I liked that he was trying to be more open with the community, it was a great move.
But I can't forgive NGE. I also hate the monetization of their games. Such as F2P EQ2. I had subbed to that game often for a few months at a time to enjoy some questing, but when I tried out the F2P... it tasted so bad I spat it out. Haven't been able to look at the game since.
Originally posted by toljar Even though he seemed to support his wallet more than the gamers, losing someone like him who has been around since the golden days of MMO's might be a big blow. Who really knows what happened behind the scenes during SWG - PS2 - EQ:N etc. with Smedley. Maybe he had his hand tied, and it is easier to blame a person than an entire comapny, and he knew that and was willing to take quite a few falls?
Smed was the one constant during the companies free fall and series of blunders. there is no way he was running the show that long, but was somehow powerless and all the faults were someone elses cause.
He caught lighting in a bottle 15 years ago and every project after that was progressively worse.
Sony had a culture of treating their past performers like rocks stars, through many failures. Smed benefitted from that.
Originally posted by madazz I liked that he was trying to be more open with the community, it was a great move. But I can't forgive NGE. I also hate the monetization of their games. Such as F2P EQ2. I had subbed to that game often for a few months at a time to enjoy some questing, but when I tried out the F2P... it tasted so bad I spat it out. Haven't been able to look at the game since. I also hate some of their moves with DCUO. I think its about time he left.
Agreed, I hated that he brought Asian game monetization to SOE.
Originally posted by toljar Even though he seemed to support his wallet more than the gamers, losing someone like him who has been around since the golden days of MMO's might be a big blow. Who really knows what happened behind the scenes during SWG - PS2 - EQ:N etc. with Smedley. Maybe he had his hand tied, and it is easier to blame a person than an entire comapny, and he knew that and was willing to take quite a few falls?
Also agreed. There's a bit of a hole now that he's gone. It's hard to know how much say Smed had in all this; was he a puppet for higher ups? Was he compelled to adopt game monetization and to modify SOE games to be more WoW like; or were those his ideas?
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
I just read this on another site. If true, it seems to suggest Smedley is tired of the griefing and decided to retire to his own purchased island (i made that last part up).
1) lizard squad takes down PSN during christmas (DBG still part of SOE)
2) smedley tweets out that he is upset
3) lizard squad finds when he is on a plane, calls in bomb threat
4) lizard squad does more bomb threats, gets his SSN/address. 100 false credit applications, threats towards his childrens school/family. ruins his parents graves by doing nasty stuff to the tombstone.
5) smedley speaks out again when someone convicted only gets a 6(I believe) month suspendeded sentence in a norwegian country.
6) lizard squad unleashes more fury
7) he deletes his twitter/reddit accounts
8) 1 week later he resigns, twitter comes back online.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
5) smedley speaks out again when someone convicted only gets a 6(I believe) month suspendeded sentence in a norwegian country.
Wow! I didn't realize that Norway had taken over all of Scandinavia including Finland. I have to start keeping up with geopolitical changes more
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”
― Umberto Eco
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” ― CD PROJEKT RED
Yup, good thing too. He had a silver tongue that talked previously burned players into playing SoE games again but we found out the hard way. John Smedly kills any franchise or great new game quickly or eventually through his own means. Whether through cash shops, P2W, horrible decisions and outright arrogance.
SWG: We all know what happened to this.
Uo: Same deal as SWG
SW:Tor: Used one of the best IPs known, still they demolish any chance the game might have by making it a replica of WoW with Starwars skins; pretty much every part of the game save for voice acting and unique things like huttball were the only appealing part,but those also hurt the game. Solo, easymode game that should have been sandbox.
Dcuo: Could have been great, but they decided to not fix the bugs and lack of content and go the F2P cash shop route and ended up killing their game. Sad, great IP.
Planetside 2: completely ruined what made the first one good to cater to casual players that would quit quickly anyways and alienated his loyal fan base.
H1Z1: They took their time doing anything good on this game and it still is pretty terrible despite months to work on it. Yeah, Smedley we get it, its early access, that doesn't mean you can half-ass it.
