Interview J.E. Sawyer Interview By Grupo97

[Darth Roxor]

Crash? What crash? Shit is being sold in millions, and you call that a crash?

 

[Brother None]

Crash? What crash? Shit is being sold in millions, and you call that a crash?

Yes. Multiple companies have collapsed because of receding profit margins. This is due to the profit margin model I described in painstaking detail just a few posts above yours but that you could obviously not be arsed to read. Well done.

 

[Rosh]

Unless people stop sticking their heads into the sand, that is where it's going. Given the cost of licensing engines, intellectual property licenses, and more, that all bites into the end profits more now than it ever has in the past. I also posted a good link about the '83 crash, when the same naive idea of the market going "too well" caused a nice little event. Particularly for Atari. Landfill party!

You also have to consider that video game sales are dropping at a time when it's usually one of the hot seasons for game sales. Not good.

(Pun motherfucking intended.)

 

[Darth Roxor]

Crash? What crash? Shit is being sold in millions, and you call that a crash?

Yes. Multiple companies have collapsed because of receding profit margins. This is due to the profit margin model I described in painstaking detail just a few posts above yours but that you could obviously not be arsed to read. Well done.

And multiple other companies didn't collapse and seem to be faring pretty fine while spouting out generic shit after generic shit.

 

[Dark_Paladin_Anti_Hero]

A new game today costs about the price of a new game ten or twenty years ago. In Monkey Island II, Guybrush even references the fact that the reason it cost 60 USD was because of the pretty hand drawn graphics, while admiring at a particularly scenic vista - that was in 1991. Adjusted for inflation, that makes things even worse. Now companies have to deal with all this complex, and often photo realistic uncanny valley 3D rendering, along with voice acting, the engines and middle ware (Unreal, Havok, etc.), years of development time, and massive outsourcing (Bethesda - Obsidian, Ensemble - Big Huge Games, etc.). Things are just so damn expensive when games are selling the same and at the same price point that they always have been. Either there was a markup in the 80's and 90's of such a magnitude that mere mortals could not comprehend, or today's publishers and developers are heading towards the jaws.... of oblivion!

But, everything is okay, right? It's not like studios are being closed, bought out, downsized, and changing hands daily, right? Developers who were allowed to be platform exclusive can still do that. Big publishers are doing well, and the amount of available platforms is manageable.

 

[Brother None]

And multiple other companies didn't collapse and seem to be faring pretty fine while spouting out generic shit after generic shit.

Really? How many companies would that be? Nintendo's doing fine. ZeniMax is doing fine. Activision-Blizzard is doing fine thanks to their WoW cash cow. And Valve is doing good.

EA is consolidating. Sega is slashing costs. Take Two and 2K Games are in a blind panic. CD Projekt has seen massive lay-offs. BioWare, Mythic, Pandemic and id have all been bought. 3D Realms is gone. Factor 5 is gone. ACES is gone. Ensemble is gone. Mythic is about to be consolidated into BioWare. Funcom is on the brink of bankruptcy. And I could go on and on.

Does not paint a rosy picture, no?

 

[Dark_Paladin_Anti_Hero]

I would have mentioned Sierra, Vivendi, and Midway before 3D Realms (who honestly didn't see that coming?), CDP, and Pandemic. I think the Activision/Blizzard deal is a big sign of how bad things have gotten, because those guys were giants on their own. I suspect Obsidian will either be joining Bethesda or Sega in the future (I would say Sega, but seeing as how Beth just bought out id...).

 

[Volourn]

Game companies have gone under, been bought, and crashed throughout the gaming industry timeline. Nothing new.

 

[Rosh]

Same useless as always Volourn. He adds a special charm, kind of like a short bus driving into a thread. :D

Darth Roxor: Read the fucking article and educate yourself, okay kid?

