Game News Bill Roper fesses up about Hellgate: London

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Hellgate: London

<a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/">Computer and Video Games</a> has a little <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=183206">commentary piece</a> where <b>Bill Roper</b> talks about the problems in the launch of <a href="http://www.hellgatelondon.com/">Hellgate: London</a>. Basically, he says they tried to do too much with the game.
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<blockquote> "The challenges of an independent game studio are drastically different than those owned by a publisher," he continues. "We're fortunate that the online nature of the game has allowed us to continue to fix bugs, add content, and respond directly to our players' wants and needs.</blockquote>
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Considering there's a fee charged, it's not <i>fortune</i> that you get to fix it. It's <i>forced</i> if you want to keep making money off it. If you're expecting more money for something you do, the people tend to expect more out of the product.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://ve3d.ign.com/">Voodoo Extreme</A>

 

[Kingston]

“…we simply tried to do too much with the game”, Roper says in retrospect. “Vista, DirectX 10, being both a single-player boxed product and a multiplayer online game, a simultaneous launch in seven languages across Europe, the US and South East Asia, and creating our own fully-featured online destination on top of all that.”

Rather than try to shove responsibility for the rough launch onto others, the CEO says Flagship will take the blame for not getting enough testing done while working towards its committed ship date for Hellgate.

“…we simply tried to do too much with the game”

You didn't try to make it a good game though. Oh and, "not enough testing", I'm pretty sure is referring to bugs and not gameplay. Damn, they still don't realise how bad the game is.

 

[Herbert West]

Basically, he says they tried to do too much with the game.

If you see an obscenely bad game, you now know that it's so bad, because designers wanted to make it really, really great! Isn't that simple and logical?

 

[Lurkar]

How did they try to do "too much?" It's a fucking hack and slash. It was ALWAYS a fucking hack and slash. They didn't try to do too much, they tried to do too little and assumed it would work itself out.

Maybe if they said "We tried too hard to rest on the laurels of Diablo" I'd buy it.

 

[HanoverF]

Suckgate could be 110% bug free and it would still be a steaming pile. I'm not sure the testing time it would take to discern that the game was rubbish, well for me it was about two sessions (would have been one, but I quickly got stuck in place and had to restart).

 

[thesheeep]

Guys, calm down, ok? You're jumping on a bandwagon here.
HG:L is a diablo clone in 3D, and with some interesting features, but with a weird payment system, completely boring levels and.. well.. a diablo clone, after all.
But it really isn't THAT bad. It was hyped and could not fulfill the expectations, but it's still not as awful as some of you think/claim/wish it to be. It's just not really good...

 

[Kingston]

But it really isn't THAT bad.

Yes, it is.

Sure, it's addicting, but it isn't fun.

 

[thesheeep]

But it really isn't THAT bad.

Yes, it is.

No, it isn't. Reading the comments here, you could easily think this game would suck as much as the Knight Rider game does (for example) or the latest Soldier Of Fortune game.

Get some objectivity guys.... though I fear my call for more objectivity won't be heard in this community

 

[Kingston]

I'd rather spend my time not playing the game than playing it.

 

[thesheeep]

Considering the vast amount of games that are better than HG:L, you should definately do so

 

[Crolug]

Wait for The Witcher EE, some fan-made mods and forget about Hellgates, Mass Effects, Oblivions and Fallout 3s...

 

[shihonage]

I recall my excitement when I could finally invest into my next skill, which was the ability to sit down. I sat down and mowed down some crappy models with a rifle that had the firepower of a hair-dryer.

That's when I canceled my pre-order and uninstalled the beta.

 

[vrok]

blabla HG:L rox ur sox

Yes, I played the full version of the game and thought it was the worst piece of shit since the invention of shit, far worse than D2 in ever single fucking way. Apparently this is called a bandwagon. The difference from a true bandwagon, like saying "eating shit is disgusting", is that most people hating on HG:L have actually tasted the shit that is HG:L.

Even if it was exactly as good as D2 they still demand monthly payments for basic features like hardcore mode, which makes them retarded to anyone with a functioning brain.

Also, rating how bad different kinds of shit is, is pointless. This kind of shit doesn't sprout flowers eventually, so examining every piece you can find for that slim seed of hope is stupid, voluntary self torture.

I'd tell you why D2 is a better game in every single way but I'm afraid that it'd be wasted on your shit-gorging self.