EQlandmark: The premise of EQNext that seems to take their time adding anything significant except ways to spent money. The hope that EQNext was going to revolutionize the genre is pretty much dead.
For the past 3-4 years Smedley tried anything and everything to lie and spin his games and dabbled with many, to try to stop the impending doom SoE faced. He still never understood what mmo players want because he was too busy following the casuals and the WoW fluke.
In my opinion the mmo market is stagnant as hell still despite it suppose to be full of sandbox mmos now. Instead of we get kickstarter mmos that are terrible(Starcitizen), sandbox mmorpgs that have p2w and cashshops(ArcheAge), developers remaking a version of the same game but dumbed down(Aventurine: DFO>DF:UW) and mmos that had alot of potential but were squadered by bad decisions and failing companies(APB).
We should have much more inovative mmorpgs like: Darkfall online(granted not as hardcore for some) that push the boundries, but instead we keep getting the same tripe(TESO). Yeah, I am still pretty jaded on the mmo scene.
Weird that you put SWTOR and UO in that list. What did John Smedley have to do with those two MMO's?
They sold SOE , fired all the really talented people , closed storybricks, killed EQN - all because Smedley was holding whole company hostage. The premium they had to pay him if they terminated him was so high that Sony decided to sell SOE instead. And sold it for penuts, with only one term that Smedley remains CEO.
The contract obviously had them obligate to keep him as CEO for determined period. That is over now.
One stinky bastard caused all this misery.
Lol you talk some shit, everything you are saying is just a wild guess. Link me the info saying smed held the company hostage, you can't because there is none.
And don't come back at me "he done this and she said that" show me.
If you can't then you are talking utter bullshit Lol.
Yup, good thing too. He had a silver tongue that talked previously burned players into playing SoE games again but we found out the hard way. John Smedly kills any franchise or great new game quickly or eventually through his own means. Whether through cash shops, P2W, horrible decisions and outright arrogance.
SWG: We all know what happened to this.
Uo: Same deal as SWG
SW:Tor: Used one of the best IPs known, still they demolish any chance the game might have by making it a replica of WoW with Starwars skins; pretty much every part of the game save for voice acting and unique things like huttball were the only appealing part,but those also hurt the game. Solo, easymode game that should have been sandbox.
Dcuo: Could have been great, but they decided to not fix the bugs and lack of content and go the F2P cash shop route and ended up killing their game. Sad, great IP.
Planetside 2: completely ruined what made the first one good to cater to casual players that would quit quickly anyways and alienated his loyal fan base.
H1Z1: They took their time doing anything good on this game and it still is pretty terrible despite months to work on it. Yeah, Smedley we get it, its early access, that doesn't mean you can half-ass it.
EQlandmark: The premise of EQNext that seems to take their time adding anything significant except ways to spent money. The hope that EQNext was going to revolutionize the genre is pretty much dead.
For the past 3-4 years Smedley tried anything and everything to lie and spin his games and dabbled with many, to try to stop the impending doom SoE faced. He still never understood what mmo players want because he was too busy following the casuals and the WoW fluke.
In my opinion the mmo market is stagnant as hell still despite it suppose to be full of sandbox mmos now. Instead of we get kickstarter mmos that are terrible(Starcitizen), sandbox mmorpgs that have p2w and cashshops(ArcheAge), developers remaking a version of the same game but dumbed down(Aventurine: DFO>DF:UW) and mmos that had alot of potential but were squadered by bad decisions and failing companies(APB).
We should have much more inovative mmorpgs like: Darkfall online(granted not as hardcore for some) that push the boundries, but instead we keep getting the same tripe(TESO). Yeah, I am still pretty jaded on the mmo scene.
Weird that you put SWTOR and UO in that list. What did John Smedley have to do with those two MMO's?
Seems this person didn't actually play any SOE games and is mixed up.
