First off... here's a link to the story:
http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg...ana/index.html
If your reading this... you should read the story first.
Now I read the entire story from Gamespot. As I read it... a shed a tear for ION Storm. A truly sad story... but with a good ending. Reading the story made me glad that I bought my own copy of Daikatana. And yes, I find it a great game to all those who want to ask.
I truly feel for ION Storm... & all the crap that the company has went through. When it all comes down to it... that's the type of company we all want. Like LGS, ION Storm is devoted to making different games other than simple Doom clones like id.
id Software seems to be making nothing but Doom clones. I guess they're in that "if it ain't broke don't fix it" phase. What id Software fails to realize is that simple Doom clones don't cut it anymore. All they're doing is pumping out the same crap that has been there for years. The only thing that id Software changed in their games was... the technology or the engine.
I, as a gamer, want more than just prettier graphics. I want a challenge, I want a game that has more story or a game that changes the way you play it. Not just the simple shoot-everything-in-sight type games.
Even though Quake3 had very good graphics... its gameplay sucked IMO. It had this "been there, done that" type feeling.
So I don't blame Romero for wanting a very nice place to work in. After id's work place... you'd want a great place too.
So I end this post with cheers to ION Storm for not giving up on a great design. We need more new ones... & after the fall of LGS, we need them now more than ever.
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Nedan - "Every company dies... not every company truly lives."
On your critizism on id software: They're not making games actually.. just engines... although they've succeeded into fooling some that they do make games.... We all know that is not the caseSo any game-comapny is better than id at making GAMES, while id is still mastering the engine development...
ID's engine is only good looking, but not good at other things, like AI, physics and stuff. If you want good AI or physics, you have to modify the engine yourself.
A sad story? Are you insane? They caused all the crap they went through! That feature just made me want to strangle him and his band of idiots even more. How could he live with himself, wasting tens of millions of dollars working in an office on the top floor of a Dallas skyscraper on a game without a plan. What little design they did have is like something out of the imagination of a ten year old. Even if Daikatana had been completed exactly as he envisioned, on schedule, it wouldn't have been a great game.
Did he think Eidos' money was a gift? A reward for his brilliant work on Doom? How could he have put so little effort into making a good game? He said he couldn't concentrate on level design because he had to manage a team, but he didn't want to manage a team. He/they did absolutely everything wrong. It's incredible. But they get to learn from their mistakes, and LGS is out of business because of their stupidity (yes, indirectly, but $10 million is $10 million).
Some of the funnier parts... (apologies for the monstrous post, trust me, it's a small fraction of the whole article)
The plot:Ion Storm's new quarters were plush, but they were also subject to the intense heat that comes from working in a glass bubble with curved windows serving as the ceiling. For game developers accustomed to dark environments, the direct sunlight and the resulting heat caused concern. In addition, artists had their cubes directly positioned under the sunlight, which made trying to work during lunch hour an almost impossible task.
Naturally, time travel was needed to perfect the design:You would assume the role of Hiro Miyamoto (his name is a tribute to Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto) and the two sidekicks in the game would be the beautiful Japanese woman Mikiko and the American mercenary Superfly Johnson, named after a 70s Blaxploitation film. Once in the game, these characters would romp through a rich story that would tell the tale of two clans in ancient Japan: the Miyamotos, who forge weapons for the Shogun Mishima, and the Ebihara Clan, plebeians with little power. In the game's prologue, the Miyamotos would develop an all-powerful sword for the Shogun, named the Daikatana, but in the end they would decide to turn it over to the Ebihara Clan, for fear the Daikatana would make the Shogun far too powerful. Because of this twist of fate, Mishima lost power and the Daikatana was buried in Mt. Fujiya so the Ebihara Clan would always rule Japan. The game would begin when a descendant of Mishima stole the sword from an Ebihara heir who had unearthed it from the mountain.
