Obsidian PAX West Player Choice in Game Design Panel Video

Yesterday was the last day of PAX West, and Paradox Interactive decided to close their own presence at the Penny Arcade Expo with a panel about reactivity and choices in role-playing games. The panelists were Brian Heins, Matt MacLean, Megan Starks and Denise McCurry, respectively game director, lead writer, narrative designer and level designer on Tyranny, and J.E. Sawyer, Pillars of Eternity’s project lead and Obsidian’s design director.

During the panel, Obsidian’s developers explain their stance on storytelling and reactivity, their interest in systems and mechanics that generate interesting stories, the opportunity cost involved when deciding to support certain choices over others, and offered some anecdotes on their past and current work. While one gets the impression the panel was organized largely to promote Tyranny, no particular announcements about the game were made: