I just saw the news that Asheron's Call 2 is closing its doors for good in December. I can't say I'm surprised that it is closing, although I expected Turbine to cling onto the game to avoid the bad press of a closure before releasing D&D Online and Lord of the Rings Online (assuming they have the funding to still release these games). I played AC2 from beta until about seven months, was part of a pretty decent guild (when not overrun with annoying powergamers and uber-leet speakers), and thought the game had potential - but was almost a case study in mismanagement.
In late beta, and around launch, a lot of basic functionality was broken. Rubber-band lag when you moved, chat didn't work, and there wasn't much balance between classes. Crafting was nerfed, un-nerfed, and then forgotten about with promises of a revamp (ever fading into the future - apparently it arrived late last year). Levelling was a treadmill, and repeatedly doing the same quest over and over again was considered content. Microsoft and Turbine clearly didn't work as a team, and would blame each other when bits didn't work. Ken Karl and Ken Troop - the two architects of the game - left after a few months. Ken Troop moved on to head D&D Online (where he is being flamed left and right for what looks like a truly innovative - and utterly unworkable - game design), while Ken Karl quit the industry altogether. I gained a lot of hope when Jessica Mulligan joined the team to turn AC2 around. She managed it with Anarchy Online, and was very important in Ultima Online; that, and her Biting the Hand series showed great insight. Jessica made a lot of promises, some things changed - and suddenly the game worsened. Content patches became every other month (despite montly content being the differentiator of the AC product line over others). Gross revamps and skill resets hit everywhere, and it was obvious that the game lacked the manpower to make the sweeping changes required. We were promised everything from storage (banks, as found in every other game), vendors, NPCs who talk/move, buildings with interiors - the sorts of things that one might expect to find in a modern game. We received nerfs, constant bouncing between ideas, and the constant hope of promised changes. I left the game, but kept following it much as one might watch a train wreck as it progresses. Citan took over as leader of AC2, with Jessica suddenly in charge of AC1 and 2. She quietly (unannounced) moved to AC1 only, while Citan struggled to turn the game around. Things did actually improve; Hero 2.0 (flawed but better as an end-game), Crafting 2.0 (much like WoW's crafting system), a fair chunk of content, and some nice engine fixes. The developer team kept shrinking, and when the expansion was announced - all monthly patches were suspended to let them work on it. Apparently the expansion was a Hail Mary move: all or nothing, the game sinks or swims based on sales. Unfortunately, Turbine demonstrated an inability to market themselves out of a paper bag, and sinking became the only option. Citan is now working on Star Trek Online, Ramen (my favourite developer at Turbine) is manning the AC2 helm - she seems to have been elected to guide the ship into the depths, and the others are silent. I really hope Ramen finds a good job, she's a great developer, and really nice. It helps that she looks like Arwen, too. ;-)
I think seven months from expansion to close is a record. Horizons and Shadowbane have outlasted AC2! I wonder if this will spell the end for Turbine? MMOs closing is relatively new territory, and has been really bad for every company to go try it. Closing before two 'blockbuster' titles seems suicidal - and they aren't even offering those who stay to the end freebies in the new games.
Mood: tired
Music: Iron Maiden - Fear of the Dark
No comments:
Post a Comment