You know, ive been playing this game for some time, not longer than a lot of people but long enough to see it for what it is. A great title with lots of potential but failing due to poor direction, focus, and management. Ive read all of the past employee reviews of this company at glassdoor.com and the proof is in the pudding when it comes to Mr. Kern. I mean, I respect him as a human being but thats as far as it goes, the buck stops there.
After reading the vehement statements by the past disgruntled employees about the direction this game took and how innovative ideas were effectively stolen from the developers well its no wonder they are disgruntled. Its easy for someone to say, well they are disgruntled and just making up shit to "get back at" their previous employer", but to be honest before I read the reviews I was rather skeptic as to how credible they really were and then when I was reading them it hit me, I had a feeling this is how things were being run because thats the "feeling" i got from this company months ago as a whole with my experience playing FireFall BEFORE I read any reviews from past employees.
I was very active on the forums (my forum name is Dread1313) and i actually predicted something like this happening if things didnt change for the better soon but not only was I disregarded as a fool and a doomsayer, I was basically told to STFU. So here we are now, Mr. Kern do you wish you had listened to me now? Maybe when I asked you to let me help you, you should have let me. But alas, things happen for a reason.
Let this reason be a learning experience to you sir that 1.) Stick to game development and let the CEO work be handled by people who are better equipped for the job, and 2.) Listen to your damn players! They are the lifeblood of your company and they are the reason you have a job! Yes its good to have ideas and visions but if no one likes those ideas or visions because they stink then all you are left with is a world thats only populated by NPCs because no one wants to play your trash thats "such an awesome and innovative idea".
Also, you dont get to point fingers and say it isnt your fault. Youre the damn CEO! You had a job to do and you didnt do it. You alienated everyone around you and shut them out and snubbed them when they tried to tell you what would be a better direction for the game and where has it landed you? You are the CEO and its your job to take command of the situation and get stuff done sir. If FireFall fails, I am blaming you and no one else, because the damage has already been done. And now I am done. Thanks for hearing me out.
Edit: I cant stand how this site will not let me make my posts paragraphed for easier reading.. Grrrr!!!!!
Mark, if you're reading this and you need ideas for a project to work on next, you could do us all a favor and revive this game. Im sure Disney would sell you the rights to it pretty cheap since they aren't doing anything with it and as far as I know they don't intend to. Why they have this title is beyond me, but I am not Disney so take that for what its worth.. Any way, here it is.
Originally posted by ROFLcopter13 Mark, if you're reading this and you need ideas for a project to work on next, you could do us all a favor and revive this game. Im sure Disney would sell you the rights to it pretty cheap since they aren't doing anything with it and as far as I know they don't intend to. Why they have this title is beyond me, but I am not Disney so take that for what its worth.. Any way, here it is.
I remember this game...
I also remember all those pointless "arena" battles in that very same spot. The game needed purpose...
Guys, while disagreement and criticism is okay when presented with some substance and justification, flaming the contributors to the site is not acceptable. Please keep that in mind when commenting. Thanks.
It appears Kern was forced out. The9 just sold off part of their investment and 5 recently admitted investors have input on the direction of the game. That fact was denied in the past. It really comes down to investors wanting to see clear direction and goals. The constant changes to FF are not something they want to see. Durablity... instances... removal of PvP etc... are all changes that seem to some at a whim. The game only vaguely resembles their initial plan.
I guess I'm in the minority or something. I found Firefall fun. I liked shooting chosen from 200m+ Getting a headshot at 215m exactly was so much fun I think the problem with any MMOFPS is that players either want a full on MMO or a full on FPS. In the MMO sense, Firefall isn't too good, but as an FPS it's pretty good. The same thing happened to Defiance. If you play them with the mindset of a FPS player then you'll have a blast. If you try got play with the mindset of a MMO player, you'll have a bad time.
I never wish anyone bad luck like "some people". In the words of the Grummles, Good fortune unto you!
The user and all related content has been deleted.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Originally posted by Gravarg I guess I'm in the minority or something. I found Firefall fun. I liked shooting chosen from 200m+ Getting a headshot at 215m exactly was so much fun I think the problem with any MMOFPS is that players either want a full on MMO or a full on FPS. In the MMO sense, Firefall isn't too good, but as an FPS it's pretty good. The same thing happened to Defiance. If you play them with the mindset of a FPS player then you'll have a blast. If you try got play with the mindset of a MMO player, you'll have a bad time.