 

[Andhaira]

These guys should team up with Jowood and develop:

Gorasul; Legacy of London!

 

[Schauman]

They could have actually made HG:L slighty better had they actually hired a proper writer to produce filler text for the quests. The quests in WoW actually have quality content for them while they are mainly generic FedExing. HG:L is full of braindead material writen by an bored developer while overdosed on KoolAid and copy-pasting the rest of the empty space with pop references and out of place book quotes.

You display a natural aptitude for destruction and you follow orders. It is rare to see the two coexist. I am beginning to think that you may make an excellent vehicle of divine justice.

*Zverenhoff clasps his hands together in front of his face.*

Kel'Thuzad's errand boy rules over Stratholme. Prove to me that you are a champion - my champion. Destroy Baron Rivendare and return to me with his head.

Techsmith 69! Where's my face hitting hammer I use to hit you in the face with? l0l0l0l0l l0llipop U r teh one! R00ffles! Save the bacon!

WoW is done tongue in the cheek (Kel'Thuzad has Mr.Bigglesworth from Austin Powers as a pet for starters) while HG:L is supposed to be the most serious game ever about human survival in Hell (with hack&slash) but still continues to feed the players with material scraped up from Gigli, the best of Ben Affleck, Boll movies and reruns of Friends? The combat must be darn impressive for the players with perception above +6 to ignore the quality content of HG:L.

You ballsed things up with Hellgate real good Roper, even better than FunCom did with Anarchy Online.

 

[RK47]

Yep exactly. I was a bit perplexed when the video feed was a complete 2d stills..with quick one off voice over. It felt so cheap, it looks like one of those average hack n slash that tried to take Diablo's crown, but in this case they really were ex-diablo devs so expectations are high. Unfortunately, they bombed so bad I couldn't be bothered to pick up the full game. My friends still bought the game for online play and regretted it.

 

[ricolikesrice]

...

meh, its not like HG:L failed just because it didnt meet unrealistic expectations / couldnt dethrone diablo 2.

HG:L failed because in many aspects its like one of those incredibly shitty east-european diablo clones and not only falls very short of diablo 2, but also short of most mediocre diablo clones.

lets see:

-unbelievable shitty story which might be forgiveable for a hack n slash but then they shouldnt have made such a nice trailer/intro to set up hopes that HG:L would have a better story then what it has now (the results of a crackhead high on drugs spending 2 hours writing down stuff HE finds funny )
i doubt anyone expected planescape torment writing/story-wise from a hack n slash but seeing how non-professionals for zero money manage to bring out mods/modules in few months that have WAY better stories then FSS can do in 5 years makes you really wonder what the fuck is wrong with them.

-unbelievable bad quest design, seriously you find yourself wishing for your 500.000th typical MMO "kill 10 zombies" quest - once you re confronted with the results of what FSS thinks is "innovative" quest design. i cant believe how crap like the mini rts or exospector gundown or the horrible angel passage passed QA ... then again maybe they were thinking by proving just how shit "innovation" can be... people would appreciate the former "kill 10 zombies quest" more and shut up about demanding higher standards....

-making 50+ interesting unique levels would be a lot better than a handful of random tilesets that arent THAT random anyway. and probably would have taken less effort as well. HG:Ls scenery imho doesnt look THAT bad, and all the morons complaining about "bleh, only ruined cities, too dark" should maybe get a fucking clue that a demon invaded post-apoc city wouldnt exactly sport lush jungles and deserts.... still, the lack of variety that basically gives you the "been there, done that" feeling already 1-2 h into the game..... kills any potential a post-apoc london could have had in terms of scenery.
another shitty design decision out of many, many more.

-the bread and butter of a hack n slash is character building , variety in builds, interesting yet diverse classes and skills etc etc.
too bad 80% of HG:Ls skills suck completely compared to the rest which is often overpowered beyond relief.the different classes are full of yet more shitty design decisions.... for example summoners focus around having an army of small minions following you .... and every time you enter a level from a station you have to resummon them with each minion having a cooldown of 3 seconds. so a high level summoner basically spends 1-2 minutes summoning minions every freaking time he enters a new level - great fun. even more fun in nightmare mode when you constantly encounter mobs that kill your 20+ elementals in one second ^^
just one out of 100s of examples for shitty design that plagues HG:L s class and skill system and obviously never seen QA, unless the later consisted of the same crackheads who designed story & quests.
mind you there are ocassionally some really good things in there as well... not everything is shit, but thats a minority.

