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Other random answers (some may have been here, some on Reddit – if I’m wrong, I’ll post the right answers on Reddit).
Ubisoft: So Ubisoft didn’t really cut ties to Obsidian that I know of, nor did Obsidian turn them away because Obsidian had too much work – the conversation, to all accounts, never happened at all, because Ubisoft never spoke to Obsidian about doing the second game. One day the sequel was announced, and it was my understanding it was a surprise to Obsidian that anyone was working on a sequel – Obsidian didn’t proudly defy Ubisoft and tell them to f*ck off because they were too busy: Ubisoft didn’t even call.
Transition from Publisher to Developer, Reversal of Roles: Feargus went through what I feel may have been poor training as a studio lead at Black Isle. In that position, he had more control over the projects, the funding, and more importantly, outside developers – in his role at Interplay, he was very much the publisher, and he was the one who made calls on BG1, BG2, etc. He controlled the funding, could make demands, could withhold payments, and also force capitulations in features and schedules.
Unfortunately, I believe this set a bad precedent for Feargus dealing with publishers in the future because we became one of the same outside developers he had formerly overseen when he was a publisher - the roles were reversed, and so was the power.
Suddenly he had to experience it from the other side, and he didn’t take to it well – the control was gone, and suddenly his demands could be ignored and fought, rather than accepted. The leverage was gone.
Even more importantly, Feargus’s behavior no longer had to be ignored by the person on the other end of the phone or in discussions in the conference room: Where once if Feargus asked a developer or contractor to do something, they would largely have to swallow it or fight to be polite in order to get paid or keep their project going, the reverse was very hard for Feargus to deal with, and led to a lot of shouting matches (which you could hear down the hall), and even hanging up on publishers. We knew about this because he’d come brag to us about when he hung up on a studio head or producer, which made me even more depressed, since it meant we’d likely lose another contract with no back-up plans (he actually did the bragging rounds from owner office to owner office when he shouted at someone in the studio as well, as if he was showcasing the strength of his management style).
Worse, Feargus didn't learn from this - instead, he passed the behavior along. When Feargus was in charge of outsourcing and other remote contracts, he behaved much like the publishers he railed against, which was depressing as well.
Overall, the position of having to answer to someone else didn’t often go well, and it’s much the reason I think Obsidian would be better off finding a way to completely self-publish their games because I don’t think any other option is going to work in the long-term.
Financial Matters and Ethics: I also don’t know where the training for handling and responsibility for finances came from, but we didn’t see eye to eye on that, either, as I've said. It went beyond the transparency in finances - the biggest shock came when the matter arose about paying back employees (not the owners, but our employees) who had given up their paychecks to keep Obsidian from going bankrupt. When we did start getting money in the bank again after this bleak period, however, the company's spending began accelerating again. This made me uncomfortable, so at that time where our finances became healthy again, I brought up that since we had the means to do so, we should pay back the employees who gave up their paychecks to keep us going.
My comment was met with silence by all the owners.
I repeated the concern, but when I brought it up again, Feargus simply said, "we never promised we'd pay the employees back," as if that excused things - but paying the employees back didn’t seem like a technicality to me, this was the right thing to do.
He then said he wanted the matter dropped.
Fortunately, another owner did finally admit he agreed with me some time later (mostly because one of the unpaid employees confronted the owner on what was going on with it), he was someone Feargus would listen to, and when he brought it up (this time he asked for my support, even though he had been silent before), we were able to push Feargus into establishing a payback plan and get restitution for the employees who sacrificed for us - and this was well before any owner paychecks resumed (by this point, the owners were resolved to not getting paid back, so it wasn't a huge shift).
Overall, it seemed a shameful way to treat our employees who had sacrificed for us, and I wasn’t happy we even had to discuss compensating them – it didn’t seem to be something we should discuss, we should simply do it because it was the right thing to do.
Source: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-interview-chris-avellone-on-pillars-cut-content-game-development-hierarchies-and-more.121588/page-119#post-5599220
Edit: see if steam allows that. Seems Steam favours poor spelling. Lol
You have a one-sided story with very suspicious timing. Lets face it, we all know that guy at work who thinks they know all and likes to stir up ♥♥♥♥ all the time. Sounds a lot like MCA.
