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General : Jeff Strain and David Reid Out At NCsoft
Posted Aug 11, 2009 by Dana Massey
Jeff Strain, the driving force behind Guild Wars and Co-Founder of ArenaNet, has left NCsoft West. He had, since NCsoft’s North American reorganization last year, served as the President of Product Development for NCsoft West and was considered by many to be the primary creative mind at the company.
Also departing is their President of Publishing David Reid.
NCsoft West Public Relations Director Ryan James responded to MMORPG.com’s inquiries with two statements. First, regarding Strain:
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“With a successful history creating MMORPG games, NCsoft has made an indelible mark on the games industry. Last year, the South Korea-based NCsoft created a division to follow a vision of bringing AAA MMOs to the West called NCsoft West. This organization was formed as part of NCsoft’s ongoing vision to be the premier global MMO publisher in the world. With that vision, change in a growth industry is inevitable. NCsoft West announces the departure of Jeff Strain, President of Product Development, who has chosen to leave NCsoft under amicable terms and NCsoft wishes him the best in his new endeavor. This does not change our plans or negatively impact our upcoming launch of Aion, and NCsoft remains very excited about the game’s launch on September 22nd in the U.S. and September 25th in Europe. These changes do not influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches.”
Then, regarding Reid’s departure:
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“In an unrelated and separate event, David Reid is no longer with the company. David joined NCsoft in early 2008 as vice president of marketing and helped in the formation of NCsoft West and the relocation of our headquarters to Seattle. David brought passion and talent to our organization, and he will be missed.”
Prior to Co-Founding ArenaNet and launching Guild Wars, Strain was the Lead Programmer for Blizzard’s World of Warcraft. At the Irvine developer, he also contributed to Diablo, Starcraft and Warcraft III.
Reid had previously lead marketing efforts for Microsoft’s launch of the Xbox 360 and GameTap, an online game portal.
The moves come with just over a month left until the North American launch of Aion, which could be very important for the company’s Western operations after a string of high profile setbacks that included Auto Assault, Tabula Rasa, the departure of the Garriott brothers, and shuttering the bulk of their former North American headquarters in Austin, TX. Aion is due to launch on September 22nd, 2009. It also remains to be seen what, if any, impact this will have on the eagerly anticipated Guild Wars 2.
Whoa... two big names behind GW... gone from the house.
I thought they were more envolved with GW2 than with Aion though.
David Reid has quite a track-record. Impressed. Wonder what he does next?
well there goes GW2...was wondering why there have been no updates on its development the past 6 months. I love GW...and was looking forward to it. But with both co-founders gone....I dont see GW2 coming out now
David Reid is not co-founder of ArenaNet
Any other co-founder than Jeff Strain leaving or left ?
So I wonder, what's really going on.
As they said...this will have no impact on development...
and the reason why we haven't heard anything regarding Guild Wars 2 is because NCsoft doesn't want it to steal Aion's thunder. The game exists and is in a playable state (according to the devs).
As they said...this will have no impact on development...
and the reason why we haven't heard anything regarding Guild Wars 2 is because NCsoft doesn't want it to steal Aion's thunder. The game exists and is in a playable state (according to the devs).
I would disagree. Strain drove that game and made it what it is...a major hit.
I now doubt anything NCSoft does seeing that Aion is their flagship product, as that game is just one major disappiontment.
As to GW2, it will probably become another Tabula Rasa.
I beg to differ. For one, they don't have an idiot developing Guild Wars 2. Secondly, Jeff is not Guild Wars. He was a huge part of it, but they've got an extremely talented team and goals that aren't going to crumble down in his absence. Thirdly, Guild Wars is now an established game and as such ArenaNet have a lot to work with. Tabula Rasa, on the other hand, was a bad first attempt (though I personally enjoyed it). Add to that the fact that we don't know who the current driving force may be and what their goals are, and this may even be a good thing. I doubt anyone could be worse than ol' Richard.
