THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Wrath2X on October 09, 2018, 01:40:36 PM

Title: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Wrath2X on October 09, 2018, 01:40:36 PM
https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1049713708564398082

Has been rumored for a while now so there you go
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 01:42:19 PM
:stahp
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Nintex on October 09, 2018, 01:59:25 PM
This is all fun and games until Phil leaves and some sucker who has no clue about gaming takes over.
That's what happened last time too. Cool people bought nice studios. Then the suits came in and fucked everything.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Raist on October 09, 2018, 02:13:44 PM
This is all fun and games until Phil leaves and some sucker who has no clue about gaming takes over.
That's what happened last time too. Cool people bought nice studios. Then the suits came in and fucked everything.

:lol

Spencer was head of EMEA until 2008 (so responsible for Rare and Lionhead) and then head of MS studios. He doesn't need anyone else to run studios into the ground.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: mormapope on October 09, 2018, 02:15:44 PM
I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: tiesto on October 09, 2018, 02:16:08 PM
Well, that sucks. Doubt you'll get your 90s style crpgs anymore, I expect them to go the Bioware route now.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: mormapope on October 09, 2018, 02:18:56 PM
Well, that sucks. Doubt you'll get your 90s style crpgs anymore, I expect them to go the Bioware route now.

It really sucks that a studio that has had terrible financial problems is being bought out?
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rahxephon91 on October 09, 2018, 02:19:00 PM
I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.
Yeah the Forza games are good. No question.

But I kind of need more then just Forza every year.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:26:10 PM
NOOOO
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: mormapope on October 09, 2018, 02:28:15 PM
I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

I hear the Forza Horizon series is great but what I mean is anything outside the Halo/Gears/Forza label.

Last thing I liked from them might have been Quantum Break? Software wise i just don't find much appealing from them. Sorry if the rustles your jimmies :yeshrug

"The stuff coming from Microsoft lately is trash."

"Forza Horizon 4 is an excellent game!"

"But I don't mean Forza."

 :foodcourt
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Nabbis on October 09, 2018, 02:35:05 PM
Microsoft is by far the shittiest of the three. Can't remember the last time i gave a fuck about their games, probably Age Of Empires 2 and Halo.

That said, i think Xboxonex is a very good piece of hardware and they have more going for them than Sony or Nintendo on that front. If only they had games i gave a fuck about.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:42:17 PM
Fuck. This is awful news. There's no hope for a Fallout 4: Actually Good Version. :stahp

I'm really devastated. Obsidian was the only wrpg company that hadn't sold out and stuck to its roots instead of dumbed down crap.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: kingv on October 09, 2018, 02:43:00 PM
But we’re getting 76 :-(
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Nintex on October 09, 2018, 02:43:05 PM
Games take a while to develop. MS's late 360 era arson on their own first/second party studios like Bizarre Creations, Rare, Lionhead set them behind years when this gen started.
Spencer then scrambled to create new studios but just putting competent devs together in a room clearly wasn't enough.

However his biggest win has been to get higher into the MS executive chain and basically secure the future of the Xbox division that they were planning to sell to Amazon just a few years ago.
Microsoft stripped down their Xbox division so they could sell it but no one wanted to buy Xbox and in the end they didn't really want to part with it either.

The new CEO finally ended the uncertainty and decided to go 'all in' on Xbox.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Brehvolution on October 09, 2018, 02:43:42 PM
Pillars of Eternity III: Minecraft edition
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:43:47 PM
But we’re getting 76 :-(

isn't that a player unknown clone
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:45:14 PM
why wouldn't it be bethesda :( Beth respects the Obsid and would likely give them leeway and even share staff for projects. That's the dream. Fuuuuuck.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Kara on October 09, 2018, 02:47:09 PM
Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse. Troika did it right.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Bebpo on October 09, 2018, 02:48:27 PM
No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:49:26 PM
No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;

I know! :(
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Bebpo on October 09, 2018, 02:51:23 PM
This is also insane considering they almost went out of business because MS canned their Xbox One launch rpg that they later salvaged into Tyranny.

