Shadowrun will be shipping soon. It’s been a long three years for many on the team. I’m certain that some folks will be leaving us to do other things after we ship. That’s normal, and it’s healthy, too. As for our contingent staff here, they’re just that - contingent. They have a maximum amount of time they can work here before taking a mandatory break. Many of them are complete star performers, but when the job’s done, they move on, and the job’s almost done.
The personal attacks on team members are inappropriate. We’re locking this thread accordingly.
If you’re implying that they’re laying everyone off, you’re mistaken.
They’re talking about contingent staff, i.e. contractors. Like Testers/QA that are working at MS through Volt. And after a year, or when your project ships, your assignment is over and you move on. I’ve done that very thing at MS (though not just QA) on four assignments, and it’s perfectly natural. It’s the way it goes. You go into it knowing you’re on a timer.
In fact, I have a friend there right now on the Shadowrun team, and he knows perfectly well that his contract only goes through the end of the contract. He knew that when he started. That’s how contracting assignments work.
All I know is FUCK THOSE FUCKING PRICKS. Every time I think of that utterly damaged, insulting memo that retarded fuck Mitch Gitelman slobbered out at the start of the project (“Y’know, all that Shadow Run stuff is just so… hard. So we decided to make a game with less Shadow Run and more KICKASS FAST FRENETIC ACTION!!! YOU KNOW LIKE COUNTERSTRIKE!!! WITH ELFS!!!”), I go all No Mutants Allowed.
I know it’s stupid and spiteful and petty, and it probably hurts a property I really like, but I want this project to fail and its managers to suffer.
The contingent part maybe true, but the response doesn’t contain any denial of studio closure. Granted the person who started the thread mentioned that, but the focus was on the studio closing, for which there was no response.
I’m of the opinion if you ask a corporation a question, and they don’t tell you the answer, the answer usually is yes.
Consensus among game critics that have played the game is that it’s actually pretty cool.
And believe me you want this to succeed. Because the only way an RPG was going to be made out of Shadowrun is if it can be shown there’s a strong enough demand out there. It was unrealistic to expect that there would be a Shadowrun RPG right off the bat, given how expensive and risky such an endeavor would be. If this game does well though, there’s a much greater chance that Microsoft will give the go-ahead, and FASA will look for RPG designers and bring them on. (Obviously their current designers couldn’t do it, since they make games like Crimson Skies, not complex RPGs).
Err why would FASA be shutting down? They have two solid franchises in Mech Assault and Crimson Skies they could go onto next. Microsoft could use sequels to both those games.
Then again when it comes to internet rumors logic is the last thing to be used…
I’ve never understood that logic- if this game does well then that just makes FASA and MS go “well, gee people obviously want more mp shooters- you guys start working on a sequel immediately.”
And a Shadowrun RPG would have been risky? No more risky than any other new RPG but that hasn’t stopped Jade Empire, Fable, and Mass Effect from coming to MS console.
Wouldn’t a widely successful product baring the name of Shadowrun, but having little to do with Shadowrun, make it harder for a faithful Shadowrun RPG? That’s like expecting Wing Commander Arena to bring back the space sim demand.
There are two possibilities: The Shadowrun FPS succeeds, in which case investors will want more Shadowrun FPSs and don’t you dare dilute our valuable IP by thinking of RPGs. Or the Shadowrun FPS fails, in which case there’s clear proof that nobody wants to play a Shadowrun game.
Either way, we aren’t seeing a Shadowrun CRPG any time soon.
Maybe. But if it does poorly they’re sure as hell not going to make an RPG. At least if it’s a success, and the games expose hundreds of thousands of new players to the Shadowrun universe, then they would have a successful trademark that they could branch off into other genres.
And a Shadowrun RPG would have been risky? No more risky than any other new RPG but that hasn’t stopped Jade Empire, Fable, and Mass Effect from coming to MS console.
Jade Empire and Mass Effect are made by Bioware, a company that has a hugely established fanbase.
As for Fable, I think Molyneux is given more leeway in making games than many other designers.
on the 1up show, they had one of the big FASA guys and while he wouldn’t confirm it, the feeling you got was their next two games would be Crimson Skies for the 360 and Mechwarrior for the PC.
Do you not realize that Shadowrun already is a successful trademark? That’s the only reason why it’s being used in the first place. Shadowrun is a successful pnp RPG that has a little name recognition. And why would a market that liked a Counterstrike clone with special action spells be at all interested in a cRPG that bears little resemblance to the soon to be released shooter? How does cannibalizing an IP lead to a stronger chance of a game based on the original IP?
FASA has always been a multiplayer driven company. Their roots are in the Virtual World game systems. Mechwarrior 4 and Crimson Skies 2 (initial build) showed that they simply don’t have the talent to do a good single-player game. MS had to pull in outside help to punch things up for CS2 while for MW4 they played it safe by dishing out a very unoriginal story with writing seemingly done by the team. I was one of the principles over at Dropshipcommand.com where they used to post and where they announced they were dropping development on MW5. What angered me was they played off the IP as being viewed by the newer generation of gamers as “your fathers game” and that they wouldn’t return to the series until they “could do it right” (whatever that meant). They felt a hardcore mech sim was no longer relevant and with MA2, an arcade mech shooter, not doing very big numbers people certainly wouldn’t buy a more sim oriented title. Meanwhile, Chromehounds comes out and almost matches Halo 2’s MP popularity for a time and the game itself sold close to a million copies. And remember that is a game with a single player storyline that was abysmal.
If FASA/MS leadership had half a brain they’d take advantage of the Live! environment and do something along the lines of Multiplayer Battletech:3025. Matter of fact it would be perfect for FASA given their focus on multiplayer gaming. The original game was a ridiculously small 16mb download so
If this game succeeds, it will have nothing to do with the people who want a Shadowrun RPG. They’ve made sure to alienate anyone who actually liked Shadowrun. Whether or not it’s a good game is beside the point. Plus, after this game, a Shadowrun RPG wouldn’t be guaranteed any success either, because after this abortion, Shadowrun fans wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole.