You simply can't compare a game whose sequel has sold over 6 million copies with a game that practically tanked from the start.
The only quote they make is that it will Not impact AION, nothing about guild wars 2.
With this, I would not be suprised if guild wars 2 just got shot in the foot, or is basically starting over from scratch now. Does not bode well at all.
"This does not change our plans or negatively impact our upcoming launch of Aion, and NCsoft remains very excited about the game’s launch on September 22nd in the U.S. and September 25th in Europe. These changes do not influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches.”
"This does not change our plans or negatively impact our upcoming launch of Aion, and NCsoft remains very excited about the game’s launch on September 22nd in the U.S. and September 25th in Europe. These changes do not influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches.”
And what exactly do you expect them to say? Like the poster said above they are going to say nothing except to push Aion right now. Trying to imply this won't effect GW2 is just silly, of course it will. How can it not?
To get rid of a guy like Jeff Strain is dumb and idiotic. Ok so maybe they had a disagreement in something but that doesn't mean you go to extremes with a guy who is super talented and has done an excellnt job with Guild Wars. NCsoft only cares about NCsoft and Aion now. They can care less about Guild Wars 2 or anything else that might get in the way of their quarterly reports. If the existing Arenanet guys are smart they will leave NCsoft, form their own company and get a publisher that does right by them.
Won't affect Aion, but will affect any genuine game developed stateside by NCSoft. Guild Wars 2 will probably suffer, but you can bet whatever these guys do if it involves gaming will be pretty sick. I love to see them free of any chains NCSoft had on them. These guys should be working freely.
Eh...let's see...maybe say nothing? Why would they bring it up in the first place if it wasn't true?
Honestly people...none of us know what the inner workings of ArenaNet or NCsoft are, so all we have to go by is what they tell us, which is what I intend to do.
It's a common phenomenon. Around election time everyone becomes a political expert. When an MMO company makes an announcement, everyone because an expert regarding the companies in question.
he just probably didnt like his position ;)
anyways, you got to wonder whats really going on with ANET and GW2
no information abt GW2 or announce about next content update doesnt really help
its been awfully quiet lately
GW2 was under the direction of Mike O'Brien while Jeff Strain was the President of NCSoft.The way they put things looks like Strain left NCSoft not ArenaNet.If Wyatt,OBrien and Strain are still the backbone of ArenaNet then we have nothing to fear even if that news sound like somekind of whistleblower.
Mike O'Brien reply on the Wiki, and i belive its being posted on some forums as well
Jeff's departure
Hi all,
I wanted to take a moment to offer my personal note on Jeff's departure.
Jeff is a personal friend of mine. We worked together very closely from the time he joined Blizzard in 1996, through our founding of ArenaNet in 2000, until he left ArenaNet to join NCsoft West in 2008. I'm sad to see him leaving NCsoft now. We remain good friends and I wish him great success in his next endeavor.
It's important to understand that ArenaNet is a separate and self-contained development studio. Jeff hasn't been involved in the day-to-day development of Guild Wars 2 since he left ArenaNet more than a year ago, and I don't expect his departure to have a direct impact on our studio or on Guild Wars 2. I continue to lead ArenaNet, and I'm not going anywhere.
We have an amazing team here at ArenaNet, and we continue to work hard on Guild Wars 2, preparing for the day when we can first reveal it to the world. That day is coming very soon now. I'm confident that, when you see Guild Wars 2 for the first time, you're going to love what you see, and any worries you have about its development will fade away.
--Mike O'Brien 01:56, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
with that reply, i am more confident now that everything is well with GW2
reply is moot after last post.
Thank you. This is much better than "the company" Issuing a blanket statement from the OP. That often happens and almost no information can be gleaned from it. This helps a lot.
But, le sigh. I want GW2 :(. Stupid Aion.
Well the track record alone is only one indication. Don't know him personally, but I do know many smart people who just aren't able to fit in. Anywhere from ego problems to other personality conflicts. For many Westerners, working with Asian companies can be unbearable experience because the company culture is so different.
