57 réponses à ce sujet

[Orkchop]

What is the official relationship between BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment/Black Isle Studios? If they had facebook pages, would it say they were Engaged? It’s Complicated? Just Friends?  When BioWare has
a company picnic, do some of the Obsidian people get to come?  What about the Christmas party?

How come the two studios never merged?  You’d have BioWare Edmonton and BioWare Black.  When BioWare
was bought by EA, they could have told EA: “Hey, you should pick up those guys, too.”

Or is BioWare mad that Obsidian is working on other IPs?  Obsidian: “Mass Effect is cool and all, but we want to make something with spies!”  or  Obsidian: “Hey BW, you won’t mind if we work with Bethesda over there on Fallout, do you?  You know, the IP we helped create.” BioWare: “*sniff* No, it’s OK.  You go off and play with
someone else. *sniff*”


So, any thoughts, ideas or statementson BioWare andObsidian/Black Isle?



*Edited: I typed it up in Outlook and apparently MS does not like my copy and pasting into Firefox

Modifié par Orkchop, 13 avril 2010 - 05:14 .

[ImperialOperative]

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4?



wtf?

[JRCHOharry]

Its like, if you've known someone for a long time, but dont speak to each other often, you were "technically" friends but never really had a deep meaningful conversation.

You would nod at each other each other in a street,

thats Biowares and Obsidians relationship

[chiliztri]

JRCHOharry wrote...

Its like, if you've known someone for a long time, but dont speak to each other often, you were "technically" friends but never really had a deep meaningful conversation.
You would nod at each other each other in a street,
thats Biowares and Obsidians relationship

Mind. Blown.

[Kohaku]

ImperialOperative wrote...

Microsoft Internet Explorer 4?

wtf?

It's damn Word 2007. I swear that XML format crap is the bane of my existence.

[Beerfish]

Obsidian Entertainment is staffed by some of the key people that used be part of Black Isle which was the RPG division of Interplay.



When BioWare was first starting out they worked with Interplay (Feargus Urquardt) - (Black Isle did not exist then) on Baldurs Gate. After BioWare severed relations with Interplay they kept in reasonably close contact with Feargus. When Feargus and some of the other people went out on their own BioWare and their publishers let Obsidian work on some of the i.p's because they knew the people and the quality of the work. (I also think this was a bit of proffesional payback for the early help BioWare got.)



Obsidian is independant and has never been a part of BioWare so when BioWare got bought up Obsidian remained on their own but I believe they still have a good working relationship. (I also think a few employees have crossed companies as well. see Ferret Beaudion)

[DarthCaine]

Bugsidian is like a little kid (still stuck in the past) that tries to be BioWare (and fails miserably)

Modifié par DarthCaine, 13 avril 2010 - 05:16 .

[bzombo]

back in the 90s, they worked together to make some of the best games ever made with the baldur's gate series. bioware is definitely the superior company, though. i wonder what kind of games the bioware-black isle tag team could have made if their collaborative efforts could have gone longer.

Modifié par bzombo, 13 avril 2010 - 08:15 .

[AshedMan]

Friends with benefits.

[Loerwyn]

Close Friends at most.

Obsidian are, and always have been, an independant studio. Only two of their projects can ever be linked to BioWare (NWN2 and KotOR2). BioWare (I believe) recommended Obsidian do KotOR2, and BioWare provided support and guidance with the creation of NWN2, as well as the engine it uses.

However, BioWare and Obsidian are not "linked" more than that. Some developers may have gone from Obsidian to BioWare and the other way around, but that's likely it.

As someone said above though, Obsidian are the remnants of Black Isle/Interplay and they have some of the top RPG developers on their roster. They have some of the Fallout 1 + 2 team, some people from the Planescape: Torment team along with people who worked with BioWare on Baldur's Gate.

Whilst Obsidian's products aren't often regarded as the best, I would say they have some of the people possible on their roster.

[orpheus333]

I'm not trying to have go at bioware's writing staff but i think obsidian create deeper more complex dialogues and storylines. Sadly obsidian don't seem to have the same technical ability as bioware. NWN2 being a good example. I also feel sorry for Obsidian, they have been almost always tied into quiet harsh deadlines.

[Orkchop]

andyr1986 wrote...

I'm not trying to have go at bioware's writing staff but i think obsidian create deeper more complex dialogues and storylines. Sadly obsidian don't seem to have the same technical ability as bioware. NWN2 being a good example. I also feel sorry for Obsidian, they have been almost always tied into quiet harsh deadlines.

That's excatly why I think the two studios should join forces.  Let Obsidian just work on story and not worry about tech and deadlines.  BioWare has put out some great games.  And, I imagine, if their resources were doubled, they could put out even more great games!

[Loerwyn]

Orkchop wrote...
That's excatly why I think the two studios should join forces.  Let Obsidian just work on story and not worry about tech and deadlines.  BioWare has put out some great games.  And, I imagine, if their resources were doubled, they could put out even more great games!

Unless BioWare shrug off EA, it'll never happen.
Obsidian seem to be a "we'll make a title in your franchise so you don't have to" developer at the moment. NWN2, KotOR2, Fallout: New Vegas, The Wheel of Time... As mentioned above, they only have 1 original IP to their name, and in a way I think it's good for them that they're doing what they do. By using other franchises, they save themselves a lot of "concept" time because everything's already in place. A new IP would require more development time than an existing one, so you could sort of say that what they're doing now is practise for the future.

[Seagloom]

Colenda wrote...

They're like rival drug barons or fanfic writers. Outwardly polite, and their thoughts are bullet-shaped.

I think that Ferret Baudoin and Nathaniel Chapman have both jumped from Obsidian to Bioware, with KotR and NWN moving in the other direction. 

Ferret Baudoin jumped. Nathaniel Chapman still works for Obsidian.

There was a time when both developers swapped at least some ideas and they seem to have a cordial relationship to this day. I still remember how some of Icewind Dale's changes to BioWare's Infinity Engine rules interpretations made it into Baldur's Gate 2. Then Baldur's Gate 2's resolution and new avatars made it into Heart of Winter and Icewind Dale 2. I remember that time fondly. It felt like living in a golden age of RPG development. This thread makes me feel a little nostalgic.

[Busomjack]

Obsidian is like Bioware's kick ass sidekick.

[Seagloom]

I'm looking forward to Alpha Protocol, albeit with some trepidation. Obsidian needs as many checks in their win column as possible if they are ever to break free of their reputation. I can only hope that added time in development will pay off in the final product.



I'll probably take a similar approach to scyphozoa. Except in my case I hope to eschew melee. I want to slink through areas like a cat, with barely any sign my presence was felt. Hopefully they will include tranquilizer weapons for that play style. If not that, then another means of incapacitating unavoidable targets without killing them. Knowing that it's supposedly possible, I have to go for it.

[AntiChri5]

I would describe them as incestous siblings. You know, that brother and sister that were always a little TOO close...

[Kohaku]

I'm taking a wait and see with Alpha Protocol. The OC of NWN2 wasn't that great but the follow up things were better. I must admit I was a bit turned off by having a canned character but if it helps them build a solid story then I'll deal.

Modifié par Kerridan Kaiba, 14 avril 2010 - 12:48 .

[Kaiser Shepard]

I'm not taking my chances with Alpha Protocol, either, even though it will most likely turn out to be pretty good (probably around 80% on Gamerankings). It's just the kind of game that will sell horribly over here, which means it will be half price within 3 months.