Fairfax
Arcane
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Incline Chris Avellone Appreciation Station
- Thread starter Crooked Bee
- Start date
karfhud
Augur
Apologies. How naive of me to assume that anything MCA-related could fly under your radar
Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,518
No problem, it's still worth sharing for those who don't read the whole thread. The Codex didn't post it as news, after all.
Apologies. How naive of me to assume that anything MCA-related could fly under your radar
In other news, Obsidian forum is pure
.One of the global mods doesn't even know what MCA means.
MRY
Wormwood Studios
The term for that is damnatio memoriae. :D
- Joined
- Jan 28, 2011
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- 97,645
The true test of fandom is knowing what CFA means.
Irenaeus III
Unwanted
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Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
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- 3,518
Aye.
I wonder if he hates being Frederic. Even back in the Fallout Bible he used MCA.
FeelTheRads
Arcane
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2008
- Messages
- 13,716
Ah Kelgar, the most lame, cliched, boring and annoying dwarf I've ever seen in any game.
HURR DURR I UM DWARF I LIEK TO DRANK AND FIOGHT!!
I got tears in my eyes alright, tears of boredom.
HURR DURR I UM DWARF I LIEK TO DRANK AND FIOGHT!!
I got tears in my eyes alright, tears of boredom.
Excidium II
Self-Ejected
RPG game
Role-Playing Game game
Zetor
Arcane
NPC character is worse, imo.
Excidium II
Self-Ejected
I didn't even see that one. Didn't think anyone was capable of that.
Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,518
Interview with an australian radio show from December 20, 2014.
CHRIS AVELLONE TALKS TO ZAP! RADIO
For most of the first 15min or so they talk about MCA's involvement in Kickstarter projects, what he thinks of Early Access, budgets in the industry, etc.
Chris says he prefers to allow the player to customize as much of the background and look of the character as possible.
This isn't new, but he said TNO's look is not something he would've chosen. "It was dictated by resources". He wanted different genders and facial appearance customization.
He thinks PS:T was a nice middle ground aside from the predefined look, due to how immortality worked.
Adapting characters from a novel is hard. Uses Escape from Butcher Bay as an example, saying combat and stealth made him feel like Riddick, but Riddick's interactions with other people threw him off.
"How do you feel about Obsidian's reputation as shipping buggy games?"
"No dev wants to ship buggy games", says recent titles (DS3 and SP) were better, "no player should have to pay for a buggy title".
Prefers working on new IPs than existing franchises, but says both are hard work. They talk about the same old stuff regarding KOTOR2.
MCA is ok with the Disney retcon.
"We'd love to work with D&D again".
"We'd love to make a Pathfinder game" (besides the card game). Says he's playing a "Ocean's Eleven" game in Pathfinder at Obsidian.
Advice to create memorable characters: they should react to what you do; find a way for the character to reinforce the game's theme; make sure the reactivity is encouraging to the player's ego. Companions should have "logical reactions" to what's happening. Uses Ripley as an example, says she thinks like him and the audience. Two examples of game's who did companions right: Final Fantasy III (I assume he's talking about VI here) and Chrono Trigger.
They talk about Adelaide and Australia. Chris says he'd never seen a wombat before and that they're huge.
Chris says he's extremely happy at work. He says his job is also his hobby, and that after work he gets to enjoy even more of his hobby.
[I guess things went sour fairly quickly in early 2015, as he does sound very happy talking about his job and Obsidian as a whole throughout the whole interview]
He says there is one drawback. Draws a comparison to friends who used to be waiters. When he goes to a restaurant with them, they critique the waiter, and he can't help but play games with the "critique eyes". Some games excel so much that he's able to ignore all of that.
Questions from the listeners:
- What do you want to do, and what do you regret doing?
"I feel like I already do what I want to do", then mentions WL2 and how amazing that was. "I always wanted to write a novel" and got to write one for WL2. Always wanted to work on a Torment successor. Mentions FTL, Nuka Break, The Guild, and the Grimrock film as well. "I'm just happy, I'm doing what I want to do, and that scares me a bit. What if I run out of things to do? (laughs)". No mention of something he regrets. Guess he forgot about the second half of the question.
[Found it interesting that he didn't mention a single project related to Obsidian]
- Favourite combat taunt in Fallout 2?
