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Stormhound
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New Jersey
Jan 1970
time: 00:18
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And now for the April 1 update I promised you folks. No, it's no joke. Dan (or whoever), please do me a favor and don't make this a headline item if you can justify not doing so.
As of today, I'm no longer employed by QS to work on MOO3. I was laid off as a cost-cutting measure. [Informed Speculation: I'm the first, but not the last. We're at the stage of the project where designers supposedly don't have anything much to do.]
That means that I'm no longer the "voice of QS" around here. While I may pop in from time to time, there's going to be less and less that I can really say that's meaningful with regard to how the game is progressing. Since I rarely like to speak without something useful or entertaining to say, that means I'll pretty much be shutting up. I seriously doubt anyone from QS will be taking up those reins.
I will, however, tell you a few things. Expect more changes and simplifications from things you've seen here and on the QS site. Expect more things to be removed, including some that you really like. I have no idea how closely the final game is going to resemble Alan's design, nor any great amount of hope. QS is going to have to get the game out the door at some point, and will do what it takes to satisfy the publisher. If you want to write that off as "sour grapes" by someone who's been cut loose, be my guest.
In some ways, I share the blame. MOO3 was quite an ambitious project when I got in on it, and I certainly allowed myself to be swept away by the vision for the game (and tried to translate that euphoria to all the other fans). I tried to design in accordance with that vision, and I know Alan liked what I gave him. Alan's not making the decisions now, though; Infogrames and QS senior management are. That vision is meeting some harsh economic and business realities...well, it has been for a little while now, but things are going to get a lot more intense. We'll all get to see the end result at some point, I hope. At least, I think I hope so.
Beyond that, I'm going to resist the urge to rant. It would be useless to be angry now, and I need the energy to hunt for a job. Take care, folks, and I'll see you around sometime.
Stormhound
Ex-Assistant Designer of MOO3
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Yolky
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Ontario Canada
Oct 2001
time: 00:18
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Sorry to see you go. I enjoyed my time with you here and was gratefull when you answered my questions so promptly. Hope to see you soon and good luck with your new job.
Davor
Last edited by Yolky on 01-04-2002 at 22:35
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Nightingale
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Denmark
Jun 2001
time: 06:18
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I'm sorry to see you go, you always did a wonderful job acting as a sort of middle-man between the fans, and the company.
I'm sure we'll all miss your witty remarks, and your great devotion to keeping us informed, and answer all the questions as best you could.
I'm sure a person of your experience will find another job, and I'm sure you did enjoy your time with QS very much, just a shame it had to end like this.
I can understand that you may feel the need to take a break from all things MoO, but I hope you'll still talk on the forums, this one, and the Delphi one, even if you have nothing witty, or informative to say.
I wish you the best, you always seemed like a good person to me, and good people are not as common as some may think.
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Stormhound
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New Jersey
Jan 1970
time: 00:18
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It's now April 2, and what I said yesterday still stands. I can add one bit of information that's public (thanks to Rantz in the chat room): IFP are now gone. If you hated them, you can be happy. If you liked them, c'est la vie. 
Thanks to those of you who've written (publicly or privately). I'm sure I'll hang around here, there just won't be much to say. At least I'm not prohibited from posting to boards, like Alan. (Another bit of now-public info, this from the Delphi board.) I won't go back to Delphi, though...I really don't care to live under Rantz and Cory's thumb, and right now they're doing damage control from yesterday. 
Thanks to LordEd for the PopTop notice; it's just a shame that my programming skills are all in COBOL, not C++. But if they decide to develop a game for the mainframe, you never know. 
And hey, MOO3 might turn out to be a good game. You can count on getting my honest opinion about it either way... 
Last edited by Stormhound on 02-04-2002 at 22:42
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Deathray
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High Wycombe
Oct 2001
time: 05:18
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I'm really quite worried now. William Fisher has made an announcement on the Official MOO3 boards, but has been really, really vague about what is being cut, simplified etc. and what isn't. He said that the core bits are being left in, but since he states "lots of planets" as being a core feature and key to depth I'm a little dubious. He seems to be deliberately dodging the issue. If they know what is wrong and what they are going to do to change it then why won't they tell us? And now this about IFPs being cut. Oh dear.
Stormhound, in your honest opinion, have Infogrames screwed the game over?
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Ellrohir
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You'll truly be missed, Hound. We all appreciated the bridge you provided between the forum and the game, even those of us with whom you didn't have the chance to interact with directly much.
Best of luck always.
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Flakker
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quote:
if they need extra 3 months just to release game stripped of many features, something strage is going on. |
My thoughts precisely. I do not pretend to know what is going on, but I am getting very, very worried. And don't tell me to wait until the game comes out, there has been a suspicious chain of events since the second delay, and I refused to see it. Well, now the Head Designer of the game cannot post, and I cannot ignore the signs.
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MOHonor
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Nashville, TN
Jan 2001
time: 05:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Stormhound
My honest opinion is that I don't know how the game will end up, nor am I likely to know prior to it hitting the shelves. I've already seen enough stuff that I cannot discuss (because it isn't public) that I'm concerned.
If you want to stack that against the unqualified endorsement I gave the game early in development, or if you want to stack it against my recent departure from QS, you may do either (or both). I don't give a fig whether anyone believes me right now, because the truth will be self-evident when the game is released and you'll be able to weigh my words then.
Truth? |
The birth of Moo3's yin26.
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mactbone
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Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Sep 2001
time: 23:18
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This really sucks. FWIW, you were real cool about everything and it was fun having you around. I *really* hope you land a good job somewhere.
BTW, IFPs gone... damn, that means this'll be just another advancement in TBS, not a revolutionary leap.
Instead of shooting for the moon, they're going conservative.
I always said, if they can pull off, what they say they can pull off, this game will ROCK! Well, they can't, as evidenced by the disappearance of IFP.
Who wants to bet the incentive is less corruption, ala Civ3 smaller country?
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01-04-2002 19:53
Holy crap, I thought that was going to be a major part of the new game. I have a bad feeling about this.
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