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General: KingsIsle Reveals Self, Announces MMOs
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
Texas based developer KingsIsle Entertainment has revealed its existence, and announced that they have been working on two secret MMO projects for the past 3 years time.
Austin, Texas - April 25, 2008 - Online entertainment company KingsIsle Entertainment, Inc. today uncloaked after three years of lock down secrecy. The company has had a team of more than 100 Austin and Dallas based employees, including top creative talent, working on multiple massively multiplayer online (MMO) projects under a cone of silence.
Formed in early 2005 by veterans from both gaming and technology, KingsIsle is led by chairman and chief executive officer Elie Akilian, and President David Nichols. Heading up development are Todd Coleman, a key creative mind behind the MMO Shadowbane and creative director Tom Hall, co-founder of well known game companies id Software and ION Storm. The first project is headed by Todd and is expected to enter beta this spring. Another release headed by Tom will be announced at a later date.
We founded KingsIsle with an approach that fosters ingenuity, said Elie Akilian. Our focus is in the online environment and will continue to be so in the future. Weve pulled together some of the most creative minds around and given them room to push boundaries and create superlative entertainment experiences. Well continue to build on that base of originality.
Read more here.
Comments
So, uh, guesses at what the hell they're making? Anyone?
Now with 57.3% more flames!
Should be interesing to see what's happening...
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In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
Good luck to them!
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A human and an Elf get captured by Skaven. The rat-men are getting ready to shoot the first hostage with Dwarf-made guns when he yells, "Earthquake!" The naturally nervous Skaven run and hide from the imaginary threat. He escapes. The Skaven regroup and bring out the Elf. Being very smart, the Elf has figured out what to do. When the Skaven get ready to shoot, the Elf, in order to scare them, yells, "Fire!"
Order of the White Border.
Whatever the projects are, they will be built without community feedback.
Secret Project = We're making a game that we know is best and without your input.
And that is why...
Conservatives' pessimism is conducive to their happiness in three ways. First, they are rarely surprised -- they are right more often than not about the course of events. Second, when they are wrong they are happy to be so. Third, because pessimistic conservatives put not their faith in princes -- government -- they accept that happiness is a function of fending for oneself. They believe that happiness is an activity -- it is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness.
How would you know what kind of research they've done? Does Honda or Ford come knocking at your door when they create new engines? Get real, dude. Life doesn't revolve around you.
Actually, it does. MMO developers have to convince us to play their games. We are the ones doing them the favour (giving them our money). The only way to do that is to give the players what they want. Sure, it could work, but usually the word "secret" means that the developers are set on what they've decided and aren't willing to let their future players have a say in the final product. Honda and Ford are well-established companies...these guys aren't. I just don't see these guys being able to create the perfect MMOs without any prior experience in the market if they're not willing to be flexible...
Anyone who honestly thinks that their input and the input of the rest of their teenage gaming friends is required for a game to succeed... needs to get their head out of their ass. It's like saying that a first time parent needs the input of their child. They need feedback, not input. And the game needs feedback for bugs and problems with the content that they bring out. Although they might appreciate your subscription, you're not doing them any favors by subscribing because it's a 50/50 relationship.
I think this company looks fantastic. The idea of keeping this secret until recently shows that they are not pushing for high publicity and pure profit. The developers they have put together have some great experience as well as some ideas that were ahead of their times. This group has the capability to make that next step everyone has been looking for in MMO. That said we have yet to see anything from their work, potential is simply potential. There were alot of problems with Shadowbane, but the ideas in it were great, I would like to see those ideas mixed with current technology and engines. Either way, this company has started off in the right direction and should be interesting to follow.
"You dont win a war by dieing for your country, you win a war by getting the other poor bastards to die for theirs!"
-General Patton
How would you know what kind of research they've done? Does Honda or Ford come knocking at your door when they create new engines? Get real, dude. Life doesn't revolve around you.
Instead they show me endless commercials about how great their engine is.
Dracus is right.
__________________________________________________
In memory of Laura "Taera" Genender. Passed away on Aug/13/08 - Rest In Peace; you will not be forgotten
So we have a company who
A.) is pulling the old "We have people from famous game companies" schtick that has been done before. Let's see, the last three that did that were Vanguard ( Brad McQuaid ), Tabula Rasa ( Richard Garriott ), and Hellgate: London ( Diablo 2 devs ). All three launch failures, all three barely struggling to survive now.