He thinks FO2 had some problems with the narrative and breaking the 4th wall, and the taunts were part of the problem. He loved Sulik talking about his seven demon bag, a reference to Big Trouble in Little China. Writing combat lines for Cassidy was great. "That stuff makes me wince now, but it was fun to write".
His favourite is "there's nothing wrong with you that a critical to the eyes won't cure".
- "Icewind Dale 2 was underrated"; "do you ever get frustrated when a game doesn't become the cult hit it should?"
"No, because you liked it, you played it, and you brought it up with me. That's all we really need to hear." [This was cheesy as fuck, Chris]
Only hurts when players don't like it.
Question about modding in games he worked on. Chris says it became important to them after FNV [too bad Sawyer didn't get the memo and PoE is the very opposite of mod friendly]. Mentions modders that get hired. They did a lot of research on mods before making the DLCs (nothing new).
- What is your best experience with Obsidian so far?
The number of franchises they worked with and making an IE-style game. "Nothing was as positive as being asked to be a part of it in the first place". Building the company and being one of the owners, etc, were some of the best days of his life.
- Why do you think there aren't many games based on comic books?
Superheroes in general can be a tough sell. Doesn't really know why it didn't catch on and is disappointed himself.
CHRIS AVELLONE TALKS TO ZAP! RADIO
For most of the first 15min or so they talk about MCA's involvement in Kickstarter projects, what he thinks of Early Access, budgets in the industry, etc.
Chris says he prefers to allow the player to customize as much of the background and look of the character as possible.
This isn't new, but he said TNO's look is not something he would've chosen. "It was dictated by resources". He wanted different genders and facial appearance customization.
He thinks PS:T was a nice middle ground aside from the predefined look, due to how immortality worked.
Adapting characters from a novel is hard. Uses Escape from Butcher Bay as an example, saying combat and stealth made him feel like Riddick, but Riddick's interactions with other people threw him off.
"How do you feel about Obsidian's reputation as shipping buggy games?"
"No dev wants to ship buggy games", says recent titles (DS3 and SP) were better, "no player should have to pay for a buggy title".
Prefers working on new IPs than existing franchises, but says both are hard work. They talk about the same old stuff regarding KOTOR2.
MCA is ok with the Disney retcon.
"We'd love to work with D&D again".
"We'd love to make a Pathfinder game" (besides the card game). Says he's playing a "Ocean's Eleven" game in Pathfinder at Obsidian.
Advice to create memorable characters: they should react to what you do; find a way for the character to reinforce the game's theme; make sure the reactivity is encouraging to the player's ego. Companions should have "logical reactions" to what's happening. Uses Ripley as an example, says she thinks like him and the audience. Two examples of game's who did companions right: Final Fantasy III (I assume he's talking about VI here) and Chrono Trigger.
They talk about Adelaide and Australia. Chris says he'd never seen a wombat before and that they're huge.
Chris says he's extremely happy at work. He says his job is also his hobby, and that after work he gets to enjoy even more of his hobby.
[I guess things went sour fairly quickly in early 2015, as he does sound very happy talking about his job and Obsidian as a whole throughout the whole interview]
He says there is one drawback. Draws a comparison to friends who used to be waiters. When he goes to a restaurant with them, they critique the waiter, and he can't help but play games with the "critique eyes". Some games excel so much that he's able to ignore all of that.
Questions from the listeners:
- What do you want to do, and what do you regret doing?
"I feel like I already do what I want to do", then mentions WL2 and how amazing that was. "I always wanted to write a novel" and got to write one for WL2. Always wanted to work on a Torment successor. Mentions FTL, Nuka Break, The Guild, and the Grimrock film as well. "I'm just happy, I'm doing what I want to do, and that scares me a bit. What if I run out of things to do? (laughs)". No mention of something he regrets. Guess he forgot about the second half of the question.
[Found it interesting that he didn't mention a single project related to Obsidian]
- Favourite combat taunt in Fallout 2?
He thinks FO2 had some problems with the narrative and breaking the 4th wall, and the taunts were part of the problem. He loved Sulik talking about his seven demon bag, a reference to Big Trouble in Little China. Writing combat lines for Cassidy was great. "That stuff makes me wince now, but it was fun to write".
His favourite is "there's nothing wrong with you that a critical to the eyes won't cure".
- "Icewind Dale 2 was underrated"; "do you ever get frustrated when a game doesn't become the cult hit it should?"
