Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
EverQuest II: Hartsman Says Goodbye
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
Scott Hartsman, the long-time Senior Producer of Sony Online Entertainment's EverQuest II, said his farewell today on the EQII forums as he leaves SOE.
I've never been a fan of saying goodbye, but it's time. Today is my last day here at SOE.
In addition, I'd like to say thank you.
Thank you all for playing in these worlds that I've had the chance to touch over the past years.
Thank you for your boundless dedication and passion to what it is that we've all created here.
To many of you, thank you for your friendship. A lot of you have been nothing short of an extended family over the past years.
I will miss you all.
The years of working on EverQuest and EverQuest II have been the highlight of my career, and have led to a significant personal milestone as well.
The release of EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark marks the 30th online games product that I've been fortunate enough to ship. I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed what I was able to contribute to this amazing franchise as much as I've enjoyed being a part of it.
When asked what exactly I do for a living, I've referred to it many times as "having the greatest job working on the best teams in the world."
That's still true today. It's possible for that to be true as well as to know that I've done the best work that I can on a world, and that it's time to hand the reins over to others whose best is still ahead of them.
It's time for me to see what else is out there waiting to be built. It might even end up being something involving SOE. Regardless, I'm sure we'll get a chance to meet up again, whether I'm making new MMOs, continuing to play them, or talking about them on the internet.
I wouldn't be leaving SOE if I wasn't positive that the responsibility for EQ2 was being left in the right hands.
Taking over for me is Bruce "Froech" Ferguson. Some of you will remember his name from EQ2 beta, others of you may have met him at Fan Faires. If you have met him, you know he's one of the most straightforward guys you'll ever be lucky enough to meet.
A few important things to know about Bruce and why I think SOE made the perfect call here:In short, Bruce is the perfect person to help this team continue to succeed in their mission of producing what we all know is the best MMO out there.
- Up until shortly after launch, he was EQ2's live producer. This move is more of an overdue homecoming than anything else.
- Before his production days, his background is also originally in working very closely with online communities as far back as text MUDs. This community deserves nothing less.
- He knows that with respecting communities comes respecting the worlds they've grown to love. He's not the kind of person who's going to come in and start re-envisioning the game wholesale.
- He has long standing relationships with all of the leads and production staff on EQ2. In a number of cases, even longer than mine.
For my part, know that I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been a part of such great endeavors, and I remain thankful for having been given the opportunity.
Until next time,
Scott Hartsman
Senior Producer Emeritus, EverQuest II
Check out the official post here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Take care man. Hopefully you have some great games left in you yet to produce.
I have nothing but respect for this guy. He took a title that was ought to fail and turned it around as moderate success...even now people who was not impressed at eq2 at launch are coming back to the game and having good time.
This is exactly how I feel. Scott did a great job with EQ2, they listened to feedback and made the game better because of it. Its ashame Scott has left and I hope his replacement has the same passion and ideas for the future of EQ2.
You all do know, that its in their contract that they aren't allowed to say anything bad about SoE or its Policies, even if they feel differently, or they don't get their end of contract perks... so take this for what it really is.
Rumor mill has it he was fired because of the recent illegal transfer of characters from the test server to live server and the uproar from the playerbase at large. Of course, no one will officially admit it.
Rumour, conspiracy, conjecture.....tosh.
All the best and thank you for being part of the team that brought us such an excellent and timeless game.
To err is human....to play is divine
This is SOE not CCP
...
Excellent and timeless game lol??????
This game is average at best. For 2 years it was a pile of crap, and after 100 expansions they somewhat made it into a good game at best. Tos say this game is timeless and excellent is a joke.
Don't hate it, cause you sucked at it.
I liked the game when it first came out. rather than all the redux on it to rip WoW.
It was a lot more group oriented, it still is now but things changed a lot with the combat and classes.
Still a great game, you shouldn't diss it even though notmany people play it.
It's EQ2's ugly graphics thast put me off it.
I personally loved the EQ2 graphics and also the animations. The only thing I wish I could see more offen is... blood. In games like everquest and vanguard combat seems so... harmless : /
Anyway, best luck for this guy because I think most people doesnt realise (perhaps because they havent tried it) that both eq and eq2 are some of the best mmorpg you can find.
You know, normally I would not say much about this sort of thing, but jeeze.
This guy was the Senior Producer of EQ2?
You all do realize that when EQ2 released, its production values and production quality were total CRAP?
In many ways, they are still not very good. I think this guy has a lot to answer for in the utter failure of EQ2 to make it as a mainstream AAA MMORPG at launch and going forward.
Bad design decisions, bad architecture decisions, bad concept decisions, bad everything.
Who else besides the Producer is ultimately responsible here?
I hope this guy does not end up on a major MMORPG project again.
Hartsman wasn't the senior producer when the game launched and came in after the fact and turned the game around from junk to something worth playing, you should probably do a little research before you toss out hate.
