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The worse of all game Developers
Arakazi
Member UncommonPosts: 911
Who in your opinion is the worse game developer/publisher in regards to MMO's? My vote will go to SOE for there general lack of commitment to develop and promote their games. Think Vanguard, EQ, Pirates of the Burning Sea, the Matrix Online, plantside and so on and you get the picture of a company that seems indifferent to their own product. But perhaps their greatest sin was creating Everquest 2 when they should of continued to invest in the original. Although Everquest 2 extended comes a close second.
Comments
SOE for still not fixing problems that were there at the release of the game
It is a tough choice really.
The easy answer is to say things like "the guy's who made APB" since they essentially fit the definition of worst ever by achieving the award for the fastest shut down of a game and the biggest loss of money.
I would also like to mention Cryptic for just not having a clue about what the MMO industry wants.
APB poped into my head while I was typing. But three things kept me from giving them the vote, firstly the character creation system was one of the most extraordinary features I have ever seen in any game, not just MMOs. That customisation feature could be used by fashion designers and artists, I would be surprised if some company or other doesnt pick it up. Secondly, although they failed so spectacularly it has become a coutionary tale for all other developers in how not to do it. At almost every level, from it's payment model, controling costs, launch, marketing hell I even doubt if the PC was the right platform for this game. But at least they showed ambition and a willingness to inovate - something that is lacking in MMO's. Thirdly, I believe that SOE has failed more often.
As for cryptic, I can see your point, but I have played very few of their games that I can't really comment with a measure of confidence.
There are three developers who are on a "bad" list for me, devs who if I was somehow foolish enough to do business with them I go into it with full knowledge that this might not turn out to good for me and those devs are.....
3)Funcom-With two mmo releases to their credit and both being horribly buggy at launch one has to wonder if the pattern has something to it? When AOC was coming out many people burned by the AC experience warned that Funcom would most likely repeat the mistakes they made with AC and they did not dissapoint. But I think the biggest problem I have with them is the lack profesional ethics shown by releasing a game missing multiple advertised features this is one that just shouldn't be happening. Needless to say if I would consider doing business with Funcom I don't see the day I would be a launch day customer of theres.
2)SOE-Totally underwhelming developer more than anything, I entered the mmo gaming space mostly on the trust I had in Sony if they are behind SOE they couldn't do too bad I figured. My SWG problems were more about the lack of as they are so fond of saying "iconic" content, and no the NGE did nothing to change that a single quest line is neither epic nor iconic. I also have a problem with the "look" of SOE games I don't like the character models at all so that makes it even more difficult to do business with them.
1)Cryptic-They don't seem to have an idea how to read the pulse of mmo gamers, they just make plain unfun games but what makes them number one is with the reliance they have on cash shops the business model they follow is a danger to the community, as we just don't need devs thinking it's ok to release such content light games and expecting to charge for so much extra.
As it stands now Funcom's The Secret World holds no interest for me so it would take them atleast until the next release (if it was a game I would be willing to try) before I would consider buying from them and that would obviously be effected by how TSW releases too. I'm planning on trying out DCUO so lucky for Sony they'll get some more money out of me. As far as Cryptic goes as I see it now I'm done with them, maybe after two or three solid releases I may think about dealing with them but I just don't see it.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Cryptic get's the top vote, but not because of their games. Mainly by measurement of the pure hate that is spewed towards them on their official forums, especially the STO forum before deletions, by customers. The trolling and complaints are almost like art over there.
There are a number of smaller development studios I haven't had any experience with, but from the developers/publishers I have dealt with, SOE left me the least satisfied. I never felt as though they valued me as a customer at all. From the dismissive tone adopted by most of their community relations people, to the constant monetization of every aspect of their games, to the plodding development schedule (entirely discontinued in some of their games), every aspect of the SOE experience just failed to imbue me with any sense of satisfaction, let alone brand loyalty; in fact, each week usually left me feeling like they were actively daring me to cancel my subscription, which I eventually did in every case.