"No, because you liked it, you played it, and you brought it up with me. That's all we really need to hear." [This was cheesy as fuck, Chris
]Only hurts when players don't like it.
Question about modding in games he worked on. Chris says it became important to them after FNV [too bad Sawyer didn't get the memo and PoE is the very opposite of mod friendly]. Mentions modders that get hired. They did a lot of research on mods before making the DLCs (nothing new).
- What is your best experience with Obsidian so far?
The number of franchises they worked with and making an IE-style game. "Nothing was as positive as being asked to be a part of it in the first place". Building the company and being one of the owners, etc, were some of the best days of his life.
- Why do you think there aren't many games based on comic books?
Superheroes in general can be a tough sell. Doesn't really know why it didn't catch on and is disappointed himself.
Sannom
Augur
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2010
- Messages
- 951
Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
Sizzle
Arcane
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2012
- Messages
- 2,471
MCA just posted on FB that he updated his Overfall Game Writing Style Guide https://docs.google.com/document/d/...y_BcpYtrviyFdRWAE/edit#heading=h.igp4bnyrkv06
Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,518
It's Mister, but some (I think the Codex started it?) say it's Master in an afectionate way. My point is that the Obsidian forum mod had no idea about either.Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
Beat me.
I also find it amusing that MCA was going to edit his post in the last page, but missed the deadline and now it can't be edited.
Irenaeus III
Unwanted
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2016
- Messages
- 990
It's magnificent
Ignatius Reilly
Scholar
His story arch actually subverts all these tropes. He learns to stop being a big dumb cliche. It's quite touching. And you have to fight a Red Dragon for him to become a bad ass monk or whatever, (I forget the details) and it's the only fight in the game that's half way entertaining.
Avellone's best work is Dead Money.
Lhynn
Arcane
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2013
- Messages
- 9,865
And its all for naught because thanks to the shit system and the bad work obsi did with it if you actually tell him to become what hes always sought to become, he actually becomes weaker.
Ignatius Reilly
Scholar
It's a lesson in the destructive nature of following one's dreams.
Nah. Who the fuck would append "Mister" to their initials? That'd be dumb, leading to pratical errors like people saying "mister MCA", as if we hadn't had enough with all those talking about "RPG games".It's Mister, but some (I think the Codex started it?) say it's Master in an afectionate way. My point is that the Obsidian forum mod had no idea about either.Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
A true Codexer, unlike you, would know that MCA actually stands for MAJESTIC Chris Avellone. Y'know, it's where the phrase "majestic incline" came from, cause we all have a boner for MCA.
That's right.
Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,518
I suppose this is a bad joke?Nah. Who the fuck would append "Mister" to their initials? That'd be dumb, leading to pratical errors like people saying "mister MCA", as if we hadn't had enough with all those talking about "RPG games".It's Mister, but some (I think the Codex started it?) say it's Master in an afectionate way. My point is that the Obsidian forum mod had no idea about either.Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
A true Codexer, unlike you, would know that MCA actually stands for MAJESTIC Chris Avellone. Y'know, it's where the phrase "majestic incline" came from, cause we all have a boner for MCA.
That's right.
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2009
- Messages
- 9,913
No, that's just MCA being modest.I suppose this is a bad joke?Nah. Who the fuck would append "Mister" to their initials? That'd be dumb, leading to pratical errors like people saying "mister MCA", as if we hadn't had enough with all those talking about "RPG games".It's Mister, but some (I think the Codex started it?) say it's Master in an afectionate way. My point is that the Obsidian forum mod had no idea about either.Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
A true Codexer, unlike you, would know that MCA actually stands for MAJESTIC Chris Avellone. Y'know, it's where the phrase "majestic incline" came from, cause we all have a boner for MCA.
That's right.
Fairfax
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2015
- Messages
- 3,518
I meant what the other guy said.No, that's just MCA being modest.I suppose this is a bad joke?Nah. Who the fuck would append "Mister" to their initials? That'd be dumb, leading to pratical errors like people saying "mister MCA", as if we hadn't had enough with all those talking about "RPG games".It's Mister, but some (I think the Codex started it?) say it's Master in an afectionate way. My point is that the Obsidian forum mod had no idea about either.Isn't that still in debate on the Codex?
A true Codexer, unlike you, would know that MCA actually stands for MAJESTIC Chris Avellone. Y'know, it's where the phrase "majestic incline" came from, cause we all have a boner for MCA.
That's right.
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