Fallout: New Vegas director and RPG maestro Josh Sawyer says it doesn't matter how good a game's writing is if the pacing is bad: "Players are going to get tired of it"

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Obsidian writers have more sway than most studios, though

Fallout: New Vegas
(Image credit: Obsidian Games)

It's safe to say Josh Sawyer knows a thing or two about RPGs since he's been behind a couple damn good ones (Pillars of Eternity, Pentiment, and Fallout: New Vegas among them). And according to the long-time Obsidian Entertainment developer, good game writing can only go so far if the pacing is a slog.

Speaking to Game File about the studio's mammoth, branching scripts – that sort of look like trees full of nodes instead leaves – Sawyer said that quality words aren't the only thing that matters. "You can write really great individual lines and have great characterization," he explains. "And if the pacing is really bad and drags, the players are going to get tired of it."

"Compared to many studios that I've heard horror stories from, our writers I think have a lot of say," Sawyer says. "The writers are kind of co-creators with the area designers of just what the experience in an area is. There is some give and take and back and forth there. I wouldn't say – and this is often a point of contention – that one has ultimate authority over the other. They need to collaborate and figure out what they're trying to do and say."

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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