Company News 38 Studios Entire Staff Laid Off, Amalur Needed 3mil Sold To Break Even

[InspectorRumpole]

Noobs got owned.
That is all.

 

[Elwro]

[Well you should pay a competent writer but not hacks like Salvatore and for such big fee.

That was my point: the big players frequently seem to draw wrong conclusions...

 

[Curious_Tongue]

What's gonna happen to the MMO? Not that I care to play it mind you.

 

[Metro]

Nothing. It's dead. The company is basically shut down.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Nothing. It's dead. The company is basically shut down.

75 million and the work of over 300 or so people just... gone? Nothing salvageable?

 

[Metro]

Salvageable by who? Technically 38 still owns the Amalur IP and the rights to the MMO but don't have the ability to produce it. Ask yourself: is the IP really worth anything to anyone? It's basically a total unknown save for one mediocre single player ARPG, half (or more) of whose audience were console gamers. I think someone mentioned it earlier in this thread or another Amalur thread but maybe one of the Asian F2P MMO companies will pick it up. As far as a reputable US/Western developer goes, who the hell wants to invest in yet another WoW clone MMO when the other prior dozen or so have failed?

In the game development industry stuff like this is hardly uncommon.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Salvageable by who?

I think someone mentioned it earlier in this thread or another Amalur thread but maybe one of the Asian F2P MMO companies will pick it up.

I don't care about playing it, I just hate the idea of something that has consumed so many resources going to waste.

 

[IronicNeurotic]

Salvageable by who? Technically 38 still owns the Amalur IP and the rights to the MMO but don't have the ability to produce it.

No, actually the state of Rhode Island currently owns the IP's. Due to a loan related contract.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

No, actually the state of Rhode Island currently owns the IP's. Due to a loan related contract.

Now I would play an MMO run by the state.

Just imagine it.

 

[Metro]

Well, they're more likely to sell it off than actually manage it.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

Well, they're more likely to sell it off than actually manage it.

Noooooo... you think?

Can't we use our imaginations Metro? Can't you imagine an MMO where creative decisions are made by politically correct committees? Can't you imagine a game where non-english speakers are entitled to interpreters? Can't you imagine a department that provides special equipment for disabled players? Can't you imagine a game derped not please ADD kids, but derped to please EVERYONE!

Someone help me out please.

 

[tiagocc0]

right.. maybe they will use another 75M to finish

 

[RK47]

No, actually the state of Rhode Island currently owns the IP's. Due to a loan related contract.

Now I would play an MMO run by the state.

Just imagine it.

virtual gold to pay taxes and food coupon drops? wow.

 

[waywardOne]

Some of the hundreds of 38 Studios employees laid off yesterday were hit with a second round of bad news this week when they were told that homes they thought the company had sold for them hadn't been, and that they may be stuck with a second mortgage, Polygon has learned.
Several sources directly impacted by the mortgage issue confirmed the news today and a 38 Studios official, who asked to not be named, said the company is working to try and get to the bottom of the notifications and find a resolution.
One former employee said they discovered this week that their Massachusetts home, which they had been told was sold last year, actually hadn't been. The bank contacted them this week to ask why they mortgage wasn't being paid.

 

[Azrael the cat]

[Well you should pay a competent writer but not hacks like Salvatore and for such big fee.

That was my point: the big players frequently seem to draw wrong conclusions...

It speaks volumes about why computer game writing is so godawful when you think that they must have viewed Salvatore as some magnificent talent. There are plenty of excellent - truly good, not 'did a decent run in a comic one time' or 'wrote part of a succesful pulp DnD franchise' - writers who would agree to write a game for far less than Salvatore's fee.

Critically acclaimed authors might say no on artistic grounds, and in any event their work scheduling probably wouldn't fit a game (to take a timely one that most of this forum is familiar with, Martin of ASoFaI regularly goes ~500 manuscript pages overlength and doesn't write to specifications (other than an idea of where he wants things to end up), and that would apply to a lot of good popular novelists. I'm assuming that 'capital L' Literature novelists would neither be interested nor relevant to game writing.

