http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/06/richard-garriott-sues-nc-soft-over-millions-stock-options

http://t-machine.org/index.php/2009/01/16/we-need-to-talk-about-tabula-rasa-when-will-we-talk-about-tabula-rasa/

They sabotaged the success of TR when they pushed what was essentially a great game foundation out the door too early, not giving them enough time to properly fill it out.

They only gave the game an obligatory year long run to save face, but from the beginning they never intended it to be a success and weren't willing to devote a scrap of resource to further develop the game after it came out (no MMO is successful if they aren't prepared to follow up the launch with an aggressive and continued supportive development). They just wanted to get the game gone and over with, to clear it off their books. They pushed it out early to ensure it would struggle, then cut off all further development to prevent it from experiencing any growth.

Even worse was the machiavellian tactics they used to screw over Garriott, commiting fraud while he wasn't in a position to defend himself.

Originally posted by Trenchgun

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/06/richard-garriott-sues-nc-soft-over-millions-stock-options

http://t-machine.org/index.php/2009/01/16/we-need-to-talk-about-tabula-rasa-when-will-we-talk-about-tabula-rasa/

They sabotaged the success of TR when they pushed what was essentially a great game foundation out the door too early, not giving them enough time to properly fill it out.

They only gave the game an obligatory year long run to save face, but from the beginning they never intended it to be a success and weren't willing to devote a scrap of resource to further develop the game after it came out (no MMO is successful if they aren't prepared to follow up the launch with an aggressive and continued supportive development). They just wanted to get the game gone and over with, to clear it off their books. They pushed it out early to ensure it would struggle, then cut off all further development to prevent it from experiencing any growth.

Even worse was the machiavellian tactics they used to screw over Garriott, commiting fraud while he wasn't in a position to defend himself.

 

To be fair Garrott is Hardly a Rose here.

He was Dicking around so long and not helping Leed the game forward that the development basicly wanderd around in little loops rebuilding the same areas and leaveing others out to Die.

From all the news Ive seen It looks Like Garrott and NCSoft were basicly pissing in each others Lunch Box and a Great game Died Because of it.

im with you on this one brother .never gonna buy another nc soft game . they took away my best game tabula rasa :SIGHS.i wish blizzard had made that one.

Originally posted by Ekibiogami

Originally posted by Trenchgun

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/06/richard-garriott-sues-nc-soft-over-millions-stock-options

http://t-machine.org/index.php/2009/01/16/we-need-to-talk-about-tabula-rasa-when-will-we-talk-about-tabula-rasa/

They sabotaged the success of TR when they pushed what was essentially a great game foundation out the door too early, not giving them enough time to properly fill it out.

They only gave the game an obligatory year long run to save face, but from the beginning they never intended it to be a success and weren't willing to devote a scrap of resource to further develop the game after it came out (no MMO is successful if they aren't prepared to follow up the launch with an aggressive and continued supportive development). They just wanted to get the game gone and over with, to clear it off their books. They pushed it out early to ensure it would struggle, then cut off all further development to prevent it from experiencing any growth.

Even worse was the machiavellian tactics they used to screw over Garriott, commiting fraud while he wasn't in a position to defend himself.

 

 

To be fair Garrott is Hardly a Rose here.

He was Dicking around so long and not helping Leed the game forward that the development basicly wanderd around in little loops rebuilding the same areas and leaveing others out to Die.

From all the news Ive seen It looks Like Garrott and NCSoft were basicly pissing in each others Lunch Box and a Great game Died Because of it.

Agreed. Garriot is hardly a saint but the same can also be said about NCSoft and their recent business practices and "need of restructuring" so I dont think its one or the others fault. I think it was a clash of 2 big egos to were its now bit them both in the anus.

irrelevant to me, TR was a total flop and while undeniably NCSoft had their share of blame, i doubt they intentionally made the game so poorly at release. it was bound to fail and Garriot was the captain of that sinking ship,so he got canned and the world kept spinning.

Stop foaming. It wasn't that good. And if the majority agrees, they were right to shut it down.

OP. Seriously.

Richard Garriott is the reason it failed. No one else.

The only thing Garriott gave a rats ass about, is getting his own rats rear end into space. End of discussion.

Next to that he burned a good deal of money into all kinds of misty vague parties in his back yard.

All wasted time and effort he should have spend in DEVELOPING the game!

He was the Game Director and should have been on top of game development 24/7 and he wasn't! And never intended to.

It got even so worse during closed beta, that he was basically totally absent and silent... and just came into the game now and then to FLEX is exploded EGO with a ingame unkillable version of himself.

Especially the last 2 months of Closed Beta were a total joke. Ask around and people would confirm that.

The biggest failures from NcSoft's part, was that they made him Game Director in the first place and allowed him to assign his brother as CEO of NcSoft US studio.

They should have hired him as Creative Director and put an ACTUAL and QUALIFIED Game Director to supervise him and the entire development staff!

