NCSoft’s first quarter report came out, and they don’t want to talk about their space marine-fps-mmo, Tabula Rasa, except to say they are fairly disappointed bu its performance.
I should refer to it by its full name, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa.
Richard Garriott, if you don’t know of him, is “the legendary video game programmer and designer, noted as one of the PC Gamer’s “Game Gods”. I found this little tidbit on a vanity web site called “Richard in Space“, where you can meet Richard Garriott as he prepares for his space tourist flight to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket.
Last year, Game God Brad McQuaid was likewise absent for the disappointment that was Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. I’m sure he was as well paid as Richard Garriott, AKA the sixth Earth human to go to the space station as a tourist. We could be next, gushes the “Richard in Space” site. Maybe if we can get someone to shovel money at us because our Game God status demands it.
I feel sad for the people who did their best to finish these games while the Gods got all the press and the limelight. All the real developers got were schedules, pressure, disappointment and exciting trips to the unemployment office.
Now Brad is in hiding, and Richard Garriott is going up to space (still unknown: did he leave a clone behind in case he wanted to respec? Or in case the Soyuz castle lands just a little *too* hard this time?).
Past success is no indicator of future success in this world. Maybe it makes a difference if you put as much as yourself into the next game as you did in the one that made you a Game God. I think you really have to step back and reassess your life if you find yourself being promoted as a Game God. Hey, you could say, don’t call me that. I’m no better than anyone else. I had a hit game but all I have to show for it is that I have to work twice as hard on the next one.
John Romero, American McGee, Brad McQuaid, Richard Garriott and many, many more; Game Gods all.
7 thoughts on “The end of the age of the auteur game designer?”
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I don’t think past success has ever really been an indicator that future endeavors will be successful. It certainly makes it easier to get funded though…
One thing though. I believe American McGee is still enjoying a reasonable amount of success. The last thing I heard was that he was creating a sequel of sorts to Alice which was fairly widely acclaimed. There was also that one with the robots which also did fairly well as I understand. As for Romero… don’t know where he is now.
You are leaving out plenty of still successful ones… Will Wright, Peter Molyneux, Sid Meier. All these guys still make amazing games.
McQuaid is less a game god than a guy who happened to be in the right place at the right time. Everything we heard about Vanguard before launch made me believe that while it might be a game that I would like, it would be a commercial dud.
Yes, by all means, let’s make the game more complicated, more frustrating, with worse performance. It’s as if he was in denial of the existence of WoW. I’m sure McQuaid was disappointed by the direction that EQ2 had at launch, we all were. But his answer, Vanguard, was better in some ways, but worse in many others. Like making elves ugly, for example.
And by the way, the biggest game god of them all in my book is Shigeru Miyamoto. And he’s still cranking them out.
I guess I was more or less thinking about people who bought into their own hype. It’s one thing to BE a Game God… it’s quite another to believe you have some arcane hit-making aura that replaces the need for innovative design, a clear goal, and lots of hard work.
In almost any industry, you’re in trouble when you start believing your own press.
I can speak to the Brad situation, since I was near it for years. Brad definitely believed the press. The money, the cars, the motorcycles were all manifestations of his growing ego. The ego didn’t allow him to interact with others appropriately, which began the downward spiral into failure.
That’s a massive oversimplification of course. Pride really does go before a fall, though. Brad has no monopoly on that. I feel bad for him because I do believe he had good intentions.
I’d agree that Romero bought into his own hype. What I heard about his management behaviour at Ion Storm(?) back in the day really showed how much he valued his own ego.
Garriott on the other hand — I don’t know if he fits your criteria. Sure he’d have ego. You don’t get to that level without believing in yourself. But I’ve never had the impression he’s gone overboard. Taking the rocket trip? Maybe. But I’d love to do that too, and if I had the (spare) cash I might just sign up myself. To me that doesn’t show hype purchase. It shows he was in the right place at the right time and managed some wise investments… lucky sod!
I think the other thing to be aware of is that everybody fails. Garriott (to use him as an example again) has made a bunch of really successful games. That Tabula Rasa hasn’t met expectations (does that make it a failure?) doesn’t mean that the next game he’s involved with won’t be a critical success.
Perhaps some people have never heard the cliche, quit while you’re ahead, or paid heed to it. Just one more Rocky movie or Indiana Jones, one more Morrissey , REM, or Rolling Stones album, one more Everquest clone, Doom/Quake, Command and Conquer game, one more reality tv show, sitcom or Disney girl superstar.
All this stuff is cranked out at a speed to where we choke and vomit trying to take it all in. Legends aren’t made though a never ending chain of sequels and bad management decisions. It’s one thing to leave your mark through creating something special, it’s another to leave your mark through defecation.