Comments on: Layoffs Rumored At Mythic

By: EpicSquirt

EpicSquirt — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:25:04 +0000

Mark Jacobs is a legend builder, his words count nothing. They should close Mythic along with Warhammer just to make him shut up.

By: Mythic layoffs! How to reward success | Netharuka

Mythic layoffs! How to reward success | Netharuka — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 05:01:10 +0000

[...] a Comment As reported here and here, it looks like the folks at Mythic Entertainment will be facing layoffs. For those of you that [...]

By: D-0ne

D-0ne — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 22:27:18 +0000

“I Don’t think the investors give a shit about our quality” – John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts
E3 perspective: An interview with John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts » VentureBeat

VB: No, I’m thinking more of investors and shareholders. Maybe they can’t tell as easily. The stock hasn’t moved in any great directions.
JR: I don’t think the investors give a shit about our quality. They care about our earnings per share. They wait for it to happen. We had three years where we didn’t make our expectations. If I were an investor, I would wait and see. That’s fine with me.

http://www.thisisnotacommunity.org/pivot/entry.php?id=167

By: Zuzax

Zuzax — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:13:05 +0000

Hatch :I’m sure there were no salary or position cuts to middle/upper management.

Well of course not. Are you aware of the effect such a move has on management retreats? Most of the better resorts are hard to book with a small group.

By: Hatch

Hatch — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 20:18:19 +0000

Hey, I have felt that mythic has been spiraling the drain in terms of quality for years. This shows some truth to that, you cut from the least useful positions. I’m sure there were no salary or position cuts to middle/upper management.

By: dartwick

dartwick — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 19:30:57 +0000

Diablo 1 and 2 (which I loved) are not MMOs. They are not alternate worlds in the same sense as WAR WOW or DAoC.

They are stylistic gothic experiences where you you gamble away time for for a chance at cool items.

By: bonedead

bonedead — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:28:33 +0000

Diablo is a different beast. You basically create a new world every time you want to play, mobs don’t respawn, oh and everyone that plays Diablo only has 1 thing on their mind: phat lewt.

By: Rawrasaur

Rawrasaur — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:03:12 +0000

@Dartwick:

Has that really been a problem for the Diablo series?

–Rawr

By: Iconic

Iconic — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:47:18 +0000

@Dartwick:

Yea, within the first 48 hours of beta testing I knew the dark atmosphere was going to be a problem. Maybe not a “this game can’t succeed” problem but definitely a “I will have a hard time playing this, and I know others who will feel the same” problem.

A world doesn’t have to be gumdrops and rainbows, but when it’s less dreary to sit on my porch and watch birds, you’ve got a problem.

By: Abalieno

Abalieno — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:55:14 +0000

Mark Jacobs has been answering this with the usual off the mark comments.

To the rumored cut of QA and playtesting he replies with:

Oh, and the whole (OMG, we’re losing 1/2 the developer (or even of the total team) thing) is total nonsense.

When no one has written about losing the whole team or actual developers. He makes up silly accusations and then answers to them.

He says that they have lay-offs that aren’t due to the game’s performance but just because they happen across all EA studios. He can’t give the specifics because he has guidelines. And that he had a team of 400 people at one point, and so it’s still a big team even after the cuts.

Finally:

pretty much every person there has been and will continue to work on WAR for quite a while

Pretty much.