f13.net

Laughing would be wrong. But seeing as this game was doomed before the beta ended, I guess this comes as no surprise. Anyway, I guess it's one more 'shipped title' for these people to slap on their résumés. As long as they had nothing whatsoever to do with game design I hope they find work elsewhere, specifically the other side of the globe from David Bowman.

And nowhere near David Allen either.  Having devs around him may get him thinking about video games again and we sure as hell don't want that.

Maybe they're ready to start hawking their Evolution Engine, in which case, they no longer need people associated with the game or even the game, itself.  I bet any punter with a Discover card could pick it up for a song.



Editted to remove an erroneous comma.

If you wanted to buy a game/engine, I would advise forgetting Horizons (even at a song) and buy Mythica (or whatever you want to name it - since it is actually fun, has great graphics, and a story behind it).  At least that is what I would do if I had the money.

I really meant only the game, not the engine.  Being a bit infatuated with conspiracy theories, I believe that, after the departure of the original David, the game became very secondary.  Perhaps as a vehicle to hawk their new engine.  Once they have made a bit of dosh, or even the prospect of revenue, for the engine... good-bye Horizons.  Got a buck?  Buy a game!

I don't know enough about the Evolution Engine to actually say anything about it.  The first MudOS engine is still at the top of my list... that should tell you how far behind I am on the subject. hehe.

Good luck to all those who lost their jobs, as it doesn't look hopeful for those remaining either.

The board drama continues.  Must be in a difficult position for David Bowman after getting rid of his Community Relations person to have to answer Vault posters himself (http://vnboards.ign.com/Horizons_General_Board/b5252/70524460/p1) (especially since he hasn't commented there since the release of Horizons).  Even with the cleansing of the thread, it is still at 3 pages (was up to 5 at one point).  

You know it is very very bad when even the Vault has OFFICIAL Cancellation Thread Rules (http://vnboards.ign.com/Horizons_General_Board/b5252/68393312/?46)  for Horizons.  

Assuming rules 1-4 are followed, I'll be surprised if #5 comes into play.

Jesus, what a train wreck.

That's been there since a few weeks after release, the volume was just too large otherwise.

There's still people left to cancel?

There are dozens.  In DB's latest letter to the public, (I saw it on vnboards... hence, no linky.  I know many of you are sensitive) he referred to 'the tens of thousands who have played Horizons".  You know how these types like to exaggerate the numbers, which leads me to believe that there are several dozen playing.   Give or take....

"One of the biggest challenges is in getting an accurate indication of what players really think. The small numbers who voice their opinions on forums are a self-selected sample from the tens of thousands who have played Horizons. We do try our best to catalog all of the submitted issues as well as filter the boards for opinions/issues. The Community Manager helped the development team with that, but for the immediate future, the team will have to do more of it. "

Notice that he isn't even trying to inflate the current numbers now - using the past tense to reference everyone who has tried the game and canceled.

Its not much of a leap then to conclude that HZ is under 10k subscribers :)

I remember that girl, she was basically the one who answered all the questions on the beta forums...  Who the hell is going to pick up the slack, Bowman?

I think it's time we did a documentary of the idiots in the game industry, if it's in theatrical form then maybe some of these financing companies would wise up! (has anyone actually done a documentary about the gaming industry? not counting "the wizard" of course :-)

That's a great idea. If NiX really looks like he's twelve, then he's perfect for it.

Asshat.

I have to wonder about the sanity of anyone at the company that wasn't sending our resumes back in beta. It was so clearly going to flop.

Lol, why? I'm only repeating what you said yourself. No offense. Most young gamers would just ask stupid questions. And if it was done by a bunch of old farts (no matter how humorous, intelligent, or aggressive the questions were), it'd only seem a little pathetic (or boring).

After release, Monika wasn't around so much.  They eventually hired some bloke named Gale as the lead customer rep.  He spent much of his time warding off flirts from people who thought he was a hot fem online.  It seems that he and most, if not all, of customer care have been sacked.  In his 'good-bye' post he said that he's sure the community will be able to take care of itself.  It's obvious that he won't be replaced.  They also seem to have sacked the World Masters (GMs) who provided ingame support and lead the  'dynamic' events.   A couple of developers who have remained with the company have been posting 'Hello. My name is ...."

D. Bowman has posted a couple of times now, after completely itnoring the boards, at least in terms of a visible presence, since release.  He hasn't really said too much of interest, but, truthfully, what can he say?  They seem to have made very little improvements in the game since the release; many bugs that were there in beta are still there; those horribly annoying graphic glitches are still horribly annoying.  The list goes on.

I found this bit of wibble from DB to be a bit interesting:

"According to our server reports, we were seeing good populations with slow growth the last time that I made any comment on that subject. Though posters on forums were claiming that people were unsubscribing, that was not what the data indicated at that time. Since then, we have seen a slow, but steady decrease in both subscribers and players logged into the game"

STEADY decrease in subscribers and players logged into the game from the 'tens of thousands' that have played?  Oh dear.   Slow?  If I remember correctly, they were running for the fire exit. Well, he should have probably kept his mouth shut as he now has SirBruce bothering him for the numbers.  

Go Bruce!  Get him! :)

I have nothing to say after reading this review of Horizons.

Edit: AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAAH (http://www.mpogd.com/reviews/?ID=218).