OK yes im new to the site but i can state one thing, in the last interview that they had with Regina to do with the 4th Anniversary Update she actually stated that we would find out something this year, also on her wiki page she also said that they was planning something special for PAX 09 which alot of you should know is in a few weeks time, so if they are announcing anything then it will be in a few weeks but i highly doubt it will be any time this year with the new year being so close too and also the first book is released in february too.
This is true - you should trust people based only on what they say.
On that note, you need to give me your financial account information and passwords for your own good. Trust me. Also, get in my van here - it has candy in the back.
It was good to read Mike Obriens reply. He took the time to properly address the community.
Whats in the future though? Speculations abound.
New titles on shaky ground?
Someone smack their hands if anyone screws with Dungeon Runners!
It isn't the fact Strain and Reid leaving which has left me worried though. The fact the entire division is now under direct control of the korean CEO's is somewhat disconcerting . It's even more apparent the entire western division is now put on a "leash" .That doesn't bode well for the way it will be run from now on.
How can it not have some impact on Aion? The President of NCSoft west has departed right before the major release, along with at least one other key executive. All under very vague and unclear circumstances. Aion may be fantastic, Aion may tank, but sudden changes in top management shortly before release send up some major red flags in both consumers and investors. It may be a fluke, he may be choosing to leave for a better oportunity wihout the evil corporate overlords. But by not keeping it under wraps until after the major release they created a situation that does have an impact on their upcoming game.
As has been pointed out, Strain was no longer part of ArenaNet. He had moved up to a job at NCsoft and is now no longer with either company.
I bet it has something to do with the lackluster pre-sales for Aion (in turn from a huge lack of marketing). You don't "let-go" your company's US-CEO for minor or creative issues......you save that for AFTER the big launch. Seems to me that NCSoft HQ doesn't understand that here in the US we players are just as inquisitive and passionate about the men and women BEHIND the games, as we are about the games themselves.
We follow these guys like pro athletes being traded from team to team. Well at least the analyst, loyalist and enthusiast that follow MMOs do. And most of us take an announcement like this and form strong, opinionated views about how we approach present and future products from companies we may have once supported. I dunno guys take from it what you will, I can only say that from where I'm standing, one less voice to stress western playing styles is one less hurdle for the head honchos to jump over.
All I know is as long as they get another vet with western game developmental experience (nationality is not an issue) I can rest easy knowing that at least a voice from our perspective is at the table.
To pour some more water on the rumour mill:
when you look at Aion you will recognize, that it uses GameGuard. A hacking prevention system used primary by korean MMOs. The system is totaly crappy, the aion beta forum was full of error reports concerning GG and the people tried to make pressure to solve the problem or superior: remove GG completely from the game, because it behaves like a root kit.
What happend? Nothing happend till today, it wasn't even added to the known bugs list!
This is a beavior I found to appear in a lot of korean free to play MMOs: inconvenient but importent problems are successively beeing ignored.
I'm curious if they'll keep this behavior up. At the comming weekend there will be the next beta event and the betaboard with the buglists will be open again.
I ask myself if the shown problem management of NCSoft is highly influenced by the korean management and if it will find entrance as a general behaviour to the customers of NC Soft.
This is true - you should trust people based only on what they say.
On that note, you need to give me your financial account information and passwords for your own good. Trust me. Also, get in my van here - it has candy in the back.
Thanks for the laugh. That was made enjoyable by the fact that what you quoted me on has turned out to be absolutely true.
And I said trust "them," who happen to be the largest MMO publisher, not some random forum poster who doesn't know his/her foot from his/her elbow regarding the inner-politics of NCsoft.
Thanks for the laugh. That was made enjoyable by the fact that what you quoted me on has turned out to be absolutely true.
And I said trust "them," who happen to be the largest MMO publisher, not some random forum poster who doesn't know his/her foot from his/her elbow regarding the inner-politics of NCsoft.