Ignorance is one thing. Persistent, argumentative ignorance should be euthanized, just like many publishers/developers lately should be.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

EA is consolidating. Sega is slashing costs. Take Two and 2K Games are in a blind panic. CD Projekt has seen massive lay-offs. BioWare, Mythic, Pandemic and id have all been bought. 3D Realms is gone. Factor 5 is gone. ACES is gone. Ensemble is gone. Mythic is about to be consolidated into BioWare. Funcom is on the brink of bankruptcy. And I could go on and on.

Finally some good news. Moar please.

 

[Rosh]

Relatively more good news.

Finally some good news. Moar please.

NCSoft: Sued for >$25M, not including anything addition the court might award for their blatant fraud. And it looks like Garriott will win.

EDIT: There, edited in light of it also undoubtedly screwing over Tim Cain's current place of work. But that's what happens when you work for a MMO publisher - they are all flakes.

 

[Dark_Paladin_Anti_Hero]

Game companies have gone under, been bought, and crashed throughout the gaming industry timeline. Nothing new.

The different is, this is isn't gradual. Everything mentioned as happened during the past couple of years, with an increasing rate.

 

[Brother None]

Heh, Volo really makes a specialism of saying shit that's technically true but completely irrelevant to the argument in any rational way

Speaking of NCSoft, don't forget that after Tabula Rasa bombed they pretty much slashed off their North American arm and fled.

I would have mentioned Sierra, Vivendi, and Midway before 3D Realms (who honestly didn't see that coming?), CDP, and Pandemic.

Man, there's way too much to mention.

 

[SimpleComplexity]

NCSoft: Sued for >$25M, not including anything addition the court might award for their blatant fraud. And it looks like Garriott will win.

How is that good news, Tim Cain is working there.

 

[Rosh]

Everyone knows Richard is about to get paid. NCSoft is running.

Speaking of NCSoft, don't forget that after Tabula Rasa bombed they pretty much slashed off their North American arm and fled.

I know why. They're about to get the shit sued out of their pants, dry cleaned, and folded up neatly by the courts in Austin, TX. They are trying their damnedest to try and avoid this by closing house and getting the fuck out of the States.

Man, there's way too much to mention.

So would you think it safe to say that with this many developer and publisher downward spirals, we ARE in the "next" crash? Hot damn, I've been waiting for this. Too bad it came a few years earlier than I expected. I guess gaming just went to shit faster than I anticipated.

 

[Rosh]

Disastrous as this might be, everyone feels a hit during something like this, unfortunate as it may be.

How is that good news, Tim Cain is working there.

Hopefully Carbine is just funded in part by NCSoft and not really bought out by them. I don't know the full relationship, but it would be possible they have a clause for something like this. It would mean a hurdle for the dev house, but NCSoft are being dipshits, and closing down their NA branch is their way of running like Herve Caen from creditors.

 

[Brother None]

I know why. They're about to get the shit sued out of their pants, dry cleaned, and folded up neatly by the courts in Austin, TX. They are trying their damnedest to try and avoid this by closing house and getting the fuck out of the States.

Heh. The whole thing went awry before the suit, though. Nevermind Tabula Rasa bombing, what the hell were they thinking paying Garriott the equivalent of a full AAA game budget?

So would you think it safe to say that with this many developer and publisher downward spirals, we ARE in the "next" crash? Hot damn, I've been waiting for this. Too bad it came a few years earlier than I expected. I guess gaming just went to shit faster than I anticipated.

Frith I wish I knew. One thing I do know is that I'm not buying this thin veneer of optimism covering the game industry. It's as convincing as the rictus grin Sony's been keeping on its face the past year, grinding its teeth while going "The PS3 is doing fine". Idiots.

Hopefully Carbine is just funded in part by NCSoft and not really bought out by them.

Carbine was started in 2005 as a division of NCSoft NA. So: no such luck. It's a miracle they survived NCSoft's post-TR panic, I don't like their long-term chances at all.

 

[Rosh]

Ahhh, the fun of NCSoft's dirty little secrets.

Heh. The whole thing went awry before the suit, though. Nevermind Tabula Rasa bombing, what the hell were they thinking paying Garriott the equivalent of a full AAA game budget?

