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Another Wildstar team member leaving
Superchieftian
Member Posts: 88
in WildStar
https://forums.wildstar-online.com/forums/index.php?/topic/38414-a-message-from-scooter/
As much as I dislike the game, I did enjoy how transparent they were with their customer base. Scooter was one of the main driving force behind this.
Comments
Are you going to be like those bitter swg vets are on Swtor? For the next three years every time someone leaves or there is some announcement you will let us know how much you dislike the game and how this is a sign of it's failure?
Could you be so kind to post a link that explains how he was the driving force behind how transparent they are (and will continue without him).
The post so you dont need to go anywhere....
There's no easy way to say this, so let's just dive right in: This is my goodbye thread.
WildStar's been an opportunity I've never had before. It's the first time I've gotten to work on an original IP, not something that's owned or controlled by another company (like Star Trek, Star Wars, Marvel, etc.) and it's been amazing to have that freedom to do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. With your support, we launched a massive livestream initiative, had a hugely successful beta, and forged some amazing relationships that will carry this game onwards forever. One of my main goals over the past couple months was to build up a solid Community team with a strong foundation, and I feel like we've hit that stride right now. Tony (aka Tha_Cheez, aka "The Packers Suck") and Sean (aka "The guy who runs @WildStar"
are in a position now to catapult their way to launch with an awesome schedule of content that brings you guys further into our studio, and allows us to interact with you in more ways than ever.
There's no real "perfect" time to leave a team, especially with MMOs that have no real "end," but the truth is my personal life's taken a turn and I've made the impossibly difficult decision to leave Carbine. The guys will continue building up the community team, and will share some of their plans with you in the near future, and I have no doubt that you guys will see some amazing stuff as we get ready for launch and beyond.
Thank you all so much for sharing your excitement and love for WildStar with me over the last few years. It's been an amazing experience, and I can't wait to jump over to the other side and experience the launch of this game as a player. (I've already got a LAN party set up with my friends for headstart!)
I want to leave you with a story that's stuck with me my whole life, and hopefully will get you guys even more excited for the future of this game. When I was a kid, I was on the JV basketball team at my elementary school. We used to practice each afternoon outside on the court. One day, a team from our rival school showed up and tried to kick us off the court. That didn't sit so well with us, and I got into the first (and last) fight of my life. The police got involved, and when I finally made it home, my mom was scared and said, "You're movin' with your auntie and uncle in Bel Air."
See you on Nexus,
David
Did I say that because someone left that it is a sign of failure? No. Putting words into other people's mouth is a bad habit, don't do it.
Check the Wildstar forums or Reddit in general. You'll see all the work Scooter has done.
I didn't put words in your mouth. I asked if you are going to be like the bitter swg vets and then explained what they do. So I was just asking the question. If the answer was yes then I would know to ignore any future post from you that was all. Sorry you took it wrong.
Im aware of what he has done but don't recall ever seeing anything that says he was the driving force behind the transparency .
MMORPG's make a major transition between development and launch. Budgets get moved around and some folks want to go work on that next unfinished peoject. While some folks have left (moat notably Chris Lynch, Bull Durham and David Bass) Carbine is still hiring people, but for different roles (tech/software support, etc). Existing team members have been promoted such as Chad "Pappy" Moore and Cory Herdon. Yes, things are shifting but this is likely the natural transition toward launch. I think because Carbine is unusually transparent, it shows a bit more.
I have also read working on a new MMO can really burn the candle at both ends. Long hours and crazy deadlines. Leaving ya needing a break.
There are many more people that left, some more I found out about with 2 minutes of Google searches.
Lead UI Designer was let go.
https://twitter.com/matteekay
Lead Systems Engineer was let go.
https://twitter.com/baoghal
Lead Combat Designer was let go.
https://twitter.com/ClynchX
All within the last couple of weeks. I am sure there are more missing.
to be fair.. the designer of the original UI should have been let go... at least the new UI is more aesthetically pleasing
Well... when you put it that way... I plead the fifth.
Not convinced it means much. Also convinced Wildstar fans should not worry.
I have had my own negative experiences regarding at the very least customer service, but even with that. I don't think this is a issue.
Now if this happened a week after launch? I could see some reason for a slight bit of concern.
"What tastes like purple?"
Lead combat designer walking? Isnt Wiildstar best known for its combat system? That can't be good when a Lead Dev of the strongest feature of a game is walking away.