Note: this is a revised and extended version -- I found more places where it seemed appropriate to speak up, and also more time to hopefully better articulate my thoughts:
Obviously I'm not going to talk about recent events, etc. I honestly haven't hung out with Smed for a while. So I definitely don't have an 'inside scoop' or anything like that (and, even if I did, it still probably wouldn't be appropriate to comment). Drama, rumor, half-truths, etc. rarely accomplish anything memorable or of worth, and if you're somebody who has chosen to create games, especially MMOs, you really don't have time to dabble in that sort of thing at all; rather, you've got so much work to do that your concern shouldn't be popularity or fame or approval. Instead you need to be careful to not lose sight of or ignore the more permanent things, like friends and family. That's the real challenge: figuring out how to balance your life, pursuing what you're passionate about, but also not letting that pursuit engulf and entirely define you.
Instead I'll share a bit about the man I know, who I worked with closely for years. First, if you are strong willed enough to stand up, lead if necessary, and believe in something, it's not an easy path, and most certainly everyone is not going to like you. I know this from personal experience and and Mr. Churchill summed it up nicely: "You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life." But he has also earned the respect and friendship of many people over the years. And for good reason.
Of course I wish Smed nothing but the best and great luck in wherever his adventures take him next! Smed is a friend, a mentor, someone who believed in me and gave me fantastic opportunities, and as I've said in the past, something everyone should know: without Smed, there would be no EverQuest. He wanted to make a graphical online RPG and most people thought he and we were crazy. We were even pushed out of Sony so they could focus on the next console. Somehow, through hard work, passion, stubbornness, and faith he kept the project funded and supported (I later, after the game shipped, was told it was almost canceled a couple of times -- something he kept from me, probably rightfully so, fearing that it could affect my morale). Even when many were skeptical that a 3d MMO could even be built, much less be successful, he was there, doing whatever he could to make it happen. And, whatever you think of EQ itself (I remain quite proud), there is no denying its key role in the emergence of an entire genre.
From there he built Verant, and then SoE. His leadership resulted not only in the development of many MMOs, but also the opportunity for many new to the industry to join the company and to pursue their dreams of working on these games. I'm talking hundreds of people! Most of whom, especially early on, had no prior industry experience. He believes in giving people a chance, even a second chance. And he is willing to take risks, too, where so many larger companies and executive staff are quite the opposite: very risk intolerant. So his legacy is worthy of respect. So, also, his role in the MMO genre, especially in the early days, when he believed in something most others did not. He played a key role in this genre's inception and credit is due where credit is due. Although I highly doubt his work is done -- his belief in and love of online gaming is part of his core being -- this is a big change for him. And he should look back with pride, because he's earned it. And anybody willing to stop for a moment and consider the big picture, the whole picture, should also have respect for him and what he accomplished.
I did mention we don't talk as often as I'd like -- we did come to a point a few years back where we disagreed on something pretty fundamental: He believes the MMO genre has not only changed, but the audience has changed, and that to make successful online games, the 'old' approaches are obsolete. I had to respectfully disagree. I believe the MMO gamespace has grown so tremendously that there are now a lot of people who, while they are interested in MMOs, want fundamentally different games. But I don't believe people's tastes in gaming fundamentally change over time. I will certainly admit that the gamespace now, arguably more than 10 million strong, consists of players with widely different tastes and playstyles. And I'm fine with that, but I'm not ok that the 'old school' gamers have been orphaned, or considered irrelevant, or told that they are now too small to matter. And because I would never work on a game that I wouldn't personally want to play, and because my taste in MMOs is in that same group, I can do nothing else but try to make another MMO that is modern, has new ideas, but that fundamentally is still about long term retention, community, working together as a team, etc. But Smed is not me -- he's most certainly a gamer, but he is also more business oriented than me. He wants to stay current, to make games for players that are relatively new to MMOs, and he sees really opportunity there. I think he is also more driven to succeed in a big way not once, but as many times as possible. Sure, I have some of that in me too, but if I worked on an MMO that targeted more solo oriented gamers, gamers who typically don't want to play one game for a long time, who aren't bothered by revenue models that, ultimately, evolve into pay-to-win, I wouldn't be working on a game that I would want to play. So our paths forked because we are different people, nothing more, nothing less. And while the unwavering faith and support and leadership he provided back in the early days is something I'll never forget, our vision for MMOs has, slowly but surely, over time, drifted in different directions. On a personal level, sure, that's a bummer, but I cannot be critical of this drift in any real way. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe one day we'll somehow work on something together again. Stranger things have happened. But my respect and admiration of him will always remain strong and I really am excited to see what he'll end up doing next.
