 Sigil Developer Tracker
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The dev tracker is no longer actively scanning, however you may continue to browse the archives collected over the past several years here.
Please remember that these developer posts
are taken out of context, so beware of any silky venom being spewed forth.
Color Key:
Green - Sigil Games Online Employee
Pink - Sony Online Entertainment
Gray - Microsoft Game Studios Employee
Orange - Community Member
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dis  That is fine and all, but for a major publisher to drop you (or allow you to leave) is kind of a big deal. From the outside looking in, I wonder why MS changed their teams, or team philosphy on how to interact with Sigil? Could it be mismanagement, poor cost control, lack of follow through with promises or deadlines that were initially missed? I dont care what company you work for, 30 million dollars is lot to write off. Microsoft must have had some serious allegations to do so? What are we missing here? | The change that occured happened to all of Microsoft's gaming group -- I don't know why. I can speculate and have personally, but I don't think my speculation, from the outside looking in, and not knowing all that occured or was occuring is something I should post.
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Find all posts by Aradune Mithara.
Find all posts in "[Vanguard] F13's Interview with Brad McQuaid".
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ravensign Brad, you should have been there when they got fired. | Technically you are right, but emotionally it was just something I couldn't handle. I imagine I will regret it, and already do, but one has to take care of oneself emotionally as well. I and otheres tried for months to keep Sigil afloat -- this was something I and a few others knew was a likely possibility and we discussed it and decided I wasn't the best person to handle it given the emotional pain I was feeling.
That's really all I can say at this point. Again, you are probably right in general, and certainly right technically. I was the CEO afterall. And while I was capable of being CEO most of the time, perhaps this is a good example of an area I'm simply weak at. In fact, it is. The counterpoint would be that while I do not compartmentalize well and don't handle these situations very well, the reason is how much I cared about all of those people and the company. A good friend of mine has said in the past: the best thing about Brad is that he cares so much; the worst thing about Brad is that he cares so much. So in one way of looking at it, it's a flaw. But perhaps not in all ways. Sometimes the stone-cold CEO is who you want in certain situations, but often times it's not. So this may well be a flaw, but overall, I am not ashamed of the person I am and how much I care about projects and people and their futures. Overall I think this personality trait has done me much more good than harm in the last 10+ years being involved in this industry, mostly as a manager of some sort.
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reply to this post
Find all posts by Aradune Mithara.
Find all posts in "[Vanguard] F13's Interview with Brad McQuaid".
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I'm sure not intentionally, but people are getting the wrong impression about an important part of the interview so I am posting to clarify the topic/issue that needs it:
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I'd like to address something I've seen come up several times on different boards re: the interview: The original MS team DID require milestones and a schedule. By NO means did we ask for or expect free reigns. In fact, we met every milestone and even exceeded the expectations and requirements for many of them.
I am all for schedules. I am all for planning. I am al for Milestones.
It was the degree and detail level and how detailed they needed to be going way out into the future that changed and the assertion that MMOGs should be handled the same way as a single player game in terms of development and an apparent desire to not want to work collaberatively but rather dictate development (which was not part of the original spirit of the agreement, where we were hired on because of our experience) that became a problem. We tried very hard to work with the new team but their approach to game development simply wasn't compatible with Sigil's, did not adhere to how we had worked with them previously for several years, and IMHO not compatible with how one (or at least Sigil) in our experience working on a LOT of MMOGs, some failures, one a huge success, some cancelled, etc.
We were all for organization, scheduling, milestones, accountability, etc. Up until the change I described we exceled in this process and were praised for our performance and progress. When all of this changed, we tried to make things worked (as did the other side), but it simiply turned out that the two teams were not compatible. Again, I have nothing against MSFT or those people, etc. They meant well and I'm sure were doing their best given how they were told to deal with an external developer. Changes like this happen fairly often I would think. Incompatibilities and disagreements on development (in this case MMOG development) happen.
Thus it was time to move on. I will also say that working with SOE later on worked out fairly well (not perfect, but perfection happens rarely). My point is that we worked very well with the first group at MSFT and then we worked very well with SOE after we broke things off.
That's it. Again, while I am disappointed, I understand how things happen and that they are not all that uncommon. A developer and a publisher must mesh and be able to work together as a solid team towards one solid goal (making a great game). When that does not occur, or something changes such that it is no longer occuring, something needs to change.
Microsoft agreed with this and allowed us to switch to SOE in a very amicable way. There are no hard feelings. All the MSFT people are in the Vanguard credits in fact. If anything my respect level for MSFT management for letting go of Vanguard to increase to the chance that it would become a great game increased greatly. They are truly a class act. They put Vanguard above politics and team issues and different development philosophies and did what was best for the game. That is huge and I'm not sure if very many other publishers would have done the same. So I remain eternally grateful for them allowing us to make the switch to SOE and getting the deal done so quickly so as to allow us to take advantage of E3 and to interupt the development process of the game as minimally as possible.