If you even bothered to read the codex thread, or read the relevant quotes; you will discover that it isn't as one sided as you believe. The only people who haven't given their accounts are upper management, but that is to be expected.
Also, what does Chris gain from such accusations? The guy is putting himself at risk of a defamation law suit. Not saying his statements are true, but there has to be some credibility to it, otherwise Chris Avellone is the most dumbest f*cking person ever; to release such statements right before the release of the studios most important IP ever.
The PM retort addressed a small part of what has been written on the forum. So most of the statements are at this moment from the lens of CA. Some of his replies do show candor even if they may contain distortions or exaggerations. Problem is its impossible for people on the outside to discern the credibility of the things stated.
What's to gain is to play spoiler in order to get even with whomever he has beef with. Seems simple in that regard.
He wanted sweeping editing power including deletion and alreration. So if you're in Obsidians shoes, why the hell are you paying a narrative staff if one guy can go over their head and make it his own...which in turn would probably cause siginificant delays which Eric alluded to. This also was the time he started taking on many projects at once, so I'd guess that's why they wanted him contracted to only do stuff for them.
He didn't want voice acting, even though D:OS2 pretty much made it mandatory.
He had the title of owner so basically nobody could tell him anything. And like I just said, he seemed like one of those guys at work who knows how to do everyone elses job and can't take any criticism.
Regardless of his individual talent, that does not sound very conductive to an effecient workplace.
Chris Avellone you said that you were in financial problems with all medical procedures going on that time (or healthcare, idk) but later you said that you have more money than obsidian in your account. How this transition happened so fast?
And, after this revelations, did you receive any support from the industry? A call, email, whatever supporting you? Like "hey buddy dont worry we are with you", etc.
MCA:
I sat down and worked. A lot. Which isn’t hard to do if you love what you do.
I also don't spend a lot on anything for myself (I'm a frugal person and don't need much). While family had expenses, I had virtually none.
Also, a lot of companies got a hold of me as soon as I was free (some of which I’d worked with before, some of which who Obsidian worked with before but still wanted to work with me), so that was a nice gesture – and even better, after one project, they wanted to work with me again. And again, etc. so the work is pretty steady.
However, what’s different about freelancing vs. being at Obsidian is:
- It's flexible - it allows you to find your own optimal work times vs. office hours (or waiting at the office until everyone leaves so you can focus).
- While contracting, if someone makes a mistake or makes a change and needs revisions, you are compensated for the time involved for that change. At Obsidian, you just work longer hours for no compensation unless you are hourly, which makes mistakes and unnecessary changes that happen more frustrating.
- If ever you did find yourself in an unpleasant management situation (which has yet to happen), the fact you don't see that person everyday nor do you have to interact with them except via email and maybe a video call is really, really healthy for relationships. Hell, if you ever did get frustrated at someone or trapped on an idea, you can just switch to another project and let it pass. Any stress you might have goes way down because you're not being repeatedly reminded of a situation.
- I used to work long hours before, but now I had more hours and I was doing more of what I wanted to do, so it was actually easier because it was more fun. I also (usually) worked seven days a week every month, and often for more than 10 or 12 hours. Again, mostly labor of love, but that allows you to tackle a lot of projects that interest you (which in turn, feeds your work drive and so on and so forth).
- The hours I work are often free of any interruptions. I switch off messengers, texting, anything that’s a distraction, and it’s easy to focus.
- My wife is very supportive about giving me time to write (she's busy with game development, too, so she understands the hours). The cat is not so supportive.
- Lastly, “free of interruptions” includes the removal of a lot of meetings, commuting, or other elements (marketing events, marketing presentations, meet-and-greets). As a result, the amount of time you get back is considerable. For an introvert, it also means your emotional batteries don't get drained as fast.
- Also, I've mentioned this before, but the Obsidian payscale is low and always has been (they don't often have a lot of money in the bank, especially around review time - or it's all been spent on something else). When you leave, you suddenly realize there's more value in what you do - I didn't quite realize how much until I left, but working for companies that aren't struggling is a much different beast. (As an example, Feargus's contracting offers were often half of what they are in the rest of the game development world, so that was an eye-opener.)
Everyone I spoke to was pretty supportive, even Obsidianites (non-management). There were numerous offers, legal support (for free), and even offers to head up games and pitches in production, but with family issues, I wasn’t able to take on anything full time.