With only three years to work, you can't let people wait for things like gameplay critical features and plot:Romero's goal was for the time-travel concept to serve as the impetus for dramatic shifts in onscreen content. Tired of the sameness on most levels in action games, Romero developed four distinct time periods with no overlapping content: Ancient Greece, the Dark Ages in Norway, techno-industrial Japan, and 21st century San Francisco. All the time periods would feature a new palette of monsters, weapons, items, and art. "I was sick and tired of shooting down the same enemy 30 levels after I first saw him in the game," Romero defiantly proclaims.
Thrifty:Coupled with this dilemma was a game design still in flux. Romero's much-vaunted sidekicks weren't even working in the game, and that posed a huge problem for the level designers. "There were a lot of unanswered questions when I was building maps," says Sverre Kvermno. "Since the sidekicks weren't working, you can only guess about how the map needs to be designed in order to accommodate them." While the level designers struggled to design their maps, the artists also had trouble realizing the game's cinematic sequences, originally planned as prerendered movies. "Daikatana's story changed on a weekly basis," says artist Bill Daly, "and that made my job of drawing the game's cinematic storyboards very difficult."
Not unwarranted, he was a star!:Porter also says that the employees on Daikatana were given the best equipment money could buy, including two 21-inch monitors and $700 office chairs.
Romero on his work ethic:This was gaming gone Hollywood, right down to the promises of a 16-person deathmatch area in the office, video game consoles in the lobby, and a THX-movie theater for employees.
You think anyone told the artists what they were supposed to be doing?:"I've come to accept the fact that people don't think the same way I do," he says in reference to his differences with the original development team. "If I were working somewhere where there were problems inside of a company, it wouldn't bother me unless it was directly affecting my work. A tornado could go by outside, and I would still just focus on my work."
Early texture work and architectureWe had a skin for a little arrow," remembers Romero, "and it was 1300x960 pixels." An artist inexperienced with games had drawn the arrow, which would never take up more than a few pixels on the screen, at a higher resolution than most monitors could display at the time.: <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg-daikatana/ugly_textures.html">(picture)</a>
What were they doing day to day?:
I'd bet nearly everyone knew how to use DromEd on the Thief team. Maybe the LG designers realized their job was game design, not using an editor:After regrouping over Christmas, Ion Storm proudly announced on January 5, 1999, that the switch to the Quake 2 engine was complete. The engine switch was supposed to take a few weeks but ended up taking close to a year.
It's tough putting together a demo of a game built on existing technology:Jim Daly, an artist on the project says that what O'Flaherty wanted to do was have the artists help the level designers light levels. "The level designers saw it as a threat," he says. "They were worried because the art staff learned the tool they call a profession."
The Bug Bored. Strange joke or misspelling?: <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/features/btg-daikatana/28.html">(picture)</a>Conflicting directives aside, Klie says he was amazed at the lack of discipline inside of Ion, especially leading up to E3. "As a company, we weren't even allowing ourselves a two-week QA cycle [before the show]," he says. As a result, "the day before E3, a handful of employees took it upon themselves to modify and recompile the level data," explains Klie. Unfortunately, the new levels weren't correctly recompiled, and the E3 build shipped to Los Angeles featured maps that would run at only 10 or 12 frames per second on the fastest PC.
WTF is this? Is it just me in alone in thinking that only a few days is too soon to begin writing the freakin revisionist history books? Jeez, you bought daikatana! Great! I hope you bought Terra Nova.. At least that was a game that wasn't cack, and was produced by a decent company, not one consisting of ego-hair john and his team of talented girlfriends/level designers who helped sink we-know-who. Yep, he sure made LGS his bitch all right! Woop!
Sorry nedan or whatever the name is, I just re-read that shockingly revelatory article, was sure your post was meant to be sarcastic, went back and.. nope. You actually seem to believe what you wrote.
Jesus H. Christ.
[This message has been edited by real_oRGy (edited May 27, 2000).]
Jesus lads, sorry to be posting again but I think this quote just sums up the whole sorry situation:
"We've canceled lots of games," says Eidos US president Rob Dyer, "but the Ion Storm titles always had good designers behind them with visions."
I'm right there with ya Andy & real_orgy. This farce should have been gonged really early on and Romero should be sleeping on the floor as a third stringer level designer for "no name brand" design house. Someplace where he as to choose between buying food and buying shampoo.
