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MCA leaves Obsidian

MCA's next employer?

  • Bethesda

    Votes: 77 15.5%
  • InXile

    Votes: 154 31.0%
  • Cleve

    Votes: 50 10.1%
  • Larian

    Votes: 16 3.2%
  • EA

    Votes: 8 1.6%
  • Kingcomrade

    Votes: 54 10.9%
  • Himself

    Votes: 61 12.3%
  • CD Projekt

    Votes: 9 1.8%
  • Blizzard

    Votes: 6 1.2%
  • Zynga

    Votes: 24 4.8%
  • Gaben

    Votes: 7 1.4%
  • Richard Garriot

    Votes: 5 1.0%
  • Kirkbride

    Votes: 6 1.2%
  • Bioware

    Votes: 19 3.8%

  • Total voters
    496

Anthedon

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
4,496
Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
Leave the content alone, let them focus on just the technical aspects. There they have done a decent job with the EEs (with lots of initial hiccups).

P:T needs more help in that department than the old BG/ID games ever did. But they don't need MCA for that ofc.
 

hoverdog

dog that is hovering, Wastelands Interactive
Developer
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
5,589
Location
Jordan, Minnesota
Project: Eternity
There they have done a decent job with the EEs
1362498968618.jpg
 

Shevek

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2003
Messages
1,570
Leave the content alone, let them focus on just the technical aspects. There they have done a decent job with the EEs (with lots of initial hiccups).

P:T needs more help in that department than the old BG/ID games ever did. But they don't need MCA for that ofc.
They still havent put in the improved weapon quick slots they promised forever ago.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
 
Joined
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Messages
3,212
Location
Vostroya
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
Because there's never any animosity between long-time colleagues? Especially between (somewhat) younger ambitious spergy ones, and somewhat older, senior in position and more content ones?
 
Weasel
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
1,865,661
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
Because there's never any animosity between long-time colleagues? Especially between (somewhat) younger ambitious spergy ones, and somewhat older, senior in position and more content ones?

Yes, was going to quote something from my own career but why bother when there are so many more famous examples of animosity between long-term colleagues/friends?

:troll:

When Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen published his book "Idea Man" last year, he surprised many people by tearing into his longtime friend and business partner Bill Gates.

In a new epilogue published for the paperback version of this book, which comes out this week, Allen writes that after a yearlong rift, the two men have repaired their friendship, according to GeekWire.

"Not everyone loved everything I wrote," Allen writes. "Some of my Microsoft friends were piqued that I'd cast the company's recent history in 'not the most favorable light,' as one of them told me. But almost everyone soon got past their unhappiness -- with the exception of Bill Gates."

Sandy Weill pushed Jamie Dimon out of Citigroup because he was too ambitious.

“The problem was in 1999 he wanted to be C.E.O. and I didn’t want to retire,” Weill told the New York Times. “I regret that it came to that. I don’t know what else could have been done except for him to be more patient.”

It is an extraordinary admission from a man who built one of the largest banks in the world. Weill and Dimon were close business associates and friend for decades, with Weill in the mentor role to the much younger Dimon. Until Dimon was forced out, many assumed he would be Weil’s successor as head of Citi.
 

Athelas

Arcane
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
4,502
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
Is there a picture in existence where they stand next to each other? :M
 

Kz3r0

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2008
Messages
27,012
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
:hearnoevil:
 

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
5,062
Location
Safe Space - Don't Bulli
Is there any evidence whatsoever that Sawyer caused MCA to leave or are the PoE haters just writing fanfiction as usual...?

If MCA left because of something that happened with Obsidian's secret project, as many Codexers suspect
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Absolutely not.. I posted a video of Sawyer cutting off avellone in a Q&A and his salty "well then.." facial expression.. but that was heavily footnoted with Tinfoil hat warnings.
Honestly it probably has to do with the fact that Obsidian gets crapped on by every publisher.. ever.. and it seems to always be after avellone invests months of time writing and storyboarding out designs.

Imagine 90% of your creative work is canned because publishers gonna publisher.. All other theories are just for trolling poe fanboys AFAIK.