I hope this resonates with gamers, old gamers and new gamers. I hope I've brought some perspective and more attention to the big picture, the past and the present. If not, as someone who worked closely with him for many years, I have at least stood by him and affirmed he is a good man, a kind man, a generous man, and someone who has worked very hard (and been very successful) to be and stay in a position that allowed him to provide opportunities to hundreds of people, not just paying jobs, but a chance to chase their dreams.
-Brad
--
-------------------------------------------------------------- Brad McQuaid CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc. www.pantheonmmo.com --------------------------------------------------------------
Just wanted to say that I wish Smed nothing but the best and great luck in where his adventures take him next! Smed is a friend, a mentor, someone who believed in me and gave me fantastic opportunities, and as I've said in the past, something everyone should know: without Smed, there would be no EverQuest. He wanted to make a graphical online RPG and most people thought he and we were crazy. We were even pushed out of Sony so they could focus on the next console. Somehow, through hard work and passion, he kept the project funded and supported (I later, after the game shipped, was told it was almost canceled a couple of times) , even when many were skeptical that a 3d MMO could even be built, much less successful. And, whatever you think of EQ itself (I remain quite proud), there is no denying its key role in the emergence of an entire genre.
From there he built Verant, and then SoE. His leadership resulted not only in the development of many MMOs, but also the opportunity for many new to the industry to join the company and to pursue their dreams of working on these games. So his legacy is worthy of respect, although I highly doubt his work is done -- his belief in and love of online gaming is part of his core being. I look forward to the future and to whatever he ends up involved with next!
-Brad McQuaid
Here, here.
But you know the hate is going to come thick and fast. Thing is most the haters haven't got a clue about Verant or the history of how it all started.
In fact many haven't even played a SOE game but need to vent because they are bored and have no mmo to play.
Smed is far from gone and anyone who thinks we are going back to the good old days with DBG I'd dreaming.
Just wanted to say that I wish Smed nothing but the best and great luck in where his adventures take him next! Smed is a friend, a mentor, someone who believed in me and gave me fantastic opportunities, and as I've said in the past, something everyone should know: without Smed, there would be no EverQuest. He wanted to make a graphical online RPG and most people thought he and we were crazy. We were even pushed out of Sony so they could focus on the next console. Somehow, through hard work and passion, he kept the project funded and supported (I later, after the game shipped, was told it was almost canceled a couple of times) , even when many were skeptical that a 3d MMO could even be built, much less successful. And, whatever you think of EQ itself (I remain quite proud), there is no denying its key role in the emergence of an entire genre.
From there he built Verant, and then SoE. His leadership resulted not only in the development of many MMOs, but also the opportunity for many new to the industry to join the company and to pursue their dreams of working on these games. So his legacy is worthy of respect, although I highly doubt his work is done -- his belief in and love of online gaming is part of his core being. I look forward to the future and to whatever he ends up involved with next!
-Brad McQuaid
Hmm maybe a good time to get some of the old crew back together again
Yup, good thing too. He had a silver tongue that talked previously burned players into playing SoE games again but we found out the hard way. John Smedly kills any franchise or great new game quickly or eventually through his own means. Whether through cash shops, P2W, horrible decisions and outright arrogance.
SWG: We all know what happened to this.
Uo: Same deal as SWG
SW:Tor: Used one of the best IPs known, still they demolish any chance the game might have by making it a replica of WoW with Starwars skins; pretty much every part of the game save for voice acting and unique things like huttball were the only appealing part,but those also hurt the game. Solo, easymode game that should have been sandbox.
