Flagship hopes to "put a dent" in MMO rivals, admits Hellgate was rushed.,

[Miktar]

Co-founder Max Schaefer admits Hellgate: London was rushed, but follow-up can take on the giants of the MMO market

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-in-mmo-rivals

Yah, right. Sorry dude, but I don't think so anymore. But hey, let's see if I'm wrong and Mythos ends up being insanely popular.

[Karuji]

I dont think admitting hellgate being rushed helps jack all now. Was Roper really a higher up at blizz whoses famous saying it it will be done when its done.

They over-hyped a fail game which has hurt their rep there hope is the more casual gamers who arnt really concered about such things. To be honest i dont see mythos a success, but who knows

[hideinlight]

All i wanted out of hellgate was a fun LAN game...not a mmo. Mythos is so gonna fail, it won't be able to compete with likes of Guild Wars 2

[kHayne]

follow-up

Waaaait.. so, Hellgate 2 is going to be an MMO?

Lawl.

[Domanskip]

Yeah, I was extremely disappointed with Hellgate. It was a prime example of a rushed game that relied on hype for it's success. Now that they're releasing something new, they hope to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans.... too little, too late.

[James Donaldson]

All I wanted was a Diablo type clone with a decent or even reasonable story, Hellgate failed.

[Graal]

Hellgate's biggest problem wasn't that it was rushed, Flagship just tried too hard to create a diablo clone and failed utterly at that.

At least Diablo 3 looks to be promising, oh yeah, it's been announced.

[CaViE]

Remember the first Hellgate trailers? Hell, even the tech demo's.. They were predominately first-person and third-person play.. The first I heard of it being a full-on MMO was shortly before the demo came out, and I saw the E3 video..

Perhaps they just had too many ideas? I certainly don't think so, but I mean it's possible considering it's pre-release evolution from FPS/TPS/RPG to MMORPG...

[Paradox]

I dont think admitting hellgate being rushed helps jack all now. Was Roper really a higher up at blizz whoses famous saying it it will be done when its done.

Thing is, Flagship needed a game to bring in income. Without money they can't do anything. Bill Roper was also the head of the first two Diablo games. (Though, as we've seen time and again, big names mean nothing)

[Karuji]

Paradox, you hit the nail on the head but surely they should have realised that even if they made a profit off Hellgate but if it was a fail game it would hurt their rep and cause future games to flop.

True big name mean nothing, but we hoped that the person responsible two diablo games would atleast make a sort of decent diablo clone instead of a OMGROFLBBQ i wish i was a fail diablo clone cause im 5 times worse. Its like Roper was never even a part of Blizz or the dev team behind Diablo (which really further proves your point 100% correct)

[Graal]

The sad thing is, just because there is a big name behind a game, it's going to do quite good, even if the sales aren't great their not going to be horrible. Imagine if Spore turned out to be the biggest bunch of crap you could fit into one small box, it's still going to do really good.

[Repline]

^^---- Yes but that is because of the hype, spore is producing.

If I might come in here and just mention this: Peter Molyneux... all his games were great ideas and had average gameplay, but all in all it... kinda sucked, didnt it?

But the gamers is once again rampaging about Fable 2...

Marketing and hype is all about selling the idea, who cares about the final product, or that is the way the world sees it this day and age.

[kHayne]

The sad thing is, just because there is a big name behind a game, it's going to do quite good

Bullcrap. The industry has plenty spectacular commercial failures that were hyped to death.
Daikatana. Ultima 9. Battlecruiser 3000AD. To name a few.

Pull the other one, mate.

[Graal]

But the gamers is once again rampaging about Fable 2...

I wonder if Fable 2 is going to break the record by breaking more promises than the original Fable.

[Graal]

Bullcrap. The industry has plenty spectacular commercial failures that were hyped to death.
Daikatana. Ultima 9. Battlecruiser 3000AD. To name a few.

Pull the other one, mate.

Okay, it also depends on what the name is, it will sell good if the name is something the general public knows, not just gamers. I mean, tell somebody that the game is made by the creator of the sims and 75% chance that they already want(if they liked sims that is).

[Repline]

Daikatana. Ultima 9. Battlecruiser 3000AD. To name a few.

They were? Never even heard about the Battlecruiser one. :p

Yes but they didn't have the "big" name now did they, with the exception of Ultima 9 (Origin)


Daikatana, did perhaps have HUGE hype and a great mind (John Romero), but did you also see the huge negative critisism coming from gamers before the launch? WTF hiring your girlfriend to become a level designer? (Playboy girlfriend or so I heard) etc etc.

There might have been some huge hype on these games, but in the end they destroyed themselves. And bad news travels fast, faster than good reviews anyway.

[kHayne]

it will sell good if the name is something the general public knows, not just gamers.

That's some epic cognitive dissonance. If someone buys a game, they're a gamer. Why would a member of the 'general public' that's not a gamer, purchase a game? Why develop something for a target market that will never consume your product? That's... retarded.
No. If you buy a game, you're a gamer, regardless of what game it is. Someone who buys Popcap titles is as mcuh of a gamer as someone who ques in line 3 days for Far Cry 2. Their money's just as good.
And there are just as many brand name commercial flops. Particularly these cheap movie tie-ins.
Consumers deserve a little more credit. It's a fallacy that we are, generically, brainwashed consuming zombies who will buy anything that the ad-execs tell us to. It's quite clear that if you examine the greatest successes in gaming history, that many factors are at play beyond just marketing hype. The most popular games, the greatest successes, like Puzzle Pirates and Sims and Diablo2 all have one thing in common : they're simple and fun to play. This trumps hype every single time.

[kHayne]

Never even heard about the Battlecruiser one

Was probably before your time, but back in the day I remember the hype machine going full tilt about the revolutionary gameplay, nonlinearity, graphics etc that it would introduce. In the end it turned out to be a complete mess. Lost focus. Trying to do too much with too little.

[Graal]

If someone buys a game, they're a gamer. why would a member of the 'general public' that's not a gamer, purchase a game? No. If you buy a game, you're a gamer, regardless of what game it is.

So there is no distinguishing line between the person who plays games maybe for an hour every week and the person who plays 3 hours every day.

[wisp]

Say that a game was rushed is a **** poor excuse at best.Hellgate tried to be a Diablo and failed completely.So sorry we ficked up but plse support our next venture is not going to get u much support.