38 Studios going down the shitter (Kingdoms of Amalur devs)

[Infinitron]

Arnie knows what makes a good game.

 

[DragoFireheart]

Sadly, America has to learn that its sport legends aren't almighty gods.

At least they can still count on their acting legends!!

 

[LeStryfe79]

Lol, this shitstorm could be smelled years ago.

 

[Metro]

The guy loved EQ so much he wanted to use his money/rep to build an RPG/MMO...obviously he didn't know what he was doing, but good on him for trying.

Such a fucking waste. Just imagine how many Knightses of the Chalices and, fuck, even Legendses of Grimrocks we could have if only he possessed a modicum of genre-savviness. As if a Generic ARPG #47 needs an external funding to be made. Or, rather, as if the world needs the Generic ARPG #47 to get said funding.

Maybe you can get Roger Clemens to open up a turn-based RPG studio!

 

[Gregz]

The guy loved EQ so much he wanted to use his money/rep to build an RPG/MMO...obviously he didn't know what he was doing, but good on him for trying.

Such a fucking waste. Just imagine how many Knightses of the Chalices and, fuck, even Legendses of Grimrocks we could have if only he possessed a modicum of genre-savviness. As if a Generic ARPG #47 needs an external funding to be made. Or, rather, as if the world needs the Generic ARPG #47 to get said funding.

I know right? Apparently Pierre Begue (KoTC) can't use Kickstarter because they only work with US companies.

http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=386&p=3585#p3585

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/05/18/3...llion-to-rhode-island/?a_dgi=aolshare_twitter

Well they were able to pay back 1 million. Now only 48 million to go!

 

[Metro]

Amalur Collection 80% off would help pay that!

"It's time for them to go out and get private capital funding," Chafee said. "That's the deal. It's a generous deal, but stick to it."

Oh great, EA will buy them out.

38 Studios will then owe $12.6 million in full annual debt service in 2013, and "that's on their dime," officials said.

They're fucked.

 

[Roguey]

"My my my priority my priority my my my priority"

Poor Rhode Island. Fuck the governor for sinking so much money into a shitty WoW-clone MMO that was bound to fail like they all do.

They didn't invest in an MMO. They invested in Curt Shilling (and subsequently a large amount of jobs).

Sadly, America has to learn that its sport legends aren't almighty gods.

But it's not like they didn't know he was going to make a MMO with that money. They've been working on it since 2006 and they got the loan in 2010.

 

[Metro]

I doubt Lincoln Chaffe (the governor of RI) even knows what an MMO is, quite frankly.

 

[Roguey]

Actually Donald Carcieri was the governor who supported the loan. A George Bush style Republican, spend loadsamoney now and let the future worry about the consequences.

http://web.archive.org/web/20100731...udios_vote__07-27-10_JIJB71G_v18.3dd3796.html

During the public meeting, Wadensten said he looked at the deal from the perspective of a manufacturer. Bringing a video-game company here, he said, doesn’t address the problems state businesses already have.

“This is an R&D [research and development] project, and R&D projects are tough,” he said. “There are a lot of pros, but a lot of cons, too.”
Other critics of the deal are concerned about the size of the loan, the risk that taxpayers will be on the hook, and the wisdom of investing in a company in a high-risk industry that has yet to bring a product to the public.

Governor Carcieri, chairman of the EDC board and a backer of the project, acknowledged the deal is a risk, but said it’s worth taking.

“We need to make a statement ... this gives us the ability to be a real player in the digital-media area,” he said.

Schilling, an avid gamer, started 38 Studios, named for the number he wore as a Red Sox player, in 2006. In 2009, the company purchased Big Huge Games, a Maryland company.

According to 38 Studios CEO Jennifer MacLean, the company now employs about 200 people, divided between its headquarters in Massachusetts and Big Huge Games in Maryland.

The company is developing two products. One is a single-player game called “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” which is scheduled for release in the fall of 2011.

Executives from 38 Studios introduced the game last week at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego. Schilling said unveiling the game before the fanatic gamers at Comic-Con made him as nervous as walking out to the pitcher’s mound at Fenway Park for the first time. The more ambitious project is called a massive multiplayer online game (MMOG), which can be played online by thousands of players simultaneously. Both games are set in the same fantasy world. 38 Studios has not revealed a release date for the MMOG.

Awesome statement guys. Wadensten was the only smart one in that bunch.

 

[Renegen]

There's a lot of great quotes. I found an old story where Michael Patcher (that asshole) was saying how 38 Studios was definitively going to be successful, or how according to calculations Amalur needed to sell 1.75 million for the loan to break even.

 

[Cassidy]

$75M government loan to the studio

Always count on the Man to fund the decline, and divert part of the funds to a Swiss numbered account somewhere, probably.