Dcuo: Could have been great, but they decided to not fix the bugs and lack of content and go the F2P cash shop route and ended up killing their game. Sad, great IP.
Planetside 2: completely ruined what made the first one good to cater to casual players that would quit quickly anyways and alienated his loyal fan base.
H1Z1: They took their time doing anything good on this game and it still is pretty terrible despite months to work on it. Yeah, Smedley we get it, its early access, that doesn't mean you can half-ass it.
EQlandmark: The premise of EQNext that seems to take their time adding anything significant except ways to spent money. The hope that EQNext was going to revolutionize the genre is pretty much dead.
For the past 3-4 years Smedley tried anything and everything to lie and spin his games and dabbled with many, to try to stop the impending doom SoE faced. He still never understood what mmo players want because he was too busy following the casuals and the WoW fluke.
In my opinion the mmo market is stagnant as hell still despite it suppose to be full of sandbox mmos now. Instead of we get kickstarter mmos that are terrible(Starcitizen), sandbox mmorpgs that have p2w and cashshops(ArcheAge), developers remaking a version of the same game but dumbed down(Aventurine: DFO>DF:UW) and mmos that had alot of potential but were squadered by bad decisions and failing companies(APB).
We should have much more inovative mmorpgs like: Darkfall online(granted not as hardcore for some) that push the boundries, but instead we keep getting the same tripe(TESO). Yeah, I am still pretty jaded on the mmo scene.
Weird that you put SWTOR and UO in that list. What did John Smedley have to do with those two MMO's?
Seems this person didn't actually play any SOE games and is mixed up.
Yeah I mistaken Uo and Sw:Tor for SoE instead of EA, my mistake. But it seems like you are just angry Smed is gone after alienating every player base from franchises games making cash grabs because reading your posts you seem to enjoy the cashshop P2W scene 2013'er.
I assure you, though I have more experience in the mmo department than yourself, but go ahead and ad-homein attack me; just makes yourself look bad.
Originally posted by Zandil Originally posted by AraduneJust wanted to say that I wish Smed nothing but the best and great luck in where his adventures take him next! Smed is a friend, a mentor, someone who believed in me and gave me fantastic opportunities, and as I've said in the past, something everyone should know: without Smed, there would be no EverQuest. He wanted to make a graphical online RPG and most people thought he and we were crazy. We were even pushed out of Sony so they could focus on the next console. Somehow, through hard work and passion, he kept the project funded and supported (I later, after the game shipped, was told it was almost canceled a couple of times) , even when many were skeptical that a 3d MMO could even be built, much less successful. And, whatever you think of EQ itself (I remain quite proud), there is no denying its key role in the emergence of an entire genre. From there he built Verant, and then SoE. His leadership resulted not only in the development of many MMOs, but also the opportunity for many new to the industry to join the company and to pursue their dreams of working on these games. So his legacy is worthy of respect, although I highly doubt his work is done -- his belief in and love of online gaming is part of his core being. I look forward to the future and to whatever he ends up involved with next!-Brad McQuaid
Hmm maybe a good time to get some of the old crew back together again
Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost are going to divide up the duties and bring everything back to it's original glory.
Yup, good thing too. He had a silver tongue that talked previously burned players into playing SoE games again but we found out the hard way. John Smedly kills any franchise or great new game quickly or eventually through his own means. Whether through cash shops, P2W, horrible decisions and outright arrogance.
SWG: We all know what happened to this.
Uo: Same deal as SWG
SW:Tor: Used one of the best IPs known, still they demolish any chance the game might have by making it a replica of WoW with Starwars skins; pretty much every part of the game save for voice acting and unique things like huttball were the only appealing part,but those also hurt the game. Solo, easymode game that should have been sandbox.
Dcuo: Could have been great, but they decided to not fix the bugs and lack of content and go the F2P cash shop route and ended up killing their game. Sad, great IP.
