Bioware co-founder steps down as The Old Repulic studio manager

[Redblade]

Each section of endgame really needs to have the same, but different rewards to distinguish all efforts. It's not enough to give you the same gear from pts, but only have raiders get the 'best' gear. It honestly needs to allow people the ability to craft, quest, pvp, or raid and other things we haven't even conceived of in order to progress your character/get gear.

They need to move more towards a sandbox type endgame outside of the theme park elements, to do so they would have to introduce concepts like gear destruction and things though which can be tough, basically have EvE and WoW make a baby MMO.

[Dezerte]

Dear heavens no. You do realize without 'end game' then the game actually ends? Instead of doing this, they need to just expand the ways that you can achieve 'end game'. WoW is starting down that route with the myriad of things that reward valor pts, but that is just scratching the surface of a large problem.

Each section of endgame really needs to have the same, but different rewards to distinguish all efforts. It's not enough to give you the same gear from pts, but only have raiders get the 'best' gear. It honestly needs to allow people the ability to craft, quest, pvp, or raid and other things we haven't even conceived of in order to progress your character/get gear.

I did say "endgame"

By different endgame I meant something like EVE Online or Mortal Online for example, or hell I'd say DayZ/WarZ also show how to create a game that is always in "endgame" mode.

[Kelimbror]

I did say "endgame"

By different endgame I meant something like EVE Online or Mortal Online for example, or hell I'd say DayZ/WarZ also show how to create a game that is always in "endgame" mode.

Silly professional basement cat, you said to get rid of the end game. Yeah you suggested we should just trade things as the thing to do at max level. I was saying that to get rid of the current incarnation would be a disaster. It needs to be expanded, not eliminated. You are banished to the crate for 5 mins!

[Forsedar]

I did say "endgame"

By different endgame I meant something like EVE Online or Mortal Online for example, or hell I'd say DayZ/WarZ also show how to create a game that is always in "endgame" mode.

Not to take sides or anything, but we both know how well players react to "change". People love their comfort zone, and when something new comes along its shunned. (Typically)

[zorkuus]

The MMO market is fickle at best.

People don't know what they want.

While that is true for some people there is also the other end of the spectrum: those who are waiting for the next big thing and are disappointed everytime a new MMO doesn't give them the experience they had as MMO newcomers in vanilla WoW (or even TBC). They do know what they want but don't realize it isn't likely to happen they'll experience that new car smell twice.

[Kelimbror]

While that is true for some people there is also the other end of the spectrum: those who are waiting for the next big thing and are disappointed everytime a new MMO doesn't give them the experience they had as MMO newcomers in vanilla WoW (or even TBC). They do know what they want but don't realize it isn't likely to happen they'll experience that new car smell twice.

The problem is there are tons of sprays and dangly things you can have that will almost 100% replicate that new car smell. So far I haven't seen anything you can spray on your MMOs to make them amazing. I tried it with TERA, but it melted my cds.

[Dazzy]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/08/10/bi...tudio-manager/



Thought I would post this before a troll gets to it.

As the article notes, this was planned. Can't say I find this unexpected. SWTOR is launched; I would also want to spend my creative energies working on something new. Also, who really wants to live in Texas.

Sounds pretty trollish to me. Of course it was "planned"....game tanks ( nowhere near #'s they expected), people get let go. Also, I have lived in quite a few places and Texas is nowhere near the worst for numerous reasons.

[Dezerte]

Not to take sides or anything, but we both know how well players react to "change". People love their comfort zone, and when something new comes along its shunned. (Typically)

I don't know, I know the "masses" don't react very well to the kind of game I'm proposing. But I'm hoping there's enough people like me, and maybe some dev. out there that is paying attention and decides to go "Hey! Let's make that game".

[WarpedAcorn]

Silly professional basement cat, you said to get rid of the end game. Yeah you suggested we should just trade things as the thing to do at max level. I was saying that to get rid of the current incarnation would be a disaster. It needs to be expanded, not eliminated. You are banished to the crate for 5 mins!

I still scratch my head why no one has released "randomized" endgame PvE content. Something where a map/dungeon is randomly pieced together and populated with mobs and "bosses" are chosen (random abilities/attacks included) to populate it. Of course I've also wondered why MMO's never did randomized endgame stats like Diablo, or something to keep players coming back for "better" gear (maybe have a few unique named items with set stats).

For me, I rarely do PvE and almost PvP exclusively. This is because each experience is unique and dynamic. Skripted fights are boring as hell (to me). However, I've enjoyed PvE encounters that have more random elements that force players to adapt on the fly. I think I would probably be more into a randomized dungeon loot-crawl than a scripted one.