Yeah they might be trying to make different games. Yeah they might turn out good. But in a week where everyone is looking at the free market and wondering what the hell it's doing the mob will speak; "here is bad management! here are NO sales! here are over blown budgets! Spanking is due!"
First off, I like to see a show of hands right now... which one of you has experience in running a Game Development Company?!?! Well... anybody?!?! Just like I thought. Alot of you guys are sure ones to talk & dis a company when you know jack about running one yourselves.
You can read all the friggin' info you want on running a company. But when it comes to actually doing it... it's a whole different friggin' story entirely.
Yes... John Romero made some mistakes. Why? He was new to running a business. He never ran one himself before. He also didn't like the idea of stealing talent. He tried his best not to steal talent. So he had problem of finding new talent instead... which is not easy to begin with.
His only mistake wasn't being an egomaniac, it wasn't over spending & it certainly wasn't advertising the game too early. It was just inexperience. He had none when it came to running a company. I can certainly have sympathy & show forgiveness for that.
Too bad none of you were taught on how to forgive & forget. If you guys had just read the bible... you would've known such decencies. Because nothing in this world is unforgivable.
We all learn through experience... Romero had to also. It was a very tough road for him & ION Storm. But he learned a valuable lesson. I think he has become a better man & a better manager because of it. Right now... he's working on another game & he's not telling or advertising on what it is.
Most of you are basing your hatred for ION Storm because of your first impression of them. The rest of you are basing your hatred for ION Storm because of the fall of LGS. None of you can possibly be basing your hatred on ION because of their games. Why not games? Because every company has their fair share of lemons... no ones perfect, including Eidos. I get a little mad about their business practices but... I still buy their games.
For the first impression people... I say this: <font color=red>First impressions are a b*tch. They hardly ever show the truth behind the person or company. GET OVER IT! It foolish to hold a grudge against ION Storm or Romero just because of their mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes... NO ONES PERFECT!</font>
For the fall of LGS people... I have this to say: <font color=red>This issue has been already dealt with. I'll even quote Evilspirit:</font>
<font color=blue>"As far as I know, Eidos generally paid LGS any royalties due us in a timely fashion, and made a few payments they didn't actually have to make in an effort to keep us afloat. I'm quite sure they would have saved LGS's finances if they could, since for several years the projects we did with them (and this cannot be said of all of our projects) consistently turned a profit, and just lately even came in on time, which is quite a rarity in this business. Nor was it ever an issue of choosing between investing in ION or LG: their deal with ION was struck long before LG started looking for investors to get it out of the cash shortage that sank it.
Really, I understand the impulse to look for someone to blame, but I don't think there really is anyone. Certainly not Eidos or ION."</font>
So to you people that hate ION because of the fall of LGS... I say go out & soak your friggin' heads. There is no one to blame... these things just happen in the business world. Grow up & learn a little!
And your quote real_oRGy does sum it up... because it's true:
"...Ion Storm titles always had good designers behind them with visions."
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Nedan - "Every company dies... not every company truly lives."
supporters can be regular joes like you but critics must be experienced experts, is that it?
go to hell
Hey Muzman, you want to criticize ION Storm on their mistakes. Then prove to me that you have never made a mistake in your whole friggin' life! Until then... why don't you grow up.
And the truth is... I don't support them because of their games or who's making them. I support them because they made a mistake... everybody in the universe makes mistakes (including myself). I can forgive ION Storm for the mistakes they made. It's a little thing I like to call "Common Decency".
The only thing that matters is that Romero's intentions were honest & good. He just didn't have any experience when it came to making them reality. He, like everyone else in the world, had to learn from his mistakes.
It's easy to criticize & insult people or companies (especially when you know nothing about it). But I guess it's just too damn hard for feeble minded people to learn how to forgive & forget. So just forget I asked you guys to even act semi-human.
[This message has been edited by Nedan (edited May 27, 2000).]
Needan- I understand most of what you're saying, and believe me I'll be able to practice it in a few months when I'm not so sad and shocked over this whole thing.