- before any of that happened
from 11/24
www.eq2flames.com/general-gameplay/15436-gallenite-leaving-eq2.html
www.massively.com/2007/11/24/rumor-mill-scott-hartsman-eq2-senior-producer-leaving-soe/
EQ2 fan sites
Hartsman wasn't the senior producer when the game launched and came in after the fact and turned the game around from junk to something worth playing, you should probably do a little research before you toss out hate.
Damn lol, he pretty much got you on that one. Another tip of the day: check facts before posting.
Excellent and timeless game lol??????
This game is average at best. For 2 years it was a pile of crap, and after 100 expansions they somewhat made it into a good game at best. Tos say this game is timeless and excellent is a joke.
You say its average at best, then a sentence later say it's a good game at best. Which is it?
You said his opinion is a joke and then you give absolutely zero reason's to back up your opinion why. When disagreeing with someones opinion, you should back your argument up with valid reasons why you feel that way. No offense but have you even played this game for a decent amount of time, I'm not talking about BETA 3 years and 4 expansions ago? You gave no information why but you appear to not like this game or an SOE hater so I have no clue why your even posting in an EQ2 topic.
"[We're] refocusing SOE on high quality and not rushing releases," said of his coming crop of games. They learned many valuable lessons from EverQuest II and its head-to-head competition against World of Warcraft. Fact was, while both games did rather well, WoW had the budget, time and polish that EverQuest II did not. What's more, EQII was the first attempt at an MMO sequel, a mistake Smedley readily admits.
www.warcry.com/articles/view/interviews/2301-John-Smedley-Exclusive-Interview-with-the-SOE-CEO
Read what the CEO of SOE has to say about the early time of EQ2 just last October. No polish, learning many valuable lessons. Blah blah, its all PR speak for our game sucked and people left, but we are turning it around.
Believe it or not SOE has done other things wrong than the NGE or SWG and not everyone pointing problems out is doing so as revenge.
heres the rest of the quote
alluding to a different game name and different lore
- but much the rest would probably be the same
EQ2 fan sites
Not to mention AC2 launched in 2002 was the first attempt at a MMO sequel, correct?
That's too bad, SOE needs someone to come in and re-envision their whole line-up. They all suck and need to change in the worst way. Bringing in someone who values outdated play styles from MUD's is a bad move on their part. Luckily, SOE isn't the only or even the biggest MMO gaming company out there.
With PvE raiding, it has never been a question of being "good enough". I play games to have fun, not to be a simpering toady sitting through hour after hour of mind numbing boredom and fawning over a guild master in the hopes that he will condescend to reward me with shiny bits of loot. But in games where those people get the highest progression, anyone who doesn't do that will just be a moving target for them and I'll be damned if I'm going to pay money for the privilege. - Neanderthal
Bozos,
I did do the research. From his personal Blog of projects :
EQ2: Rise of Kunark (Expansion) (Current)Legends of Norrath: Oathbound (Sept 2007)
EQ2: Echoes of Faydwer (Expansion) (Nov 2006)
EQ2: The Fallen Dynasty (Adventure Pack) (June 2006)
EQ2: Kingdom of Sky (Expansion) (Feb 2006)
EQ2: Desert of Flames (Expansion) (Sept 2005)
EQ2: The Splitpaw Saga (June 2005)
EQ2: The Bloodline Chronicles (Mar 2005)
EverQuest II (Nov 2004)
Seems to me, even if he was not the actual Producer at the time, he has been deep into EQ2 from day one. And thus, as any senior engineer at the time, is indeed responsible for the output of the projects. So, no hiding behind "I wasn't in charge!". His fingerprints are all over this title, from day one till now.
If you look back at his page you'll notice that before the EQ2 (Nov 2004) entry was an EQ1 entry from September of 2003. Do you honestly think that EQ2 only took 1 year from start to finish? EQ2 was in development at minimum 2-3 years prior to launch. By the time he moved onto the EQ2 team, most of the engineering choices had already been made.
He also didn't get onto the EQ2 team as a Producer or someone in charge. The original people in charge made some very bad choices and thats why the game sucked at launch. If you actually Followed EQ2, you would know that when Hartsman took the game over the game took a 180 degree turn and started to become a great game to play.
The unfortunate part is that some of the early design choices (hello combat system) still hinder the quality of the game. That was stuff that was out of his control. With knowing what he has done for EQ2, I can't wait to see what he ends up working on.
hrrmmm farewell. But does seem fishing with the uproar of players and the expansion that was supposed to rerelease EQ2. It kept my attention for a/b two weeks tops.
Well, I wish him well, and luck in whatever his next endeavor will be.
And if it is MMORPG, I wish him the best of luck.
As it could impact our gameplay in the future.
Last post on this thread.
I'm out.
Are you saying poor Brad as in poor Brad it wasn't your fault? Or Poor Brad you really took a beating after the mismanagement, bad finance handling and horrid launch of Vanguard you did over at Sigil?
Brad screwed up horribly on Vanguard and with Sigil. For a bit there he was making long 'I apologize for Vanguard' posts on forums pretty often.