It's also important to note whether anyone has trust in NCSoft or not, they are taking their own speculation over information given out by the company itself.
I, for one, am more inclined to believe the press release over what a random forum member says, unless there is factual information for me to think otherwise.
I would imagine GW2 has been thrown in the bin. Hardly surprising since GW1 was a huge embarrassment to the MMO genre.
No loss here.
My bet is that they have been offered job on Blizzard's new MMO. Most likely strategic effort from Actavision to create negative talk around the release of Aion.
Its only buisness after all.
Get real, GW2 was already planned out and everything it's going to be fine. Some of you people are such drama queens. Anyway, he did some good things so he will be missed I'm sure...
Originally posted by Spaceweed10
I would imagine GW2 has been thrown in the bin. Hardly surprising since GW1 was a huge embarrassment to the MMO genre.
No loss here.
Just because you were dissapointed with GW does not mean it was an embarrassment on the contrary it did very well and a lot of people have even higher hopes for GW2. Sorry to report that your feelings aren't fact. But don't play if you don't like it. No loss here.
Obviously you have not read the statement Mike O'brien has made. Ignorance is bliss so they say!
Please read... wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User_talk:Mike_O%27Brien
What an incredibly rediculous statement backed by personal perspective especially considering how well it continued to excel while the main focus of development. Nothing else needs to be added. :/ http://www.guildwars.com/events/press/awards/
If this article is going to be linked on the main page then the Mike O'Brien statement should be added at the end as well instead of buried on page 2 of the conversation.
What i find comical is the usual PR bs.On one hand they say hes the best thing since sliced cheese,he is the driving force,the brains behind the operation,then they go on to say his loss will not be missed at all,they see no impact on any of their games or AION.......SOOOOoooooooooooo i guess his influence/impact there was not really needed at all,he was just a person collecting a huge paycheck?
The lead behind the Xbox369 release? probably the worst handling Microsoft has ever had,out of the gate Xbox could not tie the Playstation shoelaces,Microsoft almost gave up on the Xbox360.Only recently has the Xbox 360 started to shine,this guy obviously did nothing for the system or it's launch.
Lead pragrammer for Warcraft? well warcraft is anything but a failure for tech and coding,it is a throwback to console gaming,his efforts are obviously ancient and not up to standards,witch is probably why WOW was so meek in its efforts.
I think this guy is just a smash bit over rated,otherwise he would be leading NCSOFT a giant wih a fair bit of money to bigger and better things.Ncsoft is still behind the eight ball on tech,and personally AION is nothing short of a L2 remake,so this guy has done nothing for gaming IMO.
He gets credit for GW's,ok a decent game with a slight different approach,but it is again ancient coding,low end graphics,nothing new what so ever,other than another WOW that can solo easily.GW's is one big giant instanced game,it is in theory not really a MMORPG at all,it is exactly like a console game rpg,i would call it more a CO OP game .
I do not see this guy as deserving of any special heroics.
WTF.. noooo.... my GW2 is never gonna be done with Jeff Strain gone! Omg.... no way...why why why.. no wonder it's been so damn quite of GW2 updates!!!! eerrrggg
Just because you luv your WoW and your other WoW clones doesn't mean GW was an embarrassment. GW was meant to be different from WoW and WoW-like MMOs and that was why they made GW! Get it?
Just because you luv your WoW and your other WoW clones doesn't mean GW was an embarrassment. GW was meant to be different from WoW and WoW-like MMOs and that was why they made GW! Get it?
I dont see why GW was an embarassment to the MMO genre. It wasnt a true MMO, but Arenanet always sold it as a CORPG (cooperative online ropleplaying game) and the game was estremely solid and allowed a much better, fair and balanced pvp than the most games out there, and it still does.