Planetside 2: completely ruined what made the first one good to cater to casual players that would quit quickly anyways and alienated his loyal fan base.
H1Z1: They took their time doing anything good on this game and it still is pretty terrible despite months to work on it. Yeah, Smedley we get it, its early access, that doesn't mean you can half-ass it.
EQlandmark: The premise of EQNext that seems to take their time adding anything significant except ways to spent money. The hope that EQNext was going to revolutionize the genre is pretty much dead.
For the past 3-4 years Smedley tried anything and everything to lie and spin his games and dabbled with many, to try to stop the impending doom SoE faced. He still never understood what mmo players want because he was too busy following the casuals and the WoW fluke.
In my opinion the mmo market is stagnant as hell still despite it suppose to be full of sandbox mmos now. Instead of we get kickstarter mmos that are terrible(Starcitizen), sandbox mmorpgs that have p2w and cashshops(ArcheAge), developers remaking a version of the same game but dumbed down(Aventurine: DFO>DF:UW) and mmos that had alot of potential but were squadered by bad decisions and failing companies(APB).
We should have much more inovative mmorpgs like: Darkfall online(granted not as hardcore for some) that push the boundries, but instead we keep getting the same tripe(TESO). Yeah, I am still pretty jaded on the mmo scene.
Weird that you put SWTOR and UO in that list. What did John Smedley have to do with those two MMO's?
Seems this person didn't actually play any SOE games and is mixed up.
Yeah I mistaken Uo and Sw:Tor for SoE instead of EA, my mistake. But it seems like you are just angry Smed is gone after alienating every player base from franchises games making cash grabs because reading your posts you seem to enjoy the cashshop P2W scene 2013'er.
I assure you, though I have more experience in the mmo department than yourself, but go ahead and ad-homein attack me; just makes yourself look bad.
Really you have more experience, and how do you come to that conclusion? You haven't started very well to convince anyone with your school boy era.
As for John going, well he needs a break and to sort out LQ business. He hasn't actually left the company, will that change, who knows but as of now he is on hols.
Making cash lol, don't know where you have been Mr mmo veteran but every mmo has some form of cash shop these days.
Also give me a reason you think EQ /EQ2 and all other DBG are P2W. I've been playing SOE /DBG since the release of EQ in 1999.
Brad, thanks a lot for taking the time to share some of the history with us. Really appreciated, and touching. You and Smed have definitely done great things; that touched the lives of so many millions of us. I have over 8,000 EQ hours played and made many friends throughout the world between 1999 and 2001. All thanks to you and your teammates, and Smed.
Well done! The internet is full of haters and skeptics; who themselves could never hope to achieve what you've already accomplished long ago.
So, Kudos and let's all remain optimistic for the future. I am definitely one of those orphaned old-timer gamers you mentioned.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon. In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
Comments
___________________________
Have flask; will travel.
I liked that he was trying to be more open with the community, it was a great move.
But I can't forgive NGE. I also hate the monetization of their games. Such as F2P EQ2. I had subbed to that game often for a few months at a time to enjoy some questing, but when I tried out the F2P... it tasted so bad I spat it out. Haven't been able to look at the game since.
I also hate some of their moves with DCUO.
I think its about time he left.
Smed was the one constant during the companies free fall and series of blunders. there is no way he was running the show that long, but was somehow powerless and all the faults were someone elses cause.
He caught lighting in a bottle 15 years ago and every project after that was progressively worse.
Sony had a culture of treating their past performers like rocks stars, through many failures. Smed benefitted from that.
Agreed, I hated that he brought Asian game monetization to SOE.
Also agreed. There's a bit of a hole now that he's gone. It's hard to know how much say Smed had in all this; was he a puppet for higher ups? Was he compelled to adopt game monetization and to modify SOE games to be more WoW like; or were those his ideas?
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
I just read this on another site. If true, it seems to suggest Smedley is tired of the griefing and decided to retire to his own purchased island (i made that last part up).
