Farewell David Gaider

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GreenWarlock

I missed this, where was the news announced?

Ardanis

Beamblog

batoor

Uhm, well that was quick...

deltago

GreenWarlock said:

I missed this, where was the news announced?

Julius also buried it in the All You Need To Know About Beamdog's Next Project thread.

I made my thoughts known there and agree with Shandyr here.

Wishing Gaider all the best to wherever he does next.

OrlonKronsteen

I wish him well but it's very sad news.

Dev6

Considering his twitter post, I can't help but think this wasn't exactly an amicable parting...

O_Bruce

Not to sound disrespectful, but what did David Gaider contributed to beamdog before leaving, exactly?

AstroBryGuy

O_Bruce said:

Not to sound disrespectful, but what did David Gaider contributed to beamdog before leaving, exactly?

He built their current creative team. The rest is a bit unknown at this point. The Beamblog post says, "We’ve seen Dave conjure new worlds we’d love to play in, and spin stories in places already close to our hearts. Someday we will share the fruits of his labour!"

I see two possibilities:
1. Beamdog has a new D&D CRPG they are working on. Dave likely created the main plot for that game. Why would he leave when there isn't even an announcement of the game? I don't know - maybe it was part of the plan with Trent: come aboard, build a team, give them some groundwork in terms of a plot, and let them build the game.
2. The new game Dave came aboard to create has been shelved - at least for now. Perhaps it was the Planescape: Unraveled concept that was spotted in the STORYHIVE video - http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/11/a-note-about-that-planescape-concept-art.html. Maybe WotC turned down a new proposed D&D 5E Forgotten Realms game. With Beamdog focusing on NWN:EE, Dave then decided to leave for other opportunities.

kanisatha

AstroBryGuy said:

O_Bruce said:

Not to sound disrespectful, but what did David Gaider contributed to beamdog before leaving, exactly?

He built their current creative team. The rest is a bit unknown at this point. The Beamblog post says, "We’ve seen Dave conjure new worlds we’d love to play in, and spin stories in places already close to our hearts. Someday we will share the fruits of his labour!"

I see two possibilities:
1. Beamdog has a new D&D CRPG they are working on. Dave likely created the main plot for that game. Why would he leave when there isn't even an announcement of the game? I don't know - maybe it was part of the plan with Trent: come aboard, build a team, give them some groundwork in terms of a plot, and let them build the game.
2. The new game Dave came aboard to create has been shelved - at least for now. Perhaps it was the Planescape: Unraveled concept that was spotted in the STORYHIVE video - http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/11/a-note-about-that-planescape-concept-art.html. Maybe WotC turned down a new proposed D&D 5E Forgotten Realms game. With Beamdog focusing on NWN:EE, Dave then decided to leave for other opportunities.

^This. Although I just don't see how it could be 1 because 1 goes against everything Beamdog and Gaider himself have been telling us over the past two years about Gaider's role within Beamdog. So I believe it's more along the lines of 2, though I think it is Beamdog themselves who made this decision and WotC had nothing to do with it.

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tbone1

As a longtime football fan, I can tell you that hiring the big name isn’t always the right move. The “hot hire” often crashes and burns, while the unknown often has something to prove. Case in point: when Bruce Arians was hired by the Arizona Cardinals after the 2012season, he was the last of the eight NFL head coaches hired after the 2012 season, but he was the most successful of the bunch.

And sometimes, it’s about the fit as much as the talent.

[Deleted User]

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AstroBryGuy

kanisatha said:

AstroBryGuy said:

O_Bruce said:

Not to sound disrespectful, but what did David Gaider contributed to beamdog before leaving, exactly?

He built their current creative team. The rest is a bit unknown at this point. The Beamblog post says, "We’ve seen Dave conjure new worlds we’d love to play in, and spin stories in places already close to our hearts. Someday we will share the fruits of his labour!"

I see two possibilities:
1. Beamdog has a new D&D CRPG they are working on. Dave likely created the main plot for that game. Why would he leave when there isn't even an announcement of the game? I don't know - maybe it was part of the plan with Trent: come aboard, build a team, give them some groundwork in terms of a plot, and let them build the game.
2. The new game Dave came aboard to create has been shelved - at least for now. Perhaps it was the Planescape: Unraveled concept that was spotted in the STORYHIVE video - http://blog.beamdog.com/2017/11/a-note-about-that-planescape-concept-art.html. Maybe WotC turned down a new proposed D&D 5E Forgotten Realms game. With Beamdog focusing on NWN:EE, Dave then decided to leave for other opportunities.

^This. Although I just don't see how it could be 1 because 1 goes against everything Beamdog and Gaider himself have been telling us over the past two years about Gaider's role within Beamdog. So I believe it's more along the lines of 2, though I think it is Beamdog themselves who made this decision and WotC had nothing to do with it.

I could see the following as a possible scenario. Keep in mind that this is mostly wild speculation on my part. I have no insider knowledge of anything. The following may have absolutely no basis in reality.

In 2016, Beamdog was planning to make a new Planescape game. Torment: Tides of Numenera was about to be released, and Beamdog had PST:EE in development. It was the perfect time to develop a new Planescape game! This is what brought Gaider on board - the chance to make a Planescape sequel (why would developing a new Forgotten Realms game entice him? He'd just spent the last 10 years writing for a D&D-like fantasy world). Artwork from this in-development game was seen in the STORYHIVE video.

Then, Torment: Tides of Numenera came out in 2017 and *tanked* (even inXile CEO Brian Fargo has called the sales numbers "disappointing"*). On SteamSpy, TToN has just over 150,000 owners. Pillars of Eternity has 1.2 million. PST:EE also only has 92,000 owners according to SteamSpy (BGEE has 670,000, BG2EE has 500,000, and IWD:EE has 180,000). These sales numbers caused Beamdog's plans for Planescape: Unraveled to, well, unravel, and the game was canceled by Beamdog and WotC.

After that, Gaider stayed at Beamdog while they figured out what the company was doing next. I would assume that either the company's future plans no longer call for his services or they no longer interest him.

* https://www.pcgamesn.com/torment-tides-of-numenera/torment-tides-of-numenera-sales

kanisatha

A very interesting hypothesis @AstroBryGuy. My question, though, would be that Beamdog seemed to, on multiple occasions, allude to the game being (1) a brand new IP and not a sequel to an existing game, and (2) set in the Forgotten Realms.

BelleSorciere

This makes me sad. I hope David Gaider moves on to make awesome games or stories in the future.