Migratory Fluxes
Submitted by Abalieno on December 15, 2007 - 04:35.
So we have the first half of the news.
For those who doesn't know he was the live Producer of Everquest 2 and did his job the very best possible from what I've seen. He became producer after launch, so can't be blamed for what happened before, even if I think he was Technical Director before that, so maybe he had some blame on that front. In any case I admired him for his way of dealing and talking with the community. He always answered the critics with moderation and honesty and this is not something that happens rarely, it NEVER happens.
Since I have no need to write presentation letters for colleagues like Lum (wink) why I'm writing this? Simply because I'm curious. I have esteem for him and curious to know where he ends up. I doubt he would have quit the job if he didn't have a backup ready.
I guess we'll read soon the other half of the news. In a press release? Or maybe on his blog.
My guess is Curt Shilling.
Submitted by Abalieno on May 15, 2007 - 05:47.
It's been described in a brutal way:
At approximately 4:30PM today, Sigil employees were told to meet outside. At which point they were terminated. On the spot.
Did they tell them to stand along the wall before they got executed?
Do we have the movie on YouTube?
Only official comment from Nino (FoH's mascot), on the FoH's boards:
I will make an announcement tomorrow regarding my status...
That isn't a denial of the news.
My guess is that SOE cherry-picked some of them and fired the others. They'll probably pretend Vanguard is going to be supported at least to milk it as much as possible before its demise. After all SOE still has Matrix Online active.
In other news SWG team is made by 20 devs.
Submitted by Abalieno on May 2, 2007 - 02:18.
Sanya joins Lum and Matt Firor out of the door, and I think it's a good thing (for her, not for Mythic).
Lepidus: Can you talk about the circumstances of your departure?
Sanya Thomas: We mutually agreed to separate.
Mark Jacobs: I'm not going to say anything else on the subject, so please don't ask, sorry.
The fun part is that Lum wrote a pitch letter for her :)
I consider this a HUGE news. Now don't fucking tell me that it was just for personal reasons and things with Mythic were all fine and dandy.
I got the impression that Sanya was a bit of a driving force. Bad for Mythic, but Mythic doesn't deserve anymore good things.
I think it won't take long to discover where she lands. Maybe on Lum's belly? (or maybe that's too far away)
Well, I would, if I were leaving the area. Which I'm not.
Submitted by Abalieno on April 30, 2007 - 15:04.
Kendrick was one of Vanguard original designers and he left Sigil a couple of years ago, so not part of this last diaspora.
Now at Relic, the makers of Warhammer 40k Dawn of War and Company of Heroes:
Start work at Relic on Tuesday provided they let me across the border.
This would fuel the rumor about Relic working on a Warhammer 40k mmorpg, if it wasn't for the fact that someone else has announced it.
That leaves space for some speculation.
--
Instead about latest Vanguard's news, Shild:
So, is there about to be a large influx of resumés floating around the MMORPG industry? Are some of them already flying about?
At this time though, I'm merely reporting what I've... heard. As such, do not consider this confirmation nor a denial.
Submitted by Abalieno on April 24, 2007 - 05:26.
Four months later and Vanguard is now perfect.
...What? Isn't what everyone used to say a few months back? That the game just needed a few more months of development to be ready?
shiznitz: Latest hubbub: Sigil UI dev quit a few weeks ago and the UI mod community is annoyed that no one is helping them any more. While reading the rants, I discovered my issue with having to click on spell icons twice to actually fire the spell was not my issue but a long known bug. Wonderful.
Devs, your UI is the first and last thing your customers see when they log in and log out. It should work and not suck. Looking like WoW's isn't enough.
Also, Nino seems to have left Sigil.
Kageru: Meanwhile I have no idea what happened with the game coding. The code seems to already have reached an unmaintainable state where bugs just can't be fixed. I can't imagine how else the act of forming a group, or not falling through the world, can still be so flawed. Meanwhile the rate of introduction for new bugs is scarily high.
I honestly can't see the game holding enough subscriptions to fund the development it needs to be decent.
Rumors. My opinion is still the same, the game was broken this January, as it will be broken next January (if it survives till then).
And not much because of Brad's hardcore game design, but more because of execution was poor (and planning, which is Brad's fault in this case).
One player also noticed that quests don't work in multiplayer, which would be interesting to discuss.
EDIT: New rumor. I doubt it's true. And even if it's true SOE will never admit the game isn't doing well and will probably dress the press release so it sounds positive.
Submitted by Abalieno on March 1, 2007 - 06:45.