I should note that Path of Exile (while not an MMO) has come the closest to what I have been looking for endgame. This is a randomized dungeon with variable difficulty conditions and a limit to the attempts you can make on it.

[blackblade]

Sad to admit but I agree with you. WoW not only raised the bar. It raised expectations too. The investors that make development possible keep dreaming of WoW, and ending up with CoH. Now there are a few MMORPG's that would have probably never seen the light of day without WoW's success, like WAR and TOR. But I'm not entirely sure the fallout was worth it.

Ouch. I'm a little insulted that you'd treat CoH as the bottom of the barrel in your analogy.

CoH was great in the sense that it was one of the few mmo's trying to copy every little thing WoW did and failing at it. Instead they tried crazy new things, and failed at doing that instead.

Some of those crazy new things were really, really, really, cool..... on paper.

[Steelyorc]

Punishment or not, entirely his fault or not, Star Wars: The Old Republic has failed to live up to its expectations as a MMORPG. It is a fantastic single player game, but beyond that is terrible.

He has to understand that comes down to him, so whether or not this is a punishment or a chance for him to leave a project he is not happy with, it is partly his fault.

Terrible for...YOU?

Please don't generalize...there are people...including me...that really love the game, think it's very good, and have fun in it every day

[SirRobin]

Ouch. I'm a little insulted that you'd treat CoH as the bottom of the barrel in your analogy.

CoH was great in the sense that it was one of the few mmo's trying to copy every little thing WoW did and failing at it. Instead they tried crazy new things, and failed at doing that instead.

Some of those crazy new things were really, really, really, cool..... on paper.

Now don't take that as meaning how good or bad I think the game is. I am talking along the lines of financial success and popularity. CoH held its own for a few years as a niche title and had some great ideas too. Investors want a return on their money like WoW had and has but instead usually get returns like CoH. They get by but nothing to get the money men drooling. Then you get the ones like Vanguard or Tabula Rasa which really tanked. Or the ones like SGW which were little better than scams.

As far as something new? It doesn't really matter if its what people think they want. If the game is entertaining enough, word of mouth will bring many of them around. If the game is not entertaining enough, they'll stay away. WoW and EVE both grew over time as more and more people heard about the games and decided to try them.

[woodydave44]

No. In the Business World not every person who leaves a high position who "steps down" does it because people are pressuring them to do so. Pretending this is true is extremely narrow minded.

Now if you have some proof that he was being pressured by people to leave Bioware Austin (remember he hasn't left the company he just is running swtor anymore) then please post that. Otherwise you are just posting your own assumptions based on completely different situation. If you think those other people are relevant than post how exactly their situations are similar (if you want to go the extra mile you can even point out some of the differences which might give you a bit of credibility) that would be constructive. Just posting "so and so wants to have a word with you" is not constructive and is just trolling. Please stop.

Alright. Lets post how those other people are relevant.

FF14 - Tons of money spent. Game didnt do well. Director and producer step down and replaced by the FF11 director.

WaR - EAs last mmo before SWTOR. Game didnt do well. Mark Jacobs, the director who was around throughout the daoc days when it was thriving, steps down after WaR didnt do so well. Guess what? They used the same exact story. Mark Jacobs was "moving on to new projects." A quick google search will Show you that he is no longer with Mythic, or EA.

This is not a different situation. This is the exact same situation that has happend before. EA funded a mmo. The mmo didnt do well. The head ups start to mysteriously "step down" and are replaced by people we have never heard of. Because you disagree with me does not make it unconctructive, and has everything to do with what just happend.


As far as the business word example I used. That wasnt pulled out of thin air. That was pulled from personal experience. This is a business tactic used to the company doesnt look like the bad guy.

[SirRobin]

Alright. Lets post how those other people are relevant.

FF14 - Tons of money spent. Game didnt do well. Director and producer step down and replaced by the FF11 director.

WaR - EAs last mmo before SWTOR. Game didnt do well. Mark Jacobs, the director who was around throughout the daoc days when it was thriving, steps down after WaR didnt do so well. Guess what? They used the same exact story. Mark Jacobs was "moving on to new projects." A quick google search will Show you that he is no longer with Mythic, or EA.

This is not a different situation. This is the exact same situation that has happend before. EA funded a mmo. The mmo didnt do well. The head ups start to mysteriously "step down" and are replaced by people we have never heard of. Because you disagree with me does not make it unconctructive.

