GDC Interview With Mark Jacobs
In the final hours of the Game Developers Conference, Garrett Fuller and Jon Wood had the opportunity to sit down with EA Mythic VP Mark Jacobs to talk about Warhammer Online and EA Mythic as a whole.
On the final day of the Game Developers Conference, Mark Jacobs sat down with us for a chat about EA Mythic, the MMO Industry, and of course Warhammer Online. Mark is definitely a veteran of the MMO design world. He has been through it all. Starting with MUDs and moving on into Dark Age of Camelot, Mark has had some great success with MMO games. In the past year Mythic has been turned into EA Mythic and the company continues to develop one of the most anticipated MMOs on the market, Warhammer Online.
My first question to Mark was about Warhammer and why EA Mythic decided to go with a two faction system as opposed to the three faction system that had worked so well in DAOC. Basically it came down to a sense of popularity and balance. Developers did not believe that the Greenskins would be as popular as some of the other races played and would suffer from a lack of population. This issue is a gamble with any game that takes the multiple faction route. So in the interest of balance and creating an even population the developers decided to go with the two faction system for Warhammer.
Speaking of those factions, we asked Mark what was on the plate as far as upcoming material in Warhammer Online. Mark did say that we would see the Elves (High and Dark) when they were ready. The company wants to be sure to present the races and classes to the public with some polish on them and not just throw information out there. Keep in mind that a development lifecycle, especially for an MMO, can be ever changing and chaotic (no pun intended).
This of course led us to the expansion question. Mark gave us some information but was honest about the expectations. Currently, EA Mythic is not working on an expansion for Warhammer Online. Keep in mind that the game is still far from launch and getting the game out the door remains the main focus. That being said, Mark did say that he knows exactly which races we can expect to see as a part of the expansion when it comes out (he did ask me for my best guess, but simply smiled and would not give up the info). The point is, if EA Mythic can deliver Warhammer on time, hopefully we will see the first expansion on time as well.
Finishing up our conversation about Warhammer Online, Mark had mentioned Games Workshop's original game design with Climax. The old version of the game did not really present Warhammer in a way that took the IP into a different setting. It is not easy to translate a table-top war game into an MMO. When Games Workshop was ready to begin thinking about putting an MMO out there again, Mythic was definitely on the same page and the combination has worked well ever since. Also in regards to the constant comparison between Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft, Mark said he simply does not buy into the idea at all. They are two different games and that is where it ends.
We did ask Mark some questions regarding the relationship with EA. Mark's primary goal for EA Mythic is to "blaze a trail for EA through MMOs." There are many IPs that can be looked at or used to create new MMOs. Not only IPs from the EA library, but also on the original front as well. Mark believes that original IPs have a strong chance of success in the MMO market because they will bring something new to the table. A question about the game Imperator which Mythic had been developing in the past did come up in the conversation. Mark says that he thinks of the game as postponed and hopes that it will see the light of day at some point. The EA relationship allows Mythic to continue working on games with new resources. From what Mark had said, creative freedom remains part of the relationship and allows the company to work on what it does best.
In regards to the MMO industry overall, Mark pointed out the inevitable growth of the market. It is very easy to see that more and more people will subscribe to MMOs in the future. However he does say that there will be failures in the MMO market as well. With the competition growing rapidly, there will be some games that never see launch. Talking to Mark Jacobs is like talking to a battle field general that has seen it all. He is very realistic in his expectations of MMO games, but he also knows how the market works and how to develop games that run well for players. We would like to thank Mark for sitting down with us at the end of a very busy week.
I lost a lot of respect for Mark when he double-talked us about EA. First he said there was no deal with EA and Mythic, which got a lot of internet support since EA has such a negative rep lately. Then a short time later he happily announces they have merged. So this tells me that one of two things happened.
He did say no at first, EA added more numbers to their check and then Mark said yes.
He said yes to start and was dishonest to the community.
So, to me, this means that Mark is either (1) greedy or (2) a liar. I am still dumbfounded that with EA's track record with MMOG's that he would think a merger would somehow benefit Mythic?
WAR lost me as a potential subscriber the moment the merger was announced as I will not buy, rent or play any game made by EA. In the grand scheme of things my boycott may not be much, but EA isn't getting any money from me.... ever.
9 times outta 10 there's another company that makes games like these, but put EAs logo on it. Super Princess Peach? Yeah, it wasn't made by Nintendo. Lots of games aren't. But these companies work in secrecy.
*shrug*, don't ask me why. As far as I know, it serves as a training thing for the employees there.
EDIT: Removed because of bad sources.
AS to why Mark Jacobs did what he did? Sometime, when a deal like that is offered, and it's in the workings, you can't talk about it. You really need to study basic business practice and capitalism my friend.
It is just a matter of time before EA puts there hands into the mix that is Warhammer. It does not matter in every EA game they had to have there hands in it at some point. Looks at the list of MMOs EA has had there hands on and looks at how many where crushed by the changes EA forced upon the dev team to try and bring the project ahead of others at the time. Prime case and example Ultima Online. EA wanted nothing to do with the project and provided little funding for it until the populace saw the game and it started getting good public opinion. Then it was released and not long after when it was not achiveing higher numbers then the compatetion EA stepped in and started making massive changes across the board. This was EA not something the Dev team wished to do but where forced to do. If you do not believe leave google the interviews with Richard Garret and see for your self. Oh and while you are at it just google for some blogs and interviews of other members of the dev team at the time. The full picture will come to light.