1) lizard squad takes down PSN during christmas (DBG still part of SOE)
2) smedley tweets out that he is upset
3) lizard squad finds when he is on a plane, calls in bomb threat
4) lizard squad does more bomb threats, gets his SSN/address. 100 false credit applications, threats towards his childrens school/family. ruins his parents graves by doing nasty stuff to the tombstone.
5) smedley speaks out again when someone convicted only gets a 6(I believe) month suspendeded sentence in a norwegian country.
6) lizard squad unleashes more fury
7) he deletes his twitter/reddit accounts
8) 1 week later he resigns, twitter comes back online.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit
"This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of SWG; it will soon see the end of John Smedley."
Wow! I didn't realize that Norway had taken over all of Scandinavia including Finland. I have to start keeping up with geopolitical changes more
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Weird that you put SWTOR and UO in that list. What did John Smedley have to do with those two MMO's?
I still can't forgive him SOGA models.
Well done, They Break Games.
Lol you talk some shit, everything you are saying is just a wild guess. Link me the info saying smed held the company hostage, you can't because there is none.
And don't come back at me "he done this and she said that" show me.
If you can't then you are talking utter bullshit Lol.
Seems this person didn't actually play any SOE games and is mixed up.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
He was on a clock the second SOE was sold to the venture capitalists.
Hopefully, this is the last we will ever see of this guy.
I don't post often now a days, but this brought me to log in.
games I sunk time into, just to be shut down...SWG, Vanguard..it had so much potential.
Eq1 and 2 are still going, I don't see that in the future now.
And I really regret getting "Landmark" for my wife and I. Total waste of money.
Note: this is a revised and extended version -- I found more places where it seemed appropriate to speak up, and also more time to hopefully better articulate my thoughts:
Instead I'll share a bit about the man I know, who I worked with closely for years. First, if you are strong willed enough to stand up, lead if necessary, and believe in something, it's not an easy path, and most certainly everyone is not going to like you. I know this from personal experience and and Mr. Churchill summed it up nicely: "You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life." But he has also earned the respect and friendship of many people over the years. And for good reason.
Of course I wish Smed nothing but the best and great luck in wherever his adventures take him next! Smed is a friend, a mentor, someone who believed in me and gave me fantastic opportunities, and as I've said in the past, something everyone should know: without Smed, there would be no EverQuest. He wanted to make a graphical online RPG and most people thought he and we were crazy. We were even pushed out of Sony so they could focus on the next console. Somehow, through hard work, passion, stubbornness, and faith he kept the project funded and supported (I later, after the game shipped, was told it was almost canceled a couple of times -- something he kept from me, probably rightfully so, fearing that it could affect my morale). Even when many were skeptical that a 3d MMO could even be built, much less be successful, he was there, doing whatever he could to make it happen. And, whatever you think of EQ itself (I remain quite proud), there is no denying its key role in the emergence of an entire genre.
From there he built Verant, and then SoE. His leadership resulted not only in the development of many MMOs, but also the opportunity for many new to the industry to join the company and to pursue their dreams of working on these games. I'm talking hundreds of people! Most of whom, especially early on, had no prior industry experience. He believes in giving people a chance, even a second chance. And he is willing to take risks, too, where so many larger companies and executive staff are quite the opposite: very risk intolerant. So his legacy is worthy of respect. So, also, his role in the MMO genre, especially in the early days, when he believed in something most others did not. He played a key role in this genre's inception and credit is due where credit is due. Although I highly doubt his work is done -- his belief in and love of online gaming is part of his core being -- this is a big change for him. And he should look back with pride, because he's earned it. And anybody willing to stop for a moment and consider the big picture, the whole picture, should also have respect for him and what he accomplished.
