Brad set us back man. Plain and simple.I'm sure. I know exactly what McQuaid has done, all his failings, alleged drug use, borrowed ideas, mismanaging games and character flaws. I'm tired of faggots running around acting like they have some hidden wisdom that demands we continue bashing this dude like everything about him isnt front row center.
I just want people who remember the things that made enjoyable mmos and muds to make them. I don't care if he is developing them in a pedobear costume with kidnapped children sitting in his lap.
You think that was good design? Do you think that was because there justso muchcontent to do? Dude...I'd venture to say not more than 15% of the playerbase had completed all the content in classic-velious before another expansion was dropping.
Exactly.funny revisionist BS. Were you alive back when work was being done on EQ? you know the days of BBS chatrooms, AOL, Dialup, and MUDs ...before every computer had a 3D card. Your rant reeks of jealousy. I suppose you also have an axe to grind with Zuckerberg, Anderson, Musk, and those dude who made Candy Crush. I appreciate the fact you refer to us as worker bees, mindless drones who did not realize EQ had heavy roots in MUDs. you have exposed yourself as not living in those times. and if you were alive then, you were most certainly were not cognizant of the technology and the gaming industry of that day. your "third of mouth" recollection of what happened at 989, Verant and SOE is just that. 3rd party BS.
Ut blames everything on not-Smed, however the reality is SOE and EQ's demise rests solely with Smed for some of the reasons above. I really don't get why Ut likes to make excuses for him. As to the industry as a whole, an indie studio with kickstarter funding is not going to make the next great MMO. While making a good MMO is not the multi-billion dollar cost of building a new plane or new spaceship, it's pretty freaking expensive. Yeah, Roberts got umpteen million funding for his game, which would have been sufficient for a new MMO, but nobody is getting Robert's money funding for an MMO.Isn't it the CEO's job to sort through all ideas, and bring them to fruition? You get all sorts of divergent ideas, some great, some good, some bad. A good CEO only surrounds himself with people smarter than he is. In the end, he gets the credit, because he's the guy that greenlit the idea(s).
Also, in your opinion, do you think the dead weight is gone from DB? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future for DB? Honestly, if we are to believe that EQN has been in development for seven years and hundreds of millions have been spent, someone needed to cut through the bloat.
This ought to be a treat.funny revisionist BS. Were you alive back when work was being done on EQ? you know the days of BBS chatrooms, AOL, Dialup, and MUDs ...before every computer had a 3D card. Your rant reeks of jealousy. I suppose you also have an axe to grind with Zuckerberg, Anderson, Musk, and those dude who made Candy Crush. I appreciate the fact you refer to us as worker bees, mindless drones who did not realize EQ had heavy roots in MUDs. you have exposed yourself as not living in those times. and if you were alive then, you were most certainly were not cognizant of the technology and the gaming industry of that day. your "third of mouth" recollection of what happened at 989, Verant and SOE is just that. 3rd party BS.
See my earlier post regarding Hartsman the business guy versus the game designer. The decisions were based on selling making mad coin to suits versus what the genre needed to push forward. It's why WOW has never really evolved that much. It's milking the moneys.I actually think Paul Sage is a fairly talented design mind - far more than Butler - but some of the design decisions at the core of TESO were just fucking absurd. You have one of the greatest open-world sandbox franchises in history and so you focus your efforts and finances on porting over the linear story aspects that were ignored in the single player installments by a massive percentage of the playerbase, break the seamlessness of the world, and incorporate a restrictive class system that was called out for being broken and ill-advised on the very first day of external alpha testing? Stupid..
the writing is on the wall over Smed, have much to say about him, both good and bad. but will wait for his day of reckoning. though i expect he'll look for an escape pod with a nice parachute.Ut blames everything on not-Smed, however the reality is SOE and EQ's demise rests solely with Smed for some of the reasons above. I really don't get why Ut likes to make excuses for him. As to the industry as a whole, an indie studio with kickstarter funding is not going to make the next great MMO. While making a good MMO is not the multi-billion dollar cost of building a new plane or new spaceship, it's pretty freaking expensive. Yeah, Roberts got umpteen million funding for his game, which would have been sufficient for a new MMO, but nobody is getting Robert's money funding for an MMO.
So though the time is over-ripe for a new MMO, the genre is dead because of CEO's like Smed not having a clue what the fuck they're doing so they're blowing money on random projects that get blown up (e.g EQIII, Agency both blown up after X millions invested).
Oh look here, a misfit. I hope your trip was well deserved and you are on your island safely.funny revisionist BS. Were you alive back when work was being done on EQ? you know the days of BBS chatrooms, AOL, Dialup, and MUDs ...before every computer had a 3D card. Your rant reeks of jealousy. I suppose you also have an axe to grind with Zuckerberg, Anderson, Musk, and those dude who made Candy Crush. I appreciate the fact you refer to us as worker bees, mindless drones who did not realize EQ had heavy roots in MUDs. you have exposed yourself as not living in those times. and if you were alive then, you were most certainly were not cognizant of the technology and the gaming industry of that day. your "third of mouth" recollection of what happened at 989, Verant and SOE is just that. 3rd party BS.
I can remember before the hack, being on what was supposed to be one of the busiest servers (Zero Hour) and not seeing a dot on my radar for three to four hours in Metropolis, Gotham or the Watchtower. I haven't seen a game that dead since Asheron's Call 2. I remember, back when AC2 posted server pops, and there 18 people on my server in primetime. The fact that DCUO is now bustling is amazing. The game still has issues, but is much better.Lyr I remember those days of DCUO right after the hack. Fucking struggling to field 6 people in my guild to clear a raid.
I saw a "deader" game once, it was called Horizons hehI can remember before the hack, being on what was supposed to be one of the busiest servers (Zero Hour) and not seeing a dot on my radar for three to four hours in Metropolis, Gotham or the Watchtower. I haven't seen a game that dead since Asheron's Call 2. I remember, back when AC2 posted server pops, and there 18 people on my server in primetime. The fact that DCUO is now bustling is amazing. The game still has issues, but is much better.
A lot has changed, but you can log on (it's F2P) and see how busy it is. And those F2P people are spending money, I'm told (on escrow and dlc's).but god instant old man "to much has changed" vibe.
I do not think the acquisition has anything to do with developing further titles. It's an IP play to bring EQ and PS to the mobile device vertical. Right now the Russians are probably piecing through the minimal efforts of the EQ Next team and seeing if there is anything they can salvage for an actual game. They now own the Forgelight engine, which was also an asset they wanted. The magical nature of the business side here is that all these products that have been bought were all labeled early access with clauses that the games don't actually have to ship, so whether something ships in free to play or not, it doesn't matter. They could shut everything down and start their own IP sale off or start to make free to play microtransactional pay to win games on these IP's. So, for the future of DB, a Russian company who uses AK-47's to storm oil producers, I would say they are more concerned about making money than anything related to the video game industry.Also, in your opinion, do you think the dead weight is gone from DB? Are you optimistic or pessimistic about the future for DB?
The funniest thing to me about Horizons was how their engine couldn't do doors. So you have an entire world of towns/cities without a single door. Just empty doorways. How can you stop a massive undead invasion when you can't close the door?!How could Horizons fail, YOU COULD PLAY A DRAGON
AS A PREORDER BONUS (Fuck the MMO industry)
AND WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING REALLY DRAGONY
Logging into that game for the first time and doing crafting tutorials... as a dragon... was mildly ridiculous.