What did I tell you, hm?
I saw this coming miles away. Obviously from THQ.
I read a while ago that Relic (the makers of Company of Heroes and WH40k Dawn of War) was actively hiring for an unannounced MMO project. Link the dots...
Warhammer 40k mmorpg officially announced.
Problem is that the dots were wrong. I thought Relic was the last good game studios left who could make a decent MMO. Instead it's not Relic working on this. It's another FRIGGIN Austin-based studios named Vigil Games.
The team there is led by David Adams, formerly of NCsoft, and is comprised of several MMO veterans from that community. We look forward to making further announcements with more specifics on the game in the coming months.
More incest going on.
From where are these devs leaking? ;)
Submitted by Abalieno on February 7, 2007 - 20:02.
From Sunsword's blog:
Last Friday was my last day at Codemasters. I've started a new company called "Heatwave Interactive, Inc.", as a vehicle to bring great games to the masses and "right" some of the "wrongs" in the games business. Currently, Heatwave only has a few employees, but we've already landed our first contract for a major client.
Codemasters & England.
Heatwave & Austin.
If you aren't in Austin you are no one.
Submitted by Abalieno on January 15, 2007 - 22:20.
I got the EU copy and already registered/patched it. While Gamestop is kaput (so no US copy for a while, I fear).
Three things:
- The opening screen with the portal has a great impact. The screenshot doesn't give it justice.
- The musics. Wow. I love the rearranged theme. Epix!
- I gave a look to the credits. The full trio (Pardo, Kaplan/Tigole and Chilton/Kalgan/Evocare) is credited as design lead. While Furor was also promoted and he is now "Lead Quest Designer". And... Sachant works for WoW? Huh? Last I heard she was with Shadowbane, but the credits list "Danielle Vanderlip" as one of the community managers. That's her name, right? Or it's her or someone else I already know. That name isn't new at all.
Submitted by Abalieno on January 8, 2007 - 03:18.
I just found out that Grimwell ("Craig Dalrymple" says Cosmik) is at SOE as the community manager for EQ2. Wow, big grats and good luck.
I like a lot reading these kinds of news because I like to see people succeed or move toward interesting perspectives, so I'll keep registering movements in our community. Now if I was naughty I would link his previous call for independence ;p
His welcome message on EQ2 boards can be found here.
In-context I also relink and quote Lum:
Public relations people are normally great people (they kind of have to be, being that dealing with people is their job and all) but they are at direct cross-purposes from a free flow of information which is necessary if developers are to ever get honest feedback. Which is why the best community relations teams aren’t treated as PR adjuncts, but their own seperate fiefdom, where they act more as ombudsmen then salesmen.
That's quite pertinent, ain't it?
Btw, there was a lot of movement during the past year. Everyone found a good chair to sit on. This is positive, no?
Well, there's Cosmik who's looking for a new job.
Submitted by Abalieno on January 2, 2007 - 04:00.
I swear, way too many unexpected things happened today and it was by far the worst day to stop posting. There's enough material for what I usually write in a whole week. Restraining from writing has NEVER been so hard.
But, come on. At least this: Jeff Freeman works at Spacetime Studios. It's sort of confirmed.
It was the very first thing I thought as he linked the lead designer blog, that by the way has a GREAT piece on server architecture that ties back to all I wrote about server travel, even recently with the "grid" idea for Fallout, communities and the TRUE impact those choices have. With a wonderful conclusion:
My point is to make it clear to other designers that the fundamental server architecture has an impact on the game in a very real, money-in-the-pocket, subscribers-on-the-line kind of way. Most architecture decisions are driven by cost-benefit analysis: what the programmers can do, how much money and time it will take for them to do it, etc. These are important considerations, but considerations generally made without much a consideration of game design. Game designers may accept the programmer recommended path without considering all the implications that structure has for their game.
That is SO true. Glad that at least someone is looking at it from the right perspective. FINALLY.
Anyway, I had this suspect that also Jeff Freeman worked there (or it would be hard to explain how he knew about this new blog), then I noticed that this guy lists Jeff Freeman under "Spacetime Dev Blogs" (listing Lietgardis as well, but I knew that already). Ehehehe....... OWN3D!
So. Senior designer. And, if I'm not wrong, "Lead System Designer"?
Good luck and everything. You seem to have a good team there ;)
P.S.
Who's Brandon Reinhart? I tried googling and got lots of stuff. He even has an IMDB page! Filmography? Lol! He comes too from SOE/SWG and, gosh!, he worked on Duke Nukem Forever!