Though I know nothing about running a gaming company or the details of what happened, I would even respectfully disagree with Evilspirit that the deal with Ion Storm had nothing to do with LGS sinking. Though Eidos struck the deal w/ Ion way before there was money trouble at LGS, the fact remains that Eidos lenders were upset about the delays on Diakatana, and Eidos continued financing Romero when most publishers would have given up after about 2 years- history shows as much.
By making the decision to continue financing Romeros bad buisness practices (experienced or no) - they essentially put all thier eggs in one basket. It just happened to be LGS who paid the price for this (though it could have been Pyro or whoever else)- LGS happened to be in financial trouble at a time Eidos could do nothing because of thier earlier decision to continue backing Romero. It's just hard to see it any other way.
Isn't it fair to ask why Eidos didn't believe in LGS enough to cut back in other places just to buy some time? I can think of a few other game houses they publish or 'sponser' that aren't near as innovative as LGS. Why not ditch them and keep LGS afloat.
I don't know if my views are legitimate or not- like I said, I've never run a gaming company. Then again, I'm not an idiot and I think it's pretty plain to see what has happened, even w/out understanding all the details.
At the end of the day, Diakatana, Tomb Raider 14, and Soul Reaver 9 are going to see the light of day, Thief III and SS3 never will. I have a feeling that regardless of who's fault any of this is, Eidos is going to feel the backlash in a very significant way.
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Have you seen the new Loot Maps? Go to the T2 section at http://members.xoom.com/keeperchapel/index.html . More missions forthcoming!
First off, Muzman... you say "supporters can be regular joes like you but critics must be experienced experts, is that it?"
Actually that is it.Why is that? I don't even have to answer this question. I'll use a famous quote to answer it for me:
"Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
Straight, simple, & to the point.
And fett, I don't want to get anybodies hopes high but... while it may not be possible for Thief3, it still might be possible for SS3. Why? Irrational Games. They helped develop it after all. When asked about it... here's what Ken Levine said:
"We haven't broached the topic with any publisher yet, but certainly Irrational would be open to talking about continuing the Shock series. The lead designer, lead artist, project leader and around a dozen other team members from Shock 2 are currently at Irrational, as well as the recently signed Robb Waters (who was the conceptual artist on Thief, System Shock 1 and Terra Nova). But it's clearly too early to say what will happen with System Shock."
As for my main argument here... I've already stated what I think. A lot of others have also agreed with me on that nobody is at fault. The only possible people to blame would be... the bank that Eidos was working with. That's it.
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Nedan - "Every company dies... not every company truly lives."
I normally stay out of this, but since Romero is one indirect cause of LGS sinking, I'll go on.
Sorry Needan, but he made mistakes, and Eidos made mistakes. Eidos mistake was not asking for the goods earlier. Romero's mistake was wasting money on stuff that wasn't needed. $700 dollar chairs, multi-million dollar offices.
I mean, he's worse with money than my stepmother! He lacks any discipline whatsoever. Or do you honestly beleive that he was fired from ID because they were worried about him starting another company?
The only game from Ion Storm I've ever wanted out of them is Deus Ex. You know, the one being made by compotent people with decades of experience?
I think LGS should've gone to another publisher for theif. I haven't trusted Eidos since the first Tomb Raider.
Hey, I'm not trying to flame anyone, I just wanted to voice my opinion. If it seems like I'm bashing Romero, I am, I've got no respect for him anymore. Yes, I've played Diakatana, and as Jay Sherman would say, " It stinks! "
Steezo... did you read any of my other posts in this thread? I'm assuming that you didn't because I never denied Romero making mistakes. I said that he did make mistakes. Read it closer.
I already stated my opinion of the people that hate ION Storm. Try reading it.
Errgh.
Wanted to post this again for anyone who hasn't seen it. It's the most complete account of what happened I've seen:
http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/...ml?st.gc.pc.gn
Andy Margulies, I read the story. What it says to me is that LGS is partially to blame. They put too much faith in Eidos & Irrational Games.