If indeed GW2 dies as a project, it will be a great loss to the MMO genre, but i dont believe it will and NCSoft will certainly keep the engine running
Just a tiny little nitpick, but i'm wondering just how correct the info about him working on Diablo is. I was in tech support there for a short time right after the D2 release, and from what i was told ALL design/prog work for the original diablo was handled by blizzard north - which no longer exists, and was in northern california, like 300+ miles away. Possible Strain was up there first and moved down to the Irvine office though. It's probably just worded funny, but he wouldnt have contributed to Diablo while at the Irvine office.
think GW2 will not be under NCsoft but im suprised at this and hope GW2 will not be heavily affected
My experience with Game Guard has led me to inevitably ignore all games with Game Guard. I really wanted to play some of those games, too, but Game Guard makes that impossible. I've found 1000 ways to get around problems with games over the years, but Game Guard. . .~shudders~ It even kept me from playing a game I actually paid money for. Poof! Goodbye money. And no, I'm not a hacker, never been a hacker, never gonna be a hacker. Hacking is cheating, and cheating is for losers. :D Yes, I've unplugged everything possible and turned off everything you can turn off. No matter what I've tried, Game Guard is the DEVIL! ~makes a warding gesture~
Did I mention that I farking hate Game Guard?
It will be, ArenaNet is owned by NCSoft
Jeff Strain wasnt working on GW2 , so i dont think GW2 will be affected much
Who cares about Aion, it's another Pay to Play money sucking time sink.
I'm sure there's more to it than we are being told.
Mark my words, GW2 will not be free to play, now that Jeff is gone.
NCSoft is just like all the rest, give me your credit card so we can use and abuse you.
NCSoft doesn't care about gamers, they care about $$$, unlike Jeff.
I personally will follow Jeff , just like I did with him leaving WoW and same for GW's.
I hope the next project he works on; he sticks to his ideals and leaves the Money Grubbers out of it.
You should consider yourself lucky they don't charge a subscription on top of an RMT item mall.
For me, I think the timing of these departures close to Aion release might imply a little corporate drama.
As someone mentioned before, I reckon they've intentionally held back GW2 so it doesn't steal Aion's thunder. If Arenanet had their way, I reckon it would have been released by now but the game's been held on a leash under heavy quarantine. As a big liker of Guild Wars, I confess I'm a little nervous as to the future of GW2 even under assurance, because even if we don't need to worry about the game becoming vaporware, some of us might be rightly concerned about the direction that GW2 will go.
There's hardly any info on the game and for all we know it could become subscription/MT based, and I never liked the idea of creating many racial characters like Charr and Asuras. It sounds too WOW to me.
i think some people confuse David Reid with Mike O'brien.
From the 3 founders of Anet only Jeff left, and he already didnt work for Anet anymore
Agree completely. People are assuming that because these people did good by certain projects in the past that they are somehow still currently attached to either those projects or their predecessors. I am pretty sure both these guys were upper management people and really would not effect the outcome of games in development. Though Paragon Studios, Arena.net, and Carbine Studios are all owned by NCSoft, but they are all given enough free reign that changes in upper management don't effect them all that much. It seems like a loss do to these guys past accomplishments, but perhaps they were doing all that well in what was there current positions. We don't know, but we all seem to like to jump to conclusions quite quickly based on assumptions rather than facts.
Agree completely. People are assuming that because these people did good by certain projects in the past that they are somehow still currently attached to either those projects or their predecessors. I am pretty sure both these guys were upper management people and really would not effect the outcome of games in development. Though Paragon Studios, Arena.net, and Carbine Studios are all owned by NCSoft, but they are all given enough free reign that changes in upper management don't effect them all that much. It seems like a loss do to these guys past accomplishments, but perhaps they were doing all that well in what was there current positions. We don't know, but we all seem to like to jump to conclusions quite quickly based on assumptions rather than facts.
Funny someone without a clue would be mouthing off about facts and ignoring assumptions.