Submitted by Abalieno on December 15, 2006 - 18:37.
My FEAR is that he is working for Second Life, in a way or another. I had this suspect since Cosmik stalked him (WTB SEARCH FUNCTION!).
Spotted by Ubiq:
I am glad you think of me as enlightened. :) We will be announcing our startup in the next couple of days, and when we do, believe it or not, I hope you’re among those who are interested.
While I'm very curious I keep hearing in my head the voice "not for the gamer". Sigh.
It's like two factions at war for predominance. And I'm definitely on the "gamer" side.
Anyway, after one year wondering I have some anticipation.
EDIT: Cosmik is right (comment here below). The new company is named "Areae".
He is NOT working on Second Life. He is building HIS OWN:
What matters is what it means: many places, many worlds.
Areae, Inc. is a company dedicated to taking the tired old virtual world and making it into something fresh and new. Something anyone can jump into. Something where anyone can find something fun to do or a game to play. Something where anyone can build their own place on the virtual frontier.
We’re working on some new tech that will literally change how virtual worlds are made. We’ve got a cool world or two incubating on the back burner.
We want to make sure that putting you guys first is something that is in Areae’s DNA from the very beginning.
(from jobs page) We’re all about having fun while doing great work, a real collaborative environment, openness with the community and real respect for community members. We’re making the next gen of virtual worlds — and it’s not what you expect.
If you’re interested in revolutionizing virtual worlds and online gaming, we want to hear from you.
We’ll be running quiet for a while — check back in a few months to see how far we’ve come.
This is coherent with what Raph wrote from the beginning. "The game of games".
I have to say that the way he is "selling it" is fascinating. Instead of saying much he is just teasing the curiosity with a site with a simple layout and incisive choice of words. Straight to the point and very, very effective.
"We're definitely working in the virtual world space," says Koster, but adds that though "there will absolutely be games involved, I would say that we are disruptive. We're doing something different. We're trying to reinvent how virtual worlds are made, how customers are treated, how they're accessed, how the business models work, pretty much everything."
Koster says that the seed of Areae was planted as soon as he'd left Sony Online Entertainment. "In a lot of ways," he says, "this is something that I've been dreaming about doing for a long time. But we're setting forth now, the company is funded, we're venture backed, and we're out there hiring. It's pretty exciting."
"We're not talking too much about the business model yet," he says, "but the way to put it is that we're really looking to bring the qualities of the web, especially of Web 2.0, to virtual worlds. There's a lot of things wrapped up in that – everything from very low-end user costs for being able to participate, lots and lots and lots of listening to users, having them involved, having them contribute."
What he is *actually* doing is not important. For the next six months we'll just discuss how you pronounce "Areae".
--
EDIT: Since I got linked I'll copy over the "meatier" comments I wrote on the forums. At least there's something more to it.
--
I like a lot the "words" on the site, but I don't like much the way my brain guesses what he is doing.
On Gamasutra he says that he'll do something that is different from EverQuest as it is different from Second Life.
He says that the players will build content.
He says that there will be some sort of "metaverse" from where you access different kinds of games.
He always repeated that he wants something that requires almost nothing to download.
He says the business model will be different.
The point is to take all those hints and de-dignify them, translate them in common language that would probably remove much of the "magic".
It can be a portal or an aggregator, but in this case there are already other examples.
If it's a "platform" then the point is to build tools, scripting languages, engines and so on. But that would be Second Life again.
He probably wants to make something much simpler than Second Life and that everyone can jump in. Something that doesn't require you to read instructions. Easy to get into.
Maybe less tech-savy and more game-y.
--
Jayce: When did this turn into a "beg and carp for a job" thread?
--
More concrete details right from "the producer". And Raph himself gave it the best coverage.
I knew he loved the teasing.
Where Game Meets the Web"
On a browser?
Submitted by Abalieno on December 7, 2006 - 00:37.
If their first goal was weaken SOE I guess they hit it (press release):
Maynard , MA . – December 6, 2006 - Green Monster Games, LLC (GMG), a company dedicated to producing innovative massively multiplayer online games (MMOs), today announces that Scott Cuthbertson has been appointed Vice President of Creative Development. Cuthbertson will oversee GMG's internal creative design process, working closely with creative visionaries Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore to bring their unique and unprecedented vision to life.
