Chris Avellone alledges Obsidian almost silenced and forced him to never work on RPGs again

[Shengar]

Even Chris has joked that if you get praise by RPGCodex you're doing something wrong.

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Yeah, he is probably doing answer at RPGCodex because they are the only one who only care about it (Avellone's departure from Obsidian, which finally bear fruit into this mess we see today).

We tend to lionize individual devs in the rare cases we know their names, but it's a bit of an inaccurate assessment. Outside of tiny indie games, no dev or writer has that big an impact.

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You can't make blanket statement like this because that is really case to case basis. How much notable individual could make a big impact on a game development really depends on the studio corporate culture, workflow, designing process. We already see the differences between the FF games or more recent and controversial, between Dark Souls 2 and the rest of Miyazaki's directed game.

 

[jerfdr]

Why? if your audience keeps asking you on such topics, or keeps suggesting you things along these lines, you may even start to believe that yourself. It's not even uncommon.
Your complete dismissal of that part of the discussion is, frankly, ridiculous, in my opinion. We even have evidence the conversation in the codex was steered in exactly this direction, which you can see in Eric Fenstermakerspost. That's why he is specifically addressing it. Why do you think that is?

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You know, these kind of allegations like the ones that Chris is disclosing are a pretty big deal. It's clear how he could decide to reveal what he revealed (and maybe twist something a little) out of having some serious bad blood with Obsidian's management, but doing this just to score some points with a tiny online community? This is the definition of ridiculous, sorry. I mean in general what you're saying is possible, that the audience will influence one in the ways you describe, but I don't believe this to be possible in such a serious matter. Or we should conclude that Chris is a complete easily-influenceable dimwit, which I find hard to believe.

And no, we do not "either believe Chris or not". Stories about people leaving companies often contain true and "warped" parts. For example, in the story here, what is likely true is that large parts of the content was cut back in size. What is likely warped is the reasoning behind this.

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Obviously I didn't mean that either everything Chris said is true or everything he said is false. Most probably the reality is somewhere in between, it's obvious. What I meant (maybe I worded it poorly) is that only Chris's credibility should come into play here, and Codex's reputation doesn't have anything to do with all this.

The game had rocky development, management was likely not able to manage the whole project properly, and things didn't go as well as they could have. Add some crappy HR decisions on top of it, and there's plenty of reason for Chris to be disgruntled while at the same time perhaps not conveying the details on everything completely correctly, especially to this audience.

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If you re-read my comment you're replying to, you'll see that I actually have said something similar:

I don't take Chris's words at complete face value, obviously he has some bad blood with Obsidian's upper management and it certainly has colored his perspective.

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[Shake Appeal]

It may be impossible to ever know the truth behind any of this, and the truth probably lies somewhere amid all the different perspectives and representations and distortions.

But honestly, and I say this as someone who has been skeptical of Obsidian in the past, and almost unthinkingly supportive of Avellone, this is not a good look for the latter. These posts are long and rambling and a little bit unhinged. The other voices who have weighed in all seem more reasonable and nuanced; many of Avellone's criticisms seem spiteful, and there's a degree of muckraking around individuals and individual relationships that just feels ... icky.

Throw in the fact that his chosen venue for this is the RPG Codex, and it just doesn't sit right with me. Like, I'm sure Fergus is a bad business man and quite possibly terrible to work with or for; there's plenty to support that! But everything else ... I don't know.

 

[Asbsand]

Yeah, he is probably doing answer at RPGCodex because they are the only one who only care about it (Avellone's departure from Obsidian, which finally bear fruit into this mess we see today).


You can't make blanket statement like this because that is really case to case basis. How much notable individual could make a big impact on a game development really depends on the studio corporate culture, workflow, designing process. We already see the differences between the FF games or more recent and controversial, between Dark Souls 2 and the rest of Miyazaki's directed game.

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I'm of the exact opinion that it is indeed certain individuals on any game project that take it from being good to being extraordinary. It's always the vision or ingenuity of some individuals, and even games like Undertale prove that one person can essentially create an entire game that is also extremely good.