They weren't just some guys in upper management, THEY WERE UPPER MANAGEMENT. They have been running ncwest for almost a year. You idiots suck down that pr bullshit like it's the sweet nectar of infallible truth. As of right now, ncwest is now in the hands of a few unknown koreans shipped directly from korea. This may or may not be a good thing depending on your view of things, but you have to be pretty stupid to think this won't effect anything just because some press release said so. This is the korean method of doing business, and it works fine in korea, but time and time again it has shown to rub westerners the wrong way.
Tell me, seriously, what was the point of delaying aion for 6 months to "westernize" it and build a team committed to the western world and then basically replacing the heads of that team with some faceless koreans a month before the game is released?
Hi all,
I wanted to take a moment to offer my personal note on Jeff's departure.
Jeff is a personal friend of mine. We worked together very closely from the time he joined Blizzard in 1996, through our founding of ArenaNet in 2000, until he left ArenaNet to join NCsoft West in 2008. I'm sad to see him leaving NCsoft now. We remain good friends and I wish him great success in his next endeavor.
It's important to understand that ArenaNet is a separate and self-contained development studio. Jeff hasn't been involved in the day-to-day development of Guild Wars 2 since he left ArenaNet more than a year ago, and I don't expect his departure to have a direct impact on our studio or on Guild Wars 2. I continue to lead ArenaNet, and I'm not going anywhere.
We have an amazing team here at ArenaNet, and we continue to work hard on Guild Wars 2, preparing for the day when we can first reveal it to the world. That day is coming very soon now. I'm confident that, when you see Guild Wars 2 for the first time, you're going to love what you see, and any worries you have about its development will fade away.
--Mike O'Brien 01:56, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
thx a lot, that was a relief.
Funny how official PR = epic fail and O'Brian can do better with a simple reply...
Thx, but Aion can go to hell.
I want Guild Wars 2, imo it will be the next WoW.
Thank you very much for clearing things up Mike.. you're my hero! (luv GW) ^_^
I posted this in reply to the mention of NC Soft being more and more dominated by the Korean management.
To update my post:
Yesterday did the 6th beta event start and the known bugs list still doesn't contain a word about the problems concerning GameGuard.
In addition comes, that the bug list is very similar to the last one and contains only a very, very small fraction of the reported bugs and a lot of minor bugs like translation mistakes, whereas a lot of major bugs are not mentioned.
As I said before a behavior I found in a lot of Korean MMOs.
maybe then ncsoft will hire some new blood with new ideas. and make a game I really want to play. certainly hasn't happened so far.
I can see 2 things from this considering that Aion is a pretty big dissapointment. Either they were moved/letgo due to some restructuring because they pushed the game out too early. After all now they are the perfect fall guy because they are no longer with NCsoft
Or they left because they are upset at Aion's outcome and are leaving the ship just as it started sinking
How is it dissapointing?
This people, is a textbook troll. Learn to dismiss it as such.
Ah, so it being ready for release "very soon" according to the lead developer and the original having sold 6 million and counting, I can totally see why.
Seems to me you need a new imagination.
Jeff have left Arenanet a year ago and not worked on GW2 since then, other people are working on it...
Hi all,
I wanted to take a moment to offer my personal note on Jeff's departure.
Jeff is a personal friend of mine. We worked together very closely from the time he joined Blizzard in 1996, through our founding of ArenaNet in 2000, until he left ArenaNet to join NCsoft West in 2008. I'm sad to see him leaving NCsoft now. We remain good friends and I wish him great success in his next endeavor.
It's important to understand that ArenaNet is a separate and self-contained development studio. Jeff hasn't been involved in the day-to-day development of Guild Wars 2 since he left ArenaNet more than a year ago, and I don't expect his departure to have a direct impact on our studio or on Guild Wars 2. I continue to lead ArenaNet, and I'm not going anywhere.
We have an amazing team here at ArenaNet, and we continue to work hard on Guild Wars 2, preparing for the day when we can first reveal it to the world. That day is coming very soon now. I'm confident that, when you see Guild Wars 2 for the first time, you're going to love what you see, and any worries you have about its development will fade away.
