Interview Josh Sawyer Pillars of Eternity Post-Release Interview at Gamasutra

[DeepOcean]

Typical Obsidian fanboy butthurt stuff.

I'm curious about the strenghts... I liked the graphics, the Ui and the character system isn't that bad, worse than 3rd Edition DnD but not completely unsalvageable on a decent sequel, can you name the others?

 

[Grinning Reaper]

Typical Obsidian fanboy butthurt stuff.

Typical PoE hating, possible retard stuff

I could name some strengths, sure, but I really don't see too much of a point. You see, I have a bit of a psychic ability. My abilities right now are telling me that you will ignore and/or deflect the strengths of the game because you like shitting all over it so much. But, I'm an optimist, so yeah I'll name a few for you I guess:

Graphics are great not that that matters too much to me, music seems good though I don't take much note of music in RPGs usually. I don't know if I'd agree about the UI and character systems being that good (and I now think we might need to give you a Fanboy or Sawyer disciple tag), I really detest that they refused to allow us to move the combat log from the bottom right despite myriad requests (this is a nitpick, I know). That being said, the UI is good overall. The character system is definitely cool in its own way, they did at least remove dump stats as intended in the sense that all stats have some sort of impact (so no fighters dumping int and wis to 3 with no repercussions). Not every build needs every stat to be optimized for its intended purpose, but every stat does have an effect for all characters, certainly more than in the IE games.

Some stuff I really like:
-Setting
-Story
-NPCs

The combat is fun in it's own way despite its flaws (though I think that it could be greatly improved). Obsidian promised to mash BG, PST, and IWD into a new game with an original setting and I think they accomplished that goal undeniably. And I think the game is pretty fun. Obviously you disagree on that point, and you think the stories and characters are trash. There's lots of stuff that I would change, and a lot that I hope they can improve, remove, or add in the sequel. Like I said, though, I had fun playing it and I thoroughly enjoyed the story.

 

[imweasel]

the character system isn't that bad, worse than 3rd Edition DnD but not completely unsalvageable

That character system is probably the worst part of the game and is completely unsalvageable IMO. They should start from scratch for PoE 2 and actually hire some non-retards to design it.

Yep, I'm worried of Sawyer starting a cult, going to Venezuela and saying the only way of salvation is mass suicide.

Somehow that doesn't sound so bad to me... ^^

 

[Ulrox]

I agree, I'd give Darth Roxor the possibly retarded tag.

I'd go with a supreme edgelord tag myself.

 

[Seari]

You see, I have a bit of a psychic ability.

You have autism.

 

[Grinning Reaper]

You see, I have a bit of a psychic ability.

You have autism.

Your mom has autism.

 

[Ulrox]

You see, I have a bit of a psychic ability.

You have autism.

Or schizophrenia.

 

[Kz3r0]

I'm surprised he doesn't have a custom Sawyer tag yet TBH.

Agree, mods make it happen :D

Give him the Roguey alt tag.

 

[Grinning Reaper]

You see, I have a bit of a psychic ability.

You have autism.

Or schizophrenia.

You have mental retardation. There is no cure. Kill yourself.

 

[Ulrox]

You have mental retardation. There is no cure. Kill yourself.

No I have schizotypal personality disorder - and I know from experience that if you go and tell people that you're psychic in mental institutions you get labelled as having schizoprenia.

 

[Grinning Reaper]

You have mental retardation. There is no cure. Kill yourself.

No I have schizotypal personality disorder - and I know from experience that if you go and tell people that you're psychic in mental institutions you get labelled as having schizoprenia.

Oh, so you were being serious, you actually thought that I was sincerely claiming to be a psychic? Interesting. You seem to lack a sarcasm detector. It should be assumed that I don't actually believe myself to be psychic. Perhaps your schizotypal personality disorder prevents you from detecting such things?

Also, you inadvertently compared the Codex to a mental institution. This amuses me. Have a great day

 

[InspectorRumpole]

I'm surprised he doesn't have a custom Sawyer tag yet TBH.

Agree, mods make it happen :D

Give him the Roguey alt tag.

I kind of wondered where she went, after the Roxor review came out. Mystery solved.

 

[Immortal]

You conditioned yourself to hate PoE long before you ever played it though

So you're saying that one can allegedly brainwash or condition himself to hate an RPG with years of training independent of the game being great or not.

The butthurt and absurdity of the Obsidian apologists is reaching alarming levels ITT.

Yep, I'm worried of Sawyer starting a cult, going to Venezuela and saying the only way of salvation is mass suicide.

Honestly the world would be better off..

 

[AwesomeButton]

...And the lights all went out in Retardoland...

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XWYefe9EzI

 

[Crescent Hawk]

Despite its weaknesses, its a great game. I prefer it over DivOS. It still would have been a better game if they went turn based, but such is life.

 

[MicoSelva]

I did not expect such a heated discussion in this thread. Looks like this is the one game that stirs Codex's emotions the most.

I have not yet finished PoE myself (struggling to do it before May 19th, still might succeed), but my impression is that people that post overall negative impressions ("haters" implies various things, and I do not mean those) of it, focus to much on the flaws, overblowing them in their heads, while ignoring the good parts. Darth Roxor's review is the epitome of this.

Or maybe people are just so spoiled by the abundance of great RPGs out there, that any flaws, regardless how minor, destroy all the fun they could otherwise have.