Arkham Asylum had one "unsung hero" from Rocksteady who created the core combat prototype that stuck for the rest of the franchise. It was Casey Hudson of BioWare who decided to put the Vigil theme on the main menu of Mass Effect 1. It was Chris Avellone who wrote Kreia in KOTOR2.

It's dumb to dismiss the idea that any one game developer has a big impact. It's simply not true, but of course we can all concede it takes a sizable staff to produce anything properly on a AAA scale and that team-efforts means a lot to making games great.

 

[Deleted member 16569]

It takes a special kind of asshole to come out with this stuff when your former company is about to release a new game.
Basically, he's expecting the bad publicity to cost them sales, and a few people losing their jobs in the process. What a swell guy. It doesn't surprise me, considering past comments he made after he left Obsidian, where he took every opportunity to take some cheap indirect shot at his former company, but this time, he really went all out.

Obviously, like it's usually done when you have a business disagreement, you're in the right, have proof of what you're saying, and have the kind of funds he claims to have to live comfortably for the rest of his days, he went and filed a suit against his former business partners, regarding these bad practices, right? Of course not, why bother, lets just use a cesspool of a website, and social media. That way, you'll have people defending you, no matter how many current or former Obsidian employees come out saying that's no true.

And on a side note, I'll never understand the pedestal people put this guy in. Did he do a great job with a couple of titles? Sure. Regarding most things he was involved, though, he was one in a team of writers and designers, with minimal input, in the big picture. I mean, he designed a character for a game, a couple of quests for another, and a few more bits and pieces here and there, and he's now apparently the second coming of christ, with people crediting him for the quality of a game, and with every Kickstarter campaign featuring him in some form. It's ridiculous. I was just playing Into the Breach the other day, and I was exactly thinking how he should get a Nobel Prize for his writing. Really, nothing incredibly generic, at all, with the writing. It was completely life changing.

 

[m_dorian]

This is not the kind of drama i 'm expecting to get from Obsidian or Avellone and feel i like them less after this ...thing.

I also believe that if a discussion needs to happen concerning the quality of the character of RPGCodex it would be more appropriate to take place in a different thread.

 

[Kurtofan]

Obsidians writing has gone downhill since he left, Pillars and Tyranny were pretty average

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Tyranny had great writing, especially with worldbuilding

 

[Kurtofan]

This is not the kind of drama i 'm expecting to get from Obsidian or Avellone and feel i like them less after this ...thing.

I also believe that if a discussion needs to happen concerning the quality of the character of RPGCodex it would be more appropriate to take place in a different thread.

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Avelonne yeah, but I've been feeling like that about him for a while. Obsidian, hell no, they're still awesome in my book.

 

[Al3x1s]

Avelonne yeah, but I've been feeling like that about him for a while. Obsidian, hell no, they're still awesome in my book.

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What have you been feeling about him "for a while" exactly and why? He's been pretty popular in recent times and boosting lots of CRPG productions with his talents, he's played a huge role in he CRPG revival we've been experiencing and even in the most recent Obsidian products which you hold in high regard, what is the bad side there and how have you separated Obsidian's products from Avellone's work to see Obsidian as good and him as not so? I mean, this is the list of his most recent stuff from Wikipedia (I dunno if complete, I feel like he's been involved in more than those projects in some capacity, not always as a core writer but also in guidance/supporting roles, never mind how many current CRPGs are inspired exactly from his older works he was lead writer or designer in of course). Pathfinder: Kingmaker in particular is my most anticipated release in the genre, hopefully it lives up to the hype but that's OT.

 

[Nairume]

And on a side note, I'll never understand the pedestal people put this guy in. Did he do a great job with a couple of titles? Sure. Regarding most things he was involved, though, he was one in a team of writers and designers, with minimal input, in the big picture. I mean, he designed a character for a game, a couple of quests for another, and a few more bits and pieces here and there, and he's now apparently the second coming of christ, with people crediting him for the quality of a game, and with every Kickstarter campaign featuring him in some form.

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While I'm not particularly keen on defending him without abandon right now, this is a little unfair. While the vast majority of his work has, yes, been things where he's been one of a group of designers/writers, the things people put him on a pedestal for most are things that he was a lead on, either as lead writer or outright the lead designer.