I wish this part of the picture had been included in the interview and hope you all spread it around as it's an important piece that was missed.
thanks,
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Find all posts by Aradune Mithara.
Find all posts in "Something that was missed in the f13 interview".
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I'm sure not intentionally, but people are getting the wrong impression about an important part of the interview so I am posting to clarify the topic/issue that needs it:[readmorebreak][/readmorebreak]
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I'd like to address something I've seen come up several times on different boards re: the interview: The original MS team DID require milestones and a schedule. By NO means did we ask for or expect free reigns. In fact, we met every milestone and even exceeded the expectations and requirements for many of them.
I am all for schedules. I am all for planning. I am al for Milestones.
It was the degree and detail level and how detailed they needed to be going way out into the future that changed and the assertion that MMOGs should be handled the same way as a single player game in terms of development and an apparent desire to not want to work collaberatively but rather dictate development (which was not part of the original spirit of the agreement, where we were hired on because of our experience) that became a problem. We tried very hard to work with the new team but their approach to game development simply wasn't compatible with Sigil's, did not adhere to how we had worked with them previously for several years, and IMHO not compatible with how one (or at least Sigil) in our experience working on a LOT of MMOGs, some failures, one a huge success, some cancelled, etc.
We were all for organization, scheduling, milestones, accountability, etc. Up until the change I described we exceled in this process and were praised for our performance and progress. When all of this changed, we tried to make things worked (as did the other side), but it simiply turned out that the two teams were not compatible. Again, I have nothing against MSFT or those people, etc. They meant well and I'm sure were doing their best given how they were told to deal with an external developer. Changes like this happen fairly often I would think. Incompatibilities and disagreements on development (in this case MMOG development) happen.
Thus it was time to move on. I will also say that working with SOE later on worked out fairly well (not perfect, but perfection happens rarely). My point is that we worked very well with the first group at MSFT and then we worked very well with SOE after we broke things off.
That's it. Again, while I am disappointed, I understand how things happen and that they are not all that uncommon. A developer and a publisher must mesh and be able to work together as a solid team towards one solid goal (making a great game). When that does not occur, or something changes such that it is no longer occuring, something needs to change.
Microsoft agreed with this and allowed us to switch to SOE in a very amicable way. There are no hard feelings. All the MSFT people are in the Vanguard credits in fact. If anything my respect level for MSFT management for letting go of Vanguard to increase to the chance that it would become a great game increased greatly. They are truly a class act. They put Vanguard above politics and team issues and different development philosophies and did what was best for the game. That is huge and I'm not sure if very many other publishers would have done the same. So I remain eternally grateful for them allowing us to make the switch to SOE and getting the deal done so quickly so as to allow us to take advantage of E3 and to interupt the development process of the game as minimally as possible.
I wish this part of the picture had been included in the interview and hope you all spread it around as it's an important piece that was missed.
thanks,
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reply to this post
Find all posts by Aradune Mithara.
Find all posts in "Something that was missed in the f13 interview".
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Draegan This is an interesting segment. Don't you need a schedule for development? Is it me or is Brad saying that they need open ended freedom to just kinda create shit as it comes to them. If I'm managing a game, I would definitely need a time table in which shit needs to get done. Thats the business of it.
I'd have to say, I don't blame Microsoft for kicking them in the ass out the door. | I'd like to address something I've seen come up several times on different boards re: the interview: The original MS team DID require milestones and a schedule. By NO means did we ask for or expect free reigns. In fact, we met every milestone and even exceeded the expectations and requirements for many of them.
I am all for schedules. I am all for planning. I am al for Milestones.
It was the degree and detail level and how detailed they needed to be going way out into the future that changed and the assertion that MMOGs should be handled the same way as a single player game in terms of development and an apparent desire to not want to work collaboratively but rather dictate development (which was not part of the original spirit of the agreement, where we were hired on because of our experience) that became a problem. We tried very hard to work with the new team but their approach to game development simply wasn't compatible with Sigil's, did not adhere to how we had worked with them previously for several years, and IMHO not compatible with how one (or at least Sigil) in our experience working on a LOT of MMOGs, some failures, one a huge success, some cancelled, etc.
We were all for organization, scheduling, milestones, accountability, etc. Up until the change I described we excelled in this process and were praised for our performance and progress. When all of this changed, we tried to make things worked (as did the other side), but it simply turned out that the two teams were not compatible. Again, I have nothing against MSFT or those people, etc. They meant well and I'm sure were doing their best given how they were told to deal with an external developer. Changes like this happen fairly often I would think. Incompatibilities and disagreements on development (in this case MMOG development) happen.