“Scott Cuthbertson has a proven track record of developing successful games with a global appeal. Drawing such talent from a source like Disney brings something very special to our company. Signing Scott to our team broadens GMG's capabilities as a game studio and raises the bar for creative contributions,” said Curt Schilling, founder of the recently launched online game company based in Maynard , MA . “We are honored that he has accepted our offer to lead the creative talent at GMG.”
In his 15+ years of experience in production management and creative direction in the videogame industry, Cuthbertson has specialized in managing high-profile properties for the world's largest entertainment companies, including Disney, Warner Bros., Vivendi Universal, and Nintendo. His credits include games based on such renowned properties as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings ™ , Namco's Ridge Racer ™ , Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean ™ , and TSR/Wizards of the Coast's Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ™ .
“The vision of Green Monster Games is to build a company driven by creative ideas, a strong team dynamic, and a single-minded focus on pushing the boundaries,” said Cuthbertson. “It's a privilege to have been chosen to oversee the formation of the creative foundation of GMG, and I am quite frankly in awe of the team that is coming together from all corners of the creative world – whether it's from videogames, film, novels, comics, toys, music... wherever. This team is unified in its goal to craft an exceptional MMO gaming experience.”
Today GMG also announces other additions to its creative team:
Billy Ahlswede joins GMG as a Senior Character Artist. Ahlswede comes from Sony Online Entertainment. With 6 years of experience in the games industry, he has worked on Untold Legends™ Dark Kingdom™ for the PlayStation®3, NBA 05 (PSP®), NBA 06 (PSP®), and NBA 07 (PS3) . Prior to SOE, Ahlswede worked with Breakaway Games.
Josh Singh joins GMG as a Senior Character Artist. Singh is an award-winning character artist with 11 shipped titles during his time in the games industry. He comes to GMG from Sony Online Entertainment. Prior to SOE, Singh was with Iron Lore Entertainment.
Niraj Desai joins GMG as a Senior Animator. Desai's career in games began with Sony Online Entertainment in 2002. He helped ship PlanetSide®, PlanetSide® Core Combat™, PlanetSide® Aftershock , EverQuest® II , EverQuest® II Desert of Flames™, EverQuest® II Kingdom of Sky™, EverQuest® II Echoes of Faydwer™ , and Untold Legends™ Dark Kingdom™ for the PlayStation®3.
Damarcus Holbrook joins GMG as a Senior Environment Artist. Over the past 6 years, Holbrook has created zones for many games in the MMO and first-person-shooter worlds. His environments can be seen in Valve Corporation's Half-Life® 2 , EA Games™ From Russia With Love™ , and in Sony Online Entertainment's Untold Legends™ Dark Kingdom ™ for the PlayStation®3. Holbrook was previously an environment artist in the film industry, having worked on League of Extraordinary Gentlemen for Big Red Pixel.
About Scott Cuthbertson they omit saying he worked on Matrix Online (or so says Mobygames), which would be pertinent for a MMO, while they underline he worked on AD&D. Twelve years ago (Menzoberranzan).
Celebrity catwalk?
To comment I'll use an excerpt of a reply I wrote on the GMG thread on FoH:
Now when assembling that team is your focus on people who are cool, creative, and innovative but have no experience at actually launching a game?
That's a mistake, it's obvious.
But it would be interesting coupling experience with inexperience. It's not a choice between one or the other. It's about taking something out of both so that one feeds the other. A game project for a brand new studios is also a constant learning process.
In the longer term it is also essential that you don't just have experienced old guys on the same chairs, but also that you TRAIN new talent. So that you don't just "leech" big names and "worth" from nearby companies (only to be leeched when at the worst time by someone else) but also produce that talent. Become a stimulus for other people, introduce new faces in the industry. A laboratory of ideas that keeps things alive.
As I wrote somewhere else: a company that pushes the evolution of the genre instead of being victim of it.
I think that good game companies should become academies when you build a culture and produce talent instead of just "stealing" it from somewhere else and using it up.
Submitted by Abalieno on December 4, 2006 - 16:18.
Sometimes I have odd premonitions. I found Jeff Freeman post as Dundee on my thread on QT3 and, I don't know why, but I thought that maybe he left SOE. It was just a random thought I had without a reason.
Then I start reading a long post he wrote on his blog (that maybe I'll comment), and here's what I find:
I haven’t been on the SWG team in a long time, and I don’t work at SOE now.
And:
I am currently the Lead Systems Designer for a different project.
Wow.
So where?
Submitted by Abalieno on November 28, 2006 - 23:30.
So, Eve-Online went down for the September patch. Yes, I know it's almost December ;)
As I commented months ago when the features were announced, it's fun to see at them from another perspective, The WoW perspective.