I did mention we don't talk as often as I'd like -- we did come to a point a few years back where we disagreed on something pretty fundamental: He believes the MMO genre has not only changed, but the audience has changed, and that to make successful online games, the 'old' approaches are obsolete. I had to respectfully disagree. I believe the MMO gamespace has grown so tremendously that there are now a lot of people who, while they are interested in MMOs, want fundamentally different games. But I don't believe people's tastes in gaming fundamentally change over time. I will certainly admit that the gamespace now, arguably more than 10 million strong, consists of players with widely different tastes and playstyles. And I'm fine with that, but I'm not ok that the 'old school' gamers have been orphaned, or considered irrelevant, or told that they are now too small to matter. And because I would never work on a game that I wouldn't personally want to play, and because my taste in MMOs is in that same group, I can do nothing else but try to make another MMO that is modern, has new ideas, but that fundamentally is still about long term retention, community, working together as a team, etc. But Smed is not me -- he's most certainly a gamer, but he is also more business oriented than me. He wants to stay current, to make games for players that are relatively new to MMOs, and he sees really opportunity there. I think he is also more driven to succeed in a big way not once, but as many times as possible. Sure, I have some of that in me too, but if I worked on an MMO that targeted more solo oriented gamers, gamers who typically don't want to play one game for a long time, who aren't bothered by revenue models that, ultimately, evolve into pay-to-win, I wouldn't be working on a game that I would want to play. So our paths forked because we are different people, nothing more, nothing less. And while the unwavering faith and support and leadership he provided back in the early days is something I'll never forget, our vision for MMOs has, slowly but surely, over time, drifted in different directions. On a personal level, sure, that's a bummer, but I cannot be critical of this drift in any real way. Maybe I'm wrong, and maybe one day we'll somehow work on something together again. Stranger things have happened. But my respect and admiration of him will always remain strong and I really am excited to see what he'll end up doing next.
I hope this resonates with gamers, old gamers and new gamers. I hope I've brought some perspective and more attention to the big picture, the past and the present. If not, as someone who worked closely with him for many years, I have at least stood by him and affirmed he is a good man, a kind man, a generous man, and someone who has worked very hard (and been very successful) to be and stay in a position that allowed him to provide opportunities to hundreds of people, not just paying jobs, but a chance to chase their dreams.
-Brad
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Brad McQuaid
CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc.
www.pantheonmmo.com
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Here, here.
But you know the hate is going to come thick and fast. Thing is most the haters haven't got a clue about Verant or the history of how it all started.
In fact many haven't even played a SOE game but need to vent because they are bored and have no mmo to play.
Smed is far from gone and anyone who thinks we are going back to the good old days with DBG I'd dreaming.
Hmm maybe a good time to get some of the old crew back together again
Yeah I mistaken Uo and Sw:Tor for SoE instead of EA, my mistake. But it seems like you are just angry Smed is gone after alienating every player base from franchises games making cash grabs because reading your posts you seem to enjoy the cashshop P2W scene 2013'er.
I assure you, though I have more experience in the mmo department than yourself, but go ahead and ad-homein attack me; just makes yourself look bad.
MurderHerd
Brad McQuaid, Steve Clover, and Bill Trost are going to divide up the duties and bring everything back to it's original glory.
Really you have more experience, and how do you come to that conclusion? You haven't started very well to convince anyone with your school boy era.
As for John going, well he needs a break and to sort out LQ business. He hasn't actually left the company, will that change, who knows but as of now he is on hols.
Making cash lol, don't know where you have been Mr mmo veteran but every mmo has some form of cash shop these days.
Also give me a reason you think EQ /EQ2 and all other DBG are P2W. I've been playing SOE /DBG since the release of EQ in 1999.
Come on MR SWTOR that Smed developed lol.
Brad, thanks a lot for taking the time to share some of the history with us. Really appreciated, and touching. You and Smed have definitely done great things; that touched the lives of so many millions of us. I have over 8,000 EQ hours played and made many friends throughout the world between 1999 and 2001. All thanks to you and your teammates, and Smed.
Well done! The internet is full of haters and skeptics; who themselves could never hope to achieve what you've already accomplished long ago.
So, Kudos and let's all remain optimistic for the future. I am definitely one of those orphaned old-timer gamers you mentioned.
Luckily, i don't need you to like me to enjoy video games. -nariusseldon.
In F2P I think it's more a case of the game's trying to play the player's. -laserit