 

[X1 Two]

This thread is a great example for why you should never blindly accept someone's ramblings on the internet as the truth. It's so easy to ruin lifes and/or companies these days.

 

[johancruijff]

It takes a special kind of asshole to come out with this stuff when your former company is about to release a new game.
Basically, he's expecting the bad publicity to cost them sales, and a few people losing their jobs in the process. What a swell guy. It doesn't surprise me, considering past comments he made after he left Obsidian, where he took every opportunity to take some cheap indirect shot at his former company, but this time, he really went all out.

Obviously, like it's usually done when you have a business disagreement, you're in the right, have proof of what you're saying, and have the kind of funds he claims to have to live comfortably for the rest of his days, he went and filed a suit against his former business partners, regarding these bad practices, right? Of course not, why bother, lets just use a cesspool of a website, and social media. That way, you'll have people defending you, no matter how many current or former Obsidian employees come out saying that's no true.

And on a side note, I'll never understand the pedestal people put this guy in. Did he do a great job with a couple of titles? Sure. Regarding most things he was involved, though, he was one in a team of writers and designers, with minimal input, in the big picture. I mean, he designed a character for a game, a couple of quests for another, and a few more bits and pieces here and there, and he's now apparently the second coming of christ, with people crediting him for the quality of a game, and with every Kickstarter campaign featuring him in some form. It's ridiculous. I was just playing Into the Breach the other day, and I was exactly thinking how he should get a Nobel Prize for his writing. Really, nothing incredibly generic, at all, with the writing. It was completely life changing.

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i'm out

 

[Deleted member 16569]

While I'm not particularly keen on defending him without abandon right now, this is a little unfair. While the vast majority of his work has, yes, been things where he's been one of a group of designers/writers, the things people put him on a pedestal for most are things that he was a lead on, either as lead writer or outright the lead designer.

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I don't think people checked on how many projects he was actually a lead writer, or lead designer. He was barely lead on anything.

Don't get me wrong, he did great work on a couple of titles. But for the rest of them, his work was comparatively minimal, and it's upsetting when people take credit away from the actual lead writers or designers of a certain game, because this guy wrote a character, or a quest for a certain game. An example: I see Divinity: Original Sin 2 mentioned on this topic. Really, is he the reason the game is what it is? Did he have any relevant impact on the game? Give me a break.

Meanwhile, I bet if I mention Tim Cain in here, most people would ask "Who?".

 

[closer]

I dont say this to diminish what chris is saying, but what he's describing sounds like a lot of work environments ive seen

 

[More_Badass]

I don't think people checked on how many projects he was actually a lead writer, or lead designer. He was barely lead on anything.

Don't get me wrong, he did great work on a couple of titles. But for the rest of them, his work was comparatively minimal, and it's upsetting when people take credit away from the actual lead writers or designers of a certain game, because this guy wrote a character, or a quest for a certain game. An example: I see Divinity: Original Sin 2 mentioned on this topic. Really, is he the reason the game is what it is? Did he have any relevant impact on the game? Give me a break.

Meanwhile, I bet if I mention Tim Cain in here, most people would ask "Who?".

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I mean, Planescape Torment is still one of the most unique and best written RPGs ever. All you have have to do is compare Tides and Planescape to see why Planescape is still so impressive. That game alone is enough to make Avellone sought after and makes people excited to hear he's writing for something

 

[Deleted member 4452]

Avellone gets respect for his past work. He was lead designer for Planescape: Torment and KOTOR2, and there's not much like them out there. Main thing that comes close is Mask of the Betrayer (kudos to George Ziets), though he still wrote the 2 best party members for that one. It's not just his writing or prose talent, it's his vision when he is creative lead in shaping a unique RPG that really helps bring out the story or philosophy at the forefront.

I was more lukewarm on Alpha Protocol (though he wasn't really lead until the end), and nothing he's made since has particularly caught my eye, so maybe he is a has-been.

All you have have to do is compare Tides and Planescape to see why Planescape is still so impressive. That game alone is enough to make Avellone sought after and makes people excited to hear he's writing for something

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Hear hear. Tides really aped the Planescape format. Some sort of existential/philosophical crisis, lots of words, but Tides is just a hollow shell. I ended up skipping overly verbose descriptions that went nowhere and couldn't even finish the game. Planescape Torment is still my favorite RPG.