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Nedan - "Every company dies... not every company truly lives."
Of course they're partially to blame. They ran their business. They couldn't have operated with zero risk. I think some of the risks they took were unjustified, and some I agree with. (not that my opinion is so important) Ion Storm didn't intentionally close LG, but their mistakes did prevent Eidos from buying them.
"Actually that is it. Why is that? I don't even have to answer this question. I'll use a famous quote to answer it for me:
"Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his shoes."
Straight, simple, & to the point."
And also mostly inapplicable.
Movie critics don't know how to make movies, but they can still accurately, helpfully and legitimately call the bad ones when they see them. Stick Leonard Maltin in a director's chair and he'd be completely lost; does that mean his opinion that Battlefield Earth is a steaming pile of horse shit is completely worthless? I don't think so. Why? Because while he may not know how to make movies, he does know how not to make movies.
Game critics don't know how to develop games, but they too can still call bad games when they see them. The good people at <A HREF="http://www.gamespot.com">Gamespot</A> could not design a game, create a level or draw a texture to save their lives. Does that mean their judgement of the utter crapulence of <A HREF="http://www.zdnet.com/gamespot/stories/reviews/0,10867,2542646,00.html">Mortyr</A> is unfair and inadmissable? No. Why? Because they know how not to make games.
And guess what? Pretty much everyone in this room has a fair idea how not to run a team of game developers. Yes, sit any of us at the helm of a dev team and say "go for it!" and we would be useless. We'd suck. We'd fold Ion Storm quicker than you can say "We've canceled lots of games, but the Ion Storm titles always had good designers behind them with visions."
But that doesn't mean John Romero wasn't a naive mismanager of global proportions, nor that noone but John Romero is allowed to call him out on it.
....and another thing. I'd say that article about Ion Storm was well-balanced, insightful, and honest. I would say it gave me the chance to see things from John's perspective. I would almost go so far as to say it gave me a chance to walk in his shoes. And guess what? He has really poor taste in shoes.
[This message has been edited by Alun Bestor (edited May 28, 2000).]
That's the final straw. It's go time, as of now.
Nedan (if that is your real name) I am now going to beat you hollow with the sharp end of your own posting attitude. You will be eviscerated, disected and laid out for all to see; tongue poking and eye rolling icons notwithstanding.
Do you even read what people are saying in their posts? I mean really, I must draw your comprehension skills into question.
For instance, when I remark that one good game developer with a long history and solid ideas is forced to go under while another with some half formed ideas and no history continues to be bankrolled regardless you blithely quote ES and others that "It's not Eidos' fault". On the surface your remarks would appear to be in response to what I (and others) said, but I hope not for your sake. In the case of my remarks that would be confusing blame with comments about the principle of the matter, which is a serious flaw in your comprehension.
Maybe it was just a mistake. Plenty more have come from your turgid sense of self righteousness as I shall show. In fact there's one particular one in this thread that I can take up a whole lotta space with.
this is a principle you profess to live by (at least in this instance as it suits your rebutals). It's a fundament of "Common decency", proves you are "grown up" and something other than "semi-human".Never judge another man until you have walked a mile in his shoes.
But alas it comes unstuck pretty quick:
Do you Mr Nedan? I assume not since you've made no reference to it thus far, but only feculent pseudo morality as the basis for your views.I like to see a show of hands right now... which one of you has experience in running a Game Development Company?!?!
And you'd know I suppose? It's a basic and hackneyed enough statement to be accurate in itself but it doesn't actually work too well when you look at it. How did you come upon the information you have about ION storm exactly? Did you have them round for tea? (pretty crowded considering the staff turnover)You can read all the friggin' info you want on running a company. But when it comes to actually doing it... it's a whole different friggin' story entirely
Bold statements indeed, particularly in light of your disapproval of judging people. How are John's shoes? Comfortable? I mean, you must have walked several miles in them to make such a confident assesment of his behaviour. Or did you merely read the same stuff the rest of us did? If the answer is yes, why did you write that? You have no grounds to make such a judgement, by your own standards. Still, you have never been one for credibility.Yes... John Romero made some mistakes.
