Feedback talk:Mike O'Brien

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too quiet around here...

Does anyone else get the sense from the blog writeup that Mike really knows what it is to be jaded /w MMO's? That could be an important point moving forward... Important enough to ward off the Wow2.0 cynasisms --ilr 09:15, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

I'm sure you saw that again in my most recent blog post. This industry just needs to move on. We've seen a bunch of "WoW 2.0" attempts, and who actually wants that? Do we really want to be playing those same game mechanics for another 5 or 10 years? --Mike O'Brien 20:22, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

The differences between GW and WoW is the entire reason I play it in the first place. I was a bit leery at first hearing about the persistent zones and higher level cap, but at this point I think if you successfully pull off even half of what you're aiming for, you'll still have the best mmo out there.-- Pyron Sy 23:55, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Departures

Hi all,

Today I’d like to take a moment to say goodbye to James Phinney and some other friends who are leaving ArenaNet this week.

I’ve known James since 1995, and have enjoyed working with him over the years. He was a long-time key contributor at ArenaNet, and was the first lead designer on the Guild Wars 2 project starting in 2007.

In July 2009 we asked James to take on a more studio-wide role, while Eric Flannum took over as lead designer of Guild Wars 2. After that, James wasn’t directly involved in the day-to-day development of Guild Wars 2, and Eric made the game his own. I’m sure you’re all familiar with Eric’s vision and passion through all the interviews he’s done over the past year.

James Phinney is a great designer and deserves a game to call his own again, so I wasn’t surprised when he told me he’d be joining Jeff Strain’s new company to lead the design effort there.

Joining him there will be Richard Foge, another friend and designer who worked with James while heading up the design of a prototyping effort here, and Scott Albaugh and Doug Williams, two of the artists on that effort.

Of course we’re disappointed to see them go, but I also know these guys are each individually huge zombie fans and are going to work on a zombie game, so I’m excited for their opportunity and wish them all the best.

--Mike O'Brien 20:22, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Their game will attract millions and we will use it as a combat simulator in preparation for the Zombie Apocalypse.

I know these guys will be missed around the office and I am sure that all fans will miss you. Personally, I will be looking for this Zombie game in the future. Take care and good luck, guys. — Gares 20:48, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Whenever I hear of people leaving a company that I like, I'm always afraid. Afraid that they left because the company was going a certain way and they didn't like that way, so they leave. Like how the founders of ArenaNet left Blizzard.

I pray that this is not the case. 24.92.202.240 22:56, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

MIKE YOU ARE SO AWESOME!!!!!!! edit: ye these two above me have a point. - Wuhy 23:18, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Well... Eric is clearly very, very enthusiastic about what he's doing and just like anything else... the prize goes to those who want it most. I don't know as much about James but I know he brought something special to the GW1 team and missing him might be felt in Gw2 right from the get go. But TbH, I think the L4D team has more to worry about here than we do since they'll be the ones finally getting some real competition in that Genre so gratz to James on that. I'm just thankful we got the full story on this and why it happened. Thanks Mike. --ilr 03:06, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

Just a heads up for everyone here; Regina said that James was helping with the TK and skill balances. She said they'll do what they can to "ensure that his departure has minimal impact" on what he helped with. I think we may have gotten shortchanged a little on this one.... 71.115.101.155 03:16, 12 August 2010 (UTC)