Once again, a company that has launched a number of successful titles. Once again, a company that has one fatal flaw. Unlike previous companies, though, 3D Realms is infamous for one of the biggest disasters in gaming, ever. Duke Nukem Forever will go down in gaming history as the definition of Vaporware.
The game's failure, by itself, is not as noteworthy, though, as some of the news that only came out in the last couple years. During the game's "production" a game play video was released. This video supposedly showed that the team was hard at work on the game. The video peaked a lot of interest at the time of its release, and gave many false hope that the game would be released that year.
Fast-forward to the last couple years. My memory is foggy as to the exact date, but a forum post surfaced from one of the programmers or other employees at 3D Realms during DN:F's "production". This employee admitted that the game play video was not in fact game play, but merely a video made specifically to mimic game play. The game, the forum poster admitted, was plagued by the people in charge constantly making their programmers start projects over and spend months on tasks that really did not push the game forward.
I'm sure there are fingers that could be pointed at someone specifically, but right now I can't remember names. All I know is that most gamers, regardless of the genre they play most, know what you mean when you say, "I can't wait until Duke Nukem Forever comes out!".
Edit: I know this isn't specifically the MMORPG industry, but I had to mention ole Duke.
I don’t have 5. I have other’s I don't like, but I have one that I absolutely distrust.
Jack Emmert – Cryptic Studios
He dismantled CoH w/ the Endurance Diversification patch, regarded players as not playing the game “he envisioned”, rearranged staff away from a live game (down to 11 people) to develop a competing mmo of the exact same (and small) genre. Marvel Universe Online was deal struck up by the very same company that Jack’s Cryptic had only months prior been in litigation with over copy right infringements. All while under contract w/ NCSoft. Later, the City of Heroes license was sold entirely to NCsoft: they announced Champions Online, as their previous direct competitor had cancelled the MUO project.
During development of CO, the studio he’s the head of played dirty pool and sent private messages to players of City of Heroes through their forums to recruit beta testers to Champions Online. At the Game Developers Conference in 2008, Jack was only to willing to express how much he despised Microtransactions:“Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
Only months later was his wish for death brushed aside as they launched their flagship MMO that was not only MT based, but was tacked on to an already subscription based game. Even Scott Jennings on this very site labeled the (his) company’s payment options as “shaking every coin out of the pockets of their customers”. His recent interview regarding the beta process shows only to well where Jack’s love for the customer’s lay: “A successful open beta means that the internet is buzzing and pre-orders are jumping significantly (in the tens of thousands, at least). It's easy to pour valuable development time into things which won't really sell any more copies. That's the key during beta: what changes will net more sales, more subscriptions.”
Smed because....well i hardly need to explain that one
Garriott because he represents all the crappy outdated designers who think just because they made an awesome game 5+ years ago that anything they make now will be a success...that and the fact that he had the nerve to stick his name on the actual game box.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds -Solid non level based game -Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Is it even debatable? I'll go as far as to say that John Smedley is one of the worst sleezebags in the entire video game industry. The man treats his customers like their his little toys, and don't even get me started on his endless list of lies, some of which used to justify his failures. For example, he justifies the NGE by saying something along the lines of "We were going to be out of business if we didn't make changes." Really Smedley? You were going to be out of business because of decreasing subscription numbers? Then please explain, how in the Hell are you guys still in business four years after losing most of your customers in what was probably no more than a 1-month time span?
Heh too bad Derek Smart and Jack Thompson weren't MMO people, or they'd pwn everyone on this list.
Anyhow I came to mention Roper, but two people before me said everything that needed to be said.
I can also roleplay the tower in a chess game and shout "is that a peasant at the horizon I see? I will smash it I will! Oh damn I broke one of my merlons!". -- maji
Roper, Smedley, Barnett, Chilton, and I guess Tasos
In a time when instances, theme parks, cartoony grahics, and simple gameplay are the order of the day, there is no way McQuaid should be on this list. Judging from all the MMOs that have come out that have tried to do what he arguably failed at (zero), I don't think it's fair to put him on this list.
Same thing goes for Garriott... if your boss comes in and forces you to change your game from a metaphysical fantasy world to starship troopers two years into your project (because NCSoft wanted to reserve the concept for their own development team... just see Aion and compare it to the old Taabula Rasa) it's not exactly fair to place the blame on his shoulders. Hell, all things considered, his team did a great job... that just didn't translate into a great end product.
Reason: Introducing station cash into EQ2, a game I'd played from launch and invested a lot of time and money in, and then overnight they go an riddle it with an RMT ingame store, something Smedley promised would not happen, terrible, terrible decision.