I never wish anyone bad luck like "some people". In the words of the Grummles, Good fortune unto you!
The problem is, the devs want the game to go more in a MMO direction.
Originally posted by Gravarg I guess I'm in the minority or something. I found Firefall fun. I liked shooting chosen from 200m+ Getting a headshot at 215m exactly was so much fun I think the problem with any MMOFPS is that players either want a full on MMO or a full on FPS. In the MMO sense, Firefall isn't too good, but as an FPS it's pretty good. The same thing happened to Defiance. If you play them with the mindset of a FPS player then you'll have a blast. If you try got play with the mindset of a MMO player, you'll have a bad time.
I never wish anyone bad luck like "some people". In the words of the Grummles, Good fortune unto you!
Firefall was great about a year, year and a half ago. Then once again, Mark decided to completely redo the core of the game, beginning its transformation into the ungainly, grindy beast it is today.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
Make your own game, your own destiny, your own new company and all the best. Han shot first, blew up the death star by shooting first and helping, nailed the princess and had his own ship. Nothing stopping you doing the same. Er, metaporically nerd style doing it, that is.
So basically he was against Durability & for Tiers. He begins this with mentions of Phat Lewts / Purples which we all know also means runaway RNG metrics & dragonchasing. ...I think that also cements where the source of most of the Run-away Vertical Progression has been in the game and WHY its now been scrambling to make content that atleast nips at the heels of that Progression.
...
It's been surprisingly fun for an MMO (most aren't), and his overall contributions must be recognized. But if this departure in any way takes even a portion of the focus off Tiers, Loot, & Jedi Vulcan melds and puts it back on skill-appropriate challenge.... then I'd say this was a necessary bloodletting
There are always more than one side to any story and truth be told neither side will ever be 100% truthful. The innate need to protect oneself is overriding.
With that said, no idea who this dude is and couldn't care less. This post though is quite interesting. First, as a gamer for over 30 years and someone who frequents news sites I, for one, did not even read about this dude getting fired not that I would have given a crap anyway for as everyone knows, that knows anything about the industry, being let go is not uncommon especially for individuals that aren't the idea men/women.
Funny how good designers have problems leading a company. Firefall could eventually be a good game, but the game changed direction so many times I think a lot of players gave up on it.
With that said, no idea who this dude is and couldn't care less. This post though is quite interesting. First, as a gamer for over 30 years and someone who frequents news sites I, for one, did not even read about this dude getting fired not that I would have given a crap anyway for as everyone knows, that knows anything about the industry, being let go is not uncommon especially for individuals that aren't the idea men/women.
[mod edit]
This post made me smile- I always love it when people think that their ignorance or lack of knowledge reflects poorly on anybody but themselves. So you follow gaming news closely, but you never heard of Mark Kern (I will ignore that you "couldn't care less", and still felt the need to post)? Interesting- I work in the games industry, and I feel that someone who used to be a Key person (Team Lead) in bringing what is one of the bigest games ever, World of Warcraft, to market has contributed more to gaming than most devs will. But hey, if I ask my Grandmother, she probably doesn't know Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber, so I guess they aren't so successful after all
And contrary to what you say, quite a few people seem to care that he is no longer with Red 5, if you look at comments here and on gaming sites across the web. Sadly for Mark of course, most of that sentiment is not exactly sadness about his departure^^
Either way, I wish him all the best in his future endeavours (ideally in a creative, non-business capacity), whereever they may take him. And hopfully, FireFall will one day live up to the promise it always showed, but never fully managed to deliver (Founder myself here, but haven't played in months).
This happens all to often, there is a half backed idea, it isn't fully fleshed out or falls short in the execution and the person responsible isn't given enough support or is unable to bring themselves to accept the help required and the game falls flat.
Alot of people are able to be the pitch/idea man but can't quite execute, often pride, arrogance or simply a lack of followthrough leads to something not achieving its potential. I feel that is the case here.
I tried the game and it had some nice ideas and a base for something more but after the initial concept the game fell FLAT, it was a directionless piece of trash after the first 30 minutes of playing around and like it or not Mark, it has to do partially with many of your decisions. I can only hope you learn from them because you can potentially influence more games in the future and i think the community in general doesn't want a repeat performance of Firefall.
