Big Huge made Rise of Nations, and for that the earned respect. Everything after the expansion pack for that game, however, was average.
They also made the Settlers of Catan on XBOX live. The implementation of that board game was done extremely well and I've put more time into it than I have into KOA.
I really found the fairy theme in KOA tedious though - so that might have something to do with it.
It's gotta make you wonder what Turbine is doing hiring more people. DDO and LOTRO are both stand up games but their time has passed. To me, Turbine seems like they have an ace up their sleeve going into this next gen age of mmos. Dying to find out, for real.
I felt bad until I found out both Curt and Salvatore tapped that taxpayer money to pay themselves, Curt took back the 4mill he invested and RA got 5mill in royalties. Pretty shitty considering that money is coming out of the pockets of people, most if not all of which are hurting for cash a hell of a lot more than those two are.
The only victims in this are the employees of the studio which largely had little creative control over the project. Fortunately, other studios care about them a hell of a lot more than anyone else does:
This is just a little beyond me, so I'll ask here.
Whats to come of KoA? Will it remain buyable on Steam or.... vanish?
If they were to declare bankrupcy all of their properties would go up for sale. As an example Tropico and Port Royale both went up for sale back in 2004. Since then Kalypso (who bought them cheaply) has made Tropico 3, 4, Modern Times, and Port Royale 3 using these licenses. They have also maintained sales on Tropico 1, 2, Port Royale 1, and 2.
Awwwww..... man. I hope and pray that the people being laid off find good new jobs. I really wanted to see the release of the Amalur mmo, so that I could complain about everything I hate about it but secretely still want to play it because the graphics were pretty and stuff.
Guess name of RA salvatore alone doesnt save you when you game is just a shoddy Fable3 copy.
Fable 3 was wretched, even fans of the series loath it as uninteresting trash.
Kingdoms of Amalur was a great game, too bad too many narrow minded people looked at a books cover and never bothered to open it.
KoA was an extremely expensive piece of crap. A good example of how backward it was, is they tried to borrow game concepts regarding delivering lore from MMOs as if single player games didn't present the games story far more immersively and compellingly! It didn't deserve to be “opened” by the amount of people it was let alone by 3 million.
KOA is a fun game. I really enjoyed it. I think if you stick to the main quest line it is a short game, but then I didn't stick to the main quest line all the time and allowed myself to veer off on tangents. I enjoyed the combat, gameplay and world in general. The art direction was nice and the world felt alive.
Overall the game felt very easy but I was playing on normal level. But in my 20's I was already king of the hill.
I would have been interested to see what else this studio could do so it's a bummer they went under.
Sad, I hate to see anyone lose their jobs. Except maybe Jack Emmert and Bill Roper.
Sad, indeed. First EA/BioWare now this. Over 500 people total.
Agreed. Something sometimes we tend to forget. We almost laugh gleefully when some studio we dislike goes down, but we forget that there's people wondering how they're going to pay their bills this month as a result.
Sad to hear though...they did make a fun game. Hope they all find themselves something better.
I am not a compassionate man, I could careless about complete strangers. I also don't care that children starve all over the world in poverty stricken countries. Just saying, I am a realist and only care about people in my social circle from family to friends. Nuff said. That is the world that matters to me.
"The King and the Pawn return to the same box at the end of the game"
Amalur was fucking awesome game. Now apart from Witcher, there's no rpg game franchise to wait and root for left...
I disagree.
KoA was preety bad game. It had ONE good thing.
Fun experience for first 10 levels.
After that your character started to be so strong, that game started to be progressively easier and easier and before hitting lvl 20 your character was basically half-god that could not get killed even if I played with one hand, thinking shop-list in my mind and usng second hand to write it. I am serious. I was also playing on hardest difficulty.
That kind of change in game that was so heavy on combat like KoA, making it core of gameplay - actiony combat is unacceptable.
First 10 levels = hard , lvl 11-19 = easy, lvl 20+ = half-god retarted easy gameplay
Showering player with xp and gold, inablitiy to move camera further from character, creating game world and quest mechanics like from single player quest-hub mmorpg, hilariously bad bosses (especially one at city siege). + very repetative game with absolute lack of variation in mobs later in gameplay. Also later game versions of mobs from beggining of gameplay did NOT had new abilities, nor they moved faster or diffrent.
Like I said in Action heavy on combat rpg this is unacceptable.
KOA is a fun game. I really enjoyed it. I think if you stick to the main quest line it is a short game, but then I didn't stick to the main quest line all the time and allowed myself to veer off on tangents. I enjoyed the combat, gameplay and world in general. The art direction was nice and the world felt alive.
Overall the game felt very easy but I was playing on normal level. But in my 20's I was already king of the hill.
I would have been interested to see what else this studio could do so it's a bummer they went under.
Mostly agreed.