Do you have link for that handy?

Ask And You Shall Receive

Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.

Notice how it's never by choice.. They work for the same company. I've worked for people for many years and had nothing by deep hatred for them. That's the thing about working in a career you love - it's harder to quit when theres a douche bag hipster three doors down.
 

Jarpie

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
6,603
Codex 2012 MCA
Is there any evidence whatsoever that Sawyer caused MCA to leave or are the PoE haters just writing fanfiction as usual...?

If MCA left because of something that happened with Obsidian's secret project, as many Codexers suspect
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Absolutely not.. I posted a video of Sawyer cutting off avellone in a Q&A and his salty "well then.." facial expression.. but that was heavily footnoted with Tinfoil hat warnings.
Honestly it probably has to do with the fact that Obsidian gets crapped on by every publisher.. ever.. and it seems to always be after avellone invests months of time writing and storyboarding out designs.

Imagine 90% of your creative work is canned because publishers gonna publisher.. All other theories are just for trolling poe fanboys AFAIK.

Do you have link for that handy?

Ask And You Shall Receive

Yeah, I'd say that's very clear reaction from MCA and maybe even from Brennecke.
 

Immortal

Arcane
In My Safe Space
Joined
Sep 13, 2014
Messages
5,062
Location
Safe Space - Don't Bulli
Is there any evidence whatsoever that Sawyer caused MCA to leave or are the PoE haters just writing fanfiction as usual...?

If MCA left because of something that happened with Obsidian's secret project, as many Codexers suspect
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Absolutely not.. I posted a video of Sawyer cutting off avellone in a Q&A and his salty "well then.." facial expression.. but that was heavily footnoted with Tinfoil hat warnings.
Honestly it probably has to do with the fact that Obsidian gets crapped on by every publisher.. ever.. and it seems to always be after avellone invests months of time writing and storyboarding out designs.

Imagine 90% of your creative work is canned because publishers gonna publisher.. All other theories are just for trolling poe fanboys AFAIK.

Do you have link for that handy?

Ask And You Shall Receive

Yeah, I'd say that's very clear reaction from MCA and maybe even from Brennecke.

It wasn't much.. but it was more then nothing. Again if your willing to don your Tinfoil hat +3.. it's not a stretch to say that Sawyer is a bossy sperg who oversteps his sphere of knowledge at least more then once and a while and it annoys people. Would MCA leave over that?

I dunno about that...
 

Jarpie

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
6,603
Codex 2012 MCA

Yeah, I'd say that's very clear reaction from MCA and maybe even from Brennecke.

It wasn't much.. but it was more then nothing. Again if your willing to don your Tinfoil hat +3.. it's not a stretch to say that Sawyer is a bossy sperg who oversteps his sphere of knowledge at least more then once and a while and it annoys people. Would MCA leave over that?

I dunno about that...

Maybe not leave just for that but I'm very good at reading people, and MCA has IMO clear reaction and I find it quite telling.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
Because there's never any animosity between long-time colleagues? Especially between (somewhat) younger ambitious spergy ones, and somewhat older, senior in position and more content ones?
If Avellone had a problem with Sawyer, he never would have been hired.

Also Chris is only four years older. :P
 

mindx2

Codex Roaming East Coast Reporter
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Joined
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Messages
4,389
Location
Perusing his PC Museum shelves.
Codex 2012 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Codex 2016 - The Age of Grimoire RPG Wokedex Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
Is there a picture in existence where they stand next to each other? :M

Don't have a picture of them but whenever I interviewed them all at PAX East they were sitting on the floor next to each other so.... I think Roguey is correct here as I saw no animosity whatsoever between any of them and they all joked around with each other the whole time between questions. Take that as you may...
 

Infinitron

I post news
Staff Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2011
Messages
97,228
Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Roguey It's time to listen to every single MCA interview ever and record every single mention of JES!

(I do remember him calling Josh "smart" at least once.)