B.) is developing multiple mmos at one time with no prior experience as a company. Last ones to do that were Rapid reality/MMOcenter with The Chronicle, Africa, Phylon,etc. which turned out to be nothing more than a scam, and Perpetual Entertainment ( Gods and Heroes, Star Trek: Online ) who ended up shut down after committing fraud against investors and failing to bring either game anywhere near the marketplace.
C.) has nothing to show at announcement, although they've been secretly in development for 3 years. Hey, they must have liked the Aventurine ( Darkfall ) approach to mmo development.
Sorry, I smell epic fail.
Possibly and you do bring up good points, but lets let them play couple of cards first before we call bluff. KK ^_^
Possibly and you do bring up good points, but lets let them play couple of cards first before we call bluff. KK ^_^
But of course, my dear. My present state of thought lies with what they have currently presented. I am more than willing to change my views upon positive developments occurring.
How would you know what kind of research they've done? Does Honda or Ford come knocking at your door when they create new engines? Get real, dude. Life doesn't revolve around you.
Instead they show me endless commercials about how great their engine is.
Dracus is right.
Sorry, but dracus is wrong. I would much rather play a game built and created by developers who are willing to take a certain amount of feedback over a company who would be willing to bend and manipulate their game to the point it is nothing but a rehash.I really would not want to play a game where people who have no idea how a mmo works give anything more then feedback from gameplay.
~ ~
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
Wow, the negativity around here just sucks.
I'm happy to get any new MMO a chance, with or without player input. It could be that some developers and game companies really do know what they're doing. Heck, they *might* even play MMOs themselves.
Well, considering the only mmo experience anyone on that team has is Shadowbane (massive failure) it does leave that to concern.
Well, considering the only mmo experience anyone on that team has is Shadowbane (massive failure) it does leave that to concern.
The only thing that failed about shadowbane was the horrible launch and bugs that drove players away. The game itself was very solid and very fun.
~ ~
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
User input is not what a good mmo needs. I mean look at what "user input" did to Starwars galaxies. Enough said.
Well, considering the only mmo experience anyone on that team has is Shadowbane (massive failure) it does leave that to concern.
The only thing that failed about shadowbane was the horrible launch and bugs that drove players away. The game itself was very solid and very fun.
The game never recovered from that "horrible launch and bugs that drove players away", the company went bankrupt, the game is free to play now and still can't get more than a few handfuls of subs. Therefore, it was and is a failure. I've played it, and enjoyed it for what it was. That doesn't change facts.
it was a failure by how it was released, not how it was developed
~ ~
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
If new parents didn't need input why would there be such a large market for baby magazines, tv shows etc? Clearly people need help.
Saying that we aren't doing them a favour clearly shows a lack of understanding of simple business mechanics. Have you ever heard of the term: "the customer is always right?" Well it wouldn't exist if companies didn't need our money.
confirmed their existance...thats a good line
. for the past 3 years they were not quite sure whether they existed or not but now they know for sure they are real.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
LOL!
Oh, here's their website:www.kingsisle.com/index.html
What will you find there? Pretty much nothing.
Don't forget Perpetual Entertainment
Subscribtions: EVE, SWTOR WOW, WAR, DDO, VG, AOC, COV, FFXI, GW, RFO, Aion
+plenty of F2P, betas, trials
Female Dwarf player: WOW, VG, WAR, DDO
.
Due to the recent economic crisis and spending cuts the light at the end of the tunnel was turned off. Sincerely, God.
Magazines (and etcetera) - that's research and I'll bet that this company has done research. That's different than getting information from gamers. They need help, but not in the form of someone who knows less than they do. They don't need your input to know what the market wants when the market is as big and free as it is. And then consider that your interests are different than theirs so your input is not even going to represent the market....
I'm not saying that a company doesn't need feedback when they create things, in fact that's something they should be doing. But there's a difference between feedback and input, or feedback and letting your customers shape the game.
The customer is not always right. Saying that they are shows a lack of understanding of that term. It's to promote their image... but even if a company honestly stands by it, you can't walk into their place and tell them how they should run. You're paying for a service, you get something.
But this is all over a company that simply kept their projects 'secret'. Not to say it's a good thing, not to say I think they're going to succeed, but it's certainly not enough to criticize them for.
I think the main criticism is if they have nothing to show at the time of announcing their games ( they don't even announce the NAME of their games ) after 3 years in development, they are following the lead of Darkfall. And in case you haven't noticed, even the major gamesites have started ridiculing Aventurine and their game Darkfall as nothing but vaporware and a joke
Plain and simple, if they had nothing to show with their announcement, they'd have been alot better off keeping their "secret" until they did.
Don't forget Perpetual Entertainment
Too true. Amended my earlier post.