Yes, supposedly Bowman (along with the remaining staff).  That is what he said anyway.  Last night it was just pathetic to see all the remaining staff (10?) who are at AE introducing themselves for the first time with n00b accounts.  With half posting at Vault and the other half posting at Tazoon.  Mostly welcome fluff posts, but David Bowman did answer a few real questions - he must be feeling the heat.

The funniest thing was an article and thread on vault (now edited), where along with the announcement about people leaving also included information that the reduction would give AE the opportunity to get new business.  Don't they realize they should have done what Turbine and Mutable Realms have done, pimp the engine/themselves BEFORE the game comes out?

Mi_Tes, as usual, makes another good point.  They really have done a lot of things bass ackwards, haven't they?  Another thing I just noticed... you say you reckon there's maybe 10 remaining staff.  Out of that 10, one of them stated he doesn't work on the game... he works on the GM tool.  GMs?  They sacked some after release and, from what I understood, the rest in this last downsize.  Who's left to use the damn thing?  I can't even imagine what the level of ingame customer support will be like, even if they do a server merge. (which they, obviously, will be doing soon)

And... out of those remaining staff... how many acutally work on game development, I wonder?  They are alledgedly working on an expansion to be released in early 2005.  I see 3 choices, here.

1.  Everyone is working on the expansion and players can expect bug   fixes, content updates, etc... to only occur from expansion pack to     expansion pack.

2.  Everyone is working on the game in progress and they have discarded work on the expansion because they know they won't be around in 2005.

3.  They have split the work up and nothing will be accomplished due to too much work amongst too few people.  If this is the case, I think staff turnovers will be very high.  I know that if I was part of what is left of their dev team, I would have quit yesterday.

Every scenario seems to spell certain doom for this poor, pre-maturely aged and tired game.



As for that article... I took a look at their MMOG Development forums.  Umm... nevermind.

I think David Bowman should open source the whole thing and hope he gains some faithful followers for being "Progressive" or someshit. Cuz frankly, there's nothing that can save his game or career now.

I think everyone should open source everything!  But then, I might be bipolar.  I'd LOVE a good play with DnL's weather.  I do hope this game is released before I'm long dead!

I wouldn't worry about Bowman's career.  I've read some of his past posts from beta and early release and the untruths are now glaringly obvious.  You know, schild... you told me he was lying AGES ago.  Looking at his start with AE, it is also clear that he's completely ruthless.  Hmmm... lies? Ruthless?  I wonder who the sad sack is that will get the blame for all this?  

I don't remember ever seeing a pic of Bowman but, I have a feeling, he might resemble Ian McShane's character in Deadwood.  (my favourite TV show, you know)  Well, maybe not... Ian McShane is totally hot!

Who are you and what have you done with Signe?

I don't imagine he'd look like much anything. But I'm sure he has hooves.

DnL is still in development? I thought it was just a soda.

Edit: BBCode is horribly hard.

 

Although a little long, this (http://www.gamemethod.com/archive/394-2.php) is an interesting read.



Here is a pic of David Bowman.  Enjoy. ;) (http://hz.warcry.com/scripts/images/view_image.phtml?id=2100&site=14)

You know why you can't see below his waist?

HOOVES.

Edit: Here is an exclusive picture of the hooves in question: Linkie! (http://dirttime.ws/Photos/IM001454.jpg)

Thanks for that.  Now I can enjoy my Ian McShane fantasies and never have to think about D. Bowman, again.  He is the most forgettable looking man I have ever    

I wonder what's on TV?

(http://www.f13.net/schild/db.jpg)

That's one hell of a heat signature he's got.

If anyone who still plays Horizons was noticing, this will be the second set of layoffs at AE. They dropped a few developers right after release, claiming it was the normal layoff of extra staff they hired during crunch time. Now they lay off what appears to be all the "non-essential" personnel they can, which apparently includes any sort of customer relations people.

Without GM events (or competent GM's to run them) what's left to distinguish Horizons? Certainly not gameplay. Crafting or playable dragons, I suppose. And no GM events means no new unlockable races.

It's pretty goddamn sad when Lineage 2 has a better chance of succeeding in America into 2005 than your game.

Not when your game is Horizons.

The comparison isn't even close, Lineage 2 had over 60K subs at launch with not much of a churn.

Best numbers I have seen for Horizons are that they sold 40K copies and there are around 10K subs now at most.  Max populations per server seem to be around 250, with 8 servers, and a free trial.  [250x8= 2,000x(5 the industry standard)= 10,000-free trials= <10K]  Within 6 months, they have gone from 40K to 10K.  That churn rate should be a glaring sign.  Looks like with these numbers, the game they are closest to now is AC2.  And AC2 has added resourses to the team, not decreased them and the game has actually gotten better.  So, I fixed your quote:

I was just joking ;)

Yes, I look like I'm 14-15 and I'm turning 20. Sucks to be me. I have been DOUBLE ID'd buying alcohol.

I'll do it on one condition: Someone hugs haemish.

One of you freak-ass motherfuckers tries to hug me, I get stabby.

Fine.  I'll take my Lineage II DD's and tiny waist and go hug someone else.

C'mon haemish! How can you pass up some fierce man-love? :P

More from David Bowman on the Vault.



I WANT those drugs!

I sign my name when I write things because I think my name looks purty.

Fixed that for you.

Denny Crane

So you have two fake IDs.  

Kids these days.

In order to admit you have a problem, you must first stop lying to yourself.

Actually Bowman's post sums up the real problem with Horizons. He really does think that he's making fun games. It must take one heck of an ego to watch two flop and still think that. But he manages.