It's worth noting that even in his post-departure interview at PC Invasion, MCA continued to profess a mechanics-over-narrative approach to design. On the face of it, not what you'd expect a man who is fed up with "Sawyerism" to say.
 

Jarpie

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Oct 30, 2009
Messages
6,603
Codex 2012 MCA
Roguey It's time to listen to every single MCA interview ever and record every single mention of JES!

(I do remember him calling Josh "smart" at least once.)

It's worth noting that even in his post-departure interview at PC Invasion, MCA continued to profess a mechanics-over-narrative approach to design. On the face of it, not what you'd expect a man who is fed up with "Sawyerism" to say.

There's a difference between mechanics-over-narrative approach to design and design by Sawyer.
 

Athelas

Arcane
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
4,502
Right, but is there a shred of evidence supporting this suspicion? Like anything at all?

Barring a a year and half at Midway San Diego, Sawyer and Avellone have been working for the same company since 1999, many times on the same project (Icewind Dale 1 and 2 and Heart of Winter, NWN2, Aliens, Alpha Protocol, New Vegas). The idea that there's any animosity between the two is ridiculous.
Is there a picture in existence where they stand next to each other? :M

Don't have a picture of them but whenever I interviewed them all at PAX East they were sitting on the floor next to each other so.... I think Roguey is correct here as I saw no animosity whatsoever between any of them and they all joked around with each other the whole time between questions. Take that as you may...
Chris must be a pretty amazing guy to put up such an elaborate act to make a fan happy.
 
Weasel
Joined
Dec 14, 2012
Messages
1,865,661
These guys are experienced role-players. When a high-profile Roaming East Coast Reporter arrives of course they'll look like best buddies.
 

Andnjord

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2012
Messages
3,026
Location
The Eye of Terror
Just adding cut content isn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes it is better left cut. See the Fallout 2 Restoration Project.

Though there might be a few things here and there that were cut that might be good to include.
Just imagine Curst with all its content restored to its true glory....

:d1p::takemymoney:
 

tuluse

Arcane
Joined
Jul 20, 2008
Messages
11,400
Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Just adding cut content isn't necessarily a good thing. Sometimes it is better left cut. See the Fallout 2 Restoration Project.

Though there might be a few things here and there that were cut that might be good to include.
Just imagine Curst with all its content restored to its true glory....

:d1p::takemymoney:
So you want them to hire McComb then?
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,653
Roguey It's time to listen to every single MCA interview ever and record every single mention of JES!

(I do remember him calling Josh "smart" at least once.)

It's worth noting that even in his post-departure interview at PC Invasion, MCA continued to profess a mechanics-over-narrative approach to design. On the face of it, not what you'd expect a man who is fed up with "Sawyerism" to say.

A quick search aided by half-remembered snippets gave me

http://www.dualshockers.com/2010/09/28/interview-chris-avellone-on-fallout-new-vegas/
Our project director Josh Sawyer loves guns. He loves making games where guns feel fun to shoot, so he has thoroughly caressed this system with his designer hands.

http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Will..._writer_and_former_unlucky_schlep__Part_3.php
In the summary, Josh created the arc for Cass, including end states with character state changes depending on how her main quest resolved. I only did minor iterations on it (keeping the fate of her Dad in question and changing some elements), added elements about how she felt about the other companions, but I liked the initial direction very much, so much so it was really quick to write her. Josh left the tone and actual implementation up to us.

We did iterations on her perks to make them more personality-centric (Cass's initial perk was carrying more Water, or giving a bonus healing for Water), but after kicking it around with Josh, we settled on the Whiskey Rose perk which we thought would make her more valuable as a companion game mechanic-wise and also reinforced her hard-drinkin' personality.
...
Wild Wasteland was an idea by Josh Sawyer to allow folks who wanted those optional references in the game. I don't think it was directly inspired by Fallout 2, it was more the feeling from reading the forums that there were a certain % of folks that did very much enjoy those aspects of Fallout (including folks who would enjoy hardcore mode, who enjoyed references to Aliens). Josh is considerate to the player experiences, and he leaves aspects of gameplay like that as an optional choice for players without forcing it on them.
 

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