When I first started with SOE (Everquest 1, after they took over Verant), I assumed all of the negative things I was experiencing were more the fault of that specific development team than the company as a whole, but I then went on to experience the very same issues in SWG, Everquest 2 and Vanguard. The devolpment teams on those games shared very few people, but the public stance towards consumers was relatively uniform: spin, deflect, ignore and, above all, never admit fault. While many of their games were strong enough in terms of game-play, the general customer experience was poor enough to discourage future business. The SOE decision-makers would benefit greatly from a seminar given by Sanya Weathers.
Cryptic in the gaming world are nobodies. Thats an excuse for being bad right there.
EA are supposed to be knowledgable on the gaming matter, so is SOE.
Funcom proved boobs in a game dont make it great if its empty and overly censored.
So from worse to less worse it'd go like this:
1. EA (destroyer of IPs)
2. SOE (Ruiner of games)
3. Funcom (Systems from 1995 are still cool in 2006, if you want shares to go from 55$ to 2$ that is)
4. Cryptic (S... ...... want to see what goes in the dots, buy from our online store, 50$ a letter)
Blizzard and ArenaNet are the best developers out there so ater these two just take your pick because who is the worst everyone else struggles desperately to stay afloat.
Developer....hmmm I dunno....not too many developers that I think are intentionally bad. But Cryptic would probably get my vote. Any dev that makes a game with the intent of double dipping in my wallet is on my chet list.
Publisher.....now that's easy EA for sure. They killed my baby Earth and Beyond before it's time. Raped my girl Ultima Online over and over and over. Yeah if I hate a instant kill switch, I'd throw it in a heartbeat to get back at dem a-holes at EA.
"Small minds talk about people, average minds talk about events, great minds talk about ideas."
Funcom would be my choice
MAGA
The issue I have with this is that SOE was not the developer (at least initially) for some of the MMOs you listed.
Vanguard - originally developed by Sigil Games Online w/ Brad McQuaid as the designer. Had SOE not stepped in to take it over, the game would be non-existant. I give props to SOE for keeping the game alive for the game's fans. Had it been EA the game would have been shut down.
Pirates of the Burning Sea - developed by Flying Lab Software. I don't recall what SOE's involvement was as the publisher but the developer is the one that's really ultimately responsible for the game.
Matrix Online - was originally developed by Monolith and published by Warner Bros/Sega. SOE came in much later. Again, their involvement extended the life of the game.
So that leaves us with EQ & EQ2. I don't think anyone can argue with the success of EverQuest. After a decade the game is still being played. As for EverQuest 2, the success of that game says otherwise. EverQuest 2 Extended is just an adaptation on their part to the trend in the MMO market of the F2P model. Should they just ignore the trend and not attempt to adapt their business to the changing business market?
Really? I mean their launches are among the worst but after a year or so they always manage to save them and make them into success stories.
My votes are the same as yours.
Cryptic - once they moved on from City of Heroes, it's just been one big WTF? adventure with them. I personally lost respect for them when they hired Bill Roper. I can't think of another gaming persona that I despise more. Despite that, I followed STO with interest but again, WTF? were they thinking with that game?
EA - primarily for Earth & Beyond.
Everyone?
Can name at least one who is not struggling to stay afloat.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
SOE, sure, but SOE actually put some games out that were initially quite fun (SWG Pre-CU pops to mind). But the biggest fail in game dev I would surely give to those sad bastards that did Dark & Light or what was it called. It was just a big pile of BS on the community. They promised so much and they delivered non.
Guys that did APB coming close 2nd. I mean asking the press to not do any reviews of the game in 1st week or so so they could milk the players? GTFO.
I have to say that i'm surprised at people voting Funcom, sure AoC was buggy at launch and for a while after but they turned the game around and ended up with a masterpiece. If AoC were to launch now instead of of back when it did i honestly think it would be a massive success.
My choice has to be Cryptic. Back when i heard they were making Champions i was overjoyed as City of Heroes gave me endless fun from the minute it launched and still does today. Unfortunately their work on both Champions and STO has shown that they aren't interested in the long term money anymore but would rather make a quick buck and move on down the production line. I had such high hopes for Cryptic a couple of years ago, it's sad to see how they've changed.