...His only mistake wasn't being an egomaniac, it wasn't over spending & it certainly wasn't advertising the game too early. It was just inexperience.
If the answer is no, I'll just assume it was that tea party that took you so close to "the real situation".
Really? Such insight you have. Good thing they aren't just small judgements. You know; those things people who disagree with you have.The only thing that matters is that Romero's intentions were honest & good.
And easy to praise them too it seems.It's easy to criticize & insult people or companies (especially when you know nothing about it).
Soon enough Mr Nedan's limmited opinions are expanded; from the soul of John Romero to everyone on the thread.
Actually, if you were paying attention you might have noticed that people are more annoyed (one way or another) about the ammount of money Ion is getting. (read that sentence closely before you misrepresent it.)Most of you are basing your hatred for ION Storm because of your first impression of them. The rest of you are basing your hatred for ION Storm because of the fall of LGS. None of you can possibly be basing your hatred on ION because of their games. Why not games? Because every company has their fair share of lemons... no ones perfect, including Eidos.
(this one was directed at me specifically) See, again you miss the point, but we've come to expect that. If I was getting payed as much as JR per mistake I'd dare say there'd be even more than there are already. Or you, Mr Nedan; at the rate of your mistakes in this thread you could bail out LG.Then prove to me that you have never made a mistake in your whole friggin' life!
After this litany of stupidity I'm not terribly worried that you see me as at once immature, feeble minded and semi human. How could I be when you, Mr Nedan are the lowest, most pathetic toady I've seen yet? Your reasoning is consistently specious, your methods and manner nothing more than self important bullshit designed to obfuscate that fact.
I call you out.
Oh brother...
Alun Bestor, movie critics talk about the movies... not the people that make them. Game critics talk about the games... not the people that make them. Did I even remotely ask for opinions on Daikatana? I think not. As of now, I can truly say that I've never seen any critic review the companies behind the product.
I don't take the critics word for anything. I prefer a "hands on" review... namely, my own hands on review. I don't go & read the reviews & take it as 100% factual. Critics mostly speak with their own opinion on the product... not facts. Simply put:
"Another mans trash... could be another mans treasure."
I've already seen a few reviews on Daikatana... & each one was different in their final opinion.
Critics know about the average time it takes to make a game. But nobody, & I do mean nobody, can tell you all the problems can occur during development. Anything can happen during development & that's the whole point here.
And Alun, you say that "Pretty much everyone in this room has a fair idea how not to run a team of game developers." But... does anyone here have a fair idea of how to run a team of game developers?
Movie critics watch movies. Game critics play games. That's how they get their experience in criticizing things. If you feel the need to criticize ION Storm... go to the company & at the very least watch how they run things. Then go to other companies... watch how they run things. Stay at all of them for a while. Then when you feel that you have seen all the problems that could possibly occur in a company & what they did to correct it... then criticize & insult ION all you want. Until that day... keep your insults to yourself.
Muzman, I'm not going to bother replying to all of your post. I don't want to be here at my PC typing all day long. I will say a few things though.
The inexperience remark... wasn't based on my own opinion. It was based on Romero's own words... nothing more. Isn't reading grand?
Oh & the money has to do with the first impression also. But, it looks as though you didn't see that.
If I do decide to reply to the rest of your post... it will be later. So for right now Muzman, go away & read the bible.
[This message has been edited by Nedan (edited May 28, 2000).]
"And Alun, you say that "Pretty much everyone in this room has a fair idea how not to run a team of game developers." But... does anyone here have a fair idea of how to run a team of game developers?"
Gee, before you ask rhetorical questions try checking to see whether they haven't already been answered yet. If they have it makes posting them rather redundant. My point, which I will now make in large letters, was that
<FONT SIZE="+2">we don't need to know how to do something to know that someone else screwed it up royally</FONT>.
"Movie critics watch movies. Game critics play games. That's how they get their experience in criticizing things. If you feel the need to criticize ION Storm... go to the company & at the very least watch how they run things. Then go to other companies... watch how they run things. Stay at all of them for a while. Then when you feel that you have seen all the problems that could possibly occur in a company & what they did to correct it... then criticize & insult ION all you want. Until that day... keep your insults to yourself."
