Saw yet again a comment in a NW thread on Steam about John Smedley somehow being involved in NW which was quickly shouted down. (Mods there often quickly lock threads which slag on Smed)
Since joining Amazon Studio back in 2017 he's flown mostly under the radar so it's hard to know what he's been down there in the San Diego Studio. Was a MOP rumor report saying they were working on a space game, but not much else I could find.
The Steam thread seemed to end when the OP updated his original claim saying after further "research" (no links provided) it appears Smed is leading the Lost Ark team.
Thought I'd check here to see if anyone could confirm since many folks have better Google-Fu skills than I.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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I think there must be some kind of gaming industry freemasons that he is a top honcho in, because no matter how badly he does there is always a new big job ready to take him on.
I myself prefer to hire people who have made a lot of mistakes before, than the ones who haven't, and definitely are going to.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I'm sure his retelling highlights how he single handily salvaged the bad situations in spite of them, turning a good profit, changing water into wine, and of course, "resurrecting" his dead career.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The reality is he needed a proof of concept which sold well in order to convince Sony to properly fund Next which never happened, hence Daybreak quickly pulled the plug on them both not too long after the acquisition.
Not that I ever played it, but from what I read SWG players felt they got conned a few times, there was some bait and switch with a release they asked players to buy which was quickly followed by another big change (NGE?) which invalidated much of it, for many players who felt betrayed by it all.
So if not con man, perhaps evil corporate mastermind or something? There are few leaders in gaming who are more reviled than Smed, heck once a hacking group threatened to bring down a plane while he was actually flying cross country on it, (flight had to be diverted) so it isn't any wonder that he keeps a low profile these days.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Now I wish it was even less P2W here but it's a better model than we've gotten for most(all?) korean ports. I mean it's probably no worse than LOTRO's P2W model to be honest.
What saddens me is EQNext was everything I wanted from an MMO, not only we've lost that but the industry's trajectory shows that no one is going to make such a game.
Or were you thinking more along the lines of the destructible world features or other such content? I don't ever see those being viable in a MMORPG, at least not based on current technology.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I played SWG, and yeah, he straight up lied. The biggest lie was completely denying the NGE rumor knowing full well it was coming. All while selling pre orders for the upcoming expansion. He still believes himself to be a victim of Lucasarts and put all the blame on them.
Alternative facts
Everquest would never be a game if not for them hiding it until it was a success. The reason it succeeded was the monthly subs that really opened Sony's eyes.
Everyone was convinced that high fantasy RPG was a recipe for failure.
https://www.pcgamer.com/breaking-the-internet-the-story-of-everquest-the-mmo-that-changed-everything/
When you succeed it is all good otherwise you're that lying cheating guy.
In fact, from my memory, the "experts" at EA thought that UO would only sell about 10,000 copies. That's why each shard was made for 10,000 total, with 3,000 simultaneous users.
By Beta, they knew otherwise, and came up with the "Shard" idea.
Once upon a time....
Hell, UO had support rules built into their customizable houses, to a small degree.
In fact, UO was going to have wooden doors that you could burn down, and other burnable items. Before they realized what jerks Gamers can be.
Once upon a time....