After wasting so many millions of dollars NcSoft HQ were right to force him to release the game and then a year later pull the plug.

There is a moment, when enough is enough!

Richard Garriott got all the funding he needed and way beyond that. Instead he wasted it on all kinds of stuff he shouldn't have (like all those crazy idiotic parties for example) and BLEW IT!!

Cheers

Yep no doubt Robert Garriot being CEO of NC was just madness,primarily NC's fault but it was something that was done specificaly done to garner more of  a NA following.Robert is definately the more competent of the two.

TR's code being scrapped the first time is what killed it,this was a monumnetal failiure by everyone involved.5+ years for a game is just too much of an investment to ask of any game company

Sabotaged?

Do you know many companies that invest 100M into a product and then sabotage it to spite the project manager?

Originally posted by Xasapis

Sabotaged?

Do you know many companies that invest 100M into a product and then sabotage it to spite the project manager?

Exaggerate much?  Very doubtful they spent even close to that much on this project.

On a related note I find it hilarious I still see this game on store shelves, what a disappointment that would be to pick up!

Originally posted by Trenchgun

It's called reading. Try it some time.

It was because they had put so much money already into TR that they just wanted to kill it and move on putting their resources towards other projects. They released it as a scam to the public, knowing full well they had no intention of supporting it post launch, and knowing full well it was not ready for launch. They intended from day 0 to shut it down as soon as possible and kick garriet out of the company without getting what he was entitled to.

Its not a reasonable assumption for a company to want to kill a project it has invested heavily into especially before launch, unless it outright cancels it. The second link is an insider (albeit ex-employee of NCsoft) who was not involved with the developement of the project and admits himself that he isn't sure how much of what he says is truth. An executive decision was made to shut down the game because it was dying. If I was incharge and saw after 7 years that there was nothing to show for my money and time, I would be rather displeased to say the least.

The reason your statement doesn't hold water is because IF the title had indeed been a success then NCsoft would have been happy to keep it open, after all it would have provided a great return on investment. However seeing a game flounder and slowly die there was no point in keeping it open as it was most likely a continued money sink. I don't think the decision to shut down the game came before it launched... even if there was acknowledgement that the title itself was failure. 

I personally don't care what goes on in big buisiness. Everything nowadays is corrupt. It just so happen that this incident was brought to light. call it selfish but my main concern is just to enjoy whatever game i'm playing at the time. I'm not going to worry about what is going on behind the scenes and more about what is being done to improve the game I'm playing. If players don't want to buy any games from a certain company because how they handle buisiness then thats on them. Just keep in mind that there are always 3 sides to every story...his side, their side, and the truth. 

...i'm going back to my game now =p

NCsoft have been on my no go gaming list for quite awhile now. They are as bad as the others, EA, Atari, etc. I think so many of these publishers have their heads shoved so far up their arse that you'd swear they have two heads!

It takes more than money, idiotic captains steering a project, to get a "good and playable" game to work. The reason NCsoft would have continued with launch is that the machine was already running, they had a chance to make some moeny from it if enough stayed around.

Personally I'm sick of seeing people get caught up in the hollow MMO marketing spin. We petitioned Mythic for a month before release that warhammer wasn't ready to launch, well look at the number falloff, that came from closed beta guilds mostly, probably alot of those too were people coming onboard because it was supposed to be a totally different game.

There are alot of people out there with great ideas, good projects, yet they get no funding because of these big megladon corporations playing their high powered BS. They are going to get caught in the end though, look where blizzard come from, yet they are headed down the same road as NCsoft. Sure they make money, but how honesty has flown the coupe.

After all, we the gamers have the power to stop them by simply not playing their game. Just like governments, even Ceasar knew, you control the mob, you maintain power. Well simply stop giving them that power!

Considering they spent magnitudes more money in TR than any other MMO they published/developed, and the trash that came out of it... And in terms of monetary support, TR has had the most support at that point in time. The only real con here was by RG.

Originally posted by Shealladh

NCsoft have been on my no go gaming list for quite awhile now. They are as bad as the others, EA, Atari, etc. I think so many of these publishers have their heads shoved so far up their arse that you'd swear they have two heads!

 

It takes more than money, idiotic captains steering a project, to get a "good and playable" game to work. The reason NCsoft would have continued with launch is that the machine was already running, they had a chance to make some moeny from it if enough stayed around.

 

Personally I'm sick of seeing people get caught up in the hollow MMO marketing spin. We petitioned Mythic for a month before release that warhammer wasn't ready to launch, well look at the number falloff, that came from closed beta guilds mostly, probably alot of those too were people coming onboard because it was supposed to be a totally different game.

 

There are alot of people out there with great ideas, good projects, yet they get no funding because of these big megladon corporations playing their high powered BS. They are going to get caught in the end though, look where blizzard come from, yet they are headed down the same road as NCsoft. Sure they make money, but how honesty has flown the coupe.