- Mike O'Brien
There is few guys of Jeffs talent and having him as director of NC soft west was a huge waste, I see why he got bored. I guess there is no hope that he will go back to Arenanet. I hope he makes a new game, the only guy who makes as good games is Ray at Bioware.
Guildwars, Diablo, Warcraft 3. I have enjoyed those a lot.
But maybe Blizzard gave him an offer he couldn't refuse, they have missed them, the Blizzard games have not been the same since he left. I rather hope he starts a new company like Arenanet again.
Edit: Ooops, I didn't see this was posted before, It was a lot of things to read thru and I onle read the first pages...
Yet some knobheads still don't get the message, so please continue to report it lol :P
These high level execs are a dime a dozen. They change jobs about as often as I change my socks. They follow money...that's it.
Originally posted by Maggnet
posted this in reply to the mention of NC Soft being more and more dominated by the Korean management.
------
mate, afaik NCSOFT IS KOREAN
Yes that's correct, I mean it in another sence: NCSoft West had Ryan James as Public Relations Director and Jeff Strain as President of Product Development. This are in my opinion two positions with strong influence on the product and its customer service.
Two strong personalities with a carefull eye on the quality of the product who now need to be replaced and I have the feeling the replacement will be persons who fit better in the Korean ideology.
Btw: I have nothing against Koreans personally. I having several in my circle of friends, but it seems to be a fact that they like quick solutions, but quick comes often with a loss of quality.
Good quality is for example: when I chose a hacking prevention system for my game and it turns out to be problematic I do not say: it's not our fault and ignore the problem. It is their fault, because they chose the program and it is their task to find a solution for it and not wait until nProtect someday maybe fixes the problems. And there has to be an information chain to the customer that informs him constantly on the advances in finding a solution!
Yes that's correct, I mean it in another sence: NCSoft West had Ryan James as Public Relations Director and Jeff Strain as President of Product Development. This are in my opinion two positions with strong influence on the product and its customer service.
Two strong personalities with a carefull eye on the quality of the product who now need to be replaced and I have the feeling the replacement will be persons who fit better in the Korean ideology.
Btw: I have nothing against Koreans personally. I having several in my circle of friends, but it seems to be a fact that they like quick solutions, but quick comes often with a loss of quality.
For Aion i dont think Jeff had an huge impact, and if he did his work is bassicly done as Aion is about to launch in the west.
Might be different for GW2 but then i dont think so, as Arenanet is an american division and Jeff already didnt work on GW2 anymore.
I dont think it will change much really.
rumor mill has it that a GW2-trailer will be released in a few days at GameCon.
I can't wait =D
I find the argument about the fate of GW2 very amusing since we have two statements explaining what happened, he wasn't working for ArenaNet for a year now anyway, and absolutely no evidence that anything will be negatively impacted by this change at all. Anet is totally separate functionally from NCSoft. GW2 will not be developed by Koreans. It is a totally different studio. The primary reasons Anet is under NCSoft at all is money. They have total creative control. I don't understand how you people can be so willfully ignorant.
That said, I wanted to not that I also HATE HATE HATE Game Guard. It is the most horrible, destructive, ineffective, annoying, useless, and all-around-awful POS software I have ever seen that wasn't an actual virus. Add to that the idea that it is designed to protect you, and the very concept of GG is laughable. I would never, ever, ever, play a game using it. Of course, you really can't expect much more from the Asian MMO development industry. It is easier to buy a POS and plug it in to your crappy grindy PvP clone than to spend resources on your own security measures.
Aion is pretty; Aion has relatively engaging combat, Aion has flying. Aion really isn't new. I've played it, and I have been bored. I don't understand the hype. It plays very much like any other Asian MMO I've played. There are decent quests, but that just sends it closer to EQ and WoW, and we still don't have anything new or engaging. I wish someone could explain to me why this game is being touted as new, exciting, and clever.
This, tbh.
