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

[ColonelTeacup]

I am at the point where I start doubting that the other side can be really that stupid, and I start to wonder if you're not trolling

Although many people ITT reacted to this impulsively, note that it's never made clear if the "attempt to leverage" was made overtly, in a one on one conversation with Chris, or it's Chris' interpretation of the separation agreement he was offered.

I'm not trying to stand as anyone's advocate, just saying."

Sorry but if you have trouble understanding written text, you should look for specialists to help you.

Keep deflecting and dodging all you wish. Perhaps I should try mocking your biased news, to see if it runs off you like water, or if you will recoil and gasp as if you have been found out.

Show me the quote, moron.

Spoiler

but apparently unless I believe MCA 100% I am a race traitor.

Not really, imo. Chris is an interested party, and from my humble exprience, when such things come to pass, there is fault in both sides. With Chris not denying his own fault, as can be seen.

Stating Avellone is an interested party and not mentioning his own faults, the implicit claim he is manipulating the situation because he is an "interested party". Which is the implication that he is hiding facts, or altering them, which would be lying.

Spoiler

although John likely wouldn’t ever admit to the fact that Eric hated him;

Man, I understand the emotional factor but it's just bad form saying things like that.

More damage control for Obsidian. "Fan boy".

 

[Maculo]

What's the issue with you pussy ass bitches? The "upper management" pulling that shit is 100% kosher but telling the truth about what they did (in a much too polite manner) is "talking shit", "burning bridges" etc? Because a good goy is supposed to always take it up the pooper while making a smiley-face amirite? Fuck those guys, fuck them sideways. Feargus can be happy that MCA doesn't have my temper and is too much of a nice guy, for I would have reconfigured his fugly orkface right then and there.

I do not recall anyone saying it was 100% kosher, but rather we may not know the whole story. Avellone's account holds a high degree of credibility, but it may not be perfect. I do not know if you practice in law, but even the best witnesses can have gaps in knowledge, selective memories, or inaccurate perceptions. While this is not a court of law obviously, it is not a bad question to ask- could parts of Avellone's account be wrong? I do not mean "wrong" in the sense of a lie, but rather are there facts he was not aware of or did not perceive. Similarly, we would apply the same reasoning to Festermaker's post that makes a general denial of Avellone's account, although not a specific detail by detail denial. Both Festermaker and Avellone could believe they are 100% justified, while also being wrong.

Until Obsidian responds, all we have to go off of is Avellone's account and Festermaker's general denial, which is lacking.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Spoiler

but apparently unless I believe MCA 100% I am a race traitor.

Not really, imo. Chris is an interested party, and from my humble exprience, when such things come to pass, there is fault in both sides. With Chris not denying his own fault, as can be seen.

Stating Avellone is an interested party and not mentioning his own faults, the implicit claim he is manipulating the situation because he is an "interested party". Which is the implication that he is hiding facts, or altering them, which would be lying.

Spoiler

although John likely wouldn’t ever admit to the fact that Eric hated him;

Man, I understand the emotional factor but it's just bad form saying things like that.

More damage control for Obsidian. "Fan boy".

You have no quote. Therefore you are a liar yourself, aren't you. No "implicit claims". A documented liar.

 

[2house2fly]

YOU KNOW, Chris Avellone I REMEMBER YOU GIVING SOME ADVICE TO A BUNCH OF YOUNG GAME DEV STUDENTS IN A VIDEO NOT TOO LONG AGO SAYING 'NEVER TALK SHIT ABOUT FORMER EMPLOYERS OR EMPLOYEES' etc

what happened to that man

There's presumably a definition of "talking shit" that he feels he's now outside of. Alternatively, the implication is that you shouldn't do that because it might he hard to get work after, but since MCA is a hot property with stable work and job offers still flooding in, why not say as he pleases

 

[Lycra Suit]

Oh crap, I guess I forgot it's considered 'edgy' by Obsidrones to not like a game made from Fallout 3's engine and systems.

Unless they meant that Dungeon Siege 3 was a masterpiece. Oh dear me.

 

[ColonelTeacup]

Spoiler

but apparently unless I believe MCA 100% I am a race traitor.

Not really, imo. Chris is an interested party, and from my humble exprience, when such things come to pass, there is fault in both sides. With Chris not denying his own fault, as can be seen.

Stating Avellone is an interested party and not mentioning his own faults, the implicit claim he is manipulating the situation because he is an "interested party". Which is the implication that he is hiding facts, or altering them, which would be lying.

Spoiler

although John likely wouldn’t ever admit to the fact that Eric hated him;

Man, I understand the emotional factor but it's just bad form saying things like that.