 

[Kurtofan]

What have you been feeling about him "for a while" exactly and why? He's been pretty popular in recent times and boosting lots of CRPG productions with his talents, he's played a huge role in he CRPG revival we've been experiencing and even in the most recent Obsidian products which you hold in high regard, what is the bad side there and how have you separated Obsidian's products from Avellone's work to see Obsidian as good and him as not so? I mean, this is the list of his most recent stuff from Wikipedia (I dunno if complete, I feel like he's been involved in more than those projects in some capacity, not always as a core writer but also in guidance/supporting roles, never mind how many current CRPGs are inspired exactly from his older works he was lead writer or designer in of course). Pathfinder: Kingmaker in particular is my most anticipated release in the genre, hopefully it lives up to the hype but that's OT.

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He did/does good work and I respect that , but all the public drama he stirred up since he left Obsidian has soured me a bit on him. If a kickstarter says "We'll get Avellone!!!", I'm like "that's cool, but eh".

 

[R1CHO]

If anything this makes me more reticent about investing in Fig.

Not much more to say, sucks for the guys, life is hard sometimes. I just hope Avellone has the chance someday to lead on a medium to big production with creative freedom. Probably won't happen.

 

[water_wendi]

Avellone gets respect for his past work. He was lead designer for Planescape: Torment and KOTOR2, and there's not much like them out there. Main thing that comes close is Mask of the Betrayer (kudos to George Ziets), though he still wrote the 2 best party members for that one. It's not just his writing or prose talent, it's his vision when he is creative lead in shaping a unique RPG that really helps bring out the story or philosophy at the forefront.

I was more lukewarm on Alpha Protocol (though he wasn't really lead until the end), and nothing he's made since has particularly caught my eye, so maybe he is a has-been.

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What about New Vegas and its dlc?

 

[EternalMushroom]

Right, keep on attacking whatever website that interviewed Chris. And just FYI:


Ad hominem (Latin for "to the man" or "to the person"[1]), short for argumentum ad hominem, is a fallacious argumentative strategy whereby genuine discussion of the topic at hand is avoided by instead attacking the character, motive, or other attribute of the person making the argument, or persons associated with the argument, rather than attacking the substance of the argument itself.

 

[Vault]

What about New Vegas and its dlc?

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he was only lead on the DLC i think

 

[Deleted member 16569]

I mean, Planescape Torment is still one of the most unique and best written RPGs ever. All you have have to do is compare Tides and Planescape to see why Planescape is still so impressive. That game alone is enough to make Avellone sought after and makes people excited to hear he's writing for something

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I don't held Planescape is exactly such high esteem as most people do, but I won't argue that it's extremely unique, and well written.
I actually ended up backing Tides, because of my enjoyment of Planescape, and honestly I barely played it, it didn't click with me.

But, and without wanting to keep hammering at it, I should point out that Chris Avellone was credited as a writer on Tides. A minimal participation, to be sure (designed a character, plus a few tweaks here and there), but it's exactly the kind of participation he has in several recent projects, and when the game ends up being great, his contribution is referenced and lauded, but when the result in like Tides, people tend to forget about it.

 

[water_wendi]

he was only lead on the DLC i think

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He was Project Director on all the dlc except Honest Hearts. For the base game he was on the writing staff as well as Chief Creative Officer (whatever that entails).

 

[Deleted member 16569]

What about New Vegas and its dlc?

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What about Josh Sawyer? He was what in New Vegas?

Give credit, to where credit is due.

 

[Deleted member 4452]

He did/does good work and I respect that , but all the public drama he stirred up since he left Obsidian has soured me a bit on him. If a kickstarter says "We'll get Avellone!!!", I'm like "that's cool, but eh".

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Yeah, I mean, Avellone as a stretch goal does nothing for me anymore. It was just the whole hope of him being able to lead a new RPG with complete creative freedom with no publisher intervention that really fuelled my interest in RPG kickstarters back in the day. It just never happened.

What about New Vegas and its dlc?