KOA was too easy sure, but I do not play RPG games for challenge. I paly them for stats and immersion and KOA provided both, considering it had one of the most detailed RPG worlds in a long time.
# A GRIM, ODD, ARCANE SKY # ANY GOD, I MARK SACRED # A MASKED CRY ADORING # A DREAMY, SICK DRAGON
I am not upset one bit they went under. How can you fail so utterly with 75 million $ in your hands? The big companies think big money means success. Small teams of hard working, talented people with good design ideas should be able to crank out a good MMO, but instead these companies hire overpayed stars.
Seriously? Why did Bioware need to hire movie-stars to put in voices? You can find good voice actors for much less money. Same goes with story telling. You dont need to hire RA salvatore and pay him millions of dollars. His story in KoA isnt even that great or unique.
With smarter investments, smarter recruitment and some innovation and smart implementation, small funded companies should be able to succeed...
Hired too many people too fast. Typical startup, no one with any idea how to manage the finances. Was not thrilled the direction the MMO was going anyways. Just did not see a need for an updated version of EQ.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around them needing to sell 3 million copies at $60 a pop to break even. That just seems crazy for their very first foray into game development and publishing.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
I really dont like Salvatore or the art direction of the game so i was very dissapointed with KoA and i had no hope for the MMO....but that doesnt mean i wanted it to fail.
Playing: PO, EVE Waiting for: WoD Favourite MMOs: VG, EVE, FE and DDO Any person who expresses rage and loathing for an MMO is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
KOA lost me at "action combat" and I'm sure their MMO would have done the same, but I do feel sorry for those who now have to slog through the horrendous job hunting market. I wonder how much personal wealth Schilling had to go through for this whole process. Feel kind of bad for him too.
Edit: I take back what I said about Schilling. If the article I read has even a smidgeon of truth in it, then he deserves what he got, but now I feel even more sorry for the saps who stuck with him to the miserable end as they got email dismissals instead of face to face. To think I was going to feel sorry for a hypocritical conservative who always denounces government money for private sector business, except for his own black hole company.
This should teach two lessons to all people reading this article of Kurt's two biggest mistakes. One just cause you play games does not mean you know how to make good games. And two you do not start companies on loans that have to be paid back by a certain date. No good game can be made on a short timeline.
Did EA suck up all of the profits from the million sales and leave little or nothing for Big Huge and 38? I bought a copy for my and my partner... love it, just restarted playing last night and love the game! I am not a fan of EA...
Gladari: Ranger of Surefall Glade Red Mage of Vana'diel Acrotecher of Moatoob Mate of Union
Comments
They also made the Settlers of Catan on XBOX live. The implementation of that board game was done extremely well and I've put more time into it than I have into KOA.
I really found the fairy theme in KOA tedious though - so that might have something to do with it.
It's gotta make you wonder what Turbine is doing hiring more people. DDO and LOTRO are both stand up games but their time has passed. To me, Turbine seems like they have an ace up their sleeve going into this next gen age of mmos. Dying to find out, for real.
I'm a unique and beautiful snowflake.
I felt bad until I found out both Curt and Salvatore tapped that taxpayer money to pay themselves, Curt took back the 4mill he invested and RA got 5mill in royalties. Pretty shitty considering that money is coming out of the pockets of people, most if not all of which are hurting for cash a hell of a lot more than those two are.
The only victims in this are the employees of the studio which largely had little creative control over the project. Fortunately, other studios care about them a hell of a lot more than anyone else does:
https://twitter.com/#!/search/realtime/%2338jobs
Pretty damn awesome of thes people to take the time out of their day and make sure those guys at least have the opportunity to find work again.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
If they were to declare bankrupcy all of their properties would go up for sale. As an example Tropico and Port Royale both went up for sale back in 2004. Since then Kalypso (who bought them cheaply) has made Tropico 3, 4, Modern Times, and Port Royale 3 using these licenses. They have also maintained sales on Tropico 1, 2, Port Royale 1, and 2.
Website: http://www.thegameguru.me / YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/users/thetroublmaker
Awwwww..... man. I hope and pray that the people being laid off find good new jobs. I really wanted to see the release of the Amalur mmo, so that I could complain about everything I hate about it but secretely still want to play it because the graphics were pretty and stuff.
Sigh...
KoA was an extremely expensive piece of crap. A good example of how backward it was, is they tried to borrow game concepts regarding delivering lore from MMOs as if single player games didn't present the games story far more immersively and compellingly! It didn't deserve to be “opened” by the amount of people it was let alone by 3 million.
well frack...
Amalur was fucking awesome game. Now apart from Witcher, there's no rpg game franchise to wait and root for left...
# A GRIM, ODD, ARCANE SKY
# ANY GOD, I MARK SACRED
# A MASKED CRY ADORING
# A DREAMY, SICK DRAGON
He write fantasy books, he ain´t a movie star or something that can put in millions from his hug bank account.