Soe is the worst publisher. Not sure who the worst dev is.
Actually AOC came out exactly how funcom wanted as they were appealing to a certain lowbrow audiance. This is evidence in the way they made it with PvP as its main feature followed by realistic boobs. and of course blood splattering beheadings.
As far as i am aware there were no other features.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
Ladies and Gents for your submission I present the WORST Developer of the 21st century
Astrum Nival
the development minds behind Allods Online
Second runner up would be Realtime Worlds for driving APB straight into the ground faster than a crashing plane
Agreed it was a good looking Eve like game. Just goes to show such games need the right dev team to work.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I highly doubt all others are struggling to stay afloat. I'd go as far to say very few actually are struggling, and the ones that are close down. Technically ArenaNet is owned by Ncsoft so I'm not sure I'd say ArenaNet is the best developers as we all know of NcSofts record.
This is a purely subjective subject, and most people are going to go by their wallet on this. I'd say EA IMO. As soon as something fails to meet their standards, they close it down below a certain threshold. Then again, this is more in total hate towards the company for what they do to newly aquired talent.
SoE easily, then Funcom.
You all are naming developers that make games, most of which are still running and enjoyed by thousands of people at a minimum, many with tens of thousands.
Here is a more objective answer, fueled only partly from my emotional bad-end-to-a-love-affair psychology but not flying in the face of any simple objective criterion.
Snail Games - maker of Age of Armor. I like robots (emo part) but this game is terrible. 'All your base are belong to us' type translations, ridiculously priced cash shop, etc. etc.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
Going completely against the general attitude here I name Blizzard as the developer I'm most disappointed with.
Odd choice you may say but allow me explain before dousing me in petrol.
They promised to remove all that boring old crap from the then current MMO's like EQ. And they did, vanilla wow was cool. Then came BC after 2 long years and, lo and behold, REP GRINDING. Hate it, hate it, hate it!!
Another 2 long years and Lich King arrives with.... even MORE rep grinding. I mean please! Just take me out and shoot me. Oh and only 1 raid instance in Naxx. Over then next 2 years we got ulduar, toc and icc. 4 whole raid instances. Oh no 6 if you count the wyrmrest ones. Whoopdy doo!
Here we are yet another 2 years down the line and we're just about to get the 3rd expansion.
They wrecked any sense of community with cross server pugs, made guilds irrelevant with pug raids, and made nice items meaningless with their welfare epic badges, forcing the arse clenching repetition of 5 man heriocs.
Sorry but all that together is just a poor excuse for a MMO.
In the same time frame EQ2 has released 6 expansions and the 7th is on the way. Over an 11 year period EQ original has had 17 expansions released. Not a paltry 1 expansion every 2 years. I know SOE suck at most things but at least they get new content out the door at a respectable rate. 2 years between expansions is, for me, a disgrace - especially when they have such a huge revenue stream coming in off all those 9 million or however many it is subs every month. Do the math, they must be clearing 5 million a moth in profit easily.
1.) $OE tops my list as the worst developer by far. Most of the games in $OE's line-up have been driven into the ground through utter mismangement, blind greed and poor customer service. Even a non-$OE game like PotBS suffers just from its association with the publishing side of the $OE house. The horrendous business blunders made by $OE are already well documented (SWG NGE anyone?). The ongoing decline of $OE is well deserved.
2.) Cryptic follows up as a very close second to $OE. There is no surprise here considering the CEO of Cryptic cut his (mis) management teeth at $OE beforehand. The corporate culture at Cryptic is reflective of this. Nothing was learned from the failed Champions Online disaster....the release of the incomplete and unpolished Star Trek Online six months later was just a confirmation of how business continues to run there. Charging players a premium subhscription rate while milking them with a cash shop for Beta testing game play is just bad business.
Funcom may have screwed up badly with the launch of AoC, but I recognize the efforts and resources Funcom has put forth since then to improve the game for players. It will be interesting to see if any leassons have been learned with 'The Secret World' if it ever gets released.
'Flash in the Pan', substandard developers, like Realtime, end up closing their doors. The ultimate price for shoddy business practices.