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

[Delterius]

I doubt Obsidian will respond online, as that will only cause more attention to the issue, but I will be curious if Chris gets a letter in the mail soon.

 

[Iskramor]

K

I'm just gonna stick to lurking instead.

Don't,we need stupid posters to remind us how superior we are.

Now tell me how do i rate posts?

 

[Fenix]

I seriously hope you are consulting with some proper law fellas all this shit Avellone and not going with what people post in these forums.

Can't agree with this post enough. General posts on the topic are just that. If Chris Avellone wants to pursue the issue, he needs local law enforcement or an attorney to review the matter since this pertains to California law. Anything outside of that is borderline conjecture.

Did you guys think that MCA maybe don't want the events unfolding in full force, maybe he just want to scare FU so he put things in order in Obsidian?

 

[Viata]

At this point I don't even know if MCA is trolling the codex or not.

 

[Fry]

The Codex, of course, is in Australia,

Da Codex servers appear to be sitting in the USA, I'm afraid.

Not that it matters. No one is going to sue.

 

[Haba]

Trolling? Pffft. This thread is the best RPG of 2018.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

Interesting, and dispiriting stuff. I remember when Obsidian were considered the last true bastions of the cRPG, and if you look at my join date you'll see it coincides quite closely with the PoE kickstarter.

Also, I just fired up Steam for the first time in while and saw that Deadfire was available to preload. It's downloading now, but how will I feel when I play it?*

*Disclaimer: I haven't finished PoE yet, so plenty of time to think about it.

 

[Average Manatee]

You cannot be "de-ownered" without compensation unless there are some other contractual obligations which MCA did not mention.

If I had to guess from MCA's posts (http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...rarchies-and-more.121588/page-79#post-5595575 mainly), I'd say the contract went something like this:

>Feargus (or possibly the rest of the owners together) is contractually allowed to buy out your share of the company at any time. Makes some sense, if something bad happens to cause bad blood between owners you want a way for the company to continue operating rather than being split in half like some horrible divorce settlement.
>This is done at the most recent valuation of the company.
>Oops, we forgot to do that since we started the company at which point it was worth some pittance (if not in debt). Nothing in the contract says we needed to keep this up to date.
>Tee hee, I guess we get to buy out your x% of the company for almost nothing.
>We don't have to give you anything but we know you have medical expenses and stuff that you suddenly can't pay, so if you sign this highly restrictive separation agreement we'll give you some small amount to help you out *chuckling evilly*

I'm guessing Chris asked about Fair Market Value because he kind of got the hint that Feargus was looking to get rid of him, read up the fine print to see how much he was going to get, and suddenly realized that if the FMV stayed where it was he would get almost nothing. As soon as he approached Feargus about this Order 66 had to be executed to get him out before he could trigger the revaluation according to whatever procedure the contract said was required to do so.

 

[Maculo]

Interesting, and dispiriting stuff. I remember when Obsidian were considered the last true bastions of the cRPG, and if you look at my join date you'll see it coincides quite closely with the PoE kickstarter.

Also, I just fired up Steam for the first time in while and saw that Deadfire was available to preload. It's downloading now, but how will I feel when I play it?*

*Disclaimer: I haven't finished PoE yet, so plenty of time to think about it.

That is where I get conflicted. Avellone's contempt appears directed at the upper management and not so much the developers (with exception). I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment. Still, there is Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky (for now...).

 

[Prime Junta]

I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment.

He is extremely pointedly failing to mention his name, and has been for years. If there's not butthurt there, this master plan has been much longer in the making than we suspect.

 

[Bumvelcrow]

That is where I get conflicted. Avellone's contempt appears directed at the upper management and not so much the developers (with exception). I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment. Still, there is Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky (for now...).

I've never met Sawyer, but I hope he's not part of Avellone's accusations. I've always regarded him as a hard worker. Maybe not the most talented person in the world, but somebody who really tries hard to do the best with the skills at his disposal. I suppose he appeals to the part of me that supports the everyman against the effortlessly gifted. Of course, reality may be completely different, but I can't dislike somebody who loves bikes and is as apparently grumpy and socially awkward as I aspire to be.

