Originally posted by Gnarv Vanguard had a beautiful original fantasy world where risk and reward still mattered to an extent. I felt a sense of Wonder but that is just me. All the new insta gratification games are made for players with no time, no imagination, no real desire to experience what MMO's can offer, no willingness to pay for the consequense of their actions within the frame of the game. They want all Things handed and wants exactly what the next guy gets. This mentality is what you find amongst children in kindergarten and it is just so so sad that there are pople in this world asking for this. Cause the ones they are really cheating are first and foremost themselves. But oh well I guess Brad most certainly did let people Down with the rest of Sigil. But he created Worlds like no other game in the last what? 15 years?
For me, some of the worst design decisions in Vanguard came after the sale to SOE, when they were desperate to try and bolster subscriptions. Instant travel system, for example.
I am perfectly fine (and hope for) a more niche experience with things like XP penalties, longer travel times, complex combat and a deep, rich world. I want my MMO to be a living world I can escape to, not a game hub linking a bunch of instant gratification mini-games. Its this sort of MMO design that has lead to a less than desirable community, but that's another topic.
Are you talking about his posts on his personal website before he took them down? I remember him mostly making excuses and being generally deillusional. The game didn't flop because it was too big, it was programmed poorly with an archaic engine.
For example: when someone upgraded their rig for EQ1 it would play fairly smoothly in 2000, when you upgraded for Vanguard it still ran like shit. Even in 2013 the best you can hope for is frequent crashing, terrible hitching/warping and mediocre frame rates.
But most importantly.......you can't throw money at a guy that sold his last project before it even launched then disappeared for years the moment the chips were down. Trust someone more deserving, if for no other reason then to discourage this behavior for future devs.
I have and as I said it does go on, yet it is still illegal. The fact they get away with it is irrelevant. The law is also different between a single firing and a mass firing. If no one then decides to fight for their rights and go along citing 'It's just a part of life' then so be it.
My point is still because of this I will not give my money to someone i feel condoned or enacted this behavior towards his employees.
Asking people to leave on the day doesn't mean that they didn't pay out their notice period and the notice period depends on the contract, with my last position I didn't have to give any notice or vice versa, but I still gave them a heads up a month before I left.
If they didn't pay out their entitlements I am sure you would have seen it on the news. Missing pay is not something that people let slide.
It's not like I don't have some reservations about Brad, from the speculation I have read. But two things are making me support his Kickstarter:
1. There is no other MMO that's incoming that is billed (or actually appears to be) as a successor to Vanguard, except for his. Perhaps if what I saw from EQN was more inline with my dream MMO I would support that instead. Or, if someone wanted to make a new post-apocalyptic MMO, I would be there instead.
2. I have more faith in a visionary with passion that I do a corporation that is willing to toss vision under the bus to expand their margins.
I don't blindly trust any developer or company. I shrug my shoulders and figure hey, I thought Bioware with the Star Wars IP was a slam dunk into an awesome pool of fun, and look how that turned out.
For those saying "ZOMG wut u smoking VG suxxx" I am not saying it is some amazing MMO (it if was more people would play) just that I personally love the world, music and mechanics and if Brad is trying to make a game like that but with better tech, then I hope it comes to fruition.
You might want to keep an eye out for Pathfinder, a lot of the ideas and the world are very Vanguard-ish, but slightly more sandboxy. It will also be out long before whatever Brad has planned, and there are some cool videos showing off models etc floating around.
You might want to keep an eye out for Pathfinder, a lot of the ideas and the world are very Vanguard-ish, but slightly more sandboxy. It will also be out long before whatever Brad has planned, and there are some cool videos showing off models etc floating around.
It's worth looking out for, seems Vanguardish except it might actually be playable. The game looks underfunded at first glance though and you'd be a fool to hold your breath for any MMO at this point, considering what a crap shoot decade it's been.
Are you talking about his posts on his personal website before he took them down? I remember him mostly making excuses and being generally deillusional. The game didn't flop because it was too big, it was programmed poorly with an archaic engine.
For example: when someone upgraded their rig for EQ1 it would play fairly smoothly in 2000, when you upgraded for Vanguard it still ran like shit. Even in 2013 the best you can hope for is frequent crashing, terrible hitching/warping and mediocre frame rates.
But most importantly.......you can't throw money at a guy that sold his last project before it even launched then disappeared for years the moment the chips were down. Trust someone more deserving, if for no other reason then to discourage this behavior for future devs.
Weird, I run the game with maxed out graphics and even changed some of the ini. file settings to make the game look even better, and I have no problems, and I play it on my Windows 8 laptop that can't handle the Witcher 2 on it without lagging.
Originally posted by Big_Data It looks like Brad's Vanguard Post-Mortem posts are no longer up, which is too bad as he went into detail about the mistakes he made, the things he learned, and the reasoning behind his decisions...And he recognizes this and will likely not make similar mistakes...
