A few news briefs that don’t really fit together in any coherent way:
- My initial impressions of the Guild Wars 2 beta were wrong.  Go read the Facebook update from yesterday where ANet talks about how hard they are working on the client after the feedback from the BWE1 and Stress Test.  They aren’t even releasing a new BWE ‘until its ready.’ I can’t even begin to describe how happy this makes me.  Make it right, make it the best it can be, and I will help test when you want me to.
- Today is patch day for the 17th Expansion to Eve Online titled Inferno.  My love for this game is no secret, and the pace at which CCP delivers content upgrades is simply amazing, and clearly leaps and bounds beyond what anyone else is doing in the MMO space…  add to that fact that the true game expansions are free, makes me scratch my head a bit, and really feel blessed to have found this game when I did, instead of letting one of the most impressive, and unique gaming experiences pass me by without ever giving it the proper due.
- In a sad, but largely unsurprising turn of events, 38 Studios has started the process of downsizing their development staff.  For everyone out there commenting on the politics of this or that issue and forgetting that real people’s livelihoods are at stake, please take a moment to put yourselves in the shoes of the developer who was living their dream making games, and is now out of work. This is a very difficult situation, and while you can hate on Curt Schilling if you want, try to temper your gloating by realizing that good people from our gaming  community are going through a hard time right now.
~Cyndre
Thank you for admitting you were wrong Cyndre, its so rare to see people do that today. When I was reading your Guild Wars 2 article, I have to admit I was surprised with your impressions. As you later said, I think you went in with the wrong expectations.
On a side note:I am loving your EVE columns. I tried EVE and it was not for me, but you always make your articles fun to read. I just wanted to thank you for your great writing!
Thanks! Ball is in ANet’s court now… Don’t prove me wrong, wrong LOL
I have seen bits and pieces of the 38 studios news, but have they said why they’re having troubles? I thought Kingdoms of Amalur went over well, but maybe my impressions were wrong?
38s troubles have almost nothing to do with KoA, and everything with the fact that they have had a ton of people working on an MMO for 5 years with only a fly-through to show for it. EA can afford to do that (SW:TOR) because they have Madden/FIFA to milk. A start-up like 38 can’t.
The purchase of Big Huge Games aloine probablly cost more than they grossed off the sale of Reckoning. I have zero knoledge of the details so take that with a grain of salt.
I’ll echo Entombed and say it’s really great to see you take the time to write something about it. I know you took a lot of crap that day (I posted myself) about people disagreeing with you, and it’s very cool to see some honest reflection on the issue from a blogger.
The internet space, and blogging specifically is far to devoid of sincerity and everything you put out is laced with it.
If you’re glad you you stumbled on EVE i’m glad I stumbled on KTR when I did. And posts like this are why it’s quickly risen to my favorite blog to visit. Just wanted to reflect some appreciation your way. (and this is for all the bloggers here, not just you cyndre, but if you want to edit this addendum out so it looks like just you I would understand)
Thanks!
(and we don’t edit or censor unless its just horrific idiocy, and I agree that everyone here now and who has contributed over the years is what makes KTR what it is.)
Not gonna lie I’m a bit disappointed guild wars 2 seems so far off. If it is indeed still several months off then I would question why they opened up pre purchase so early.
Guess I just wish arenanet would be more open with their information
April sales are a bit early for a September+ release. When I ordered, I thought it had a mid-June release date. Given the current state of the game (say, 2/5 races to be implemented), a few more months is entirely reasonable … but they have my money right now.
I get very tired of this “when it’s ready” tune. I’d much rather play a rough edit of an MMO while they polish it up than wait months, even years until someone thinks it’s “ready”.
Fortunately Funcom aren’t ArenaNet so I’ll have something new to play while I wait.
Right, they should release an unfinished, buggy mess so we have something to bitch about on our blogs… the nerve of developers these days!
I would not call GW2 a buggy mess. Aside from the overflow flaw, the rest was ‘good enough’, especially since the game has no sub and they already got our money.
I was being sarcastic…
I think ArenaNet are pretty good at being open with their information – not perfectly transparent, perhaps, but it’s something I appreciate about them.
Pre-purchase got them a large number of dedicated beta testers, people who were already devoted to their game and have been itching for a chance to play for years. In fact it got them more than they expected; I guess they thought those with more casual interest wouldn’t go for pre-purchase. For now, I personally am happy to have a chance to play with the game and observe them polishing it up for release. I feel like ArenaNet also wanted the input of the fans before they declared it was ‘ready’.
Cyndre, you get major points for class for your comments on the latest 38 Studios news. Whatever their management or financial mistakes, it’s a shame to see people who obviously cared about gaming end up in such a tough situation.
All the goodness here is taken for granted, so please forgive me as I must play the cheerio-pisser for now. ;p
EVE’s development is and always has been awesome (well, y’know except that one time *ahem*)
But they haven’t had a free CONTENT addition (imo) since Incursion.
Their quality-of-life improvements since then have been awesome things, but even LotRO matches their pace for development (excluding the ~year surrounding F2P transition). And I’m pretty sure RIFT fans would scoff at your statements. ;)
But anyway, s’all good in actuality!
if i remember your gw2 testing experience correctly, i don’t think you should relax yet. sure, they are taking time to polish things further, but my impression was that its just not going to be the kind of game that you will get totally hyped over. just like EVE is probably one of the best mmo’s out there right now, but just not for me. so while i’m sure i will play gw2 for years, you might just play through it once and get to the next game.