I just don't get all the hype behind Aion. It's boring, the quests / types of quests it uses were considered boring by EQ players 9 years ago and the graphics, while nice, aren't anything super special. The end-game, if you can stomach the trip to get to high level, really isn't all that great either. It's only real claim to fame is you can fly... woopie.
No offense to anyone who likes it but I just don't get why NCSoft is hanging so much hope on a game that's obviously sub-par.
As to GW2? I don't think it'll be effected by this. Strain wasn't even working on GW2, he's not Anet and hasn't been for over a year, he's NCSoft. Anet is making GW2, not NCSoft. So it wont impact GW2 much (and I doubt it'll impact it at all.)
As to the troll saying GW was an embarassment to the MMO genre? You, sir, are an imbecille. Seriously... 6 million sales and over 3 million current players? Learn to check your facts. Not to mention the LONG list of awards it's racked up over the years. I still play Guild Wars and have every expansion. And, being that I'm an EVE player, you could pretty much surmise that I'm picky as hell about what MMO's I choose to give my money to. GW is one of the few I consider worth playing.
I beg to differ. For one, they don't have an idiot developing Guild Wars 2. Secondly, Jeff is not Guild Wars. He was a huge part of it, but they've got an extremely talented team and goals that aren't going to crumble down in his absence. Thirdly, Guild Wars is now an established game and as such ArenaNet have a lot to work with. Tabula Rasa, on the other hand, was a bad first attempt (though I personally enjoyed it). Add to that the fact that we don't know who the current driving force may be and what their goals are, and this may even be a good thing. I doubt anyone could be worse than ol' Richard.
You simply can't compare a game whose sequel has sold over 6 million copies with a game that practically tanked from the start.
GW2 will do just fine. It will offer more than what GW offered, free after you buy the box, it might even be bigger than GW was since it may fill the next gen Fantasy MMO niche for the future. If isn't the top game above WoW in a few years, it'll be fighting for second along with SWTOR.
It seems strange that this game does so well as an Asian style MMO, but the truth is GW offers the things people want, in PvP, arenas, lore ect. It's not a bad a game, even if it isn't totally traditional MMO game play. People who play it don't bother arguing the finer points of the game since they are rapped up in it, and the numbers speak for themselves. The peope who don't play are left with no one to really argue with.
"QUOTE: Tell me, seriously, what was the point of delaying aion for 6 months to "westernize" it and build a team committed to the western world and then basically replacing the heads of that team with some faceless koreans a month before the game is released? :END QUOTE
Exactly. That does seem to be the point.
What I am seeing here is a pattern where NCsoft recruits top Western talent, uses them to produce games that are more acceptable to Western markets, them dumps them under the guise of "leaving under good terms". Let's not forget, Richard Garriott was brought in for exactly that reason - to turn Lineage, perhaps the largest MMO in the world at the time, to a Western market, the result being Lineage 2. I am wondering if part of that deal was that he get his own title in return, which would have been Tabla Rasa. However....
Read this, and follow the links, and you will see what I mean:
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/05/06/richard-garriott-sues-nc-soft-over-millions-stock-options
Seems that it wasn't Garriott's idea to leave NCsoft. If NCsoft fired Garriott, he would be allowed to keep his stock, but leaving of his own volition, was required to sell it within 90 days. I would wager that Strain and Reid had similar contracts, and by "leaving amicably", they, too, forfeit any profits due them from retaining the stock, and instead return any control of that stock to investors more in line with NCsoft's desires. Dumoing a whole lot of game stock in a hurry usually requires an interested buyer.
We might even go back a little further to NCsoft's acquisition of City of Heroes/Villains. Why would Cryptic leave their baby behind and turn around to create a NEW superhero game. Sure, Jack Emmert had all sorts of glowing things to say about how he grew up on Champions, but really, they had a good product with a good look and engine and sold it, lock stock and barrel, to NCsoft, thereby having to start over AND create a competing product.
Something smells bad in NCsoftland. Evil Empire, anyone?
For a little background on NCsoft's initial incursion into the US market, check this out:
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/tabula-rasa/512497p1.html