In fact, I'd say to steer clear of novellists in this case: they write a much longer form than games, and are used to conveying information in ways that aren't applicable in a gaming environment. Plus the only ones that are likely to be used to writing to strict specifications (i.e. with ultra-detailed pre-set requirements for characters, major events, writing schedule, length, style of writing etc) are the franchise hacks, like Salvatore.

BUT if they wanted an outside writer, they could have got the very best of the best from film and television writing. Those guys are workman authors - i.e. they combine artistry with doing a job. They certainly aren't going to turn down a contract simply because it's for a computer game. More importantly, they (a) use media that are much more similar to games in the way that information is communicated, and (b) even though they will need more freedom than most gaming companies give in order to do anything really great, they are used to having to take into account production budgets, pre-established characters/settings and the need to set up plotlines for future episodes that may be written by someone else, writing schedules, pitching the style at the right level for the target audience and so on. They also expect that if their script gets used, they'll be required to be on call during the production in order to do on-the-spot rewrites if their original script can't be implemented for any reason (budget, isn't working as well on screen as it did on paper, directorial insistence, etc).

Those guys are the masters of combining entertainment, art AND the practicalities of production, and for what they paid Salvatore they could have commissioned drafts (or 'proofs of concept', I guess, given it's a game) from several of the top writers from film and tv, and then paid the best one to be on hand and lead the writing team during its implementation. Film/TV writers are seriously underpaid and under-respected for what they do - they're used to directors getting all the credit for their work, while they come up with the ideas and the dialogue and yet are complete unknowns. All the developer would need to do is promise them that their name would be all over this thing, that they'll respect their vision and that in addition to their usual pathetic (compared to what the director and lead actors get) fee they'll throw in a share of the royalties, and they could get the kind of writers who would usually be penning episodes of Boardwalk Empire or Hollywood's next blockbuster. I'm not talking 'great artists' here, but even mediocre film/tv writing shines over computer game writing. And I don't think that they'd have to settle for mediocre.

When it comes down to it, the only explanation I can think of is that the folk who make decisions about computer game writing, genuinely believe that Salvatore is a leading author who is worth importing. And unless 38 studios was staffed by a group of over-achieving 12 year olds, that's kind of scary.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

So basically your saying Azrael that Salvatore is shit and that there are much better writers out there they could have used. I think you just wasted a whole wall of text on making a point that could have been made in one sentence.

 

[DwarvenFood]

Also it is not solely Salvatore's fault that the game sold "only" 1.3mil. The whole development of a MMO was a too big gamble and the owners did not see that coming at all.

 

[Metro]

Of course. As others have stated it boils down to the fact that Schilling was a huge MMO/EQ/WoW fanatic and thought it would be cool to make his own. The only difference between him and your average fan is the several million dollars he could afford out of pocket to develop one. But, ultimately, Schilling had no clue beyond that of an average fan on how hard it is to actually develop one.

 

[tiagocc0]

The failure started because the loan happened as a personal favor.. probably..

"Hello there good famous friend of mine, what is it that saddens your heart?
You want to fabricate a MMO? Will it make us even more rich?
But of course I will lend you our taxpayers hard earned money, I would never say no to you my dearest!
I trust you completely to pay the loan because you are such a good friend!"

 

[Metro]

You forgot: "...and an excellent pitcher!"

 

[tiagocc0]

Exactly!

 

[Jaesun]

Who?

 

[Brayko]

 

[tiagocc0]

Exactly!

 

[commie]

So basically your saying Azrael that Salvatore is shit and that there are much better writers out there they could have used. I think you just wasted a whole wall of text on making a point that could have been made in one sentence.

You obviously are not familiar with Azrael's work.

He's a lawyer or some shit so talking through his arse for a few hours to make a point that could be done in minutes is second nature(and for someone paid by the hour, very profitable).