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Tabula Rasa: 3 Key Devs Leave Team
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Gamespot has just reported that three of the high profile developers from the "Tabula Rasa" team have parted ways with NCSoft. Here is a excerpt from the article on GameSpot:
After more than three years in development, massively multiplayer role-playing game Tabula Rasa is in "good hands" according to a spokesperson for its publisher, NCsoft North America. But, as of today, it's not in as many hands. Three of the higher-profile members of the TR team--lead designer Carly Staehlin, lead programmer Bill Randolph, and artist Scott Jones--have left the project and the company.
While he gave no reason for the trio's departure, NCsoft director of PR David Swofford confirmed to GameSpot that the three had made their exit. "Project development is a dynamic process," Swofford said. "There is restructuring going on, and Carly Staehlin is no longer on the team or with NCsoft." The cuts to staff occurred earlier this week, according to Swofford.
You can read the full article at GameSpot by following this link.
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
- MMORPG.COM Staff -
The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive.
Comments
I have to say I'm not surprised one bit. I work near NCSoft in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Austin, TX I drive by it every day on my way to work. I see the construction of 'Lord Britishs' castle upon a hill the same road Origin Systems was on. I work at a company that hosts a number of Origin employees that were obviously laid off because Origin closed their doors and the lucky people moved out to EA L.A..<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Look at Lineage II, they have no standing North American Dev team, NCSoft has to be THE worst MMO company out there. With their success w/ Lineage I and the success w/ Lineage II in Korea they thought they could get a piece of the American market by releasing it here as well. With no NA Dev team the amount of bugs, available hacks, and the Non-Release of Chronicle 1 upon release was overwhelming. Would you be surprised? Granite theres more to the story Im sure but my theory is company related.
So another game that has died? Sounds like it to me.
I dont like NCSoft.
I dont like SOE.
I dont like EA(Prolly hate them the worst).
More on their buisness ideals and morals. I would rather see the developers not release expansions every 6 months and actually develop the game they started. Any game that has or has the potential to have an expansion I wont every buy. That to me means the developers have no love for the original game. Especially for MMO's. They just want to make money. You make money with MMO's regardless if you release expansions. And well it gets even worse when you have the big companies named above backing your game up because they are a big company and expect big revenue. While a family game developer company can make alot more money if they own their product independantly and they can call their own shots(which usually makes their decision more sane).
The rant could go on and on and on but I dont like those companies. Especially foreign companies who are wannabee americans like Sony and NCsoft. EA is like the perfect idology of a criminal organization.
Actually, I *know* Blizzard is going to be successful. All of their games have been successful in the past. They are known to be perfectionists. That's why they keep pushing back their release dates.
Also, Blizzard is known for taking an existing genre and perfecting it. Starcraft is arguably the most popular RTS out there and Diablo 2 is arguably the most popular hack 'n slash out there. That's why I *know* that World of Warcraft is going to be one of the best MMORPGs on the market.
I think that Tabula Rasa will be fine, Garriott and Long and some of ther other programmers are still there. And also the game is mostly done. Its just too bad that Carly is gone
she seemed pretty talented and I am sure she will be missed by the staff.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
tabula rasa always seemed kinda iffy to me. garriott was almost a genius, but he just seems to have flipped out recently. or maybe i just hear too much about him. dunno. but tabula rasa doesnt seem like its going to be all that good. either way, this just cant be a good sign.
Xander
Xander
Lacks content? Are you nuts!?!? Yes, compared to EQ it would definitely lack content. No question about that. EQ has been out for 7 years and has like 9 expansion packs. So comparing content between a game that's been out for 7 years and one that's in beta is ludicrous. Blizzard is adding new content every patch and there is a huge amount of "unseen" content that won't hit the game until retail. Only time will tell if it's the best or not. I don't consider EQ to be the best now. EQ still has a lot of issues with its game play.
Xander
Xander
We'll see how much it lacks after it's released. I'm not sure what other Beta games you're comparing content with. Does Matrix Online, Saga of Ryzom, Middle Earth or Dragons Empire have more content? The only beta game that probably "does" have more content right now is EQ2 and maybe Middle Earth.
Xander
Xander
I find it interesting how, when gamers see fit to slam NCSoft, the only thing they can come up with is how bad Lineage II is. I hate to break it to you, but that's only one of NCSoft's games. And I won't contest how bad it is, but I will say that one stinker out of a whole selection of games does not a bad company make. If that were the case, in order not to come off looking like a hypocrite, you'd have to be slamming Sony, as well. Gamers tend to forget Sony has games besides Everquest, and even that game isn't all that impressive these days.
More to the point, NCSoft just recently unveiled their Heroes for Heroes programme to donate 2,000 copies of City of Heroes game packs to U.S. Navy personnel returning from duty in the Middle East. With a company as large as Sony is, you'd expect them to come up with something like this. But we've heard nary a peep out of them. But then, sailors are getting a far better game than any that Sony has on the market, including Everquest II with all its problems (for all of the complains of World of Warcraft's graphics looking plastic, they have nothing on EQ II's hideously cartoony characters). City of Heroes has its reputation for a reason...as far as I'm concerned, it's the only MMOG worth my precious free time to play at the moment. And from what I've seen of Tabula Rasa, it looks to be the only other game worth my time to play.