Unless, they don't plan on having any more combat updates.... a lot like WoW was after launch.
That was different and perfectly understandable in his position!
1. He had been working on the game on and off for over a decade. It has taken a toll on him.
2. His friend (CEO) has supported him all along the way and then screwed him over BIG TIME, by dumping his Stock just before TSW launch, running the entire Company (Funcom) into the ground!
They had to fire almost everyone, except a small core team, just to overcome this blow and stay afloat!
So Yeah.... it was a bitter pill to swallow (as diehard TSW fan), but I could understand it from his point that he jumped ship, wanted to be on himself and start working on the long awaited sequel to The Longest Journey RPG.
---------------------------
On Topic.
Honestly. This is actually quite disturbing. To see these kind of positions being laid off / leaving just before launch!
1. The work atmosphere has reached toxic Levels, driving People over the edge, unable to take the stress and pressure anymore and leaving!
2. Pre-order numbers have been so low, that they already starting firing People before launch, to prevent bad press after launch, when firing a lot of People in one sweep. Giving away the bad Financial state the Company is in.
Take Your pick.
ROFL!
1. Really, you know this how?
2. See #1
how bout:
3. "There's no real "perfect" time to leave a team, especially with MMOs that have no real "end," but the truth is my personal life's taken a turn and I've made the impossibly difficult decision to leave Carbine. "
As for the others... MAYBE just MAAAAAYBE it was their performance, or something similar to #3? Hmmmmm?
jeez the tin-foil-conspiracy nuts abound!!
Hrrrm. Well, I know it is SOP for most of the core team to leave when the product is in or near release status, and then lower-paid maintenance guys come in and use the tools built by those devs to carry the game forward. These guys are expensive, and usually under a finite contract that ends upon release. I've seen it happen with many MMO releases.
That's most likely the case. But, if it isn't, then it is troubling, and it shouldn't be spun fanboy style. I'm a fanboy but I calls it like I sees it, and if it stinks, it's probably poo.
So which is it: standard core staff downsizing for release of a completed project, or rats fleeing a sinking ship?
This has nothing to do With tin-foil-conspiracy. I know you don´t want to hear these Things when you have dumped Your Money already in the pre-order!
But I have never seen such a high turnover on KEY positions within a dev team just before launch!
Designers usually leave / switch Project shortly after launch, when the first major fixes have been done and Things have stabilized.
So honestly! This is just not a good sign at all!
But take it for what you will. Time will tell and Things will play out sooner than later to what effect it will all have in the end.
QFT! I work in the IT as well and have seen time and again what high turnover rates do and it ain´t pretty.
Especially in complex teams like Development. Losing so many key positions in a short time is a huge blow to the Development team and will have a significant impact. No matter how you slice it!
It's unfortunate (since he was good at his job) but sometimes people change jobs.
I'm also not really agreeing that Carbine is transparent. The #1 problem I have with WildStar is that CREDD is facilitated cheating. Gold for cash. Pay 2 win. Severely diminishes/destroys the integrity of the game. The spin it very differently for marketing and a lot of players don't really understand what it is or that it even exists. That is not transparency, that's blatant misinformation.
Premium MMORPGs do not feature built-in cheating via cash for gold pay 2 win. PLAY to win or don't play.
Yet, these are the exact people I would expect to keep around for future content, expansions, storyline continuation....etc. There is almost as much development going on as customer service in the first few years of a MMOs life. Maybe this habit of trashing people too early is the reason why so many MMOs crash and burn in the first year as they are unable to produce future content at a reasonable pace.
Sacking your leads is definitely is not good message, i would go even further, its worrisome, and quoted post is hilarious, yeah, you usually repurpose your lead system designer to work at customer support...or somting.....not rofl
SWTORs core team started to being laid off when game failed (that included higher ups) some 6 months from launch. Even had 2 waves of layoffs. And it greately degraded games quality because everything was planned with original size team, not 1/3 of that size.
Many people have no idea, its long work with little pay at times, and a lot of yelling and stress, I have worked on games for years and the head aches and release are the worst. AT the end of the day everyone hates one another, because people are so stressed, after release everyone is friends again. But this is a very, very high stress job and most gamers have no idea what its like..
They need to see for them selves maybe they would give devs more respect, I 'm a gamer turned Dev and I see it all and before I never knew..