As far as the business word example I used. That wasnt pulled out of thin air. That was pulled from personal experience. This is a business tactic used to the company doesnt look like the bad guy.

Now I'm not saying that Greg wasn't basically told or strongly encouraged to "get out of Dodge." Well, Austin in this case. Yes we have seen the same scenario before. All the way down to one partner being ousted while the other stays, like Mark and... What was his partner's name? Ed? Red? Its also always the one more closely associated with the troubled title. Greg had Austin in his title after all.

However, the difference here is that Greg still has a few very successful single-player brands in his portfolio. Mythic pretty much just had DAoC to fall back on and it had been a minor title for years. So, like I said when that last rumor started going around, I could easily see Ray and Greg separating themselves from Austin. Which Greg has now done and Ray doesn't need too, but I don't see them leaving EA itself.

In EA's mind he is still a money maker... With single-player games.

[Uko]

This is what you get when you tell your customers that we know better then you and dont allow anything beyond a graphical setting of mud. I liked Swtor's gameplay but i couldn't handle looking at a game that was worse looking then wow. The whole f2p and now this people should have seen coming from miles away.

[Forsedar]

This is what you get when you tell your customers that we know better then you and dont allow anything beyond a graphical setting of mud. I liked Swtor's gameplay but i couldn't handle looking at a game that was worse looking then wow. The whole f2p and now this people should have seen coming from miles away.

Wait, what? The graphics in SWTOR are far superior to WoW.

[Revak]

I hate to say it, but more and more it looks like WoW killed off the MMO market.

We have other viable MMO's out there, Rift comes to mind right away, but as long as WoW is ruling the MMO world, I highy doubt we as gamers will see the game have real competition. And that is sad, we need good competition to keep Blizz from getting lax with WoW.

I would say we need good competition to stop Blizz from their already lax attitude with WoW, not keep them from getting there. I would say the length of DS as the only content shows they are already lax.

[Kelimbror]

WaR - EAs last mmo before SWTOR. Game didnt do well. Mark Jacobs, the director who was around throughout the daoc days when it was thriving, steps down after WaR didnt do so well. Guess what? They used the same exact story. Mark Jacobs was "moving on to new projects." A quick google search will Show you that he is no longer with Mythic, or EA.

This is a textbook example of spreading misinformation. Mark Jacobs left in 2009 when Bioware and Mythic merged. Uhh hello, this is common practice when companies merge. Multiple leaders are usually a disaster and a bloat on the payroll. Not to mention that it is a perfect time to take a severance package and found your own company to do what you want. (http://citystateentertainment.com/)

Here's an actual quote from the real person we call Mark Jacobs: "They made a decision on a direction they wanted to go and obviously, as we put out in our joint statement, that wasn't a direction that had a role for me, or at least the role that I wanted. It really is as simple as that."

Spin it how you want, he was clearly unhappy with the coming merge. Please stop spouting false truths, thank you.

[The Handsome Stranger]

I would say we need good competition to stop Blizz from their already lax attitude with WoW, not keep them from getting there. I would say the length of DS as the only content shows they are already lax.

Of course they are getting lax, why shouldn't they? ToR is losing core developers and like it, believe it or not, I think the fat lady is clearing her throat on ToR.

I don't like it.

I don't like it because if EA can't keep these guys aboard, and EA has the financials to do so if they really, really want, how does that bode for us gamers? If a major publisher can't keep the people who created the game intact, even in only a consulting role, then that gives Blizzard, WoW the upper hand, and that hand is so high right now, even after losing millions of subs they will no doubt get back next month, they can give us content at a slower pace, if at all.

We need competition in this market, we need someone, anyone to have some balls and step it up to Blizzard.

[woodydave44]

This is a textbook example of spreading misinformation. Mark Jacobs left in 2009 when Bioware and Mythic merged. Uhh hello, this is common practice when companies merge. Multiple leaders are usually a disaster and a bloat on the payroll. Not to mention that it is a perfect time to take a severance package and found your own company to do what you want. (http://citystateentertainment.com/)

Here's an actual quote from the real person we call Mark Jacobs: "They made a decision on a direction they wanted to go and obviously, as we put out in our joint statement, that wasn't a direction that had a role for me, or at least the role that I wanted. It really is as simple as that."

Spin it how you want, he was clearly unhappy with the coming merge. Please stop spouting false truths, thank you.

Um...if the game was doing great, I might be inclined to believe you. However, considering where WaR was at the point, its sounds like i'm still correct on the issue. By throwing in that they were forced to sell their company, you just reinforced my argument.