KOA is a fun game. I really enjoyed it. I think if you stick to the main quest line it is a short game, but then I didn't stick to the main quest line all the time and allowed myself to veer off on tangents. I enjoyed the combat, gameplay and world in general. The art direction was nice and the world felt alive.
Overall the game felt very easy but I was playing on normal level. But in my 20's I was already king of the hill.
I would have been interested to see what else this studio could do so it's a bummer they went under.
I am not a compassionate man, I could careless about complete strangers. I also don't care that children starve all over the world in poverty stricken countries. Just saying, I am a realist and only care about people in my social circle from family to friends. Nuff said. That is the world that matters to me.
I disagree.
KoA was preety bad game. It had ONE good thing.
Fun experience for first 10 levels.
After that your character started to be so strong, that game started to be progressively easier and easier and before hitting lvl 20 your character was basically half-god that could not get killed even if I played with one hand, thinking shop-list in my mind and usng second hand to write it. I am serious. I was also playing on hardest difficulty.
That kind of change in game that was so heavy on combat like KoA, making it core of gameplay - actiony combat is unacceptable.
First 10 levels = hard , lvl 11-19 = easy, lvl 20+ = half-god retarted easy gameplay
Showering player with xp and gold, inablitiy to move camera further from character, creating game world and quest mechanics like from single player quest-hub mmorpg, hilariously bad bosses (especially one at city siege). + very repetative game with absolute lack of variation in mobs later in gameplay. Also later game versions of mobs from beggining of gameplay did NOT had new abilities, nor they moved faster or diffrent.
Like I said in Action heavy on combat rpg this is unacceptable.
Overally I was very disappointed with this game.
Mostly agreed.
KOA was too easy sure, but I do not play RPG games for challenge. I paly them for stats and immersion and KOA provided both, considering it had one of the most detailed RPG worlds in a long time.
# A GRIM, ODD, ARCANE SKY
# ANY GOD, I MARK SACRED
# A MASKED CRY ADORING
# A DREAMY, SICK DRAGON
I am not upset one bit they went under. How can you fail so utterly with 75 million $ in your hands? The big companies think big money means success. Small teams of hard working, talented people with good design ideas should be able to crank out a good MMO, but instead these companies hire overpayed stars.
Seriously? Why did Bioware need to hire movie-stars to put in voices? You can find good voice actors for much less money. Same goes with story telling. You dont need to hire RA salvatore and pay him millions of dollars. His story in KoA isnt even that great or unique.
With smarter investments, smarter recruitment and some innovation and smart implementation, small funded companies should be able to succeed...
Hired too many people too fast. Typical startup, no one with any idea how to manage the finances. Was not thrilled the direction the MMO was going anyways. Just did not see a need for an updated version of EQ.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around them needing to sell 3 million copies at $60 a pop to break even. That just seems crazy for their very first foray into game development and publishing.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Too bad, really. I enjoyed KOA.
They took out a 75 million dollar loan and couldn't make it work even after a successful launch of their first game?
This bodes ill for other indie developers out there. Time to batten down the hatches.
Scott Jennings, who used to blog as Lum the Mad, has a take on this massive cluster of fail:
http://www.brokentoys.org/2012/05/25/the-week-the-music-died/
It's a good read. And he raises some good points, especially about the future of MMOs.
Sad to hear
I really dont like Salvatore or the art direction of the game so i was very dissapointed with KoA and i had no hope for the MMO....but that doesnt mean i wanted it to fail.
Playing: PO, EVE
Waiting for: WoD
Favourite MMOs: VG, EVE, FE and DDO
Any person who expresses rage and loathing for an MMO is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.
Yep, that's quite a good article. The discussion will continue.
KOA lost me at "action combat" and I'm sure their MMO would have done the same, but I do feel sorry for those who now have to slog through the horrendous job hunting market. I wonder how much personal wealth Schilling had to go through for this whole process. Feel kind of bad for him too.
Edit: I take back what I said about Schilling. If the article I read has even a smidgeon of truth in it, then he deserves what he got, but now I feel even more sorry for the saps who stuck with him to the miserable end as they got email dismissals instead of face to face. To think I was going to feel sorry for a hypocritical conservative who always denounces government money for private sector business, except for his own black hole company.
Really is a shame sorry to see this happen
I can't say I enjoyed KoA but this is quite sad to hear.
This should teach two lessons to all people reading this article of Kurt's two biggest mistakes. One just cause you play games does not mean you know how to make good games. And two you do not start companies on loans that have to be paid back by a certain date. No good game can be made on a short timeline.
Did EA suck up all of the profits from the million sales and leave little or nothing for Big Huge and 38? I bought a copy for my and my partner... love it, just restarted playing last night and love the game! I am not a fan of EA...
Gladari:
Ranger of Surefall Glade
Red Mage of Vana'diel
Acrotecher of Moatoob
Mate of Union
Sad, i just bought the game the other week