Sigil Employee Tirade - Page 2

Loampounder · 01-04-2008, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicNumbers

You're just oozing sarcasm.

How am I different there than here?

Just a joke, Magic. On both boards you are more patronizing than indignant. But I guess we all have our own role to play.

MagicNumbers · 01-04-2008, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Just a joke, Magic. On both boards you are more patronizing than indignant. But I guess we all have our own role to play.

Haha. You are very true. I'm really quite the dick.

I'll reserve judgement on yourself for another few months.

KombatJesus · 01-04-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gecon

Hu ? Drug additiction ? Now that would explain something.

Still I think a lot of people did a great job. That vanguard was completely made by amateurs - sorry, but I dont think so. The guys who designed the cities did a really good and professional job, for example.

LOL. . .I could see the CEO running into the office for the 15 minutes he was there on a high talkin about . .

"Guys. . .GUYS. . .You're not gonna believe this. . .I. JUST. MET. GOD!"

Loampounder · 01-04-2008, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicNumbers

Haha. You are very true. I'm really quite the dick.

Easy, now, it's not an insult, just a description of roles.

Loampounder · 01-04-2008, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KombatJesus

LOL. . .I could see the CEO running into the office for the 15 minutes he was there on a high talkin about . .

"Guys. . .GUYS. . .You're not gonna believe this. . .I. JUST. MET. GOD!"

Oh... I've had this idea... a bunch of islands... an archipelago... maybe an asian theme... with these little ninja fox creatures... yeah, small bodies with fox heads but no tails... wicked...

MagicNumbers · 01-04-2008, 01:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

Easy, now, it's not an insult, just a description of roles.

I honestly didn't take it as an insult. I really am a dick.

Loampounder · 01-04-2008, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MagicNumbers

I honestly didn't take it as an insult. I really am a dick.

OK, as long as you are fine with that. Just don't pull a Brad and get into drugs.

Oh, so that's what Aradune does with all that foraged material.

MagicNumbers · 01-04-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

OK, as long as you are fine with that. Just don't pull a Brad and get into drugs.

Oh, so that's what Aradune does with all that foraged material.

Dude. I hang out in the volcano most of the time so I can bitch people out. I also smoke pot religiously so I couldn't care less about what brad may or may not have done.

ikaoma420 · 01-04-2008, 02:47 PM

How is this not being discussed on the official forums? Oh yeah it was prolly taken down the second it went up.

acrobat · 01-04-2008, 03:05 PM

I believe most of what he said, and it does fit in to place. I think he exaggerated a lot of it though, for comedic effect.

The part about it being made by a bunch of amateurs in 1 year for example. I think it was probably a bunch of amateurs in a year and a half :P And probably some pros looked in on it from time to time.

I think it is all pretty much accurate though. It explains a lot too. It explains how brad speaks for one thing... It also explains how all the good stuff he used to talk about on the forum never actually showed up, or took forever. Like I remember him talking about an amazing LFG system that would match people together and let you find friends and people who play the same times as you and stuff, and yet even when the game was released several months later, there was still no sign of it. I think if Brad was more awake, he would have been kicking ass about basic stuff like that.

Something I was impressed to hear, is that it gives the impression that Brad really is a guru. Perhaps he did play a significant role in EQ, and perhaps he would have turned Vanguard into something really great, like what we where all hoping for. Maybe things would have been much better if he didn't have problems. Maybe the problems weren't that significant though. I suspect they might have been though, and I also suspect the entire company was probably relying on him as their star player / secret weapon.

Moonchyld · 01-04-2008, 03:20 PM

Brad on drugs explains why they made a 'hardcore' game without raiding. It explains why the box describes a different game than what you buy. It explains not being a part of the project that bears his name. Being addicted to opiates is no joke. I knew this girl who dated a friend who went through about 25 grand in savings chewing OC like Flintstone vitamins and washing them down with a handfuls of ice. She'd be up for days and this could explain some of Brad's delusion's such as the game drawing a half a million niche following.

I have nothing against Brad. I hope he gets help. Synthetic Herion changes your brain chemistry to where you can't have 'good days' without it. Methodone is used to create the illusion of 'good' feelings and it's key in new rehabilitation treatment(Got that from HBO). I hope he gets help because it's a sad ending to an incredible dream. Emphasis on dream.

VoiceOfReason · 01-04-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loampounder

I figure this deserves it's own thread...

Ok, relevations -

Brad was absent because of an opiate addition
Sigil fired lead designers
SOE designers did not help at all
Smed did not know how bad VG was when SOE bought it
Gilbertson (new boss) was inexperienced and blew in the wind
Amateurs created most of the stuff
The $40 million figure

So, how much of that do you believe and how much is not founded on history but is only a mad rant?

