Obsidian Entertainment - Cancelled: Project North Carolina - Layoffs

[Moriendor]

Are you ignoring the bit about the owners not getting paid, Roqua?

He's not ignoring it. He acknowledged that the owners might not have gotten paid for the past six or seven months but that in order to end their salary-free life they chose to fire the little guys in order to resume payments to themselves ASAP.

 

[Sergorn]

Heh? No, the reason of the layoffs is not that the owners to resumes their payments to themselves… It's because Microsoft (assuming the Kotaku source is correct) pulled the plug on Project North Carolina. With the project dead, they have to lay off the team, it's as simple as that.

If anything, the fact that the owners have not been getting for over 6-7 months, is what allowed… you know… the "little guys" to keep getting a paycheck every month. I don't believe there's even a mention of the owners resuming their salary at this point.

And all this really is very worrysome, because if the owners have to forget their own paycheck in order to pay the rest of the Obsidian people, it means the company has been in DEEP financial troubles for a while already, and this cancellation is just making things worst.

-Sergorn

 

[Moriendor]

@Sergorn: Unregistered a.k.a Roqua should not be taken overly serious most of the time. He was quite obviously being sarcastic in his post but maybe not obvious enough .

 

[Crilloan]

I want a new obsidian sequel to a bioware game and I want Alpha Protocol 2 (with less shoddy camera) and I want it now!

C

I'm feeling grumpy today, just realized I've turned into an old fart.

 

[JuliusMagnus]

Metacritic scores must die.

Apparently Obsidian didn't get bonusses for FNV for missing a 0.1 out of 8.5 (or 1 out of 85) point on the score.

I don't think Bethesda is responsible for these lay-offs, which are a direct result of project cancellation (Obsidian hires people for projects and only for those projects, new people are hired for other projects). But the bonus could have softened the blow.

It appears publishers are unwilling to provide bonusses on basis of sales. My guess it's because sales aren't always a 100% result of developer effort but also includes previous products in the IP or PR provided by the publisher. But when you think about it 'Reviews' can and have been inflated by PR too.

In addition I also read there was a guy who was hired by Obsidian for that project and fired the next day when the project was canned.

 

[crpgnut]

Metacritic scores must die.

Apparently Obsidian didn't get bonusses for FNV for missing a 0.1 point on the score.

Source? I've not heard this from anyone reliable....

 

[Sergorn]

Chris Avellone is reliable enough I think
https://twitter.com/#!/chrisavellone

-Sergorn

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

The interesting to me is that people and by that I mean not the hardcore gamer, but gamers in general seem to think that NWN2 were made by Bioware, and someone also think that PS: Torment were made by Bioware. It as if Black Isle/Interplay never even existed, it seems. On the other hand, all these games do make use of the Bioware engine, the Infinity Engine.

I think that's in part because Bioware seems to have taken over the support - or has even bought the rights or whatever for these games.

 

[crpgnut]

Chris Avellone is reliable enough I think
https://twitter.com/#!/chrisavellone

-Sergorn

Yep, thanks! That kinda sucks if metacritic had them at 84.9. Okay, it's at 84, since there are no percentages. I kinda understand Bethesda's view though. Fallout 3 has a rating of 93 and Skyrim's is 94, so giving bonuses at 85 still allowed for Obsidian's game to do less well than a Bethesda game and earn the bonus.

I wonder if it's too late for FNV to raise their score. If not, then perhaps the gaming journalists can give them a hand....

 

[KapitanUnterhosen]

I have a hard time seeing how attributing bonuses based on metacritic scores instead of actual sales is anything but a con from the publishers.

 

[ChaosTheory]

Not to completely get off topic, but NWN2 was a very fun game, although it was a mess upon release. MOB was arguably the best story in any RPG I've played. Someone needs to pick up the D&D-based, single player RPG banner again… No, really.

 

[Starwars]

I have a hard time seeing how attributing bonuses based on metacritic scores instead of actual sales is anything but a con from the publishers.

That's the way it works in the gaming industry unfortunately. I've seen people bitch at Bethesda since Chris mentioned how the contract was laid out but the truth is that this deal seems to be fairly standard practice from what I've heard from other devs. Metacritic is hugely important, which is complete bullcrap.