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I unfortunately could not stand the game engine. I gave it a full 10h to try to tolerate it, but couldn't do it anymore :(

 

[water_wendi]

What about Josh Sawyer? He was what in New Vegas?

Give credit, to where credit is due.

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i know what JES did for New Vegas. i just found it odd that this is the second time in like two weeks when Avellones past work is brought up without a mention of New Vegas and its dlc. Is it coincidence that the dlc he was heading is some of the best dlc ever released in gaming?

I unfortunately could not stand the game engine. I gave it a full 10h to try to tolerate it, but couldn't do it anymore :(

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Ah. While unfortunate i understand. i hope one day you are able to enjoy the game.

 

[CottonWolf]

i know what JES did for New Vegas. i just found it odd that this is the second time in like two weeks when Avellones past work is brought up without a mention of New Vegas and its dlc. Is it coincidence that the dlc he was heading is some of the best dlc ever released in gaming?

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I woudn't go that far. IMO Honest Hearts and Lonesome Road are really good. Old World Blues is pretty good. Dead Money is bad.

 

[Chicken Wing]

Not surprising. Obsidian is an EXTREMELY shady and incompetent company. Some of the things they've done are heinous.

 

[Deleted member 16569]

Not surprising. Obsidian is an EXTREMELY shady and incompetent company. Some of the things they've done are heinous.

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Such as?

 

[StereoVSN]

The topic is not surprising to me. I have been disappointed with Obsidian and with their little shady Fig endeavor in any case. However, these allegations make me wish I didn't back PoE2.

 

[Deleted member 29682]

I woudn't go that far. IMO Honest Hearts and Lonesome Road are really good. Old World Blues is pretty good. Dead Money is bad.

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I wouldn't even go that far with Lonesome Road. Great atmosphere but most the of the story is delivered through Ulysses' inane ramblings about the bull and the bear and the bear and the bull and the.....

 

[anexanhume]

This all makes me very sad, mostly for the broken relationships between a lot of very talented people. Developers have enough to worry about with all of the negativity from the consumer side.

Normally I would hope this was an opportunity for personal growth, but everyone seems dug in in this dispute. I am at least glad to see those involved have not lost their passion for making games. Many of the names are incredibly talented individuals and I look forward to all of their content still.

 

[RoninChaos]

Subscribing so I can read later.

 

[FFNB]

Definitely shocking to hear. My time at Obsidian was great, but I wasn't anywhere near upper management (outside of having a few conversations with Feargus that were very pleasant). Granted, that was over ten years ago at this point, so I have no doubt things change.

Such a shame when profit and greed changes a companies culture. Sucks that Chris had to go through this shit.

 

[EternalMushroom]

Such as?

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Hiring people on the internet to attack Bethesda and Bioware made games for example.

 

[Instro]

Hiring people on the internet to attack Bethesda and Bioware made games for example.

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I've never heard this before. Link?

 

[Deleted member 16569]

Hiring people on the internet to attack Bethesda and Bioware made games for example.

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Not only haven't I heard this before, but honestly, that sounds completely ridiculous.
Where did you hear that?

 

[BlackDove]

BASED Avellone providing the unvarnished perspective.

Hope he's having a good time now and working on stuff he likes.

 

[Deleted member 4452]

Hiring people on the internet to attack Bethesda and Bioware made games for example.

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I'll bash Bioware/Bethesda games without Obsidian's urging, thank you very much.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Wait, so Avellone was lying?

 

[Enduin]

Wait, so Avellone was lying?

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Remains to be seen. More like he's still bitter and has a very colored/limited view of how things went down in regards to certain projects and office politics, while in others making pretty serious claims that Urquhart and other owners/upper management have been mismanaging things quite severely for years now, possibly to a criminal degree. But there's been nothing to corroborate his story or claims yet. JSchreier is on the case so with any luck we'll have something a bit more fleshed out in the coming week(s).

His overall behavior, attitude and willingness to really throw some serious mud on other employees in this whole thing has not exactly painted him in a sympathetic light though. At least to me. There's certainly something rotten in Denmark but it's hard to parse the bullshit from the real shit.

 

[Anoregon]

Wait, so Avellone was lying?