I read those writings at the time. Agreed, he acknowledged the mistakes made and lessons learned and I feel he'll bring these, along with increased maturity/age, as well as motivation, to the new project.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Originally posted by Big_Data It looks like Brad's Vanguard Post-Mortem posts are no longer up, which is too bad as he went into detail about the mistakes he made, the things he learned, and the reasoning behind his decisions...
And he recognizes this and will likely not make similar mistakes...
I read those writings at the time. Agreed, he acknowledged the mistakes made and lessons learned and I feel he'll bring these, along with increased maturity/age, as well as motivation, to the new project.
Right, tell that to all the employess he stiffed! He is a loser and will always be one.
As yet, little to nothing is known about the project. We'll keep you posted as it comes to light in January.
Brad has a team now? I thought he pink slipped them all back shortly after Vanguards poor release. This kickstarter will be one to stay far away from IMHO.
Haha that's grand so even SOE couldn't deal with Brad anymore and now that he's without a job he's decided to scam the kickstarter crowd for his living. The man was able to string Microsoft along for a few years and then sell a buggy hardly playable game to SOE for more funding so no doubt he will be able to con.. urr convince many less informed kickstarters into funding his next pipe dreaam
Originally posted by Xthos ...I am not super excited for anything on the horizon, intrigued by EQN, but if I am honest with myself, it is probably going to be way too casual, and I am not a huge fan of f2p on top of it...
Excellent point. No game out or in development excites me. EQN is close, but fails because: 1. Cartoon graphics (they age well, ya right) 2. Will be a cash-shop game 3. Designed to run on consoles 4. Will probably, in the end, be just another WoW clone with a few interesting things thrown in.
Ya, the time is ripe for Brad to crank out a game; hopefully as fast as they cranked out EQ1.
Absolutely. All us EQ vets that facepalmed at the EQ Next reveal are still waiting for our game. Brad is THE guy to make it happen regardless of his past mistakes. I'm willing to risk $30-50 to give him his shot.
I don't know, he's using all the same blurbs he used to sell Vanguard. He had millions to use to make that game, and we all know how it turned out.
Not sure why anyone would be willing to give this guy money.
Saying you would because of Vanguard is kind of silly to me, SoE is the reason vanguard turned out to be any good. It was SoE devs that got sent to Sigil to help them with the game, it was SoE that agreed to publish the game, it was SoE that agreed to buy the game and get it released.
SoE is the reason vanguard exists today, and is playable; not Mcquaid. Mcquaid was the reason that game almost never saw the light of day, why Sigil no longer exists, and why a bunch of people lost their jobs.
^This^
I'm not a SOE fan but it really is SOE that got Vanguard working all Brad did was string MS along for millions of dollars in funding. Unless this KS comes up with Star citizen like funding Brad will have far far less money to work with then he did with vanguard
Asking people to leave on the day doesn't mean that they didn't pay out their notice period and the notice period depends on the contract, with my last position I didn't have to give any notice or vice versa, but I still gave them a heads up a month before I left.
If they didn't pay out their entitlements I am sure you would have seen it on the news. Missing pay is not something that people let slide.
It wasn't if they got paid or not that I was referring to. You spoke of voluntary departure, not the same thing.
If they were under contract with the provision that they could be let go at any time, it still doesn't excuse the manner in which it was done. It certainly didn't require to meet in a parking lot to be told they 'let go', considering it was part of the contract it could have been said at a meeting days before. Still bad business practice.
I don't know, he's using all the same blurbs he used to sell Vanguard. He had millions to use to make that game, and we all know how it turned out.
Not sure why anyone would be willing to give this guy money.
Saying you would because of Vanguard is kind of silly to me, SoE is the reason vanguard turned out to be any good. It was SoE devs that got sent to Sigil to help them with the game, it was SoE that agreed to publish the game, it was SoE that agreed to buy the game and get it released.
SoE is the reason vanguard exists today, and is playable; not Mcquaid. Mcquaid was the reason that game almost never saw the light of day, why Sigil no longer exists, and why a bunch of people lost their jobs.
^This^
I'm not a SOE fan but it really is SOE that got Vanguard working all Brad did was string MS along for millions of dollars in funding. Unless this KS comes up with Star citizen like funding Brad will have far far less money to work with then he did with vanguard
There's a difference between a publisher funding your project, and having free reign to use those funds to see your vision through in it's entirety. I'm not saying it's what happened with Vanguard as I have no idea what went on behind those closed doors. However, the absence of a publisher does give one free reign to see a vision through. That could make a difference.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Originally posted by Razeekster I just worry that the man will start popping pills again.
There was never any evidence he was "popping pills" to begin with.