More damage control for Obsidian. "Fan boy".

You have no quote. Therefore you are a liar yourself, aren't you.

How interesting the implication you made isn't enough and it must be the words verbatim.

 

[Septaryeth]

Never talk shit about former employer... only in front of your interviewer.

Colleagues in the same profession talk shit about each other all the time. It's how people know and avoid shit employer and shit employee. If upon questioning a co-worker claims that they've never encountered single crazy person in all their past employment, I would consider them disingenuous.
This advice is more about self-preservation than "keeping a healthy atmosphere". It tends to end up much worse if a client is the first one that realize the establishment is shitty, but you know instead of trying to improve themselves the first thing these establishments usually to do is to hunt down the people who might've talk shit about them .

Moral of the story? People are going to talk shit no matter what. Take heed and try not to be shitty yourself, so people don't hate you enough to talk shit about you.

Though there are also extraordinarily talented individuals who can talk shit professionally/talk shit while still appear professional, it's just not something most new employee can do.

 

[MuscleSpark]

I would just like to have everyone reading this take a moment to think about the incredible reality we are living in right now.
The uncountable choices from the beginning of the universe leading to the consequence of Earth, Life, Chris Avellone, You, Me, and Others, all being here to share this experience where a (possibly drunk) Italian American literary genius in a niche genre of the fourth biggest entertainment market in the world, is on a near-magical machine that can connect to the entire rest of the world and transmit data near-instantaneously, is ranting and savagely dismantling former co-workers and co-owners of his company on an infamous online bulletin board.

The near impossibility of this reality is exciting, and awe-inspiring.
Life is incredible.
Bless you all.

Spoiler

And I didn't even mention the fact that an orange-haired reality TV star and business mogul became one of the most infamous presidents of one of the most powerful countries on this rock we call Earth.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

I do not recall anyone saying it was 100% kosher, but rather we may not know the whole story.

There are people itt who can get behind this kind of "corporate policy" yet consider it "bad form" to talk about it. Good form is therefor to get fucked and to [pretend to] like it. Those people are not quite sane in the membrane.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah, this ColonelTeapot character seems to be arguing against figments of his own imagination. I can't recall anyone implying that Chris is lying.

 

[Fairfax]

There was little reason for Atari to believe they could make money from BG3, at least not without waiting a long time and/or suing Interplay for it.

At that point, Interplay owed money to Atari, the IRS, banks, Warner Bros., their own employees, and others. At one point they even had their office locked down for a day and almost got evicted for failing to pay rent. Their stocks were worth pennies, most of their licences had been sold, several divisions were closed or sold, they had little cash, and the company's revenue was down. The fact they couldn't (or wouldn't) even pay a $200k advance was also a strong sign that the ship was sinking.

Interplay also lied to their employees about the loss of the licence, they said it was "an accounting error". If Atari learned about it, that's another red flag added to the list.

Can you imagine being Herve Caen and wasting a dozen millions to save this failboat?

Yeah, he deserved it. Although it's debatable if Interplay could even be saved when he took over, he certainly accelerated the company's downfall and shafted a lot of people in the process.

Chris what is your favourite character on Planescape Torment?

I liked them all, but after working with Beamdog on potential sequels, I did find myself gravitating toward Xachariah again and again.

Fall-From-Grace is always an easy win, however. She's the nicest, kindest succubus in the multiverse.

Speaking of Xachariah, do you still have the vision statement for Planescape: Lost Souls?

 

[Briosafreak]

Exactly my face when I saw this on reddit. Damn.

 

[Lycra Suit]

Yeah, he deserved it.

In what ways? Titus sank because of it and nothing Herve did could be deemed unnecessarily ruthless or stupid considering the state of interplay when he bought it could have landed some people in jail in other countries.

 

[agris]

hey old-timer!

 

[StrongBelwas]

Was the Tyranny/Pillars situation the only instance of Obsidian shuffling budget and people around they weren't supposed to?

 

[Lycra Suit]

Exactly my face when I saw this on reddit. Damn.

A precursor?

 

[2house2fly]

Serious question: Why doesn't MCA just beat the everloving fuck out of the upper management?

Why does Ross, the largest friend, not simply eat the other five?

 

[Parabalus]

I am at the point where I start doubting that the other side can be really that stupid, and I start to wonder if you're not trolling

Although many people ITT reacted to this impulsively, note that it's never made clear if the "attempt to leverage" was made overtly, in a one on one conversation with Chris, or it's Chris' interpretation of the separation agreement he was offered.

I'm not trying to stand as anyone's advocate, just saying."

Sorry but if you have trouble understanding written text, you should look for specialists to help you.