Like last time you depended on MS they fucked you and you almost lost the company and had to scramble with kickstarters & russian tank games just to survive. Why would you trust MS again? Did Pillars 2 sales tank outside Kickstarter or something?
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: MMaRsu on October 09, 2018, 02:51:59 PM
well fuck
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: mormapope on October 09, 2018, 02:52:53 PM
Fair, but it's also fair to point out that you mentioned one game. What's the rest?

And would you say the low opinions of MS as an overall game publisher are unwarranted?

The opinons of Microsoft are often stuck in 2014 or during the dismal, garbage Kinect era. Has Microsoft leadership been shitty in the past or  been mismanaged to the point of hurting game studios? Yes! Have the past couple years seemed turbulent for studios working with Microsoft? Not really. Most devs seem pretty satisfied when working with Microsoft nowadays.

As for all Xbone exclusives in general, its lacking. Is that because of Microsoft currently, or because of terrible terrible decision making from that 2010-2014 era of Microsoft?

I basically view the Xbone in a very similar light as the PS3. Absolutely god awful launch and decision making, the entire gen being used to fix past mistakes.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 02:57:07 PM
No. All I know is that it's superior.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rufus on October 09, 2018, 02:57:19 PM
I have no feelings about this one way or another. Cautiously excited to see what they do with a big budget.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: MMaRsu on October 09, 2018, 03:02:11 PM
Fair, but it's also fair to point out that you mentioned one game. What's the rest?

And would you say the low opinions of MS as an overall game publisher are unwarranted?

The opinons of Microsoft are often stuck in 2014 or during the dismal, garbage Kinect era. Has Microsoft leadership been shitty in the past or  been mismanaged to the point of hurting game studios? Yes! Have the past couple years seemed turbulent for studios working with Microsoft? Not really. Most devs seem pretty satisfied when working with Microsoft nowadays.

As for all Xbone exclusives in general, its lacking. Is that because of Microsoft currently, or because of terrible terrible decision making from that 2010-2014 era of Microsoft?

I basically view the Xbone in a very similar light as the PS3. Absolutely god awful launch and decision making, the entire gen being used to fix past mistakes.

What games do they have that fixed their mistakes? From UC2 on, PS3 was absolutaly on fire with its exclusives
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Bebpo on October 09, 2018, 03:04:25 PM
I have no feelings about this one way or another. Cautiously excited to see what they do with a big budget.

They made one!
For MS!
And MS canned it!

Not sure why it will go better the second time...

If I had to bet, I’d bet they never get a big budget game out for MS before MS shuts them down.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Kara on October 09, 2018, 03:05:08 PM
No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Bebpo on October 09, 2018, 03:06:12 PM
No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.

And they missed it by like 1% :/
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: eleuin on October 09, 2018, 03:06:35 PM
Aren't most of the key people who worked on NV gone from obsidian anyways
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 03:12:33 PM
No. All I know is that it's superior.

Their agreement had performance bonuses tied to review aggregator site averages so despite selling well they only received the minimum compensation for their work because its average review score was 85% or something.

beth you fucking hacks
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Kara on October 09, 2018, 03:15:17 PM
And they missed it by like 1% :/

Hard to feel bad about it when they insisted on having a faction where people spoke Latin with approximately Classical pronunciation instead of optimizing it more.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rufus on October 09, 2018, 03:16:07 PM
If I had to bet, I’d bet they never get a big budget game out for MS before MS shuts them down.
I'm optimiscally assuming that MS won't mismanage Obsidian and their other recent acquisitions.

We'll see how that turns out. :doge
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Fifstar on October 09, 2018, 03:20:52 PM
I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

Forza Horizon 4 just came out and its one of the beloved racing games in quite some time.

The bore is more negative about ANYTHING Microsoft does moreso than Sony/Nintendo famlnboys on Era. You'd think the Xbone was a form of malware based on how people react.

360 was the most beloved console on here. Maybe Microsoft just made too many dumb decisions with the One?
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rufus on October 09, 2018, 03:29:35 PM
Aren't most of the key people who worked on NV gone from obsidian anyways
Josh Sawyer, its lead designer, is still there. For whatever that's worth.

Scanning the leads and writers at Mobygames tells me that Lead Writer John Gonzalez isn't with them any more. And Avellone obviously. But Eric Fenstermaker and Travis Stout, the other two credited as "writer" appear to be with them, still.