 

[Outlander]

Here's a video for their MMO:



Does KoA look anything like that?

Also, I suppose that is a working title, right?

... Right?

 

[Metro]

It sort of looks like Amalur although I'd say the art style is more refined/realistic and not as Fable/WoW looking. Doesn't really matter, they'll go bankrupt before this is released.

 

[hoverdog]

The guy loved EQ so much he wanted to use his money/rep to build an RPG/MMO...obviously he didn't know what he was doing, but good on him for trying.

Such a fucking waste. Just imagine how many Knightses of the Chalices and, fuck, even Legendses of Grimrocks we could have if only he possessed a modicum of genre-savviness. As if a Generic ARPG #47 needs an external funding to be made. Or, rather, as if the world needs the Generic ARPG #47 to get said funding.

I know right? Apparently Pierre Begue (KoTC) can't use Kickstarter because they only work with US companies.

http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=386&p=3585#p3585

yet somehow Belarussians (!) from Aterdux managed to trick kickstarter

 

[DwarvenFood]

The guy loved EQ so much he wanted to use his money/rep to build an RPG/MMO...obviously he didn't know what he was doing, but good on him for trying.

Such a fucking waste. Just imagine how many Knightses of the Chalices and, fuck, even Legendses of Grimrocks we could have if only he possessed a modicum of genre-savviness. As if a Generic ARPG #47 needs an external funding to be made. Or, rather, as if the world needs the Generic ARPG #47 to get said funding.

I know right? Apparently Pierre Begue (KoTC) can't use Kickstarter because they only work with US companies.

http://www.heroicfantasygames.com/Forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=386&p=3585#p3585

yet somehow Belarussians (!) from Aterdux managed to trick kickstarter

If you click on the thread you quoted, you'll see why...

 

[Metro]

Where is my 90% off Amalur sale?!?!

 

[Hobo Elf]

I'm expecting it to come up during the summer sale.

 

[Kaol]

I heard pirate bay runs some good sales.

 

[Metro]

I heard pirate bay runs some good sales.

I heard TPB jokes were new and refreshing~

 

[Stabwound]

Haha, good. Amalur is an absolute pile of unremarkable shit. The engine itself is solid, but they chose to make a piss easy and boring game with it. It could even be patched to add some challenge but they won't (can't?) even do that. So fuck em'.

 

[Metro]

Is there? I would think it would have been cancelled in light of recent events. Then again... they actually plan to go forward with the MMO.

 

[Stabwound]

No... no, it's not.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=7991

Lastly, what do you think about the current direction of the cRPG genre? There seems to be a continuing trend of publishers favouring action gameplay and the removal of character statistics. Do you believe there is a market out there for modern cRPGs in a style similar to the great cRPGs of the past?

I think there’s still a place for hardcore RPGs in today’s market, yes, but I don’t think that action gameplay is necessarily at odds with that. You can very definitely have traditional RPG stats, depth, and sophistication, while still having action gameplay, and I think there’s a place for games that combine those elements in today’s marketplace.

If what you’re really asking me about is purely turn-based RPGs (i.e. no action elements at all), then I’d say yes there’s a place for it, but it’s not in the mainstream, at least not in the West (JRPGs are a different story). I doubt we’ll see another completely turn-based AAA RPG in the West. But I think there’s plenty of opportunity for them in the growing markets of tablet, phone, social, and handheld games, where costs of development (and the amount you need to sell to be successful) are considerably smaller. I’m definitely expecting to see some sweet old-school-style RPGs appearing on my iPad over the next couple of years.

Pre-Kickstarter gaming, how quaint

Who doesn't have a place now, huh?

 

[Commissar Draco]

http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=7991

Lastly, what do you think about the current direction of the cRPG genre? There seems to be a continuing trend of publishers favouring action gameplay and the removal of character statistics. Do you believe there is a market out there for modern cRPGs in a style similar to the great cRPGs of the past?

I think there’s still a place for hardcore RPGs in today’s market, yes, but I don’t think that action gameplay is necessarily at odds with that. You can very definitely have traditional RPG stats, depth, and sophistication, while still having action gameplay, and I think there’s a place for games that combine those elements in today’s marketplace.

If what you’re really asking me about is purely turn-based RPGs (i.e. no action elements at all), then I’d say yes there’s a place for it, but it’s not in the mainstream, at least not in the West (JRPGs are a different story). I doubt we’ll see another completely turn-based AAA RPG in the West. But I think there’s plenty of opportunity for them in the growing markets of tablet, phone, social, and handheld games, where costs of development (and the amount you need to sell to be successful) are considerably smaller. I’m definitely expecting to see some sweet old-school-style RPGs appearing on my iPad over the next couple of years.

Pre-Kickstarter gaming, how quaint

Who doesn't have a place now, huh?

HERESY! KILL IT WITH FIRE!