Comments on: Hellgate: London is an official failure. Why? http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/ Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:25:49 +0000 http://www.today.com/version-2.3.1 By: Outsider http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-235 Outsider Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:44:39 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-235 Who funds the developer? Those that aren't self funded are funded by the publisher. . Does the publisher have any creative input/control? Sometimes, yes from what I understand. Firmly established developers like Blizzard or Rockstar are able to do whatever they want for the most part. A small studio under Electronic Arts for example though wouldn't fair as well. . Does the game get it’s ESRB rating based off of a report from the developer, or does the ESRB visit the studio during development and see the game in it’s entirety? Is censoring common in the industry? From what I understand, the ESRB is given video footage of all the questionable content, and they rate the game according to that footage. To the best of my knowledge, they don't actually play the games. . When a game ships broken, and I’m going to send off a strongly worded letter, who should I send it to? I'd generally send it to both the developer and the publisher. Though the developers are often rushed by the publisher to get a game out before they are ready, the publisher ultimately can't make the fixes, only the developers can. . I'm not in the industry, so the above may not be totally accurate. I do follow the development end of the industry though, so I think my answers are pretty accurate. Who funds the developer?
Those that aren’t self funded are funded by the publisher.
.
Does the publisher have any creative input/control?
Sometimes, yes from what I understand. Firmly established developers like Blizzard or Rockstar are able to do whatever they want for the most part. A small studio under Electronic Arts for example though wouldn’t fair as well.
.
Does the game get it’s ESRB rating based off of a report from the developer, or does the ESRB visit the studio during development and see the game in it’s entirety? Is censoring common in the industry?
From what I understand, the ESRB is given video footage of all the questionable content, and they rate the game according to that footage. To the best of my knowledge, they don’t actually play the games.
.
When a game ships broken, and I’m going to send off a strongly worded letter, who should I send it to?
I’d generally send it to both the developer and the publisher. Though the developers are often rushed by the publisher to get a game out before they are ready, the publisher ultimately can’t make the fixes, only the developers can.
.
I’m not in the industry, so the above may not be totally accurate. I do follow the development end of the industry though, so I think my answers are pretty accurate.

]]> By: WitchKiller http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-234 WitchKiller Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:26:37 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-234 Hey Michael, maybe you could clarify a few things for an industry outsider like me...Sos I knows whos to blames. Who funds the developer? Does the publisher have any creative input/control? Does the game get it's ESRB rating based off of a report from the developer, or does the ESRB visit the studio during development and see the game in it's entirety? Is censoring common in the industry? When a game ships broken, and I'm going to send off a strongly worded letter, who should I send it to? Cause with debacles like AoC and Hellgate being the focus of our talk here, I think it would be great if we came out of all this knowing who to be wary of. It's like natural selection, but survival of the funnest. Hey Michael, maybe you could clarify a few things for an industry outsider like me…Sos I knows whos to blames.

Who funds the developer?

Does the publisher have any creative input/control?

Does the game get it’s ESRB rating based off of a report from the developer, or does the ESRB visit the studio during development and see the game in it’s entirety? Is censoring common in the industry?

When a game ships broken, and I’m going to send off a strongly worded letter, who should I send it to?

Cause with debacles like AoC and Hellgate being the focus of our talk here, I think it would be great if we came out of all this knowing who to be wary of. It’s like natural selection, but survival of the funnest.

]]> By: Tim http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-233 Tim Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:50:36 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-233 Thanks for the clarification on the source of that initial image, Cambios. I was sitting there thinking "Damn, how much additional subscription content would I be up for to get THAT cutscene?!" Hellgate also failed in the simple fact that it wasn't that good. You had a maximum of perhaps six repeating environments over a game spanning dozens of interlinking dungeons. Clearly not enough for a game trying to compete on the MMO stage. (The interlinking zone idea was a good one but one which was woefuly misconceptualized, especially since hostile mobs automatically respawned once you zoned, I can picture the shudderingly massive 'train to zone' wipes a group would suffer as a HL went treasure room hunting.) It also seemed that the developers were hopelessly incapable of breaking out of the diablo mindset. The whole game felt like a diablo 2 Total Conversion. A very poor thing considering the summoner class had absolutely NO pet control, and was literally forced to chase it's agressive pet through a level. I deleted my summoner class after the first few levels, dismissing it as unplayable. I'll leave my gripes with the Single Player campaign out, as they've no doubt already been experienced by anyone who felt they could enjoy decent replay value without subscribing. Thanks for the clarification on the source of that initial image, Cambios. I was sitting there thinking “Damn, how much additional subscription content would I be up for to get THAT cutscene?!”