Or maybe people got so overhyped for PoE during the 2.5 years since its Kickstarer campaign that it could never reach quality level that would suit their expectations.

But it is probably just that different people enjoy different aspects of RPGs on various levels. This is a hugely varied genre like this - more than any other, probably. If someone enjoys X in RPGs the most (like, let us say, itemization), and that aspect is lackluster, it will shroud the quality of everything else and drag the whole experience down. And I get it, I have been there with Divinity: Original Sin and its story/writing. I just could not care about how awesome the overall design is if I got bored trying to "uncover" the murder plot by obvious necromancers - it just was not interesting to me. So, I guess, to each his/her own.

 

[Immortal]

I did not expect such a heated discussion in this thread. Looks like this is the one game that stirs Codex's emotions the most.

I have not yet finished PoE myself (struggling to do it before May 19th, still might succeed), but my impression is that people that post overall negative impressions ("haters" implies various things, and I do not mean those) of it, focus to much on the flaws, overblowing them in their heads, while ignoring the good parts. Darth Roxor's review is the epitome of this.

Or maybe people are just so spoiled by the abundance of great RPGs out there, that any flaws, regardless how minor it is, destroy all the fun they could otherwise have.

Or maybe people got so overhyped for PoE during the 2.5 years since its Kickstarer campaign that it could never reach quality level that would suit their expectations.

Or maybe people heavily invested time and money and were hoping to see Obsidians Magnum Opus unshackled by any publisher. If there was any hype in this community - it was because Obsidian fueled it and we trusted them because again, no publisher and it's fucking Obsidian.

To say everyone is upset because they are stupid and entitled is pretty short sighted.

I was hyped for this game for all the right reasons. The promises made seemed realistic, the backer tiers looked good.. It wasn't until closer to release date that my hype began to falter.. I seriously wonder where all the money went.. The artwork was 10/10.. What happened to everything else?

For example, They stated 200 000 was needed for a player house, then another 200 000 to make it a strong hold.. If a company came to me and said "Here is 400 000 dollars, take our engine and make a strong hold in a year.."

If I produced what we got in PoE.. I would hang up my hat as a developer and quit the industry. Even worse.. Tim Cain is probably 100x the game developer I am.. So I have to sit here scratching my head asking where the fuck did all the money go? This project was probably managed like shit, I bet half the money went into just keeping Obsidian afloat and Sawyer changing his mind every day based on the SA feedback he got probably burned money in dev time.

Other then that I have no answers but this game feels like a pretty big slap in the face.

 

[Seaking4]

Tags: J.E. Sawyer; Obsidian Entertainment; Pillars of Eternity

According to Sawyer, Obsidian is pleased but vigilant, still​

I would have liked to know what exactly they are pleased about with the game besides sales/funding/internal success.​

You want to know what they are pleased about except for the only thing that matters to them? What?

Pretty tame post release interview overall.

 

[Gicusan]

So many words on this game. Let us try some more

Yes we got something that looked and felt quite a bit as old Infinity games. Story was good but not great, liked some interesting philosophies, a few quests. I had fun. It was not as much fun as while playing BG but we are not the same people we were 15 years ago. The archetypes are changing fast nowadays. Unfortunately after playing turn based combat last years (Original Sin, Wasteland 2, Shadowrun, Blackguards, Xulima, Banner Saga, Conquistadors) I am even more lost for RTwP then I used to be. To be sincere, last time I really had fun with real time combat was a 2D zombie game I played around 1995. I was OK with some real time it for the story years ago but I am getting old and more stable in my likes and defects.

On the other hand, Infinity like games are a good entry point for the masses and some of those will come to credit the survival of the games we love. Even Dragon age and Skyrim are ok considering this argument.

 

[Irenaeus]

Even Dragon age and Skyrim are ok considering this argument.

No.

 

[Gicusan]

k. maybe I went too far. Have not played them too much, especially DA.

 

[LeStryfe79]

No, Gicusan is right. I've had some fun with those Bioware and Bethesda franchises, but they are like the cheap hookers that taught me how to eat a piece of pussy. I still feel dirty about it too.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

I think people should really realize Obsidian really was fearful for the success of this game, they know how it works. They know how the world can give Homeworld to gearbox and create Thief4 and Dragon Age inqusition. They were fearful and you can feel the fear in POE. I still think they will surprise us with their next projects. I think its a very well put game made specifically for a Bioware Black Isle nostalgia trip. I think the big "return to earth waiting for the bus to go to work miserable" moment will sadly be tides of Numenera.

 

[FeelTheRads]

I still think they will surprise us with their next projects.

Yes, Obsidian's next game will ALWAYS be THE ONE WE WERE WAITING FOR!!!! Been like that for a while, will be like this forever.

But maybe if you buy their World Of Tanks ripoff? Yeah, that might help them push out that awesome RPG.

 

[Ninjerk]

I think people should really realize Obsidian really was fearful for the success of this game, they know how it works. They know how the world can give Homeworld to gearbox and create Thief4 and Dragon Age inqusition. They were fearful and you can feel the fear in POE. I still think they will surprise us with their next projects. I think its a very well put game made specifically for a Bioware Black Isle nostalgia trip. I think the big "return to earth waiting for the bus to go to work miserable" moment will sadly be tides of Numenera.

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