He was the CEO of Red5. He was forced out about a week ago. The game they were making is facing difficulties. The initial vision of the game has been lost. Money was wasted on silly things like buying and modifying a bus. Yes, an actual bus... Add to that the hiring of friends that destroyed the community. The staff of the game was been cut. The key investor has sold off a portion of his investment and the game seems to be going no where. Etc... His "commentary" was basically an attempt to shift the blame for a failing product.
That about sums it up. I am sure Kern is a nice guy and may be a great developer but a good CEO he was not. Not saying I could do a better job either. Hopefully he will land on his feet and once again be a taxpayer.
Want to find a bottom of the barrel CEO? Look at one in the gaming business because they are almost always underqualified and then therefore underperform.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Well, can't say as this all really surprised me. I had a bit of an inside look at Red5 and Firefall. I was one of the original forum members there and I was one of their NCO's that they had for a time not to mention I and a couple other forum members got to take part in one test under the Friends & Family pvp match in May of 2011. Hell, I was even invited out to Red5 and take part in their first community event. So, needless to say I've seen behind the curtain a bit at what the "Wizard" was up to.
What was he up to? I have no idea what he personally was up to because he didn't even show up for their community event. Not sure how the CEO wasn't capable of managing his schedule so that he could be at his company for something he authorized payment for. Regardless the company culture was there and we got fed lots of pipe dreams with little information as to if it was even possible. It was either refuse to answer, make overly vague statements or simply say they will announce information on that later. Strange, even after another two years of his games development, we are being given the same answers. Not that you will find such things on their forums as they bully, block, delete and ban people for calling them out on their bullshit. I can name plenty of forum members that have copies of exchanges between themselves and your team so no point in denying that one.
That brings me to my next point. Your company culture that you helped create. It was little more then a frat boy club house where you were all living on daddy's (The9) money. It had no direction, unprofessional environment, a lack of accountability on many fronts, passive aggressive idiocy and not a soul there was acting as an actual production manager. No wonder the game went nowhere fast. All of your grand promises were built on a faulty foundation and done with no one to make sure that it all worked as a whole. You had a bad foundation and rather then fix it, you went on to work on the roof of the house. Skipping the walls that were going to support the damn thing or even justify it having existed in the first place. Like I said, no accountability.
The game you pitched something like seven years ago was a great idea. The execution was pure shit for a lack of a better term. You over promised, under delivered, over advertised years too early, failed to lead and in the end you failed to even keep your job as the captain on a sinking ship. I learned my lesson from the whole experience. I will never give a dime to any game that you have any connection to along with the remaining pseudo manager that remain at Red5. Trust is initially given freely. It is yours to grow or destroy. You chose the later of the two and now you will find it very hard to regain.
I'll leave you with this.
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis
“Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, ‘I’ll get a bigger job, then I’ll learn how to be a leader.’ But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn’t a position, it’s a process.” — John Maxwell
Nah. He hasn't mixed anything up. He mixed those references and quotes together on purpose because they were "true to him and his perceived situation".
He had what he refers to as "a Kobayashi Maru test". - Statement
He claims that Han always shot first. Cinema history-wise this is also true because in the original release of Ep. 4 Han shot and killed Greedo before he could act. I have no idea what Mark was refering to in regards to his career but I am assuming that someone is trying to claim that a situation happened in a reverse manner than he claims it did. - Either way this is intended to be a seperate statement
In his final paragraph it should be obvious that there is an intended mixture.
Aside from those things I don't know who this guy is but it seems rather obvious he is not liked by the masses. I hope his next job places him in a position that is best suited to his strongest talents rather than his greatest weaknesses.
Good to see i wasn't the only one who understood what he was saying perfectly. Of course, expecting the general internet to have basic reading comprehension skills is asking a bit much these days.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
I am going to take a shot at interpretation. Pitfall Hairy was a reference to the game "pitfall" made by Activision. So maybe he is going back to Blizzard. Everyone knows the kobiyashi-Maru reference but I am interpreting it to mean that He forced red 5 to fire him in some way. This was his "way out" solution to what he believes was an unwinnable situation. With the Han reference He is saying that he was in control of the events, rather than the victim. Like saying "I quit, I wasn't fired". So ya it sounds like from his perspective He couldn't win so he forced them to fire him.