-subscriber system where you pay 120 $ per year for 4 content patches with each content patch beeing roughly 1/4 of what a typical expansion would add to a hack n slash (say LoD, Sacred:Underworld, immortal throne).
so basically for extra content you are paying 120$ instead of 30$ (normal expansion)while getting roughly the same ammount of stuff. and if you d ever want to stop paying.... all the extra content is unusable despite you already having paid for it.
imagine you shelved D2 a while ago and want to replay it... but are informed you have to buy it again. seriously, who comes up with such a fucking retarded model.... and more importantly.... how can it be there s still actually people dumb enough to subscribe ?

....

i m still playing HG:L despite all this crap. not much, but quite a bit here and there. the weapon variety is pretty cool , its no standard fantasy setting and if you know what you re doing you pick the pearls among the huge pile of shit and ignore the rest.
wouldnt recommend the game to anyone but its good enough for me.... the moment a better non-fantasy hack n slash comes out, HG:L can fuck off however.

 

[Andhaira]

Dude, you have way to much time on your hands.

 

[thesheeep]

blabla HG:L rox ur sox

Wow, vrok, it seriously is amazing how much you actually fail to get anything I said.
I have in no word said that HG:L is a good game, and would you be able to grasp what other people write, then you would probably have got that.
But I really begin to think that your ability to understand what one has said comes down to the ability to just put words in somebodys mouth. Words that you would like to read just in order to be able to randomly insult people with your immature crap.
Seriously, LEARN TO FUCKING READ.

Yes, I played the full version of the game and thought it was the worst piece of shit since the invention of shit, far worse than D2 in ever single fucking way. Apparently this is called a bandwagon. The difference from a true bandwagon, like saying "eating shit is disgusting", is that most people hating on HG:L have actually tasted the shit that is HG:L.

Worse than D2 in every way? Well, in almost every way, yeah. I actually liked the system of dismantling weapons and building random stuff with that. And I liked the simple fact that it is 3D... Anyway, it's failures outnumber what it does right both in number and weight.
But it still isn't the worst game ever created, and if you really think that than you have never played a truly BAD game.
Just a hint on what REALLY is the worst game ever created: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/bigr ... index.html

And IN NO WAY is HG:L nearly such a bad game, and claiming that, thinking it justified because others do, yes, believe it or not, that is called jumping on the bandwagon.

 

[Kingston]

I don't really get what you are complaining about. We don't like Hellgate, consider it to be a crap game, and then you come yelling about how there are crappier games so we shouldn't really be saying anything?

But it still isn't the worst game ever created

I don't think anyone implied that it's "the worst game ever created", just that it's really, really very bad.

I have in no word said that HG:L is a good game

" it's still not as awful as some of you think/claim/wish it to be. It's just not really good..."

Not really good implies that it was good, but not great.

Also, I thought the dismantling system was badly implemented. You end up picking up every single thing so you can dismantle it. Then when you go to a crafter 70% of the time he/she is offering stuff that you can't use anyway.

 

[Herbert West]

I must admit I have a certain sentiment for this game. But only because it spawned Kingston's Let's play HGL thread, which is filled to the brim with lulz.

 

[thesheeep]

" it's still not as awful as some of you think/claim/wish it to be. It's just not really good..."

Not really good implies that it was good, but not great.

erh.. no.. not really good implies that it wasn't really good. Meaning that it was not good, but something below good.
You probably fell to the Codexian Sickness (tm) as well, smelling tricky irony and hidden statements behind every line

I don't think anyone implied that it's "the worst game ever created", just that it's really, really very bad.

Yes, I played the full version of the game and thought it was the worst piece of shit since the invention of shit

 

[vrok]

I did read. Then I exaggerated what you said. If you feel the need to scientifically grade shit on an accurate scale then go ahead. Don't blame us for calling the game shit and hating it. Some of us have standards when it comes to which games are worth our time.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I think hyping a game all to hell(pun!) that really falls short in a lot of key areas is really bad. Combine that over-hyping with, "Now pay us more money for what other games offer for free!" and you have a recipe for some serious ass whipping. Even if the game was more on the mediocre level, they tooted their own horns way too much for people to take it seriously.

 

[Andhaira]

Kind of like lionheart, and toee. (though toee is a great game, the bugs just relly fucked it up)