I know Cain and Boyarsky don't want to run a studio again, but I keep seeing the Troika logo flash in front of my eyes and wonder what might have been...

 

[Maculo]

I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment.

He is extremely pointedly failing to mention his name, and has been for years. If there's not butthurt there, this master plan has been much longer in the making than we suspect.

That's what gets me. He has no issue name dropping Festermaker or alleging that Feargus is breaking the law, but he will not mention that one name. The one name we have been autistically pursuing throughout this thread. The name so many attached to the failings of PoE1.

I cannot tell if that makes it better or worse. It is some open ended mystery, and with each revelation Avellone gives us, it becomes even more strange to me. Are we sure Avellone did not write Wael?

 

[fantadomat]

K

I'm just gonna stick to lurking instead.

Don't,we need stupid posters to remind us how superior we are.

Now tell me how do i rate posts?

By waiting two months

 

[Iskramor]

K

I'm just gonna stick to lurking instead.

Don't,we need stupid posters to remind us how superior we are.

Now tell me how do i rate posts?

By waiting two months

Yea i remember now

 

[Average Manatee]

That is where I get conflicted. Avellone's contempt appears directed at the upper management and not so much the developers (with exception). I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment. Still, there is Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky (for now...).

Won't speak for Chris but it makes no sense to direct hate at those getting the special treatment just because they get special treatment. Hate the game and the GMs running it, not the players.

 

[Alpan]

Well, Sawyer and Avellone are mutually not following each other on Twitter. Considering Avellone does follow other developers currently working at Obsidian (i.e. Mikey Dowling), that's probably a good indication of how things stand between them.

 

[Maculo]

Well, Sawyer and Avellone are mutually not following each other on Twitter. Considering Avellone does follow other developers currently working at Obsidian (i.e. Mikey Dowling), that's probably a good indication of how things stand between them.

Does Avellone follow Feargus and Festermaker on twitter?

Still, you would think he could even give a "meh" when he is willing to say so much about Festermaker or Feargus.

 

[Alpan]

Well, Sawyer and Avellone are mutually not following each other on Twitter. Considering Avellone does follow other developers currently working at Obsidian (i.e. Mikey Dowling), that's probably a good indication of how things stand between them.

Does Avellone follow Feargus and Festermaker on twitter?

Nope, he does not.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment.

Chris has made it very clear that Sawyer is evil. :D

Chris Avellone is/was Sawyer one of the bad guys @ Obsidian? Just ignore this question, if the answer is yes.

Spoiler

 

[Nano]

That is where I get conflicted. Avellone's contempt appears directed at the upper management and not so much the developers (with exception). I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment. Still, there is Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky (for now...).

Won't speak for Chris but it makes no sense to direct hate at those getting the special treatment just because they get special treatment. Hate the game and the GMs running it, not the players.

I dunno. The ones getting the special treatment can call the GMs out on it. If they don't then they're pretty much just as bad as the GMs.

 

[Max Edge]

After reading 114 pages, I must say, that despite autism, cringe, funny shitposting there was place on serious discourse. I have two thought after that:

1. I never buy anything from Obsidian. From moral reasons.

2. Crepy nerds have intuition. That make them special.

 

[Fairfax]

I still am curious if Sawyer falls within the alleged clique of those getting special treatment.

He is extremely pointedly failing to mention his name, and has been for years. If there's not butthurt there, this master plan has been much longer in the making than we suspect.

He did mention his name once in the interview.

I believe it's clear they have major creative differences and opposite approaches to team hierarchies and management, but so far MCA has only exposed people who fucked him over (partners) or tried to call him out (Fenstermaker).

 

[2house2fly]

The tone of Avellone's oblique references to Sawyer clearly suggests that he sees him as mediocre at his job (at best) and only still employed, never mind promoted to a senior position, due to special treatment. Perhaps this blanking of him comes from a sort of acknowledgment that this animosity is based more on personal views than objective fact- a significant chunk of the gaming audience doesn't consider New Vegas "catastrophic" after all.

 

[Orma]

New vegas is great.

 

[Roguey]

opposite approaches to team hierarchies and management

Sawyer seems like someone in favor of clear hierarchies to me.