Pillars of Eternity - How Kickstarter Saved Obsidian @ Kotaku

Jason Schreier about Obsidian, Pillars of Eternity and how Kickstarter saved them.

In 2012, Obsidian Entertainment almost fell apart. The independent game studio had just suffered a major blow—the cancellation of a big-budget role-playing game they were developing with Microsoft—and they were struggling to make ends meet in the midst of an uncertain, transitional gaming industry.

Josh Sawyer, one of the company’s public faces and the veteran game designer who directed Fallout: New Vegas, suggested they launch a Kickstarter. With crowdfunding, he argued, they could make the one game they all wanted to make—an isometric fantasy RPG—without having to give up creative control to an outside investor or publisher. On top of that, they could own what they made—no longer would they be shackled to a big corporation’s license, like they were with New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, and all of the other RPGs they’d developed since first forming in 2004.

The idea was compelling to some at Obsidian—including a few other staffers who had independently suggested or thought the same thing—but some of the higher-ups disagreed, Sawyer told me. Some were skeptical that they’d even be able to raise over $100,000, let alone hit any sort of reasonable budget for a modern video game. […]

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It doesn't sound like a business for the faint of heart.

Hard to imagine Obsidian going down… a group of some of the most talented and unluckiest developers out there. They receive too little recognition for their games (Alpha Protocol/Mass Effect, New Vegas/F III).

Oh no, no, I may love them as much as possible, but I'll never ever buy Alpha Protocol.
Whoever forced checkpoints in it is not Obsidian. And should be kicked out of gaming industry.

Mass Effect is Bioware's game. Not Obsidian's.

I think they receive too much recognition for what's essentially a bunch of deeply flawed games - none of which are truly great and most of which are struggling to get beyond average.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
I think they receive too much recognition for what's essentially a bunch of deeply flawed games - none of which are truly great and most of which are struggling to get beyond average.

So is Baldur's Gate, which this game intended to mimic and managed to surpass.

Originally Posted by solomonhume
So is Baldur's Gate, which this game intended to mimic and managed to surpass.

That's certainly an opinion

Eh…to me, they are far less flawed than anything from Bethesda's opus and far more original than Bioware has ever managed to come up with. Always liked about Obs not playing it safe, storywise at least. AP has more charm and humor than most developers manage to deliver in a life time.

So, where are all the people that scream all day about how trash Kickstarter/crowdfunding/early access is?

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
That's certainly an opinion

Have you played Baldur's Gate without the rose coloured glasses on?
The simple, paper thin NPCs were cute for 1999, but I prefer my NPCs
on Pillars level.

Originally Posted by PegasusOrgans
Have you played Baldur's Gate without the rose coloured glasses on?
The simple, paper thin NPCs were cute for 1999, but I prefer my NPCs
on Pillars level.

I played it in 1998 when it was truly special. It's true that PoE in 2015 is close, which is my point. Obsidian almost matches it 17 years later except they messed up on mechanics. Some people are impressed by that and think they deserve a lot of recognition for it.

I agree the writing was bad in BG, though. PoE has its moments and is generally better in that way, but I can't stand Avellone's style. Most love it around here.

That's cool, I simply don't agree.

On that note, I'm sort of relieved to see PoE steadily falling on Metacritic. IIRC, user scores started at an absurd 90+ - and are now down to a less delusional 8.4.

Chris Avellone gave the impression in some interview or quote or something (sorry poor memory!) that he contributed very little to the writing of Pillars.

To be honest it shows - his style is not overly verbose.

Even the priest guy and that hidden women character only show the outline of his work since so much was changed (according to him).

Originally Posted by Silver
Chris Avellone gave the impression in some interview or quote or something (sorry poor memory!) that he contributed very little to the writing of Pillars.

To be honest it shows - his style is not overly verbose.

Even the priest guy and that hidden women character only show the outline of his work since so much was changed (according to him).

I had the distinct impression he wrote a lot of the stuff related to "souls"?

It all smacked of his particular style.

Originally Posted by PegasusOrgans
Have you played Baldur's Gate without the rose coloured glasses on?
The simple, paper thin NPCs were cute for 1999, but I prefer my NPCs
on Pillars level.

Not everyone plays games like BG or PoE for the NPCs. Honestly, I couldn't care less about the NPCs as long as there's a decent variety of classes to choose from.

Just give them a name and a backstory. I don't want to spend hours conversing with them just to unlock a romance or some bonus to their attributes, etc.

Can't say I ever really cared for the NPCs in BG much.

Then again, I'm not a fan of Bioware writing in general.

I think the only game of theirs that had an effect on me in that way was KotOR, and that's likely because Star Wars is supposed to be melodramatic and over-the-top.

Well, that's not true - I also liked much of the writing in Dragon Age Origins, especially the bits related to the Fade.

That said, back in 1998, good writing in computer games wasn't exactly the norm.

Even so, the main plot in BG - as cliché as it is - was much more engaging to me than the one in PoE.

Also, it had a LOT less superfluous pretentious crap - so it felt less like work going through dialogues and "flavor text". I think I stopped clicking on "souls" after a handful of them. Talk about wasted words.

Yellow NPCs you could read were all written by backers. I skimmed most of them.

Originally Posted by Thrasher
Yellow NPCs you could read were all written by backers. I skimmed most of them.

I guess that explains the completely irrelevant nature of most of the writing. But I'm glad it's not Avellone's work, as I was getting increasingly confused about the love he's getting.

That said, what an absolutely terrible decision, to include backer writing in that part of the game.

I was ok with the tombstones and stuff, though I still think that's counter to immersion, but NPCs walking around in the open really needs to be handled by talented people.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Also, it had a LOT less superfluous pretentious crap - so it felt less like work going through dialogues and "flavor text". I think I stopped clicking on "souls" after a handful of them. Talk about wasted words.

I feel the same way about the companions in BG 1&2 vs Bioware's later titles.

The fact that Chris Avellone is now involved in the new Baldurs Gate game speaks volumes to me on his new direction as a writer for hire. Combine that with his much heftier contributions to Inxile lately than Obsidian and I'm sensing a theme.

I think he felt under utilised at Obsidian, why couldn't they appreciate his talent? Oh wait I know - because there are too many people there who don't want to reach for the stars, who will settle for mediocre rather than risk it all like Larian.