+- The Lurker Lounge Forums (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums)
+-- Forum: The Lurker Lounge (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The Lounge (https://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/forum-12.html)
+--- Thread: Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses (/thread-9327.html)
Pages:
1
2
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - nobbie - 02-10-2004
Quote:Contrary to the world-wide job market tendencies, the Blizzard upper ones have to struggle with a tremendous personnel decrease. However, not because one has cancelled job contracts, but because many top developers have voluntarily turned their back upon the game company.
According to a report of the U.S. magazine "Hollywood Reporter", Blizzard saw themselves obliged now to cancel a not yet announced project. According to unconfirmed news, the "WarCraft" developers have been working on two secret projects so far.
Blizzard didn't feel obliged so far to make a concrete statement or at least a dementi. Allegedly, there are "no significant delays" or "long-term negative consequences" for future projects - whatever that may mean.
Sources:
http://www.krawall.de/news.php?s=&news_id=9806
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Occhidiangela - 02-10-2004
It's been a good run.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Nastie_Bowie - 02-10-2004
I'm curious about what the boys who left Blizzard are up to. Seems the last I read they were being very secretive as to what they were working on.
NB :rolleyes:
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Cryptic - 02-10-2004
This is actually a good thing - it's time for Blizzard to wake up and realize that their chronic talent drain is their own fault. Perhaps they'll revert to a more designer-centric business model, and all will be well. Or, they can ignore the situation, allow it worsen, and wind up as victims of the market. I believe World of Warcraft will help keep them accountable - there's lots of MMORPGs out there, and if they don't cater to the customers, customers will jump ship. Lost subscribers, unlike lost players of games already paid for, = loss of revenue.
And as long as the designers flee to safer harbors and work from there, things will be good - how many Blizz splinter companies are there now, working on top-secret "the game we always wanted to make" projects? Two or three, more on the horizon? Blizzard needs to worry, but I don't think gamers do.
:P
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Occhidiangela - 02-10-2004
Flagship and Arena.net.
The former is the Schaeffers and Roper, and I think Peter Hu, the latter is the Condor gang, IIRC.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Tommi - 02-10-2004
Flagship staff was essentially fired (Schaeffers and Roper & co.). Now, they have also fired Geoff Frazier, or so I have heard. This supports the rumor:
http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp/web-designer.shtml
Cheers,
Tommi
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Sir_Die_alot - 02-10-2004
They have been looking for a web designer for quite some time now. Long before Geoff vanished.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Tal - 02-10-2004
Blizzard has had the Web Designer position open since at least October IIRC. And I don't think that GFrazier has ever done design but has been more of the web content editor at Blizzard. I believe they call his position Web Specialist. As to his being fired that is a rumor that springs up quite often whenever Geoff doesn't post for longer than 24 hours (excluding the weekends). He has posted as recently as yesterday from what I can tell on the WoW forums at Blizzard.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Roland - 02-10-2004
Occhidiangela,Feb 10 2004, 01:05 PM Wrote:Flagship and Arena.net.Or did he exodus afterwards and I just missed that tidbit?
The former is the Schaeffers and Roper, and I think Peter Hu, the latter is the Condor gang, IIRC.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Roland - 02-10-2004
Tommi,Feb 10 2004, 02:48 PM Wrote:Flagship staff was essentially fired (Schaeffers and Roper & co.).No one was fired, essentially or not. They left voluntarily. World of difference, my friend. I'm surprised you'd make such a mistake.
Cheers,
Tommi
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - [wcip]Angel - 02-10-2004
Occhidiangela,Feb 10 2004, 03:53 PM Wrote:It's been a good run.Bah!
Who gives a flying fiddlestick about Diablo3?
If I don't see infested Sarah going at it with Infested James in a Hydralisk Den real soon, I'll go mental.
I can't express how much I *need* StarCraft II!
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Archon_Wing - 02-10-2004
Quote: If I don't see infested Sarah going at it with Infested James in a Hydralisk Den real soon, I'll go mental.
Imagines described imagery.
Imagines Hydralisks in the background. <_< :lol: :ph34r: B)
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - WarLocke - 02-10-2004
I guess since I have no idea what this whole Sarah/James tangent is all about, it's about time I reinstalled SC/BW, and actually finished it this time, eh?
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Griselda - 02-10-2004
It was afterward. Peter had a few loose ends to tie up at Blizzard before he left, but Flagship made it official when they launched their web site.
-Griselda
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - nobbie - 02-10-2004
The "Hollywood Reporter" direct link:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/colum...tent_id=2086499
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - kandrathe - 02-11-2004
I remember us having this lament soon after the last exodus of Blizzard North folks, and speculation about the future of development efforts. I think the hollywoodreporter.com is manufacturing a mountain from a molehill of news (cancelation of some unannounced project), or they are about 6 months behind the times.
Game programming is not akin enough to rocket science yet, such that the available (unemployed) software engineering pool in north California is drained. Losing the talent that they have is a huge economic blow, and it means extra costs in bringing new staff up to speed with their existing code base (to handle support issues). While simultaneously it opens up opportunities for those who stay, or for the company to hire new talent. I would surmise that the projects that were cancelled were either due to the fact that they were conceptually poor, or under funded, rather than due to a shortage of available talent (at least in the marketplace).
I think if I were trying to build a game in todays marketplace the problem would be in trying to find the niche in which your product can shine, with most of the popular genre's being vastly over exploited (e.g. MMORPG).
Anyone seen this one yet?
X2: The Threat Review
X2: The Threat - Homepage
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - bschultz - 02-11-2004
gfraiser is still at blizzard. just look at the offical wow forums.
and what I want to know is what in the world has blizzard north been doing all this time? its been what? 4 years since diablo 2 came out? good lord. they cant make a game in that amount of time?
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Tommi - 02-11-2004
About Gfrazier: Good that it was a rumor. :) Deletion of all his posts was a bit strange though and arised many suspicions.
@Roland: What I've read from interviews, Roper said that they had never intended to leave Blizzard. The wanted to get into contact with Vivendi, made an ultimatum, and they were fired for that. They did not leave voluntarily.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - NiteFox - 02-11-2004
Listen, a highly elaborate clone could do GF's job just as well as the real thing.
What makes it worse, however, is so could a spider monkey.
Blizzard - Project-Stop after Personnel Losses - Roland - 02-11-2004
...the phrase "tendered our resignations". I've read on numerous interviews that they did just that. They were not fired. they quit.
As you pointed out, they did want to get in contact with Vivendi. Vivendi ignored them, and so they tendered their resignations as an ultimatum. They never got a word back from Vivendi, even to this day (according to them), so they left. What part of that dictates that they were fired? No part that I can see, unless I've been misreading English for the better part of my life.
Best to always get the facts straight, IMO. And if I am indeed wrong on this issue, point me to at least 2 sources that state so. Then, and only then will I buy that they were "fired".