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It's likely a lot more complicated than that. There are bound to be multiple valid perspectives with their own implicit biases. That being said, It's extremely unlikely that Obsidian are out-right villains and Avellone is a completely innocent, aggrieved party.

 

[Deleted member 4452]

Remains to be seen. More like he's still bitter and has a very colored/limited view of how things went down in regards to certain projects and office politics, while in others making pretty serious claims that Urquhart and other owners/upper management have been mismanaging things quite severely for years now, possibly to a criminal degree. But there's been nothing to corroborate his story or claims yet. JSchreier is on the case so with any luck we'll have something a bit more fleshed out in the coming week(s).

His overall behavior, attitude and willingness to really throw some serious mud on other employees in this whole thing has not exactly painted him in a sympathetic light though. At least to me. There's certainly something rotten in Denmark but it's hard to parse the bullshit from the real shit.

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Yeah, he's obviously a biased (and seemingly bitter) individual in this case so it'll be nice to have other views. The claims seem pretty serious (funnelling Tyranny money towards Pillars, having family members who do nothing on the payroll) but we haven't seen any evidence yet.

 

[Deleted member 13645]

Yeah, he's obviously a biased (and seemingly bitter) individual in this case so it'll be nice to have other views. The claims seem pretty serious (funnelling Tyranny money towards Pillars, having family members who do nothing on the payroll) but we haven't seen any evidence yet.

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I doubt he's lying. He's a big enough name in games and has a strong reputation, it'd be absurd to throw that away with lying about a previous company in a very public way. Chances are he's telling the truth, but it's a truth colored by his perspective and how he interprets events.

 

[SFLUFAN]

Wait, so Avellone was lying?

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Situations such as this one are RARELY binary and what is "true" and what is "false" are invariably shaded by perception.

 

[BlackDove]

Biased or bitter, I would advise not being overly relativistic (when it comes to most things in life, actually). Pointing out the obvious, namely that the account is from his perspective, and thus limited, establishes absolutely nothing.

What he said is not only quite likely true, but knowing his track record, the way he has spoken about things before having been in the business for more than 15 years, we can say with certitude he is shining a very accurate light on what went on behind closed doors.

I'm personally grateful to him that he has done so. "Saying anything bad about the people one used to work with reflects badly to the highest degree on the person saying it" is horseshit. It is silence, and acceptance of incompetence, mediocrity, and malevolence that is the true cancer infesting any and all societal constructs (such as a workplace).

More people should be like him.

 

[Deleted member 16569]

It's likely a lot more complicated than that. There are bound to be multiple valid perspectives with their own implicit biases. That being said, It's extremely unlikely that Obsidian are out-right villains and Avellone is a completely innocent, aggrieved party.

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Basically that. Avellone presented his point of view, both in terms of project management, and about the way the company was run. Former colleagues, some not even working on Obsidian any longer (so, without anything to gain in all of this), contradicted Chris, or at least said those were not their experiences with the company.
As an accountant, some of what Avellone said, as to what he considers shady practices, appear to be basically a distorted re-telling of normal practices companies do, in order to save taxes, some of those probably ended up being in Chris (and fellow partners) fiscal benefit. And, what he says about the way we was "de-ownered" frankly doesn't make much sense, something clearly is missing.

Anyway, this is clearly a work and business dispute, so if Chris fells he was wronged, all he has to due is file a lawsuit in the appropriate channels. There, both sides could present their arguments, and sort this out.
Instead, he decided to act like an asshole, and post this one sided account on an internet forum, 4 days before Obsidian releases their new title, in order to cause damages to the company and brand.
For someone who happily moved on from his previous job, he sure as hell doesn't act like it.

 

[Enduin]

Part of me is skeptical and yet completely not surprised that Urquhart and the rest of the upper management at Obsidian may be mismanaging things. To a possible criminal degree with having relatives on the payroll is somewhat surprising and hard to to believe, but certainly not impossible. They have a long history of being on the brink and mired in development woes.

That said, I've always been pretty resistant to the narrative that Obsidian has been this poor indie dev continually short changed by big greedy Publishers forcing on them unreasonable requirements and contracts and absconding with their just rewards, it's never that cut and dry. The idea that Obsidian Management continually puts the company in a position of disadvantage doesn't feel all that far fetched given their track record.