The merger with EA was the worst move Mythic could have done. More so considering NCSoft was offering them an amazing deal but apparently there was not enough zeros on the check. But then ageain look at NCSoft and all the games they keep afloat even when the game is not a major seller they still keep it running and provide funds to the company to do so. Just my opinion and take it as such. All this information is public information anyone can find with a little research.
At this time Ultima Online is simply alive because the costs of maintaining it are so small compared to any other mmorpg that even 100 people subscribing to it is a profit to EA. That and the fact that a new Ultima mmorpg will be pushed out the door within the next 5 to 10 years. This I can grantee you.
If he had said something and the deal fell through he could be sued for any number of reasons. Blame the lawyers and the litigation happy world we live in.
As the indians used to say, Mark Jacobs speaks with forked tongue.
I really have no respect for the guy. He let DAoC self destruct and did nothing to correct it. You should have heard the lies he told about the upcoming changes with the Atlantis expansion. I do not believe a word he says anymore, you can only lie so many times before it catches up to you. To say he is respected in the industry is itself a fabrication.
Needless to say, merging with EA was a desparate move by both companies.
Mythic to this day has not balanced character classes in DAoC which after 5 years is a bit ridiculous. Since Warhammer is a pvp game, how successful will they be balancing classes in that game.... NOT.
Haha, Blizzard is the perfect company. They did exactly what the set out to do, make truckloads of money and so they did.
OMG!! They make money from their game! How dare they!
I'm thinking you're not a business major there, Chaos - the whole point of making these games is to make a profit.
In response to Chaos_Blood.....
My issue with EA is how they have handled acquiring other companies and their questionable business practices.
First off they have a class-action lawsuit going against them for failing to pay overtime to their workers. I do not however, know if this was ever resolved or settled out of court.
They attempted to take over Ubisoft til the EU basically stepped in and say "hell no, stay away from this company".
They bought Origin (makers of Ultima) and initially announce that Ultima Online would not receive any more support but they would happily keep the servers on as long as subscriptions continued.
They bought Westwood (makers of Command & Conquer) and then failed to support Westwood's MMOG Earth & Beyond. Despite strong support EA pulled the plug on that game. In addition, they are refusing to sell or lease out the source code to allow anyone else to run it.
They had Motor City Online, but again didn't support it well. They had a lot of issues with cheating and such that could never resolve.
Once they took Origin and Westwood how many titles from them have you seen? Just now in 2007 a new C&C is coming out, but that's it in what 4 years? Even Blizzard isn't that slow.
When EA found that their console sport games were getting beat out by the ESPN games, they didn't try to make a better product they just wrote a check to the NFL to buy up exclusive rights. That effectively prevents any other company from making any NFL games. They did not get the NFLPA license, so NFL Street or similar games can still be developed.
Now as for Mythic....
WAR was in development before EA took over. So EA buying out Mythic really would of had no effect on WAR. As far as I knew WAR was getting plenty of press and hype without any influence by EA. If EA demands faster development that would (probably) only ruin the game. Plus I found it odd that Mark said that Mythic would remain an entity essentially, since there is no EA-Origin or EA-Westwood, why would he think EA would treat his company any different?
Finally...
Yes I have studied business practices and capitalism. I am well aware that shady deals happen in boardrooms and such. Mark's actions really only prove that to the degrees I spoke of. If he "couldn't" talk about it then.... he wouldn't of talked about it. He first off said that there was no deal with EA, he was not interested in EA and Mythic would not be merging with anyone anytime soon. Then not long later, he does a complete 180 and happily announces EA bought Mythic and that EA's MMOG division is now basically "EA-Mythic".
It would of been different had EA been buying these companies and contiuned to produce their products. They seem to prefer to buy up the Intellectual Property of someone else and just bask in the monies coming from them.
My 2 cents worth..
Actually there's no Westwood or Origin anymore period, and there hasn't been for years. They were absorbed in the buyout. However, every buyout is a negotiation and not all of them include the absorption of all assets. DICE doesn't even have an EA in their name yet, for example. Maxis is technically still around as well, even if it's just Will Wright and his Spore crew.
Mythic's side of the story is that EA has given them basically full autonomy due to the fact that EA wants an MMO and can't get it right on their own. They're basically saying Mythic is going be become EAs MMO studio(rumormill is that there are already some Mythic devs working on Ultima Online now), kinda like how DICE does the Battlefield games and Tiburon does the Madden games, etc. It sounds perfectly plausible to me.
Regardless, doom and gloom at this point seems ridiculous anyway. I chase every bit of Warhammer news out there, including things that look like they might have Warhammer news. The game seems fantastic, and that hasn't suddenly changed in the months since the buyout.
The other good thing is that Games Workshop have a pretty strong control on their I.P so I cant see them letting E.A train-wreck the game.