 

[JonNik]

I am amazed. A bunch of semi-literate, bought hacks determining the viability of one of the last few good RPG Developers... Oh wait, that is what they have been doing for years, the double standard clueless sycophants...

 

[Grimlorn]

That's the way it works in the gaming industry unfortunately. I've seen people bitch at Bethesda since Chris mentioned how the contract was laid out but the truth is that this deal seems to be fairly standard practice from what I've heard from other devs. Metacritic is hugely important, which is complete bullcrap.

Doesn't matter if it's standard practice. It's stupid. Bethesda should be getting bitched at for continuing it. I also see this as another way to pressure reviewers into giving games high scores because it affects the devs at their favorite studios.

Do people really think Fallout 3 deserved almost 10 point more than Fallout New Vegas? The whole system is a joke.

 

[DArtagnan]

Do people really think Fallout 3 deserved almost 1 point more than Fallout New Vegas? The whole system is a joke.

I think FO3 is significantly better overall, yeah.

 

[Maylander]

Do people really think Fallout 3 deserved almost 1 point more than Fallout New Vegas? The whole system is a joke.

Indeed, I consider FNV a good point above FO3. Not the other way around.

 

[JuliusMagnus]

Yep, thanks! That kinda sucks if metacritic had them at 84.9. Okay, it's at 84, since there are no percentages. I kinda understand Bethesda's view though. Fallout 3 has a rating of 93 and Skyrim's is 94, so giving bonuses at 85 still allowed for Obsidian's game to do less well than a Bethesda game and earn the bonus.

I wonder if it's too late for FNV to raise their score. If not, then perhaps the gaming journalists can give them a hand….

I think the contract would have stipulated a date by which the score must be obtained. Otherwise you would have to take a long breath for knowing your bonus for your game. The score has been 84 since the end of May 2011 thanks to German mag Gamestar who did the last review.

I don't think symphaty scoring would change it since the 'target' date for acquiring a score is well over now.

I do wonder if some late reviews are only about the base game and others about it including some DLC?

 

[Nerevarine]

OK, I understand where you are coming from now. I still don't think CDPR is a fair comparison - Obsidian can't exactly spend 10 years localising and publishing for a foreign language to build their cash reserves. Likewise, Larian has had some support (IIRC!) from the Belgian government and is operating in a different environment. I'm not clear why you think doing educational games is better than taking DS3 but at least I understand you are suggesting diversification.

Well, I'm not suggesting that they literally copy the approach of companies like these; for example, I'm not in any way saying that Obsidian should make educational games, publish games in Eastern Europe, or ask the Belgian government for support . What I am saying is that I would like to see them tone down the AAA side of things down to one core team while finding other means of consistent revenue through smaller scale projects produced by smaller, easier to manage non-AAA teams - "professional indie teams" if you will, consisting of around 10-20 people. These can still be "hardcore" games, just not AAA games, such as a 2D or basic 3D isometric RPG that doesn't have fully voiced dialogue or such an expensive presentation. I would much rather see a lower-budget game along these lines in between quality AAA releases like Fallout: New Vegas than have them release sub-par AAA attempts like Dungeon Siege 3.

 

[curious]

having opening or vacancies for positions can last for years and have no bearing on whether a company or government for that matter can actually hire someone and in some case may indeed fire people in the interim. ultimately its the company or government agency that has a "wishlist" or strategy of the employee structure that they plan for or desire but its up to the shareholders, invenstors, politicians, etc, usually not the public or employees that actually have any say in these matters.

new vegas does owe something to bethesda and the baseline, engine, etc that was set, but in nearly every way new vegas far excedes its parent. in this case at least the american dream was not a sham

 

[Unrestigered]

Are you ignoring the bit about the owners not getting paid, Roqua?

The only owners who care so much about getting paid are capitalist pigs who fire 30 people while trying to hire 10 more to make profit or something evil like that. Capitalists are fanatic zealots. Alpha Protocol said so. And capitalists also want us to pay for stuff like loans and shit and want us to somehow support ourselves. WTF!!!!! That’s some fucked up bullshit. Let’s occupy these bitches (aka capitalist pig-dog fanatic zealots) and show them what morals and ethics are all about!