Hard to buy the entire story when some of it just doesn't ring true (game created in one year by 100% amatures). Do we have some way of validating that this post was really made by who he says he is?

Brikk · 01-04-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonchyld

Brad on drugs explains why they made a 'hardcore' game without raiding. It explains why the box describes a different game than what you buy. It explains not being a part of the project that bears his name. Being addicted to opiates is no joke. I knew this girl who dated a friend who went through about 25 grand in savings chewing OC like Flintstone vitamins and washing them down with a handfuls of ice. She'd be up for days and this could explain some of Brad's delusion's such as the game drawing a half a million niche following.

I have nothing against Brad. I hope he gets help. Synthetic Herion changes your brain chemistry to where you can't have 'good days' without it. Methodone is used to create the illusion of 'good' feelings and it's key in new rehabilitation treatment(Got that from HBO). I hope he gets help because it's a sad ending to an incredible dream. Emphasis on dream.

Well I hope for the sake of his teeth he can get off of them.

rhagz · 01-04-2008, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acrobat

The part about it being made by a bunch of amateurs in 1 year for example. I think it was probably a bunch of amateurs in a year and a half :P And probably some pros looked in on it from time to time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VoiceOfReason

(game created in one year by 100% amatures).

Just because someone is an amateur doesn't mean they are necessarily incompetent. It just means they are unproven and/or inexperienced. A lot of the team were unknowns, with credentials such as "loved video games since his Atari 2600" or "played SWG and thought this was the job for them!". Complete amateurs with a few shining diamonds in the rough like Nino, Aruspex, etc.

Quote:

Something I was impressed to hear, is that it gives the impression that Brad really is a guru. Perhaps he did play a significant role in EQ, and perhaps he would have turned Vanguard into something really great, like what we where all hoping for. Maybe things would have been much better if he didn't have problems. Maybe the problems weren't that significant though. I suspect they might have been though, and I also suspect the entire company was probably relying on him as their star player / secret weapon.

If you go back and read a lot of the stuff about EQ by former employees you won't have that impression. It seems EQ survived and even thrived for a short time in spite of Brad, not because of him.

ikaoma420 · 01-04-2008, 03:27 PM

Ahh thank Buddha someone made a post about it on the official forums I was dying to see what Joobah had to say and I wasn't let down in the least. That guy is pure comedy gold.

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/po...topic_id=25434

Amsra · 01-04-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikaoma420

Ahh thank Buddha someone made a post about it on the official forums I was dying to see what Joobah had to say and I wasn't let down in the least. That guy is pure comedy gold.

http://forums.station.sony.com/vg/po...topic_id=25434

Bummer, post is gone already

acrobat · 01-04-2008, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagz

Just because someone is an amateur doesn't mean they are necessarily incompetent.

I didn't suggest they where, but still, it's not ideal though for a game that was meant to be "Triple A" etc. I think he was exaggerating because I think there is too much good stuff in there for it to be entirely made by amateurs in a year. But I've no doubt there is a lot of truth in what he said, because it is so lacking in so many ways too. I just can't imagine any of these industry pros like Brad and Co. who have seen everything from EQ, EQ2, and then WoW, would assume a game comprising almost 100% of fed ex quests, would ever fly nowdays. But that's what got released, so it does look likely that the real forces behind the game got lost, and the bulk of it ended up being cobbled together by anyone who was left.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagz

If you go back and read a lot of the stuff about EQ by former employees you won't have that impression. It seems EQ survived and even thrived for a short time in spite of Brad, not because of him.

Well it has survived just fine for like 7 years or something since he left. I do wonder though if he did put some good stuff into it originally, and maybe he could have done the same for Vanguard if he didn't have issues.

rhagz · 01-04-2008, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by acrobat

Well it has survived just fine for like 7 years or something since he left. I do wonder though if he did put some good stuff into it originally, and maybe he could have done the same for Vanguard if he didn't have issues.

He left 2 years or so into it. He also wasn't as involved in it as people seem to think.

ikaoma420 · 01-04-2008, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amsra

Bummer, post is gone already

Yup didn't take long at all. Not that I expected it to last long. Just imagine had they kept the affiliate program.

acrobat · 01-04-2008, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rhagz

He left 2 years or so into it. He also wasn't as involved in it as people seem to think.

Maybe not. I still think this game would have been a hell of a lot better if he wasn't basically junkie. Whether he had ideas to offer or not, he was still a boss and could have pushed the right people in the right direction. But by the sounds of it, Brad wasn't able to do that, and the lead designers didn't even get to do their thing either. It sounds like that Dave Gilbertson guy pretty much ran the show, and he sounds like a total dick :P