Thus it was time to move on. I will also say that working with SOE later on worked out fairly well (not perfect, but perfection happens rarely). My point is that we worked very well with the first group at MSFT and then we worked very well with SOE after we broke things off.
That's it. Again, while I am disappointed, I understand how things happen and that they are not all that uncommon. A developer and a publisher must mesh and be able to work together as a solid team towards one solid goal (making a great game). When that does not occur, or something changes such that it is no longer occurring, something needs to change.
Microsoft agreed with this and allowed us to switch to SOE in a very amicable way. There are no hard feelings. All the MSFT people are in the Vanguard credits in fact. If anything my respect level for MSFT management for letting go of Vanguard to increase to the chance that it would become a great game increased greatly. They are truly a class act. They put Vanguard above politics and team issues and different development philosophies and did what was best for the game. That is huge and I'm not sure if very many other publishers would have done the same. So I remain eternally grateful for them allowing us to make the switch to SOE and getting the deal done so quickly so as to allow us to take advantage of E3 and to interrupt the development process of the game as minimally as possible.
I wish this part of the picture had been included in the interview and hope you all spread it around as it's an important piece that was missed.
thanks,
Last edited by Aradune Mithara : 05-17-2007 at 03:11 PM.
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reply to this post
Find all posts by Aradune Mithara.
Find all posts in "[Vanguard] F13's Interview with Brad McQuaid".
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Originally posted by Spritzen;230357
It's come to my attention that Sony have sent a trade press release that they will be using in-game advertising in all of it's products in the future. Does this include VG? and if so what will it entail?
If this is true for Vanguard I will be surprised and horrified! It certainly wouldn't fit with the role playing aspects of the genre.
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I'm not aware of any such plan.
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Originally posted by Zogy;229889
How much emphasis/resource/programmer are you fixing on the graphics issue for normal everyday perosn? Besides waiting 6months for prices to drop?
I know you don't desgin the game your team does, Do you have in any way able to judge/infuence with the game designer on what's good or bad for in terms of game mechnices to gamers Sigli games? What are your thoughts on these game changing subject out there?
The issue surrounding improvment on communitie that atm is very much ripping each other apart? Due to the high stress the game present at this stage.
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Most of it, that's for sure. That's why you don't see us spending a lot of time on SLI or Crossfire support, or a 64 bit client, etc. Our graphics resources are being spent on optimization that helps those out with mid to lower end machines.
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Originally posted by Nostalgix;229900
Exactly how I feel, and inactive subscription too.
Fixing bugs is one thing, but there are worse issues in VSOH atm. Some said the Vision had blurred, actually it's even worse than that.
What are we supposed to do ? Go on paying our monthly fee while they try and fix the flawed designs (if they ever do) ??
And during that time we get XP boosts because, of course, the oncoming expansions have to be released at a certain date and if there aren't enough people at higher levels it might hurt their sales. No matter how broken VSOH is.
I had faith in this game to be at least as good as EQ. It could still be, would the "power that be" hold to their ideas instead of trying to catter to everybody as EQ2 tried to do in its own time (which turned out to be a *big* mistake).
Oh, and any plan to get rid of the repair system, the crafters control over the plats or their ability to make stuff that makes questing/named camping useless ?
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The Vision is not blurred. I've seen several references to that today. One of the challenges we face, and it's a challenge we knew we'd be facing since almost the inception of this project, but was also something we were always determined to work through and accomplish, was making a world where casual, core, and hard core players could not just co-exist, but even eventually become interdependent. When you see issues discussed like do we need overland teleporters to deal with server underpop, is the DP ok, item degradation, exp and advancement curves, etc., that's what all of this is trying to deal with and that's why there is no easy solution. We will continue to work through these things, make tweaks and changes, but other issues will come up again as long as we hold that goal as one of our most important tenets.
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Originally posted by Purplenv;228617
Its gonna take a long time for 200k subscribers to pay off the $30M debt....
(BTW, both those numbers are directly from Brad's post, he stated that subscriptions are approaching 200k, as opposed to the 300k-400k they had hoped by now. Plus stated that he was lucky to have received the $8M to do EQ and the $30M to do Vanguard)
I'm not against the game, at all. In fact I play almost daily, for many hours.
I do however see the battle that Sigil/SOE is fighting as a deffinately uphill climb, but I plan to continue my resub. every 3 months, and I will have a great time playing.
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*bow* -- thanks for keeping the faith  We're doing everything we can on our side, marching ahead. There's work to do, but it's identified, thanks much in part to our players, bug reports, message boards, etc. and it's scheduled and the plan of attack underway.
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