 

After all, we the gamers have the power to stop them by simply not playing their game. Just like governments, even Ceasar knew, you control the mob, you maintain power. Well simply stop giving them that power!

i agree with you 1000 %.until customers dont demand more and do a boycott of these so called mmorpg specalist makers .we wont see a change .if cryptic is sucessful in bringing something new like champions online .that might be the start of revolution .

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Originally posted by Trenchgun

It's called reading. Try it some time. Your assumptions about how NCsoft should have acted are meaningless when we have knowledge of how they actually acted.

---

 
No need to be condescending, you should read what other people are posting instead of dismissing them because they don't align with your own view and opinions, especially on an online forum. I know how they acted, I know what happened based on the information available and I still think your claim holds no water. What your saying doesn't make sense I posted why so I am not going to repeat myself. Its called critical analysis versus biased opinion.
 

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Originally posted by Shealladh

There are alot of people out there with great ideas, good projects, yet they get no funding because of these big megladon corporations playing their high powered BS. They are going to get caught in the end though, look where blizzard come from, yet they are headed down the same road as NCsoft. Sure they make money, but how honesty has flown the coupe.
 
After all, we the gamers have the power to stop them by simply not playing their game. Just like governments, even Ceasar knew, you control the mob, you maintain power. Well simply stop giving them that power!

---

 
The thing is the mobs ARE apeased, to try and motivate and form some mass movement which will force developers to take note isn't going to happen realistically. Only another companies success can drive home the requirements of duplicating this, not the failures of a company. The second article linked for example states that even after TR shut down the blame or ackwoledgement of failure has not come forth. 
 
The masses are controlled not by people of which the mass is composed but by the heigher ups looking down. I think ultimately MORE successful MMOs will lead to a better enviroment for the player but this comes as a result of developers and super publishers taking note of what it means to keep being successful (look at EA trying to change its image or NCsoft putting so much effort into the NA/EU launch of Aion).  

 a) TR was poo

b) You didn't work there; reading articles doesn't make you 100% informed.

c) They have more important things like AION

Originally posted by Trenchgun

 and kick garriet out of the company without getting what he was entitled to.

Entitled to what?

Please enlighten me, to what Richard "Overblown BIG Ego and 60+ million down the drain" Garriott was entitled to?

Give me a break!

TR is the worst MMO  created by anyone.  What I am thinking is, Garriott and Jacobs (from Warhammer) should create a game together. :D

There isn't a single title on NCsofts's roster past, present, or future that I would be interested in.

Originally posted by krityc

 a) TR was poo

b) You didn't work there; reading articles doesn't make you 100% informed.

c) They have more important things like AION

can you tell us where the lineage 3 development team evaporated ? where is the guild wars 2 launch they promised back in 200 8?? and i dont see bright future of aion cuz plaync has a blind eye over bots problems .even in aion korea there is bots problem .google and you will see in their forums people still complaning about bots. do they think gameguard will be able to stop botting or hacking ?? certainly not .the facts prove otherwise.plaync is known for  creating hype but they never fulfill their words or expectations of their customers.

NCsoft doesn't really give a **** ass about the west or about western developers. When was the last time you saw a Korean developer talk directly to Western players?

Nowhere, even when TR was closed there was a wall of silence from NCsoft Korea.

Koreans are also generally xenophobes, it's the most racist Asian nation. Getting a job in Korea as a Westerner is out of the question unless you're an English teacher, while in other nations they tend to be a lot more tolerant. My friend wouldn't get served at the Korean airport because he was white. 

All the Aion frenzy makes me lol so much, once the servers are infested with botters NCsoft will just turn a blind eye and pretend it's not happening, just like they did with lineage. The Korean servers matter and the rest is extra $ from whities.

Originally posted by krityc

 a) TR was poo

b) You didn't work there; reading articles doesn't make you 100% informed.

c) They have more important things like AION

lol at C,

they lost 90% of their staff to Bluehole Studios because they kicked their Lineage 3 developer out the door, so they rushed out Aion, game was hacked in 24 hours.

More important? No, more like the only game they had left when all their best people left. TR was closed to prioritise other games, like Aion.

This game went down at the start of the year. Why are we getting our panties in a bunch about it now? Look I'm sure NCSoft made some wrong decisions regarding this game but is that reason to never play a game they publish again? I don't think so. I love CoH and Guild Wars is one of the best games you can get with no monthly fee. I'm also at least interested in Aion.  The fact is that Tabula Rasa had a lot going against it besides NCSoft and Garriott. It was a risk from the very start. Sci Fi has yet to really catch on in the MMO genre. The quasi FPS thing reminded me a lot of the SWG NGE. There were all kinds of promises about a persistent story and all kinds of other stuff that never made it into the game. Shit happens in this business. Turbine had a disaster with DDO, but they came back pretty strong with LoTR.