Damn... why all the hate against the man and his team? Are you guys ignorant or something? Did you even read the whole 8 pages? Do you even understand how business works? Do you know how hard it is to start a company from scratch and work everything out using your own money?
I think what Flagship studios did was an achievement! Their only mistake (and he admits this btw) is that they tried too do too much with very little money. Their only problem was, they where used to Blizzard's funding, and always having millions and millions of dollars at their disposal to make a great game. I have absolutely no doubt at all in my mind, that if HG:L had the Blizzard seal of approval on it, it would have been A LOT more than it currently is. It would have been more finished and with more content. Because let's admit it, the concept was nice, It was different and daring, but that's what Blizzard is all about
An achievement in what?
Anyone can establish a company, but if they fuck up and bring other people down with them then they need to be held accountable for it.
What Bill doesn't mention in the interview is why HanbitSoft got bought over by T3. The reason is simple: HanbitSoft invested so much into Hellgate that when Hellgate failed, it took them down with it. He shouldn't act so surprised about the change of leadership at the company.
What he doesn't mention either is the fact that the game was in development for over 4 years, including post-release when content was, and still is sparse and lacking. Most games are only in development for 2-3 years and manage to deliver superior products. Hold him accountable.
And Uleman, PLEASE GO BACK AND MAKE DIABLO III's MUSIC!!!!! (Don't get me wrong, I like the music now, at least I don't hate it, but I know that Uleman would've made something more memorable and perfect)
Don't judge the musical score of D3 before you've actually heard it. It's unfair to the current composer and his team at Blizzard.
Anyways I hope all the best for Bill Roper and the guys who used to work at Blizzard North and Flagship.
Hey, me too. I really expect to see something good out of Runic.
The Seattle team isn't working on Mythos, FYI. They could, but it is very unlikely that this will happen, according to Travis and Max in their interview.
They are going to be making a new game, but they have not announced what it is yet namely because they are still sorting things out with the office lease and setting the company up right now.
Their intention is to basically make a game that's built upon the same principle foundations as Mythos, but with a proper plan this time around. Mythos' preproduction took a single day, because it was never originally planned to be a fully fledged game as it was a testbed for Hellgate's networking. It eventually evolved into something more than that, but unfortunately the company got shut down before they could really go anywhere with it.
So what's going to happen is that Runic will probably begin work on a new game, possibly with middleware engine technology so that they can begin work on the game as soon as possible, with all the lessons they learned from their work on Mythos.
That's funny, ryan. As nice as it would be to have Bill along, he did a very poor job on Hellgate: London, which had very little story.
I've met him in person, and yes, I'm at complete liberty to 'diss' him, as it were. I'm simply judging him based on the results of his most recent work, Hellgate: London.
They are my opinions, after all. Who are you to decide what I can, or cannot say, ryan?
Surely, the "Greatest Man in the Gaming Industry" would come up with the greatest game, would he not? Is Hellgate: London the greatest game? I think not!
I mean, it's cool if anyone wants to hire him to do sound work, because that's where his expertise lies, but hiring him to revamp the art style of Diablo 3 is just a fucking joke.
Many people forget that not all of the people responsible for Diablo and Diablo 2's success joined the new company. While I'm not downplaying the talent of anyone at Flagship, it's clear that Blizzard's deep pockets and possibly the project management of whoever was responsible really helped to make the games as good as they were.
I'm more confident in D3 than anything I've ever been before, because the people making it are also under the same management that delivered to us Starcraft, Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft -- and they have some of the deepest pockets in the game industry. They wouldn't be able to fuck up even if they tried.
anyone notice www.mythos.com is now a dead link? I hope that korean company hires some of the original employees to get that ip to its final state.
That is not going to happen. The original employees (ALL OF THEM) from Flagship Studios Seattle founded a new company called Runic Games and they are not going to be working on Mythos.
I really don't see how Bill's opinion is in any way 'valuable' to the development of Diablo 3. He isn't working on it.
He was talking trash about ArenaNet's Guild Wars before Hellgate: London was out, and even further past the point of HGL's release, saying that Guild Wars wasn't very successful or whatever. When you consider the fact that Guild Wars sold over 5 million copies, and Hellgate sold around 250k, you'd realize what a bad position Bill is in to be saying such things.
Anyone can establish a company, but if they fuck up and bring other people down with them then they need to be held accountable for it.
What Bill doesn't mention in the interview is why HanbitSoft got bought over by T3. The reason is simple: HanbitSoft invested so much into Hellgate that when Hellgate failed, it took them down with it. He shouldn't act so surprised about the change of leadership at the company.
What he doesn't mention either is the fact that the game was in development for over 4 years, including post-release when content was, and still is sparse and lacking. Most games are only in development for 2-3 years and manage to deliver superior products. Hold him accountable.
Don't judge the musical score of D3 before you've actually heard it. It's unfair to the current composer and his team at Blizzard.
Hey, me too. I really expect to see something good out of Runic.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
They are going to be making a new game, but they have not announced what it is yet namely because they are still sorting things out with the office lease and setting the company up right now.
Their intention is to basically make a game that's built upon the same principle foundations as Mythos, but with a proper plan this time around. Mythos' preproduction took a single day, because it was never originally planned to be a fully fledged game as it was a testbed for Hellgate's networking. It eventually evolved into something more than that, but unfortunately the company got shut down before they could really go anywhere with it.
So what's going to happen is that Runic will probably begin work on a new game, possibly with middleware engine technology so that they can begin work on the game as soon as possible, with all the lessons they learned from their work on Mythos.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
I've met him in person, and yes, I'm at complete liberty to 'diss' him, as it were. I'm simply judging him based on the results of his most recent work, Hellgate: London.
They are my opinions, after all. Who are you to decide what I can, or cannot say, ryan?
Surely, the "Greatest Man in the Gaming Industry" would come up with the greatest game, would he not? Is Hellgate: London the greatest game? I think not!
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
I'm more confident in D3 than anything I've ever been before, because the people making it are also under the same management that delivered to us Starcraft, Warcraft 3 and World of Warcraft -- and they have some of the deepest pockets in the game industry. They wouldn't be able to fuck up even if they tried.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
That is not going to happen. The original employees (ALL OF THEM) from Flagship Studios Seattle founded a new company called Runic Games and they are not going to be working on Mythos.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.
He was talking trash about ArenaNet's Guild Wars before Hellgate: London was out, and even further past the point of HGL's release, saying that Guild Wars wasn't very successful or whatever. When you consider the fact that Guild Wars sold over 5 million copies, and Hellgate sold around 250k, you'd realize what a bad position Bill is in to be saying such things.
Hellforge: Forging a passion for video games.