I also realized that I don't know enough about the game to assess how important  any of the people in the credits were. :doge
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 04:07:52 PM
No, no, no, no, no, fuuuuuuuuuck

There goes the only crpg developer I really like ;_;

Fortunately, there's still Larian and inXile making great RPGs, but Obsidian has always been my favorite of those developers and the possibility that they do a Bioware and their soul gets sucked out makes me so sad. Hopefully, I'm wrong and MS gives them the money and leeway to continue doing their own thing, but I'd be really surprised if that happened.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 04:15:42 PM
If it results in Alpha Protocol 2...
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 04:21:04 PM
Sega's not doing anything with it, they'd probably sell it for a few bucks and a pizza.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 09, 2018, 04:29:05 PM
Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Kara on October 09, 2018, 04:39:54 PM
SIE in next-gen :noah
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Raist on October 09, 2018, 04:45:05 PM
Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.

And nothing of value was lost.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: CatsCatsCats on October 09, 2018, 05:00:17 PM
Lot of fan boy tears in here lol
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 06:49:31 PM
Also, I get the impression Obsidian were in dire straits. So you'd rather them die as a studio then get picked up?

They were in serious trouble after having a major game cancelled in 2012 [by Microsoft, ironically], but Pillars of Eternity went a long way in helping them get things settled down. Dunno how things have been with Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity 2, but maybe they just weren't enough to keep the studio going on their own.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: thisismyusername on October 09, 2018, 07:01:36 PM
(https://i.redditmedia.com/NACJEr5Yv-NrBwbBsD3w92FoiNL4KR9yG413Y0fbw_c.jpg?w=320&s=3a436248af1eb7755d9c3fbc3a9f10fe)

They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

Avellone leaving was the final nail in the coffin. So if MS mandates them to be a UWP + X-box RPG house, it's "whatever" to me.

Basically: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqFLXayD6e8

MS needs a more high-profile studio to get me interested.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 09, 2018, 07:10:02 PM
They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: tiesto on October 09, 2018, 07:16:25 PM
Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2

i have never heard of these games.

First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content, second I dunno, zombie shooter game I think.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Bebpo on October 09, 2018, 11:31:20 PM
They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.

Pillars was pretty damn great.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Borealis on October 10, 2018, 03:10:55 AM
I'm still waiting on Phil to actually be good. Hardware and features is cool and all but the software released under him lately has been mediocre to trash. So I'd give it a few years before putting him on a pedestal, breh.

For his role in shuttering Ensemble, Spencer can eat shit for the rest of eternity. He's spent more than a decade now heading up various MS gaming divisions and still hasn't accomplished much.   

Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: benjipwns on October 10, 2018, 04:17:04 AM
First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content
not true, you do everything in that game, swim, shoot guns, sharks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs-ZjfUTP4c)
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: nachobro on October 10, 2018, 09:18:09 AM
v excited for obsidian's first actual fully completed game in the history of the studio to release under MS. then it'll sell like shit and they'll be relegated to forza dlc until being shuttered.

but that one game is gonna be awesome.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: kingv on October 10, 2018, 09:24:55 AM
First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content
not true, you do everything in that game, swim, shoot guns, sharks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs-ZjfUTP4c)

Is this hyperbole or have they added a bunch of kontent?
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rufus on October 10, 2018, 09:46:27 AM
v excited for obsidian's first actual fully completed game in the history of the studio to release under MS. then it'll sell like shit and they'll be relegated to forza dlc until being shuttered.

but that one game is gonna be awesome.
They got close. Dungeon Siege 3 was complete, bucked the bad QA trend and sold like shit, ending that franchise for the foreseeable future.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 10, 2018, 10:17:55 AM
Dungeon Siege III also was pretty bland and forgettable.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Kara on October 10, 2018, 12:16:44 PM
Dungeon Siege III also was pretty bland and forgettable.

The steampunk city is one of the funniest places in an RPG ever.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Rufus on October 10, 2018, 01:46:30 PM
I barely remember it, so I'm with dogmod on this.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: El Babua on October 11, 2018, 12:27:19 AM
Going through the Windows Store to buy any future Obsidian games. :rage
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: thisismyusername on October 11, 2018, 12:37:10 AM
They died when New Vegas, KOTOR2, and the like were rushed out/buggy as hell.