Even Eve-Online can be inspired and "copy" WoW. And what it is incredible is that they are doing this without making look things out of place. I mean, you would think that adapting fantasy game mechanics to spaceship game wouldn't be trivial.
So, this is what we have:
Rigs - In Eve "rigs" are modules that change a ship's setting in a permanent way. So they aren't modules that you can switch on the fly, but adaptations to the structure of the ship that till now weren't possible. In WoW these are the "socketed items" that Blizzard is going to add with the expansion. They also involve the "hardware" (in WoW: your gear), they allow to specialize it more and they are also permanent.
Contract system - In Eve this is a powerful tool that allows to set auctions but also tasks that can be seen as player created quests. Obviously in WoW this is the Auction House, made more powerful and deep.
Combat Boosters - In Eve these will be temporary bonuses that will likely be used during combat. Combat Boosters are crafted through some new mini-professions. In WoW these are the "potions", they are crafted through the professions and have a temporary effect.
And there's also a mix of enchanting & disenchanting (invention & salvaging in Eve) made functional to the game.
So yeah, Eve-Online is adding auction houses, socketed items and potions. For the Battlegrounds wait next year :)
It's actually odd that even CCP didn't use those comparison to explain better how those new toys work. Maybe they want to appear original ;)
(disclaimer: You can find all kind of ideas represented in older games, but it's obvious that the power of influence of a blockbuster is greater, even if it didn't invent anything.)
Moreover the Kali 1 patch is named "Revelations", and I think that even this "Kali 1" has been subdivided into ANOTHER three branches. Revelations Part 1 of 3.
So we are like... part 1 of 9 in total? For something that was expected to be concluded for May 06, and that will probably be dragged till we ding 2008 (wanna bet?). Heh.
Nevertheless their work is good, as I underlined a while ago when I commented those features (in the first link above). And I'll probably resubscribe to check. Even if I doubt I can notice any difference with my noob characters and considering how all the content is usually only targeted to the hardcores. At least I can play with the new character creation. Which is amazingly good (and maybe I'll quote and comment later).
In the meantime I also noticed that Pann has returned as Community Manager (not really manager but something else, I'll edit when the forums come back up).
She left long ago to work for Auto Assault *chuckle* I wonder why she's back, eheh... Kieron instead (he replaced Pann when she left), was coming straight from UO and he did a SO MUCH BETTER work than her. I don't miss Pann at all.
Luckily it looks like she will do work on the background and not on the forums or directly with the community. Good.
On the matter of good communication (CCP is stiull doing better than everyone else with those great blogs and a good forum activity) I point out that they are working on a "Dev finder" function on the forums and they are also compiling a "daily digest" of all the posts (all stuff that I can link only when the site comes back up).
Submitted by Innsmouth on November 24, 2006 - 13:29.
The same John Capozzi who was Vanguard's Senior Game Designer and resigned.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe not. It's still just my own speculation.
P.S./Edit:
I wrote this because he started to post on the thread about GMG, and, after I wrote this post, Curt announced another press release that should arrive "soon".
Submitted by Abalieno on November 14, 2006 - 21:37.
Yep, speculations were right ;)
Taking hands down from SOE and few other well-known studios. They went for badge-collection.
Steve Danuser has been appointed Director of Community Development/Senior Designer. Danuser will oversee the construction of the company's official website (www.greenmonstergames.net) and develop its fan community while reporting directly to GMG's Founder, Curt Schilling. Danuser, known in the online world as “Moorgard,” was the co-founder of Mobhunter, one of the first websites focused on game design analysis and discussion. He joined Sony Online Entertainment in San Diego in 2003 as the Community Manager for EverQuest® II, founding one of the strongest and most vibrant communities in the MMO space. At SOE he later became a designer on EverQuest® II, working on many aspects of the game including significant contributions to the Echoes of Faydwer™ expansion. Danuser continues to discuss game design on the popular Moorgard.com website.
Ryan Shwayder has been named Community Relations Manager/Designer at GMG and will be working to establish the company's presence through the web and other media alongside Danuser. Shwayder, commonly known to the gaming world as “Blackguard,” has been developing online communities for years, most recently as the Community Relations Manager for EverQuest® II where he also worked with Danuser. He volunteers his time for local IGDA chapters and is well-known for his game development blog at Nerfbat.com.