Do you think they would pull something as ridiculous as "you can't work on RPGs again. EVER!!!!111!" not knowing they have extreme leverage?


Only way Obsidian would even think somebody would sign that is if the alternative involves a body bag.

 

[2house2fly]

Was the Tyranny/Pillars situation the only instance of Obsidian shuffling budget and people around they weren't supposed to?

What are the odds, right?

 

[Lycra Suit]

Funnily enough I genuinely believed for a while that Chris Avellone had left Obsidian because he had gotten into a physical fight with another employee (Josh Sawyer).

 

[Lycra Suit]

It really made sense based on the information we had.

 

[Blakemoreland Hybrid Boss]

AwesomeButton

You are putting all your eggs into a superficial principle considered in abstract and out of context. The problem with this “we need to listen to the other side before we jump to conclusions” principle is that in this case there is an abundance of cheap knowledge available that break the tie in favour of Avellone’s testimony. You need to see the forest from the trees.

Chris Avellone is widely known for being a sweet person and easy to deal with. This is not based on my opinions as a fan, but on countless positive remarks made by other developers that worked with him. I don’t think he is a saint, but a poisonous team member he isn’t. Unless there is a public conspiracy in his favour, you need to take this in consideration to assess the situation. If they are expelling a sweet guy like him, he is probably not the one at fault.

Chris Avellone is known not only for his past contributions and talent, but also for his impeccable work ethics. Once again, unless he forced himself into a female developer or has mood swings that made him break the boardroom chairs in a state of fury there is no reason to believe that the cold treatment he received was justified.

Chris Avellone is a human stretch goal that attracted a lot of costumers to Obsidian. There are simply no reasonable explanations to expel him from the company when he represents more profit and brings more pedigree and good reputation to the studio. No developer in full possession of his faculties would let him go.

Given all these known and uncontroversial facts there are no reasons to believe that Avellone’s departure was caused by his bad faith. It seems glaring and obvious that it was probably motivated by failures of character from the upper management at Obsidian, who were probably motivated by jealousy and envy. That’s the only reasonable explanation given the known facts.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I am at the point where I start doubting that the other side can be really that stupid, and I start to wonder if you're not trolling

Although many people ITT reacted to this impulsively, note that it's never made clear if the "attempt to leverage" was made overtly, in a one on one conversation with Chris, or it's Chris' interpretation of the separation agreement he was offered.

I'm not trying to stand as anyone's advocate, just saying."

Sorry but if you have trouble understanding written text, you should look for specialists to help you.

Do you think they would pull something as ridiculous as "you can't work on RPGs again. EVER!!!!111!" not knowing they have extreme leverage?


Only way Obsidian would even think somebody would sign that is if the alternative involves a body bag.

I don't think it's even legally possible to make such a demand. I would love to watch the trial where Chris' lawyer asks Feargus' lawyer "what is an RPG?" and then it has to be defined Second, more knowledgeable people said that non compete clauses can't be indefinite. Third, again more knowledgeable people here said non compete clauses are not enforceable in California.

It's exactly because I don't think they would pull something like that, that I am reserving judgement, and especially refraining from running around outraged over something that I have so little information on. Because I don't want to perpetuate fake news.

 

[Maculo]

I do not recall anyone saying it was 100% kosher, but rather we may not know the whole story.

There are people itt who can get behind this kind of "corporate policy" yet consider it "bad form" to talk about it. Good form is therefor to get fucked and to [pretend to] like it. Those people are not quite sane in the membrane.

I believe that conflates two different ideas though. One being the existence of such a standard corporate policy (i.e., "no one should be surprised" mentality) and one is a practical or social consideration. The practical or social consideration being do not pick fights today, because you do not know what tomorrow will bring. In this case, Avellone may not give a damn about burning bridges today, but tomorrow is a different story. For example, there may be prospective employers that do not want to employ someone that will malign them publicly the moment he is dissatisfied.

Additionally, rather than escape the drama, Avellone may have ensured that he is stuck with it, especially if there is legal action. Even if there is no legal action, you know fans will ask him questions for years to come about this thread, in addition to the obnoxious Arcanum playthrough question spam (btw Chris Avellone how is that Arcanum playthrough coming?).

As much as I love the revelations in this thread and being able to autistically question Avellone about Sawyer, it may be to his detriment, which is something I do not want.

 

[sser]

I just realised that sser is ignoring MCA, did they ever fight or was it something that happened in this thread that I missed?

I did it as a joke and could never figure out how to undo it since he never appeared as an actual member - I managed it by sliding his name in the HTML or whatever it is. Pretty sure I have another industry figure on ignore, but I'm on my phone and too lazy to chat.

No drama, so sorry.