Epic fail of a release. To date it is one of the only games that the credit card companies forced a repayment from the company to the customers on because "the promissed product was not provided".
The servers failed to work for more than the first week. The game was FULL of crashing errors and technical bugs. The game priomissed far far far more than they could provide. Some novel ideas I admit (paths showing up on the ground in the areas where players ran the most often, cities you could actually build in your own style and micro manage, a never ending world effecting/story line effecting player/guild VS player/guild environment). But in the end NONE of these novel ideals have yet been succesfully implemented into any MMORPG. Nice idea but no oreo cookie...
This is obviously not a 2009 game but it is the grandfather of MMO-Flops.
For 2009: Well the biggest fail would have to be the games that released in 2009 but didnt even make it to 2010: You know who you are Tabula Rasa, Destiny Games and NCsoft. There are all kinds of excuses as to why this failed but a good game has more than just good graphics and good game mechanics...it also has a good marketing plan, a long term fiscal vision and solid managers. A company is a single unit, if one aspects of the company fail they all do. No excuses.
Comments
3 pages and no one said Smedley?
Name: Gaute Godager
Company: Funcom
Reason: Age of Conan
Whoever is in charge.
Once again, a company that has launched a number of successful titles. Once again, a company that has one fatal flaw. Unlike previous companies, though, 3D Realms is infamous for one of the biggest disasters in gaming, ever. Duke Nukem Forever will go down in gaming history as the definition of Vaporware.
The game's failure, by itself, is not as noteworthy, though, as some of the news that only came out in the last couple years. During the game's "production" a game play video was released. This video supposedly showed that the team was hard at work on the game. The video peaked a lot of interest at the time of its release, and gave many false hope that the game would be released that year.
Fast-forward to the last couple years. My memory is foggy as to the exact date, but a forum post surfaced from one of the programmers or other employees at 3D Realms during DN:F's "production". This employee admitted that the game play video was not in fact game play, but merely a video made specifically to mimic game play. The game, the forum poster admitted, was plagued by the people in charge constantly making their programmers start projects over and spend months on tasks that really did not push the game forward.
I'm sure there are fingers that could be pointed at someone specifically, but right now I can't remember names. All I know is that most gamers, regardless of the genre they play most, know what you mean when you say, "I can't wait until Duke Nukem Forever comes out!".
Edit: I know this isn't specifically the MMORPG industry, but I had to mention ole Duke.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
I think you missed the posts regarding "smed." on the first page.
Doktar - 70 Troll Priest - Perenolde
I don’t have 5. I have other’s I don't like, but I have one that I absolutely distrust.
Jack Emmert – Cryptic Studios
He dismantled CoH w/ the Endurance Diversification patch, regarded players as not playing the game “he envisioned”, rearranged staff away from a live game (down to 11 people) to develop a competing mmo of the exact same (and small) genre. Marvel Universe Online was deal struck up by the very same company that Jack’s Cryptic had only months prior been in litigation with over copy right infringements. All while under contract w/ NCSoft. Later, the City of Heroes license was sold entirely to NCsoft: they announced Champions Online, as their previous direct competitor had cancelled the MUO project.
During development of CO, the studio he’s the head of played dirty pool and sent private messages to players of City of Heroes through their forums to recruit beta testers to Champions Online. At the Game Developers Conference in 2008, Jack was only to willing to express how much he despised Microtransactions: “Microtransactions are the biggest bunch of nonsense. I like paying one fee and not worrying about it – like my cellphone. The world’s biggest MMO isn’t item based, even though the black market item GDP is bigger than Russia … microtransactions make me want to die.”
Only months later was his wish for death brushed aside as they launched their flagship MMO that was not only MT based, but was tacked on to an already subscription based game. Even Scott Jennings on this very site labeled the (his) company’s payment options as “shaking every coin out of the pockets of their customers”. His recent interview regarding the beta process shows only to well where Jack’s love for the customer’s lay: “A successful open beta means that the internet is buzzing and pre-orders are jumping significantly (in the tens of thousands, at least). It's easy to pour valuable development time into things which won't really sell any more copies. That's the key during beta: what changes will net more sales, more subscriptions.”
Sources:
http://www.massively.com/2009/11/30/developer-round-table-mmo-betas-page-2/ http://www.mmogamer.com/02/25/2008/future-of-mmos-roundtable-at-gdc08-recap
I nominate for the 2000s:
John Smedley - for the NGE, THE worst MMO decision ever made
Paul Barnett - for being unbearable in those WAR movies
Bill Roper - I just hate that guy, cant even say why; he is so full of PR shit
Brad McQuaid (aka Snow White) - for sinking the best chance for a classic MMO: Vanguard
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Heh, I could think of a couple, at least.