Erik Theisz has signed on as a Senior Producer for GMG. Theisz also contributed to the worldwide launch of EverQuest® II. He was Design Supervisor and Associate Producer for the original EverQuest® II game, as well as the expansions Desert of Flames™, Kingdom of Sky™, and Echoes of Faydwer™.
Michael Woods joins GMG as Assistant to Director of Customer Service Development/Designer. Woods has an extensive background in customer service, including three years at Sony Online Entertainment.
GMG’s design team will feature an impressive group of experienced MMO artists spearheaded by the creations of Senior Artists Brian Jones and Brian Labore. Jones, known throughout the online gaming community as “BoBo the Seal,” is an industry veteran who has contributed to over twenty-five projects, most notably Age of Empires® 3 for Ensemble Studios and Titan Quest™for Iron Lore Entertainment. Labore, also a veteran in the MMO community, worked at Turbine Entertainment and Blue Fang Games as a Lead Animator. Most recently, Labore was the Animation Director/Lead Animator at Iron Lore Entertainment for the title Titan Quest™.
J. Robin Bickhart has been hired as Director of Business Operations. Bickhart relocated to Concord, MA from Dallas, Texas where he had 18 years of IT, project management, and Business Operations experience.
Brandon Franks joins GMG as Director of Internet Technology. Franks previous employment was as an IT Manager at an industry-leading engineering firm in Arkansas.
Keith Moegle was appointed Assistant to the Founder. Moegle is a former Senior Program Developer for Microsoft when the company first opened it doors back in the 1970s and still consults with Microsoft and other major corporations on software development. Moegle is an associate of Curt Schilling through the ALS Association, a non-profit organization Schilling has supported since 1992. Moegle has been living with ALS for two years.
So... Where's the new blood?
Veterancy isn't fruitful if it doesn't have anyone to train.
P.S.
Both "Blackguard" and "Moorgard" commented the press release.
Submitted by Abalieno on October 19, 2006 - 17:02.
He did:
Sometimes opportunities present themselves that are simply too good to ignore, and if the time is right you just have to take advantage of them.
Not long after Blackguard.
Submitted by Abalieno on September 20, 2006 - 13:37.
Nerfbat leaves Sony:
I’ve decided that if I’m going to make a leap of faith of any kind in my life, I better do it while I’m still young.
Good luck, of course.
Submitted by Abalieno on September 5, 2006 - 16:59.
This is a quick "official" update about my "not Bioware enough" claim (that went further in the comments). I got this in a mail long ago but I rarely check that mail and forgot about it at some point.
First "news" is unrelated, Stormwaltz pointed me that CuppaJo, former City of Heroes community manager, moved from this to this. So from CoH to Tabula Rasa, going through that rumor that revealed to be an half-truth (right about people in CS losing job, false about CoH's subscriptions falling down that much).
So still inside NCSoft, with just some shuffling. Beside this, I'm kind of worried about Guild Wars instead. Something that SirBruce wrote in that thread now seems to receive some confirmations. It seems that Guild Wars is failing its business plan and trying to compensate through microtransactions. Ugh.
And now the part about Bioware:
I just noticed your post from the 9th about the BioWare Austin studio licensing the Hero Engine. To specifically address your concerns about BioWare Austin not being "BioWare enough," I thought you be interested to know that the core of the studio is half Austin vets (Rich, Gordon, Damion), and half transplanted Edmonton staff; James Ohlen (our creative director, who's been with the company since Shattered Steel), Emmanuel Lusinchi (tech designer), and Daniel Erickson (writer).
Okay, I take note.
In the meantime Ubiq (who's working on the combat system for that upcoming Bioware MMO) pointed to an interview with Simutronics about the Hero Engine. I read it but I didn't find much that is interesting to quote or comment as it's filled with very generic claims about how they needed the graphic to be state of the art and how it is all so great. It's not an interview that actually says something concrete and sounds more like they are just trying to advertize and sell the engine.
HeroEngine is a complete solution for MMO developers. We built a client, a server, a toolset for the development team, and a back office billing and customer service solution. The client is not only an advanced graphics engine on par with the industry leaders, but it is tightly integrated with the server for optimizing MMO performance.
We've spent five years building HeroEngine, which is now more than three million lines of code plus middleware like SpeedTree, FaceGen, and other best of breed tools we integrated from other vendors.
BioWare Austin wanted to get up and running quickly, and they liked our ability to let them design, test, and prototype what they envision. We've known many of the people there for a long time, and we were on the same wavelength.
They also say that they are going to work on console ports in the future.
