John Smedley hired by Amazon to produce MMOs

Fight · Feb 15, 2017

lol, couldn't you see it happening though? It is all too perfect.

Xaxius · Feb 15, 2017

Elidroth said:
I disagree. Smed has had some mis-steps, but overall he's made a hell of a lot more money for his bosses than he's lost. I hope he succeeds in a big way, if for no other reason than I love games, and Smed doing well in the future means there are good games coming out of Amazon.

He's a terrible CEO.

He promotes the wrong people, is unable to set a clear and distinct vision, and is unable to hold/attract talent. I chuckle at "some mis-steps". C'mon, SoE/DBG is a studio that made one huge early success and then rode the company into the ground based on those "mis-steps" all under his watch. The launch of SWG early, SWG NGE, Vanguard debacle, EQ2 debacle, closed more MMOs than any other studio in history, the ponytail era, the EQ3/Next/Landmark debacle, etc.

Let's take for instance his first words as "CEO" of this new studio. Instead of taking his years of mis-steps and experience to craft an elegant vision for his new studio, he devolves into the whole "MMO are different now" and "can't compete with WoW" speak. What he should have said, if he had learned anything, is this: "After years of leading large development studios in the MMO space, I've learned one thing... make games that are fun to play. That's what we're going to create and that's what we'll be know for."

That would have made me optimistic. I just see more of the same.

mkopec · Feb 15, 2017

Yeah, I dont know. I dont work in the game industry, im just a gamer, like most of you are. And all I can see in his tenure at sony is him buying 989 and everquest and riding that thing into the ground, along with the other failures he has made since. EQ2? mild sucess than Fail, Vanguard? Fail, H1Z1? mildly popular, but not an mmo either. Then as stated above, the entire EQ3, landmark shit that all sunk to the ground which was supposed to be the second coming of mmorpgs with the voxels and story bricks and all that shit. I just dont see him as a visionary. A guy like him is supposed to see what is the future. He was supposed to discover the next WoW or the next Destiny, or at least the dude that had the vision to make a game like that. He would of made SoE more money by making new EQs with new engines and mild upgrades to game play but keeping the spirit of EQ the same. And no Im not talking about EQ2, lol.

Tearofsoul · Feb 15, 2017

Interesting if this new studio from Amazon is planning to make an MMO

Reht · Feb 15, 2017

Tearofsoul said:
Interesting if this new studio from Amazon is planning to make an MMO

I was wondering that myself since there is was no indication in the press release but my gut reaction is no, only because it doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me to make two MMOs at the same time.

zero_name · Feb 15, 2017

Amazon is making an MMO. I don't if this will be one. With Smedley's ties to the industry and this being the portion of the forum that would likely get the thread title reference, I made it here.

All things considered, I just really wanted to make the thread title. I had little else to contribute.

spronk · Feb 15, 2017

all the employees from that hero's song (failed) kickstarter company are joining amazon under smed

Madikus · Feb 15, 2017

Could this turn it around for Vang...er...Everqu...er...Landm...fuckit...

Vinjin · Feb 15, 2017

I'm in the crowd that says Smed is overrated in the gaming industry. I wish I was wrong because that would mean he had a proven history of successfully managing numerous A-list titles under his name. Instead, I've come to the conclusion that he is the primary reason for their failure because of the shitty way he manages the companies that develop them. He has a consistent track record of rushing shit out the door just to grab those precious box sales dollars when the real prize was the monthly subs revenue (which steadily tanked one shitty release after another). He did it for years with the EQ franchise and then just did it again with Hero's Song.

I give him credit for pulling in Brad and Co 20 years ago to create EQ but I'm having trouble giving him any more than that.

Tearofsoul · Feb 15, 2017

zero_name said:
Amazon is making an MMO. I don't if this will be one. With Smedley's ties to the industry and this being the portion of the forum that would likely get the thread title reference, I made it here.

All things considered, I just really wanted to make the thread title. I had little else to contribute.

It is called New World. But I am not sure if Smed is working on this...

Kuro · Feb 15, 2017

I like how "We can't keep up with the poopsockers" has become a justification for "We're going to make no effort whatsoever. Slap some PVP and griefing in and hope people amuse themselves."

rad · Feb 15, 2017

I think most of you are being a tad harsh. I'm no Smed apologist but considering everyone equates any MMO in the last decade and half to WOW and holds it to account; it's not like the market is very kind.

Yet here we are years later, nostalgia or not, yearning for something similar. Wish him the best, surprise us you fool!

Binks · Feb 15, 2017

The players benefit if he succeeds in not producing a turd.

... I still remember dancing with a giant Smed gnome in Freeport

tyen · Feb 15, 2017

Thats a baller job to land. Amazon prolly bought him a real nice throne.

Coleslaw · Feb 15, 2017

smed has the biggest boner for twitch integration with games.

No real game would be enjoyable with some fag fucking up your experience from a chat command.

Palum · Feb 15, 2017

How you know a company ultimately has poor interviewing skills.

Masakari · Feb 15, 2017

zero_name said:
Amazon hires John Smedley to lead new San Diego studio

Third time's the charm? Smedley hired by Amazon's San Diego studio.

"I think we're seeing the evolution of the MMO into a lot of different forms. I look at Destiny and I think it's an amazing MMO, but it's nothing like WoW. I think we're also seeing the realization that content is incredibly time consuming to make, and keeping up with the players is a difficult thing to do," he said.

"For someone trying to make a WoW-MMO they have to deal with 12 years of content. That's going to mean a focus on more player-owned systems and games that are more open ended (Day Z or H1Z1 are great examples of this) where other players are the content. We'll still see great MMOs, we're just going to see them evolve from what they are now."

Please just put the dog down, I can't stand watching it suffer anymore.

zombiewizardhawk · Feb 16, 2017

Do you people actually consider Destiny to be more of an MMO than H1Z1 is? Seriously? People these days just label any game that is online as an MMO apparently.

Tauro · Feb 16, 2017

So, first 3 things about this new fantastic project they announce are Amazon cloud usage + Twitch integration + CEO Smed. Yeah right, now im really really hyped

Mr Creed · Feb 16, 2017

Vinjin said:
He has a consistent track record of rushing shit out the door just to grab those precious box sales dollars when the real prize was the monthly subs revenue (which steadily tanked one shitty release after another). He did it for years with the EQ franchise

I don't expect anything from Smed, and I doubt any future MMOs would amount to anything. However, is the quoted part actually fact, just conjecture, or even made up? I could believe it if you just mean the time EQ spent on life support but still made expansions, but that was post-WoW and EQ was a footnote at that point. I thought EQ did pretty well for 4 years in both box sales and subs.

John Smedley hired by Amazon to produce MMOs

Ahn'Qiraj Raider

Lord Nagafen Raider

Ancient MMO noob

Molten Core Raider

Golden Knight of the Realm

FPS noob

Knows nothing.

Lord Nagafen Raider

Ancient MMO noob

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider

Lord of Guk

Golden Knight of the Realm

EQ in a browser wait time: ____

Blackwing Lair Raider

what Suineg set it to

Which way, western man?

Potato del Grande

Bronze Knight of the Realm

Too old for this shit