Hellgate also failed in the simple fact that it wasn’t that good. You had a maximum of perhaps six repeating environments over a game spanning dozens of interlinking dungeons. Clearly not enough for a game trying to compete on the MMO stage.

(The interlinking zone idea was a good one but one which was woefuly misconceptualized, especially since hostile mobs automatically respawned once you zoned, I can picture the shudderingly massive ‘train to zone’ wipes a group would suffer as a HL went treasure room hunting.)

It also seemed that the developers were hopelessly incapable of breaking out of the diablo mindset. The whole game felt like a diablo 2 Total Conversion. A very poor thing considering the summoner class had absolutely NO pet control, and was literally forced to chase it’s agressive pet through a level. I deleted my summoner class after the first few levels, dismissing it as unplayable.

I’ll leave my gripes with the Single Player campaign out, as they’ve no doubt already been experienced by anyone who felt they could enjoy decent replay value without subscribing.

]]> By: Outsider http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-231 Outsider Wed, 27 Aug 2008 05:25:25 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-231 Not only is Diablo 2 still sold pretty much everywhere, it's actually still number 6 on the pc sales charts. http://kotaku.com/5039175/npds-pc-sales-charts-august-3+9 Not only is Diablo 2 still sold pretty much everywhere, it’s actually still number 6 on the pc sales charts.

http://kotaku.com/5039175/npds-pc-sales-charts-august-3+9

]]> By: Peter http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-225 Peter Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:24:41 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-225 I don't believe much developers, like to put out a game they know are bug heavy, but if you have a deal and the timeline slides, or if you are on your own but the money run out then you can't have that luxury. I don’t believe much developers, like to put out a game they know are bug heavy, but if you have a deal and the timeline slides, or if you are on your own but the money run out then you can’t have that luxury.

]]> By: TheTio http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-208 TheTio Mon, 25 Aug 2008 22:27:38 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-208 You mention it in this article, but could you go into greater depth about the Guild Wars pay-system? I haven't played it but as I understand it is effectively. 1. Buy it 2. Play it. 3. Want more? 4. Buy more. 5. Play more. What are your thoughts on systems OTHER THAN the subscription model, which has been torn a couple of new assholes by your blog already. Your thoughts on that are probably worthy of a blog entry all of their own, rather than just a comment response. You mention it in this article, but could you go into greater depth about the Guild Wars pay-system? I haven’t played it but as I understand it is effectively.

1. Buy it
2. Play it.
3. Want more?
4. Buy more.
5. Play more.

What are your thoughts on systems OTHER THAN the subscription model, which has been torn a couple of new assholes by your blog already. Your thoughts on that are probably worthy of a blog entry all of their own, rather than just a comment response.

]]> By: Peter http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-205 Peter Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:44:39 +0000 http://muckbeast.today.com/2008/08/25/hellgate-london-is-an-official-failure-why/#comment-205 A group of friends and myself bought Hellgate London for a gaming weekend. This is the optimal conditions and even though we did have some fun the game failed. It wasn't the subscription that bugged us... it was the bugs that bugged us. One more game that was in early beta conditions when released. Crashing game, obvious lacks in the content and failing balance are the sure signs of a game that has been released too early. I only played within the first month of release, so I have no idea if the game got better as stated in the quote. A group of friends and myself bought Hellgate London for a gaming weekend. This is the optimal conditions and even though we did have some fun the game failed. It wasn’t the subscription that bugged us… it was the bugs that bugged us.
One more game that was in early beta conditions when released. Crashing game, obvious lacks in the content and failing balance are the sure signs of a game that has been released too early.
I only played within the first month of release, so I have no idea if the game got better as stated in the quote.

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