Something that caught my attention and may hint something about what Bioware is developing is that in the interview they insist a lot on how the engine is flexible and how the gamemasters can build and tweak content on the fly, so becoming an active part in the game through live events and things like that:
Our engine liberates GameMasters from simply being online customer service reps, and lets them be much more active in improving the gameplay experience. They can operate NPCs and monsters in real time, they can build massive quests and other in-game events...
Now we don't know if Bioware was looking at that flexibility just to start working on the game sooner or if they instead plan to integrate active gamemasters and dynamic content as well. Actually we know nothing at all about the game. It's fantasy themed, and that's it.
So I don't know, but my spider sense tickled at that point and I suspect that there's something they are planning. It also reminded me an old post, still from Ubiq, where he said they needed a lot of writers. A content-heavy game, maybe, or maybe there's another, more subtle, motivation.
Nevertheless my opinion remains the same:
"Licencing technology is like buying a roof for your design potential."
I still think that "game design" cannot be detached and made independent from the technology development needed to realize a potential.
Submitted by Abalieno on July 13, 2006 - 01:13.
...to start a brand new studio, it seems. (another one? yay?)
While Lum seems to pay his tribute, as if he owed him a favor.
I don't really have much to comment since I know nothing about this last event, nor I know how he worked or if he was doing a good work. My impression from DAoC was actually positive about him. But wasn't him between those strongly supporting "Imperator"?
Reasons? Paint me skeptical:
I know the Internet TRUTH BRIGADES are immediately streaming toward the Batforums with the tolling of doom for Mythic, but, like me, his move was more about location than anything else. Since marrying he was commuting on a daily basis from Hunt Valley, MD to Fairfax, VA. There’s only so much of that a wife will put up with.
I've never doubted of Lum's frankness, this is a first.
Anyway, who cares? That's the best decision he ever made. I wonder if he was between those applauding.
I can already see a number of Mythic developers following him and jumping ship. With the only difference that, in that case, it won't be publicized.
Good luck with the new studio. It won't be easy to start from zero all over again.
Submitted by Abalieno on June 23, 2006 - 14:26.
Lum worries about his friends at Mythic, now lets not start worrying about Lum, please...
While I was writing the Prey review I noticed this comment:
Offtopic, but there are rumors about trouble in NCSoft Austin -- layoffs.
I checked the link provided but saw nothing relevant.
Then I start my usual blog tour and I see this on F13:
NC Soft (US) just had a big layoff today:
80% of GM's
90% of tech support
75% of QA
Numerous other staff, from producers to marketing/pr.
They are blaming the declining subscriber numbers for City of Heroes/COV which has slowly dropped to just over 100k total. Also to blame has been the disaster that is Auto Assault, which has yet to climb over 10k total subscribers since its launch in the third week in April.
Tabula Rasa continues to suck massive amounts of cash, yet still has no release date in sight.
Not good.
I'm sure we'll hear more about this later. It's starting to sound less of a rumor.
EDIT: Comment from Alan Dunking on Q23, and official announce here below in the comments:
We can't really comment on anything regarding this, honestly. I think I can safely say Lum & I are still employed.
I do want to give general advice for any kind of weird anonymous posting on the net:
* Don't believe everything you read.
and
* It's never as bad as it sounds (or looks).
--- Alan
EDIT2: For a mean chuckle notice Walt's comment on the Q23 thread:
EA Mythic's hiring.
From incestuous families only deformed childs.
What about new people?
Btw, I doubt that people in Austin (the Hollywood of mmorpgs) are going to move to Fairfax Virginia to join Mythic.
HIRE ME! I'll cross the seas like Christopher Columbus and discover the new world!
(J. also commented)
Submitted by Abalieno on June 14, 2006 - 12:32.
First comments from Rob Pardo in a long while. Commenting the last controversial "news":
Nothing in that rumor is true in regards to Blizzard. If I had to guess, there was some confusion between what Vivendi has planned for its game division versus what Blizzard has planned. While Blizzard is owned by Vivendi, their game division operates seperately from Blizzard.
-Eno
Since WOW shipped, we have lost some artists, and a few other folk, none of which were designers. As to faction grinding...I agree that it is way too "grindy" and we are looking to overhaul the way faction works in the expansion. It was one of those features that was put into the game in late beta and never really received the polish and refinement that it deserves.
-Eno
I really do wonder if he's always been there or if he quite WoW for a while to work on something else. If he's back it could be a very good thing.
He does not really convince me with that "if I had to guess, there was some confusion between what Vivendi has planned for its game division versus what Blizzard has planned". Those quotes from Vivendi were quite precise and they were analyzing WoW's costs and development time.