The argument for the requirement of ultimate experience is also fallacious, as I don't think movie/game critics need to watch/play every single movie/game in order to start judging them (as you seem to suggest one must do in order to understand a company's pitfalls). A sizeable selection would do. If we were to go by your requirements for criticism, only God would be in a position to make evaluative judgements about anybody.
Besides which: I have read the article about how John Romero ran Ion Storm. I have read the epitaphs about how Paul Neurath ran LGS. I have read reports about the failure of Crack Dot Com, the misadventures of Ritual entertainment, the embarrassing decade-long personal ordeals of Mr. Derek Smart and more besides. I was part of a Quake2 mod-development team for over a year and a half. I have also watched many game companies survive and prosper, observing the input of money and professional talent and the output of good games, which even without the benefit of insider knowledge is still very informative.
So I think I'll insult who I damn well like. And I say John Romero is (in comparison with his colleagues in the profession) an ass who shouldn't be put in charge of a toaster oven let alone his own company, yet is consistently bailed out and gets people like you defending him for making critical mistakes that waste his producer's money, his teams' morale and his customers' time.
Look, I don't have anything against the man personally. And I'm sure if I was John Romero for a day I'd see how difficult it is to manage a games development team (or in his case, a series of about 4) and gain a new appreciation for it. I'm sure if John Romero was me for a day he'd find out that web-design and writing graduate-level philosophy essays can be a bit of a bitch sometimes, and gain a new appreciation for that too.
But the world doesn't live on empathy, because if it did there would be noone around to tell you you'd better get your fucking act together because your lame-ass excuses don't matter when it comes to the bottom line. And, biblical quotes or not, that is a necessary evil. Ask any manager, any lecturer, any landlord.
FLAME WARS
Episode XVII
The Poster's Strike Back
A little time ago
In post far far away
A small band of posters
constantly vying for
supremacy, continually
bash the hell out of each
other in the hopes of one
day freeing the boards from
the other posters tyrrany
Sorry, I couldn't help it. I've just been reading through a few of the old nuthouse topics doing "research", and just felt like toning it down a few notches. Come on, let's not let another intelligent "discussion" turn into FLAME WARS, episode XVIII
You can account this to another shameless post increase brought to you by Steezo.
Alun Bestor, since you have resorted to flaming & whining... it is a sure fire sign that the intelligence of this discussion has ended. I take my leave now.
[This message has been edited by Nedan (edited May 28, 2000).]
Aardvark rogers Nedan roundly with a turbot.Originally posted by Nedan:
First off, I like to see a show of hands right now... which one of you has experience in running a Game Development Company?!?! Well... anybody?!?! Just like I thought
Um, I worked at Ion for two years and LGS for one year...Does that count?
Except John Romero.Originally posted by Nedan:
...Too bad none of you were taught on how to forgive & forget. If you guys had just read the bible... you would've known such decencies. Because nothing in this world is unforgivable...
I'm sorry to bug ya, but didn't you just cast the first stone there?
A three year long first impression, huh?Originally posted by Nedan:
...Most of you are basing your hatred for ION Storm because of your first impression of them...
Well that's you... Mr. Integrity.Originally posted by Nedan:
...no ones perfect, including Eidos. I get a little mad about their business practices but... I still buy their games...
Sure. It's no big deal, right? So what if 60 or so singularly talented people are suddenly, coldly out of a job.Originally posted by Nedan:
...these things just happen in the business world...
So what if it takes years to pull teams like this together?
So what if a legacy of richness, depth and quality dies?
So what if we'll never play Underworld 3, System Shock 3 or Thief 3?
We've got Daikatana, eh Nedan?!
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aard·vark (ärdvärk)
n.
A burrowing mammal (Orycteropus afer) of dubious lineage,
having a stocky, hairy body, large ears, a long tubular snout,
and powerful digging claws.
MBOP
BBTZOE
DSBS
Pooka Power!
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