crakkie said:
Moar rumars suggest that Sega might have put it on hold so that OE can get Alpha Protocol out as soon as possible. They've thinned their staff until after AP ships & ARPG picks back up. This way Sega can get their AP money faster. ARPG can wait until after AvP3 ships.

Makes sense I guess, they need to recoup the money they spent on the license

but I'm not keeping my hopes up.

Sega IS pushing CA to put out 2 major titles in 2 months (I'll believe it when I see it, my call is Stormfront is delayed inside of a couple of weeks). I'd buy that as plausable.
 

Arcanoix

Scholar
Joined
Dec 12, 2008
Messages
574
Talby said:
It's tragic that Obsidian is going to die **before fixing their broken games.

Much better. I say GG Obsidian, maybe now developers will stop spending millions on properties and if they ever do, they'll actually OWN that property, that way a publisher can't rush them. As much as I hate to say it, Blizzard has it pretty good with ActiVision, they own their IP's and ActiVision can't rush them to release a turd. Unlike Atari and Neverwinter Nights 2.
 

MetalCraze

Arcane
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
21,104
Location
Urkanistan
Silellak said:
if you twist their arguments as much as you do mine.
I don't have to twist your arguments - they are pretty fucked up as it is.
"Let's not bash EA they have people working for them"
Oh ffs I don't care if they have people working for them - the products they release are of shit quality - that's why they must go belly up.

There are metaphors you can use for video games and the video game industry. "Getting served shit after you've been promised steak" is not one of them.
But of course. Let's take Stalker's hype f.e.
What was promised? In reality game turned out to be some crappy alpha version. You think I wrote this metaphor without a reason? Gosh. Hype office of all shitty studios works by promising something knowing they won't deliver. And "low-level" people are coming up with lies, not the boss.

Yet somehow he doesn't feel the need to go into every thread regarding Oblivion or Bethesda and shout "OBLIVION FUCKING SUCKED!"
It must be a coincidence because I don't too.
However with the recent tendency on the codex to post something like "Bethesda brings resurrection to RPG genre with F3!" it is hard to hold breath.

So instead of twisting an existing argument, you've just decided to make new shit up entirely.
No as I've said it is your own argument, it is just how it sounds when someone other says it.

Feeling empathy for another person because they lost their job - even if the company does shit you don't approve of - doesn't have ANYTHING to do with not criticizing the things they make. Where the fuck did you even find this argument, the same place you found your shitty metaphor?
You accusing me of talking about "big evil corporations" yet somehow your arguments are all about "low-level developers" and some non-reachable companies that exploit those poor people.
But when some shitty low-level developer fucks up the game so much that it puts down modern PC while looking like 4 years old shit - well he has to lose his job - and his company must fail too for letting this happen. See GTA4 port.
Designers who came up with one hour adventure through the retarded dungeons in Act 1 of NWN2 must too. And normal people must be hired instead of them if the company wants to keep quality. Company doesn't want that's why they get the flak in the first place.
This is how it should work and not your pussified "my god it's all evil corporate suits fault, low-level people are innocent!"
 

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