Devs Rant About MMOs in the Austin Game Conference

We know you’ve had your own share of flamewars or “complaint threads” in various forums. And although it’s not really cool to insult another person just because s/he doesn’ have the same opinion as we do, the act of bashing and letting all that teenage angst out from our system is actually… fun.

But of course, all that fun isn’t limited to people experiencing raging hormones. In fact, you’d be quite pleased to know that the devs behind our games had a little bash-fest of their own too, during the Austin Game Conference (held during the seventh until ninth of this month). Now who sez game devs don’t know how to have fun?

Basically, they had an MMO rant session. Among those who were present were NCsoft designer Scott Jennings, BioWare Austin costudio director Richard Vogel, Sony Online Entertainment studio technical director Lorin Jameson, and Turbine Entertainment executive producer and creative director Jessica Mulligan, who shared a piece of their minds.

Most of their complaints stem from the undifferentiated World of Warcraft copycat MMOs that are around today. They call for innovation, or better execution of tried-and-tested MMO formulas. “We’re not only thieves; we’re bad thieves,” Mulligan commented,andthe crowd erupted into peals of laughter. Also, they pointed out that many games are rushed, which isn’t much of a good thing, as the quality is sacrificed. But because those are “in”, sponsors keep funding sub-standard games just so they can cash in on the MMO craze.

But of course, for every yin there’s an accompanying yang, and Ultra Mega Games founder Matt Firor, formerly of Mythic Entertainment, capped the event with an MMO rave. If at this point you’d be expecting boos from the crowd, you’d end up wrong. In fact, the crowd responded with resounding applause. Kinda nice way to end a ranting session, doncha think?

Via GameSpot

We know you’ve had your own share of flamewars or “complaint threads” in various forums. And although it’s not really cool to insult another person just because s/he doesn’ have the same opinion as we do, the act of bashing and letting all that teenage angst out from our system is actually… fun.

But of course, all that fun isn’t limited to people experiencing raging hormones. In fact, you’d be quite pleased to know that the devs behind our games had a little bash-fest of their own too, during the Austin Game Conference (held during the seventh until ninth of this month). Now who sez game devs don’t know how to have fun?

Basically, they had an MMO rant session. Among those who were present were NCsoft designer Scott Jennings, BioWare Austin costudio director Richard Vogel, Sony Online Entertainment studio technical director Lorin Jameson, and Turbine Entertainment executive producer and creative director Jessica Mulligan, who shared a piece of their minds.

Most of their complaints stem from the undifferentiated World of Warcraft copycat MMOs that are around today. They call for innovation, or better execution of tried-and-tested MMO formulas. “We’re not only thieves; we’re bad thieves,” Mulligan commented,andthe crowd erupted into peals of laughter. Also, they pointed out that many games are rushed, which isn’t much of a good thing, as the quality is sacrificed. But because those are “in”, sponsors keep funding sub-standard games just so they can cash in on the MMO craze.

But of course, for every yin there’s an accompanying yang, and Ultra Mega Games founder Matt Firor, formerly of Mythic Entertainment, capped the event with an MMO rave. If at this point you’d be expecting boos from the crowd, you’d end up wrong. In fact, the crowd responded with resounding applause. Kinda nice way to end a ranting session, doncha think?

Via GameSpot