Comments
You know, ive been playing this game for some time, not longer than a lot of people but long enough to see it for what it is. A great title with lots of potential but failing due to poor direction, focus, and management. Ive read all of the past employee reviews of this company at glassdoor.com and the proof is in the pudding when it comes to Mr. Kern. I mean, I respect him as a human being but thats as far as it goes, the buck stops there.
After reading the vehement statements by the past disgruntled employees about the direction this game took and how innovative ideas were effectively stolen from the developers well its no wonder they are disgruntled. Its easy for someone to say, well they are disgruntled and just making up shit to "get back at" their previous employer", but to be honest before I read the reviews I was rather skeptic as to how credible they really were and then when I was reading them it hit me, I had a feeling this is how things were being run because thats the "feeling" i got from this company months ago as a whole with my experience playing FireFall BEFORE I read any reviews from past employees.
I was very active on the forums (my forum name is Dread1313) and i actually predicted something like this happening if things didnt change for the better soon but not only was I disregarded as a fool and a doomsayer, I was basically told to STFU. So here we are now, Mr. Kern do you wish you had listened to me now? Maybe when I asked you to let me help you, you should have let me. But alas, things happen for a reason.
Let this reason be a learning experience to you sir that 1.) Stick to game development and let the CEO work be handled by people who are better equipped for the job, and 2.) Listen to your damn players! They are the lifeblood of your company and they are the reason you have a job! Yes its good to have ideas and visions but if no one likes those ideas or visions because they stink then all you are left with is a world thats only populated by NPCs because no one wants to play your trash thats "such an awesome and innovative idea".
Also, you dont get to point fingers and say it isnt your fault. Youre the damn CEO! You had a job to do and you didnt do it. You alienated everyone around you and shut them out and snubbed them when they tried to tell you what would be a better direction for the game and where has it landed you? You are the CEO and its your job to take command of the situation and get stuff done sir. If FireFall fails, I am blaming you and no one else, because the damage has already been done. And now I am done. Thanks for hearing me out.
I remember this game...
I also remember all those pointless "arena" battles in that very same spot. The game needed purpose...
This.
To give feedback on moderation, contact [email protected]
Holy Shit a "Trek Wars" MMO is in development?
Directed by JJ Abrams and Mark Kern?
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
The problem is, the devs want the game to go more in a MMO direction.
Firefall was great about a year, year and a half ago. Then once again, Mark decided to completely redo the core of the game, beginning its transformation into the ungainly, grindy beast it is today.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
So basically he was against Durability & for Tiers. He begins this with mentions of Phat Lewts / Purples which we all know also means runaway RNG metrics & dragonchasing. ...I think that also cements where the source of most of the Run-away Vertical Progression has been in the game and WHY its now been scrambling to make content that atleast nips at the heels of that Progression.
...
It's been surprisingly fun for an MMO (most aren't), and his overall contributions must be recognized. But if this departure in any way takes even a portion of the focus off Tiers, Loot, & Jedi Vulcan melds and puts it back on skill-appropriate challenge.... then I'd say this was a necessary bloodletting
There are always more than one side to any story and truth be told neither side will ever be 100% truthful. The innate need to protect oneself is overriding.
With that said, no idea who this dude is and couldn't care less. This post though is quite interesting. First, as a gamer for over 30 years and someone who frequents news sites I, for one, did not even read about this dude getting fired not that I would have given a crap anyway for as everyone knows, that knows anything about the industry, being let go is not uncommon especially for individuals that aren't the idea men/women.
[mod edit]
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
Funny how good designers have problems leading a company. Firefall could eventually be a good game, but the game changed direction so many times I think a lot of players gave up on it.
Hopefully you will find a niche that suits you.