Paul Barnett - I lost me trust in peoples .. ever since it I just been taking it day by day.
World of Warcraft is a proof that MMORPG quality should affect schedule/budget and not the other way around.
Smed and Garriott.
Smed because....well i hardly need to explain that one
Garriott because he represents all the crappy outdated designers who think just because they made an awesome game 5+ years ago that anything they make now will be a success...that and the fact that he had the nerve to stick his name on the actual game box.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Is it even debatable? I'll go as far as to say that John Smedley is one of the worst sleezebags in the entire video game industry. The man treats his customers like their his little toys, and don't even get me started on his endless list of lies, some of which used to justify his failures. For example, he justifies the NGE by saying something along the lines of "We were going to be out of business if we didn't make changes." Really Smedley? You were going to be out of business because of decreasing subscription numbers? Then please explain, how in the Hell are you guys still in business four years after losing most of your customers in what was probably no more than a 1-month time span?
Heh too bad Derek Smart and Jack Thompson weren't MMO people, or they'd pwn everyone on this list.
Anyhow I came to mention Roper, but two people before me said everything that needed to be said.
I can also roleplay the tower in a chess game and shout "is that a peasant at the horizon I see? I will smash it I will! Oh damn I broke one of my merlons!". -- maji
Tasos Flambouras, Aventurine, the developers of Darkfall. Seriously fuck that guy and his lies and false advertising.
Roper, Smedley, Barnett, Chilton, and I guess Tasos
In a time when instances, theme parks, cartoony grahics, and simple gameplay are the order of the day, there is no way McQuaid should be on this list. Judging from all the MMOs that have come out that have tried to do what he arguably failed at (zero), I don't think it's fair to put him on this list.
Same thing goes for Garriott... if your boss comes in and forces you to change your game from a metaphysical fantasy world to starship troopers two years into your project (because NCSoft wanted to reserve the concept for their own development team... just see Aion and compare it to the old Taabula Rasa) it's not exactly fair to place the blame on his shoulders. Hell, all things considered, his team did a great job... that just didn't translate into a great end product.
Smed, Godager, Garriott
I'd also not put Barnett and McQuaid on the list, just because someone screws up doesn't mean they're evil uncaring game-destroyers.
M
Paul Barnett
Mark Jacobs
Reason: WarHammer
Nuff said
The ones in charge of EQ from 2002 on.
Palpatine Julio Torres
Darth John Smedley
SWG NGE Nuff said
Smedley x 5
Reason: Introducing station cash into EQ2, a game I'd played from launch and invested a lot of time and money in, and then overnight they go an riddle it with an RMT ingame store, something Smedley promised would not happen, terrible, terrible decision.
Lest we never forget!
Shadow Bane
Wolf Pack Studio's
Epic fail of a release. To date it is one of the only games that the credit card companies forced a repayment from the company to the customers on because "the promissed product was not provided".
The servers failed to work for more than the first week. The game was FULL of crashing errors and technical bugs. The game priomissed far far far more than they could provide. Some novel ideas I admit (paths showing up on the ground in the areas where players ran the most often, cities you could actually build in your own style and micro manage, a never ending world effecting/story line effecting player/guild VS player/guild environment). But in the end NONE of these novel ideals have yet been succesfully implemented into any MMORPG. Nice idea but no oreo cookie...
This is obviously not a 2009 game but it is the grandfather of MMO-Flops.
For 2009: Well the biggest fail would have to be the games that released in 2009 but didnt even make it to 2010: You know who you are Tabula Rasa, Destiny Games and NCsoft. There are all kinds of excuses as to why this failed but a good game has more than just good graphics and good game mechanics...it also has a good marketing plan, a long term fiscal vision and solid managers. A company is a single unit, if one aspects of the company fail they all do. No excuses.
FINBAR
-------------------------------------------
Larry Probst - CEO of EA
This guy is the anti-midas everything he touchs turns to sh!t,it would take to long to list all the things hes done wrong in the past 6 years.
Hajime Satomi - CEO of SEGA
Hisao Oguchi - President of SEGA
Both these guys should fall on swords for taking SEGA and totaly tanking the stock on Saturn.
I don't care about the next one,you play games on it,or could try to so I am adding it.
Bill Gates
For making and releasing WindowsME,without a doubt the most disturbingly blatent ripoff in some time.
Smed- SOE is a huge joke
Mark Jacobs/Paul Barnett - First these idiots make ToA, then WAR. Obviously, they haven't a clue.
Whoever was in charge of AC2