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[Editorial] General: My Own Kobayashi Maru
BillMurphy
Former Managing EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 4,565
It was recently spread across the Internet that Mark Kern, CEO and Founder of Firefall developer Red 5 Studios, had left the company he started. Today, in a Christmas Day exclusive here at MMORPG.com, Mark's offering a statement towards that event, with perhaps a cryptic hint or two on what's next for him in videogame development.
Last week, this website and other gaming websites reported my purported demise as the CEO of Red 5 Studios. Since I’ve been writing for MMORPG.com, I decided I would release a brief statement here about my departure.
Read the rest of Mark Kern's: My Own Kobayashi Maru
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Try to be excellent to everyone you meet. You never know what someone else has seen or endured.
Comments
Boobs are LIFE, Boobs are LOVE, Boobs are JUSTICE, Boobs are mankind's HOPES and DREAMS. People who complain about boobs have lost their humanity.
eh.. but Han did shoot first !
Well not sure why think he shouldn't work for Bioware or EA? But whatever it is he has in mind, i wish him luck
KHANNN! KHANNNN!
It's Kobayashi Maru - A, not I
Just saying
Good luck in future endeavours.
Follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/grummz">Twitter: @Grummz<;/a>
Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom
Under your 'direction', I have seen the development of Firefall meander about through the wilderness like a lost child; for years you have done nothing with the game but waste people's time and money with rework after rework of perfectly functional & enjoyable systems. Removing you from a position of leadership is the absolute best thing Red5 have done in regards to the game in a long, long time.
While I do wish you luck in the future, I also hope that said future doesn't involve any sort of leadership role. You simply aren't suited for it, as the last two years of Firefall's development plainly show.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
If you go to his web link, it seems like he's not fond of the slot machines added to Firefall. He also posted this on his twitter:
"For the record: Durability:Against, Constraints vs Tiers: Tiers. Quests: Moar pls."
For the time he spent bashing WoW in his previous articles, it sounds like he plans to go back towards that formula.
Nah. He hasn't mixed anything up. He mixed those references and quotes together on purpose because they were "true to him and his perceived situation".
He had what he refers to as "a Kobayashi Maru test". - Statement
He claims that Han always shot first. Cinema history-wise this is also true because in the original release of Ep. 4 Han shot and killed Greedo before he could act. I have no idea what Mark was refering to in regards to his career but I am assuming that someone is trying to claim that a situation happened in a reverse manner than he claims it did. - Either way this is intended to be a seperate statement
In his final paragraph it should be obvious that there is an intended mixture.
Aside from those things I don't know who this guy is but it seems rather obvious he is not liked by the masses. I hope his next job places him in a position that is best suited to his strongest talents rather than his greatest weaknesses.
Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint.
It sounds like they did a Mark Jacobs on you Grummz.
Good luck in the future.
________________________
It's a game, ffs.
And this is what happens when you headhunt top talent, throw money at them to come to your company and never once concern yourself as to whether they are passionate about what they are working on.
Technically professional/Ultimately boring.
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
Apparently forever isn't very long. When the game was still just a concept it wasn't even going to be PvP it was going to be a cooperative PvE game. They gave in to the vocal minority and lost their focus.
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
Time always reveals developers stories for what they are. If FF still flouders around and does nothing, then we know it was more than just him. If it gets it's act together and finds some type of focus...we know where the problem was.
Either way I hope some lessons were learned, firefall was an original idea, it just never went where it should of.
Whether deserved or not Mark Kern has been thrown under the bus.
All I can eloquently say is this:
"Hasta la vista baby!"
May the force be with you Grasshopper. The first company ever launched is always the hardest on an entrepreneur.
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The Older Gamers
Hello Solar_Prophet,
You hit the nail on the head Mark Kern is the creative type, but is ill suited to run an entire company as its CEO in the long run. Leading a design team of fellow creatives at Blizzard for WoW is one thing. Another is running a company in a management sense, especially if this was his very first company as an entrepreneur.
Mr. Kern, in all sincerity if your reading these comments take a page from history. Learn what both Walt Disney and Richard Garriott relied on in pursuit of their dreams. Which was their brothers Roy Disney and Robert Garriott ran the business ends of their respective companies. You crossed the streams to use a "Ghostbuster" movie reference with your nuclear pack. Subsequently you got slimed real bad with an effective immediate termination. You may have quit, but you were forced off the plank matey. Yarr!
I can only guess how bitter and angry your feeling right now where your Christmas has been ruined I suspect. Your in a similar boat as to "Mr. Brad McQuaid" when he had the notorious terrible launch of "Vanguard: Saga of Heroes", which SOE snapped up in a Fire Sale. So if you ever launch a another company in the future make sure you secure a business partner that can actually run a company like the back of his hand. Something I suspect "Mr. Brad Mcquaid" may or may not have learned with this 2nd company he's launched. Using "Kick Starter" to secure funding as I'm speaking, no less.
----------------------
The Older Gamers
Eh, to be fair I don't know that Firefall can be saved. Two years (more, actually) worth of funds from both investors and founders are down the drain, and their patience right along with it. Furthermore Red5's community managers have been busy burning bridges between the company and fans who have voiced discontent since the onset of open beta.
Mark's departure (forced or otherwise) may be too little, too late. I suppose we'll see.
AN' DERE AIN'T NO SUCH FING AS ENUFF DAKKA, YA GROT! Enuff'z more than ya got an' less than too much an' there ain't no such fing as too much dakka. Say dere is, and me Squiggoff'z eatin' tonight!
We are born of the blood. Made men by the blood. Undone by the blood. Our eyes are yet to open. FEAR THE OLD BLOOD.
#IStandWithVic
Taking over a failed game and trying to fix it isn't like changing your shoes. It is going to be a miracle if this game will recover, regardless of who takes over the job.
Honestly don't know what to think.
Have enjoyed your work over the years. Keep in touch!
Mark Kern... Allow me to introduce you to David Allen
What are your other Hobbies?
Gaming is Dirt Cheap compared to this...
Ahh sadly I could not put it better myself.