While giving him a few idiots to work with. Some weren't too bad, others kept coming up with stupid shit. The crafting system that was revised twice, for example.

Game concept, not bad.

Game design, initially not that bad either, and it played quite well. It was fun without being a shitty EQ clone.

The developers were a bunch of folks who often didn't know what they were doing, and probably couldn't understand some of the concepts described to them. I followed the development a bit and worked with a couple of the devs. The ones at the top were most often idiots while the junior folks would have a good idea and put it into effect, often without the seniors being aware of it. Such as loot being public after a few minutes if it wasn't looted by the player who killed the mob, which is one of the things I helped test.

Then came in the PAUs. Holy shit was that a nightmare.

These people could make Raph Koster look talented.

Frith I wish I knew. One thing I do know is that I'm not buying this thin veneer of optimism covering the game industry. It's as convincing as the rictus grin Sony's been keeping on its face the past year, grinding its teeth while going "The PS3 is doing fine". Idiots.

Haha, is that ever hilarious. As most people know, I've long taken off the rose-tinted glasses. Believing that things will be just fine was Atari in 1983.

If it wasn't for Infogrames taking on the name, people wouldn't have this naive idea that Atari is still around.

Carbine was started in 2005 as a division of NCSoft NA. So: no such luck. It's a miracle they survived NCSoft's post-TR panic, I don't like their long-term chances at all.

Then it looks fuckered. Damn, sorry to hear that, Tim.

 

[Kingston]

Then came in the PAUs. Holy shit was that a nightmare.

Elaborate, if you please.

 

[Seboss]

Mr Cain seems to be dragging an aura of failure around.
Must be tough to be so talented and jinxed at the same time.

 

[Shannow]

Does that mean there won't be a Guild Wars 2? What a shame...

 

[Darth Roxor]

Does that mean there won't be a Guild Wars 2? What a shame...

It didn't sound promising at all, anyway.

 

[Rosh]

Gladly.

Then came in the PAUs. Holy shit was that a nightmare.

Elaborate, if you please.

The PAUs were an idea to add vehicles into the game. Personal Armored Units, mechs in other words. Okay, not bad.

They decided that EVERY class needed a unique vehicle. Ambitious, but it will take a while.

Then they spent months, months, months hyping about the PAUs. What about other content? Oh, it crawled at a snail's pace.

Finally when the PAUs were done, they could only be used in a select zone. Pointless, much, for all that time and work? Oh, by the way, enjoy them for less than half a month, because the game is shutting down. The PAUs came out more than two months after NCSoft announced that TR was going bye-bye.

Yes, NCSoft gave Garriott a bunch of tards to work with. If I had a choice, I'd choose to go into space sometime in my life than have to constantly wipe the drool from their chins. NCSoft lapped up that publicity, fired Garriott while he was still in space (probably so he couldn't actively do much about it), "Garriott's open letter" was actually something cooked up by NCSoft. NCSoft then tries to tell Garriott that his stock options have a limit of 90 days after he "voluntarily" left NCSoft, etc. etc.

More here.(PDF)

 

[4too]

DAC Sez That Voodoo Extreme Sez ....

DAC Sez That Voodoo Extreme Sez ....





Just drove by DAC and Mr. Scooper posted ..

http://www.duckandcover.cx/forums/viewt ... 089#443089


Citing ...

http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/48581 ... da-Buy-Out


So in this round of 'last days' Zenimax acquires the walls of DOOM!


DOOM 4 the next incarnation of Oblivion action rpg-fps formating?





4too

 

[Kingston]

Finally when the PAUs were done, they could only be used in a select zone. Pointless, much, for all that time and work? Oh, by the way, enjoy them for less than half a month, because the game is shutting down. The PAUs came out more than two months after NCSoft announced that TR was going bye-bye.

Hahahhaahah... Who the fuck managed this shipwreck? Sounds almost worse than Flagship's Hellgate (a brilliant experiment of making a game without any design documents - Roper actually said they never made design documents, opting instead for "dynamic creation" or some such nonsense).