I even got offered to become the new head of Black Isle Studios, which I couldn’t do, and didn’t think I’d be good for the job, so I didn't take it.
Overall, I just worked hard ever since the departure – and arguably, that’s how I should have lived my life much earlier than now. Since I love writing, working hard wasn't really work at all.
Source: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-interview-chris-avellone-on-pillars-cut-content-game-development-hierarchies-and-more.121588/page-123#post-5599456
I grew up playing the games he made, baldur's gate 2 is my favourite game, obsidian trying to tell him he is not allowed to make other rpgs is disgusting, why not let him leave and make other rpgs, they know he can make successful rpgs if he has the resources, obsidian were meant to be one of the last good guys.
Let's unpick this:
So the scenario is that everyone, employee and owner alike, forcoes their pay for a time in order to save the company and presumably finish the current project to do so. Avellone says when money started to flow back as a result "spending began tro accelerate again" and the poor emplyeees were not given their back pay (and neither were the owners).
Spending on what, exactly? Conveniently Avellone does not tell us. Becasue it doesn't necessarily help him paint Feargus as the Devil Incarnate perhaps.
Perhaps the money was being spent on the next game development project (by Avellone's owen admission here is certainly didn't go into the owners pockets)?
Generally speaking the bigger the budget for a game then better it may turn out to be, the better it turns out to be the more likely it will get a very positive recenption by both public and critics alike, and the better both critical and public reception is the more likely the game is to become a big hit.
If a game is a big hit, becasue the develpoment costs are a fixed quanltity paid up front, the earnings from the game sky rocket. Feargus may well have taken the view that it was in the best interests of the future propserity and seecurity of everyone at the company, employee and owner alike to, to put the money into the next game rather than use it for backpay.
Avellone conveniently ignores this point. Nor does he enlighten us on what the profit share/bonus/pay review procedures are at Obsidian so we don't know what the average dev in the trenches stood to gain financially from the company having a big hit game.
But, whether you think Feargus was right or wrong, you cannot paint him as the Spawn of Satan for believing it was in everyones best intersts to put all resources available into the current game.
But again Avellone dissembles: he says Fearegus said "We didn't promise to pay them back". I'm sure Feargus did say that at one point in the discussion but I am absolutely sure tha's not all Feargus said, and it is by deliberately leaving out the rest that Avellone seeks to slander Feargus.
This is called "quote mining" and is a disreputable journalistic technique used to twist truth and blacken reputations. It is a favourite technique of internet trolls.
Then we come to the part about "mostly because one of the unpaid employees confronted the owner on what was going on with it". Again we see Avellone trying to twist the narrative by being highly selective with the information he deigns to divulge.
What did this employee confront Feargus about? Was it the principle of getting their back pay? Or was it a specific hardship directly casued by the pay freeze? Something like a bank threatebning to foprclose hgis moprtgage? His kids getting threatened witrh expulsionb from college for non-payment of fees? His mother needing an operation he had to pay for?
Conveniently Avellone does not tell us becasue he obviously wants to put his own spin on the decisions Feargus made to try to blacken his reputation. Why is this important?
Becasue if Feargus was confronted with a genuine case of hardship caused by the pay freeze and realised he had to get this dude his back pay he would have realised he would have to give everybody else their back pay as well or it would not only be seen as totally unfair but would actually be totally unfair.
So: meet Feargus, the Devil Incarnate. Yeah, right.
But what truly sickens me about Avellone's supposed oh-so-heartfelt sticking up for the little guy in the trenches and his carefully crafted half-truths, omissions and spins is that all this is so obviously designed to try to torpedo the Deadfire release, and who is that going to hurt the most?
Yeah, that's right Avellone. The little guy in the trenches. Where the ♥♥♥♥ are you at. man?
tl;dr
I believe Chris Avellone, he's been always an honest and a friendly man. The way he speaks suggests that he's not bullsh_itting us, now compare it with how Fernstermaker responded:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-interview-chris-avellone-on-pillars-cut-content-game-development-hierarchies-and-more.121588/page-6#post-5589393
We, Obsidian fans, always have good justifications and explanations what happened there with CA.
So in the end if what he said is in fact true he should've taken it to court yet he didn't and decided to post it in a public forum right before a big release of theirs with practically only his view of the whole thing(sure some other obsidian employees chimed in but nothing at all from the actual "upper management").