This post made me smile- I always love it when people think that their ignorance or lack of knowledge reflects poorly on anybody but themselves. So you follow gaming news closely, but you never heard of Mark Kern (I will ignore that you "couldn't care less", and still felt the need to post)? Interesting- I work in the games industry, and I feel that someone who used to be a Key person (Team Lead) in bringing what is one of the bigest games ever, World of Warcraft, to market has contributed more to gaming than most devs will. But hey, if I ask my Grandmother, she probably doesn't know Lady Gaga or Justin Bieber, so I guess they aren't so successful after all
And contrary to what you say, quite a few people seem to care that he is no longer with Red 5, if you look at comments here and on gaming sites across the web. Sadly for Mark of course, most of that sentiment is not exactly sadness about his departure^^
Either way, I wish him all the best in his future endeavours (ideally in a creative, non-business capacity), whereever they may take him. And hopfully, FireFall will one day live up to the promise it always showed, but never fully managed to deliver (Founder myself here, but haven't played in months).
This happens all to often, there is a half backed idea, it isn't fully fleshed out or falls short in the execution and the person responsible isn't given enough support or is unable to bring themselves to accept the help required and the game falls flat.
Alot of people are able to be the pitch/idea man but can't quite execute, often pride, arrogance or simply a lack of followthrough leads to something not achieving its potential. I feel that is the case here.
I tried the game and it had some nice ideas and a base for something more but after the initial concept the game fell FLAT, it was a directionless piece of trash after the first 30 minutes of playing around and like it or not Mark, it has to do partially with many of your decisions. I can only hope you learn from them because you can potentially influence more games in the future and i think the community in general doesn't want a repeat performance of Firefall.
He was the CEO of Red5. He was forced out about a week ago. The game they were making is facing difficulties. The initial vision of the game has been lost. Money was wasted on silly things like buying and modifying a bus. Yes, an actual bus... Add to that the hiring of friends that destroyed the community. The staff of the game was been cut. The key investor has sold off a portion of his investment and the game seems to be going no where. Etc... His "commentary" was basically an attempt to shift the blame for a failing product.
That about sums it up. I am sure Kern is a nice guy and may be a great developer but a good CEO he was not. Not saying I could do a better job either. Hopefully he will land on his feet and once again be a taxpayer.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Well, can't say as this all really surprised me. I had a bit of an inside look at Red5 and Firefall. I was one of the original forum members there and I was one of their NCO's that they had for a time not to mention I and a couple other forum members got to take part in one test under the Friends & Family pvp match in May of 2011. Hell, I was even invited out to Red5 and take part in their first community event. So, needless to say I've seen behind the curtain a bit at what the "Wizard" was up to.
What was he up to? I have no idea what he personally was up to because he didn't even show up for their community event. Not sure how the CEO wasn't capable of managing his schedule so that he could be at his company for something he authorized payment for. Regardless the company culture was there and we got fed lots of pipe dreams with little information as to if it was even possible. It was either refuse to answer, make overly vague statements or simply say they will announce information on that later. Strange, even after another two years of his games development, we are being given the same answers. Not that you will find such things on their forums as they bully, block, delete and ban people for calling them out on their bullshit. I can name plenty of forum members that have copies of exchanges between themselves and your team so no point in denying that one.
That brings me to my next point. Your company culture that you helped create. It was little more then a frat boy club house where you were all living on daddy's (The9) money. It had no direction, unprofessional environment, a lack of accountability on many fronts, passive aggressive idiocy and not a soul there was acting as an actual production manager. No wonder the game went nowhere fast. All of your grand promises were built on a faulty foundation and done with no one to make sure that it all worked as a whole. You had a bad foundation and rather then fix it, you went on to work on the roof of the house. Skipping the walls that were going to support the damn thing or even justify it having existed in the first place. Like I said, no accountability.
The game you pitched something like seven years ago was a great idea. The execution was pure shit for a lack of a better term. You over promised, under delivered, over advertised years too early, failed to lead and in the end you failed to even keep your job as the captain on a sinking ship. I learned my lesson from the whole experience. I will never give a dime to any game that you have any connection to along with the remaining pseudo manager that remain at Red5. Trust is initially given freely. It is yours to grow or destroy. You chose the later of the two and now you will find it very hard to regain.
I'll leave you with this.
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis
“Most people who want to get ahead do it backward. They think, ‘I’ll get a bigger job, then I’ll learn how to be a leader.’ But showing leadership skill is how you get the bigger job in the first place. Leadership isn’t a position, it’s a process.” — John Maxwell
Good to see i wasn't the only one who understood what he was saying perfectly. Of course, expecting the general internet to have basic reading comprehension skills is asking a bit much these days.
"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."
- Friedrich Nietzsche