There isn't? Then what is it that everyone is referencing? Are people just this mean-spirited or is this man that hated?
They are referencing someone who ran a Vanguard fan website, who heard from "reliable sources" that's why Brad was never in.
People were so upset about Vanguard they'll grab any rumor. There's currently about 3 major rumors about what happened to Sigil, all believed, all contradictory.
Comments
For me, some of the worst design decisions in Vanguard came after the sale to SOE, when they were desperate to try and bolster subscriptions. Instant travel system, for example.
I am perfectly fine (and hope for) a more niche experience with things like XP penalties, longer travel times, complex combat and a deep, rich world. I want my MMO to be a living world I can escape to, not a game hub linking a bunch of instant gratification mini-games. Its this sort of MMO design that has lead to a less than desirable community, but that's another topic.
Are you talking about his posts on his personal website before he took them down? I remember him mostly making excuses and being generally deillusional. The game didn't flop because it was too big, it was programmed poorly with an archaic engine.
For example: when someone upgraded their rig for EQ1 it would play fairly smoothly in 2000, when you upgraded for Vanguard it still ran like shit. Even in 2013 the best you can hope for is frequent crashing, terrible hitching/warping and mediocre frame rates.
But most importantly.......you can't throw money at a guy that sold his last project before it even launched then disappeared for years the moment the chips were down. Trust someone more deserving, if for no other reason then to discourage this behavior for future devs.
Probably good that he's off the junk, but it doesn't mean I'd give him 10 cents.
If by some miracle he actually puts out a good game, I can buy it then.
And yeah, his excuses why vanguard ran like crap out of the gate (and it did, even on a new rig) were a bunch of BS.
Asking people to leave on the day doesn't mean that they didn't pay out their notice period and the notice period depends on the contract, with my last position I didn't have to give any notice or vice versa, but I still gave them a heads up a month before I left.
If they didn't pay out their entitlements I am sure you would have seen it on the news. Missing pay is not something that people let slide.
You might want to keep an eye out for Pathfinder, a lot of the ideas and the world are very Vanguard-ish, but slightly more sandboxy. It will also be out long before whatever Brad has planned, and there are some cool videos showing off models etc floating around.
It's worth looking out for, seems Vanguardish except it might actually be playable. The game looks underfunded at first glance though and you'd be a fool to hold your breath for any MMO at this point, considering what a crap shoot decade it's been.
Weird, I run the game with maxed out graphics and even changed some of the ini. file settings to make the game look even better, and I have no problems, and I play it on my Windows 8 laptop that can't handle the Witcher 2 on it without lagging.
Smile
I read those writings at the time. Agreed, he acknowledged the mistakes made and lessons learned and I feel he'll bring these, along with increased maturity/age, as well as motivation, to the new project.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Right, tell that to all the employess he stiffed! He is a loser and will always be one.
McQuaid is possibly the most controversial and polarizing individual in the whole MMO industry.
He is like Marmite, either you love him or hate him.
And looking at the numbers of replies, it looks like Brad McQuaid still has it........
Brad has a team now? I thought he pink slipped them all back shortly after Vanguards poor release. This kickstarter will be one to stay far away from IMHO.
Haha that's grand so even SOE couldn't deal with Brad anymore and now that he's without a job he's decided to scam the kickstarter crowd for his living. The man was able to string Microsoft along for a few years and then sell a buggy hardly playable game to SOE for more funding so no doubt he will be able to con.. urr convince many less informed kickstarters into funding his next pipe dreaam
Absolutely. All us EQ vets that facepalmed at the EQ Next reveal are still waiting for our game. Brad is THE guy to make it happen regardless of his past mistakes. I'm willing to risk $30-50 to give him his shot.
Asbo
^This^
I'm not a SOE fan but it really is SOE that got Vanguard working all Brad did was string MS along for millions of dollars in funding. Unless this KS comes up with Star citizen like funding Brad will have far far less money to work with then he did with vanguard
It wasn't if they got paid or not that I was referring to. You spoke of voluntary departure, not the same thing.
If they were under contract with the provision that they could be let go at any time, it still doesn't excuse the manner in which it was done. It certainly didn't require to meet in a parking lot to be told they 'let go', considering it was part of the contract it could have been said at a meeting days before. Still bad business practice.
There's a difference between a publisher funding your project, and having free reign to use those funds to see your vision through in it's entirety. I'm not saying it's what happened with Vanguard as I have no idea what went on behind those closed doors. However, the absence of a publisher does give one free reign to see a vision through. That could make a difference.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
They are referencing someone who ran a Vanguard fan website, who heard from "reliable sources" that's why Brad was never in.
People were so upset about Vanguard they'll grab any rumor. There's currently about 3 major rumors about what happened to Sigil, all believed, all contradictory.