Archive for November, 2008
Bye bye, erm, Tabula Rasa
Posted by Rockjaw in MMO-related on November 22nd, 2008
No-one can really say, hand on heart, that this was a surprise.
While the games media was very quick to pile in whenever Tabula Rasa looked shakey, and perhaps over-zealous in their declarations of its impending death, the truth is the game was never in that good shape subscriber wise. It never did as badly as Auto Assault (which had problems beyond the game itself), but it was never called a ‘hit’ internally. At least, not with a straight face.
For me, personally, it was symbolic of the last attempt by NCsoft to do something a little bit different. At least, it was when I joined the company in 2004 – when it was still ‘unicorns in space’, and before it became Starship Troopers. Having said that, a year after the reboot, I really liked what I played in 2005 (and still maintain that if by some miracle it could have been released then, it would have been a hit) but by 2007 it was never, ever going to be serious competition to… well, anything really.
I know some people will use this as an opportunity to spout craziness like “Sci-fi MMOs don’t work!” but in reality, the truth is the same as it’s always been: not-so-great games don’t work. They can do okay, for a while, but they’ll never be hits at launch.
Nope, you need to give those not-so-great games some time; whether it’s in development (assuming you know what you’re doing and just need more time) or in public release (assuming you listen to your community and know what you’re doing).
Sadly, Tabula Rasa didn’t get it.
Bye-bye, Lighthouse
Posted by Rockjaw in Community, MMO-related on November 17th, 2008
This was a surprise. Looks like it took place end of last week, but with my ear very much not pressed to the ground regarding these things, it’s no surprise Massively was the first I heard about it. (Also shows how much of a WoW-obsessed press we have when this took days to surface; everyone’s busy reporting the most intimate of details from the frozen north.)
Straight off, I’d have to say it’s a shame; just because it’s always a shame when someone moves on from a job that they most probably loved and enjoyed, because of internal pressure or because of a mistake they might have been able to weather. You can probably sense my ambivalence here though, and that’s simply because I didn’t know Alex (AKA Lighthouse) as well as others did. (Not to be confused with Alex AKA GhostRaptor, EU Community Team Lead, by the way.)
I did meet Alex once, a good while ago when he made a quick visit to the Brighton office to get to the know the EU team, just as he was starting in the job. He seemed enthusiastic and excited about what he was doing, and the fact that he lasted two years means he must have liked it. That he’s moved on at this point doesn’t necessarily mean he was pushed, or that he wasn’t valued, but I can’t really comment as I don’t know the situation.
I do know, however, how much developers can sometimes be swayed by an angry community, and how sometimes (just sometimes, and this may not be one of those times) that can backfire on the community managers. Remember people (and I’m talking to devs and players here) community guys aren’t always there to give you good news; sometimes they’ve got to give you the bad. Even if you don’t want to hear it.
Anyway. I’m not going to soapbox. I hope Alex lands on his feet somewhere, and soon.
All quiet
A little quick note.
Things are moving forward on a number of ‘fronts’ for me, job-wise – most of which I can’t share for understandable confidentiality reasons. (And some things I won’t share, just because frankly, the bureaucracy of immigration drives me nuts so why should I drive you nuts too?)
Anyway, I hope you’ll bear with me. I’d love to tell you all about everything, but I just can’t otherwise I’ll wind up as a headline story like QUIET LONER MURDERED FOR NO APPARENT REASON. (Did I just call myself ‘quiet’?)
Oh and by the way, despite the implicit violence, I haven’t gone ‘all Grisham’ and I don’t now work for the Mafia. Although now I say that, maybe they should get into games. I mean, there’s money in it.
Right, back on track: for now instead of specific work-related stuff if I talk at all here, it’ll be about games ‘n’ stuff, so I hope that’s alright with you. I’m sure we can continue our productive (ahem) dialogues.
So next time: why Saints Row 2 is remarkably awesome.
Change is coming
Posted by Rockjaw in MMO-related, Personal on November 5th, 2008
It’s a pretty surreal world out there today – for me, at least.
Four years ago I went to bed in Brighton, hearing the pundits say that John Kerry was going to oust George W. Bush from the White House. I woke up and felt like I’d slipped into a parallel dimension.
Last night, I went to bed knowing for certain that the near-impossible had happened; America had voted for its first black President. I only managed to make it to 10pm before I fell asleep, but I knew at 8pm, unlike my wife who knew at 4am… because I was sitting alone in a California hotel room, eating pizza and watching CNN.
Why? Well, I’ve been here since Friday, interviewing for a job – which I got an offer on yesterday. Yeah. I’m going to move to the USA and live in California. It felt pretty surreal. Two monumental events, and I’m celebrating with Dominos…
My life – and the political landscape for America – have literally changed overnight. I won’t bore you with politics, but unfortunately I can’t tell you much about the job, either… yet. I will say I’ll be working for an MMO company, they’re obviously based in California, and… actually that’s all I’ll say. (And for those of you who I have told, feel smug if you like, but don’t mouth off in comments, please… everything will be revealed in time.)
Well, I better get going. I have bags to pack, meetings to attend, lunches to eat and planes to catch. I’ll be back in the UK tomorrow. At least for a while.
You said what?