SirBruce, wake up and give us the slides (if they weren't bullshit).
Submitted by Abalieno on May 25, 2006 - 08:44.
It seems that Ubiq isn't going to miss Shadowbane:
Back to the pixel mines I go. Today is my first day as the Lead Combat Designer for Bioware Austin.
In the jobs page at Bioware it is interesting to notice one of the "skill sets" recommended:
Familiarity with fantasy role-playing games is a must.
From SirBruce (attendible or not):
In a surprising statement at E3, Rich Vogel says they are aiming for 1 million subscribers, with 200K – 400K being at the minimum of what would be considered successful. This should give us an indication of the potential scope of this game and the resources BioWare is committing to it.
It seems also that the game will have a focus on the "story" (also confirmed by this request), which doesn't really appeal me since I'm waiting for more interaction, PvP and sandbox-types of games more than content-driven.
This is all I've gathered till now. Only one thing is sure, we won't see much for at least another couple of years:
BioWare, like Blizzard, does not rush things.
Submitted by Abalieno on May 18, 2006 - 04:19.
I have a long list of stuff I forgot to write about.
Two months ago Shadowbane went naked, erm... free. We were wondering what could be the consequences of this. The most positive expectation was that the game could have been used to promote a possible sequel that we knew was in the works.
Then we got the news that Wolfpack was blowing up. Goodbye optimism.
This week something appeared on the official website of the game:
I am not at liberty to say much at this moment. There is currently an official announcement in the works that will explain things at greater length and detail. At the same time, we know the community has many questions and we do not wish to just ignore the situation. What I can say at this point is that come tomorrow, Shadowbane will still be running and you'll still have Sachant and myself here to do what we do best. You will also see Jinx, who is new to the Shadowbane Team but an old member of the community itself.
Let me dispel any rumors before they begin. Today Wolfpack Studios has been dissolved and is no more. With that said, members of Wolfpack are reforming under a new group. This group will be working with Ubisoft to help usher in the next era of Shadowbane.
In other words, do not go anywhere! The Saga that is Shadowbane has many more chapters to be written and read!
And from Ubiq:
So yesterday was my last day at Wolfpack Studios, which is I believe now officially closed down. Yesterday was an odd day, with basically two dozen people sitting around chatting and playing Magic, waiting to be fired. Er, “downsized”. Whatever.
As it stands now, it looks like a new studio will arise phoenix-like from the ashes of Wolfpack. That new studio will initially work on providing contract service and support for other MMO developers, and use the earnings to pitch a next-generation MMO. Some of the contract work is lined up already. As for the original title, it’s far too soon to say what it will be.
As for me, I’m not joining in on the above adventures. I’m pursuing an altogether different alternative, which will be revealed all in good time.
It sounds like a split. Some guys in the studio will stay and pass to the new one and hopefully work on a new mmorpg when the times are mature (unlikely, imho). While Ubiq and maybe some of his mates are moving to something else.
On Corpnews they say SB will need to find an alternate revenue model. It will be interesting to see how this goes as well.
EDIT: The new studio formed is named "Stray Bullet Games".
The soap opera continues.
Submitted by Abalieno on May 8, 2006 - 16:57.
Small update and some precisations now that I dispelled some doubts that didn't make sense.
See my previous guesses.
Fact #1 - Dungeon Runners is being developed in Austin and not in Cali. As someone remarked in the comments.
Fact #2 - Remember Blizzard's devs leaving to join NCSoft? Well, these guys ARE NOT working on Dungeon Runners.
Fact #3 - Dungeon Runners was being developed by another company (Realm Interactive) with another title ("Exarch", which also came from "Trade Wars: Dark Millennium"). For various reasons it passed to NCSoft who is reworking it substantially (I guess the release isn't so soon as I thought).
Fact #4 - The Blizzard's guys have really their own studio in Orange Country (known as "NCOC"), but working on something that is still unannounced.
It seems that Dungeon Runners went through many reiterations. See this three years old interview with the lead designer and notice how those screenshots resemble to those from Dungeon Runners. It looks like Joe Madureira followed the project all along as someone smartly noticed.
In its first incarnation (Trade Wars) the game was planned for a Q1 2002 release (and was a RTS). Wow, that's four years ago. I originally thought the game had been quickly hacked together in a few months, it seems I couldn't have been more wrong. It had a twisted, long history.
No idea if we'll know more about all this at the E3. As Lum wrote in the link above, he isn't working for any of those projects.
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