This is a coincidence, right? I mean these clowns wouldn't be trying to insult obsidian. For those who don't know, the "pillars of the community" is a cult in fallout 4, supposed to be dedicated to bring things back to the way they were in the good old world. Upon meeting them the player finds out that they are actually scammers who demand all the player's stuff and then the player basically kills them, all in a typical unfunny bethesda way.
I would say you're stretching but I always did find their faction name to be really really weird and forced. I don't think Bethesda is in any position to make fun of other studios out there.
Coincidence. Bethesda just wanted a silly little quest-line(Like every single one of the quests in Fallout 4). Don't look too much in to it.
Yeah, it is. And the rest of the context is kind of reminiscent of obsidian. They claim the world is broken and that we should go back to the old ways (rpgs, fallout in particular). The ( gaming ) community worships them, but they apparently just want their money. (Unlike bethesda which is, like, the future.) I mean it does seem a bit far fetched but the name is suspiciously similar to PoE. ( i get a bit upset typing this )
Sounds more like a snarky reference to the segment of their own forum community that still existed prior to the FO4 launch and forum migration (but to my knowledge doesn't so much anymore) that wanted Fallout to be great again like it used to in the good old days, rather than a jab at Obsidian. "Pillars of the community" would fit that well.
I mean you must be aware that the phrase "Pillar of the community" right? I mean really that's some serious mental gymnastics at work.
We're talking about a company that made the power-armor gang and the tunnel-snakes (which rule!) and where the lead writer considers dead heads on a plate 'good writing'. I really doubt they did this to mock some other studio. The truth might be as simple as this, they just don't give a shit anymore.
no, i admit i'm not aware of such phrase, english is not my native language. It sounded odd to me, and strangely similar to pillars of eternity. What does it mean, then?
I apologize for assuming that you knew this based on language. The phrase "pillar of the community" generally means something that figuratively "props up" a community or place. For example: Say there is a small town and many poor people live there, there could be a locally owned grocery store that gives out food to the poor for free. This grocery store could be considered a "pillar of the community" as they are a force of good that "props up" everyone else around them, like a pillar. In Fallout 4 it's likely that they adopted this name because they want to sound like they're the one's that will lift up everyone around them.
As @Zyrax said, it's just a term that refers to the most important people of a specific group, such as a neighbourhood or office. It's a complete coincidence, but even if it wasn't, I'd say the group is more of a snark at NMA and places like /r/Fallout which aren't as "appreciative" of Bethesda's efforts as their fans are. I'd also say it'd be a weird to have them reference Obsidian as if they have some sort of rivalry; the latter barely pops up on Bethesda's radar, and the only time they've ever interacted Obsidian made them a nice little game to rake in cash with.
I generally get the feeling /r/Fallout worships New Vegas and Bethesda fanwanking is quarantined to /r/fallout3 and 4, though I'm no expert. Anyway, my point stands.
/r/Fallout is an echo chamber of "Fallout 4 had so many missed opportunities" followed shortly by "but it's still a good game."
I don't think they care enough to insult another studio. I always saw it as one of the many dropped quests or something. I seriously doubt it's anything more than just more ghost content that was never fleshed out or put into the game but the left it in as a "Ah whatever fuck it, it's content right?"
I like to think Bethesda was self aware of their own Fallout 4 game and left little hints: I mean that just like the game's quest Pillars of the Community, people give Bethesda their hard earned money because of promises of a great end result, then people just keep coming back to give more money (DLCs) and at the end they still see nothing much of what was promised. It is the same with Emil's own character on Fallout 4, Parker Quinn who tries to scam the player with a fake card he says it's accepted by every vendor in the commonwealth (bonus points for Parker Quinn calling the player a retard even if he buys the card or not). Then we have the Super Mutant orders, "KILL, LOOT, RETURN". And we also have the Obsessed Fan letter to Hubris comics' editor: Spoiler: Letter