Yet Obsidian is still kicking, which also says a lot. Sure they've had several major layoffs over the years and have been on the brink more than once, but despite their hardships and "bad luck" they've managed to stick around when we have seen studio after studio just fall apart and shutter their doors. From independent studios like them to in-house groups, the casualty list since the mid 00s is very long and filled with many many stellar studios. So many other studios would collapse after just one of the missteps and hardships they've seemed to endure with cancelled or troubled projects, let alone the supposed toxic management. So the fact that they've kept it together for so long has to say something of their management. Just not sure what.

Hard to reconcile the two. Is Urquhart and the rest of management that inept, petty, and possibly criminal, yet still lucky/savvy enough to keep the studio afloat in such a volatile and unforgiving industry? Or are they more competent and capable than Avellone is giving them credit.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Remains to be seen. More like he's still bitter and has a very colored/limited view of how things went down in regards to certain projects and office politics, while in others making pretty serious claims that Urquhart and other owners/upper management have been mismanaging things quite severely for years now, possibly to a criminal degree. But there's been nothing to corroborate his story or claims yet. JSchreier is on the case so with any luck we'll have something a bit more fleshed out in the coming week(s).

His overall behavior, attitude and willingness to really throw some serious mud on other employees in this whole thing has not exactly painted him in a sympathetic light though. At least to me. There's certainly something rotten in Denmark but it's hard to parse the bullshit from the real shit.

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It's likely a lot more complicated than that. There are bound to be multiple valid perspectives with their own implicit biases. That being said, It's extremely unlikely that Obsidian are out-right villains and Avellone is a completely innocent, aggrieved party.

Click to shrink...

Situations such as this one are RARELY binary and what is "true" and what is "false" are invariably shaded by perception.

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Basically that. Avellone presented his point of view, both in terms of project management, and about the way the company was run. Former colleagues, some not even working on Obsidian any longer (so, without anything to gain in all of this), contradicted Chris, or at least said those were not their experiences with the company.
As an accountant, some of what Avellone said, as to what he considers shady practices, appear to be basically a distorted re-telling of normal practices companies do, in order to save taxes, some of those were probably ended up being in Chris (and fellow partners) fiscal benefit. And, what he says about the way we was "de-ownered" frankly doesn't make much sense, something clearly is missing.

Anyway, this is clearly a work and business despite, so if Chris fells he was wronged, all he has to due is file a lawsuit in the appropriate channels. There, both sides could present their arguments, and sort this out.
Instead, he decided to act like an asshole, and post this one sided account on an internet forum, 4 days before Obsidian releases their new title, in order to cause damages to the company and brand.
For someone who happily moved on from his previous job, he sure as hell doesn't act like it.

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Thanks guys. It does sound like a complicated situation; that said, on the whole, my perception of Avellone has diminished a bit based on what I am reading. Maybe I am wrong, I hope Jason can shed some light on the issue.

 

[Anoregon]

Biased or bitter, I would advise not being overly relativistic (when it comes to most things in life, actually). Pointing out the obvious, namely that the account is from his perspective, and thus limited, establishes absolutely nothing.

What he said is not only quite likely true, but knowing his track record, the way he has spoken about things before having been in the business for more than 15 years, we can say with certitude he is shining a very accurate light on what went on behind closed doors.

I'm personally grateful to him that he has done so. "Saying anything bad about the people one used to work with reflects badly to the highest degree on the person saying it" is horseshit. It is silence, and acceptance of incompetence, mediocrity, and malevolence that is the true cancer infesting any and all societal constructs (such as a workplace).

More people should be like him.

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It's certainly fair (and seemingly truthful) to say that Obsidian treated Avellone badly, to at least some degree, and I don't mean to dismiss that with a sort of generic "both sides!" handwave. But extrapolating that to a sort of over-arching narrative that the higher-ups at Obsidian are all just shit people that always do bad things (which is essentially the point of view he is presenting) is where people should take a step back and realize that it's probably not that simple. Especially when other former employees are strongly disputing it.