They were better in the past 4-5 years than they ever were.

Let me look into the release list on that...

South Park: Stick of Truth, Wasteland 2 (assisted), Showers of Goblins: NeoGAF edition, Tyranny, and Showers of Goblins 2: NeoGAF shills harder edition.

Hmmm... two of those are alright. One borderline, but worthwhile? :thinking Nah.

Obsidian is at their best when 1) Chris is writing and 2) they're aping a style/engine that has already been used/done (KotOR, New Vegas [but to be fair there, anything would be better than Elder Scrolls with Guns and no Roleplay], Alpha Protocol).

Problem is, they're rushed, or have bugs (New Vegas is mostly not their fault though, given Beth jank/engine).
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Himu on October 11, 2018, 12:42:49 AM
How tf does obsidian not have money considering they developed stick of truth and the sequel? Did all the money go to UBI?
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Great Rumbler on October 11, 2018, 01:01:30 AM
They didn't develop the sequel and I doubt they saw much money beyond what it cost to make the game.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on October 11, 2018, 04:18:17 AM
Not going to slob MS' knob here, but there's a bunch of cognitive dissonance happening in this thread. Their first party has been getting better and better. Maybe just not at the pace you guys want.

They also released Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 this year, which for some reason, people love.

Also, I get the impression Obsidian were in dire straits. So you'd rather them die as a studio then get picked up?

Or Sony buy them? because Sony's handling of their studios isn't great either.

Which first party lol

Obsidian is dead like Rare etc
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: tiesto on October 11, 2018, 07:22:09 AM
Well, that sucks. Doubt you'll get your 90s style crpgs anymore, I expect them to go the Bioware route now.

It really sucks that a studio that has had terrible financial problems is being bought out?

I don't really know too much about their products (truthfully, Stick of Truth was the only game I've played of theirs all the way through), but I was under the impression they carved out a profitable niche (nostalgia-fueled PC RPGs funded by Kickstarter) that plays to their strengths (storytelling and worldbuilding) while mitigating their weaknesses (having to use complicated engines and rushed dev cycles leading to lots of glitches).
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: nachobro on October 11, 2018, 10:17:48 AM
Going through the Windows Store to buy any future Obsidian games. :rage
getting future Obsidian games free with Game Pass :rejoice
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: eleuin on October 11, 2018, 04:41:15 PM
Josh Sawyer, its lead designer, is still there. For whatever that's worth.

Scanning the leads and writers at Mobygames tells me that Lead Writer John Gonzalez isn't with them any more. And Avellone obviously. But Eric Fenstermaker and Travis Stout, the other two credited as "writer" appear to be with them, still.

I also realized that I don't know enough about the game to assess how important  any of the people in the credits were. :doge
Yeah I remember Guerrilla making a big deal out of poaching Gonzalez. Avellone seems to have burned all bridges so no way he's ever coming back. It's good to know some of the writing team is left, they were responsible for the best parts of the game.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: nudemacusers on October 11, 2018, 07:43:46 PM
First game is that Rare pirate mmo bereft of content
not true, you do everything in that game, swim, shoot guns, sharks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs-ZjfUTP4c)

Is this hyperbole or have they added a bunch of kontent?
It’s much more feature rich now than it was even 3 months ago. However I will say it’s a pretty lite game in terms of gameplay depth; your interaction with the world is pretty straightforward BUT there is a weird amount of depth in how the world operates; ie volcanos heat the water around them to damaging temps, you can push boats with explosive charges, persistent items scattered around etc.

Tldr it’s a great game to chill with a group vs flex gameplay skills. Ymmv but I have it via gamepass and enjoy it.
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: CatsCatsCats on October 11, 2018, 07:48:13 PM
Yeah anyone decrying it as lacking content probably lacks people to play it with. Because it’s a blast to fuck around with other people in that game
Title: Re: Microsoft is acquiring Obsidian
Post by: pilonv1 on October 12, 2018, 05:19:17 AM
If it results in Alpha Protocol 2...

:rejoice