Today was my last day at NCsoft.
Although there are plenty of rumors flying around about what’s going on at NCsoft this week, most of them are pretty overhyped. However, my team was let go as part of ‘refocusing’. I’m sure there will be some sort of press release to that effect shortly.
I don’t hold any ill will about any of this. NCsoft enabled me to move to Austin, a city I love, and gave me one hell of a shot. It didn’t work out quite the way I had hoped, but I learned a great deal in the process. All in all, a pretty fair deal.
Next week, I’ll be starting at John Galt Games working on Webwars. It’s not quite an MMO, but it does share some similarities with where I think gaming needs to go (hint: $100 million budgets are BAD or at least very dangerous to long term stability and creativity). It’s a small company, and I get along great with the guys there already – it’s the first time that a Hearts of Iron 2 after action report actually played a role in the interview process.
Anyway, I wish everyone at NCsoft the best, both those still there and those hitting the streets looking for work. It’s not a good time to look for work in the Austin games industry right now – but it is an excellent time to put a kick-ass MMO team together (and if you are so inclined drop me a line, I have a whole list of people you should be talking to).
That’s all for now. It’s been a rollercoaster of a past few weeks.
Ceiling Cat Is Watching Your Team Leave The Building
#1 by David McGraw on August 14th, 2008
I wish you the best at your new home away from home.
#2 by trich on August 14th, 2008
Time for you to get to work on the Russian Civil War MMO – I am ready to play it.
#3 by Genda on August 14th, 2008
best to you. Just goes to show you how volatile the industry is right now. I agree that the huge-budget, win at all costs mentallity is crushing creativity in MMO’s.
You’ll be good man. You’re one of the good ones. Hope you are heppy where you have landed, and it works out to be a great opportunity for you. I’ll think about you all every day as I drive past the office there on 360.
#4 by Freakazoid on August 14th, 2008
This webwars game sounds gimmicky and dumb, but hey, we’ve been through this before. A regular paycheck always comes first. I suppose you could have landed on a worse project.
Here’s hoping this dumb game won’t be a total drag. The promised mmo will have to wait.
So uh… echoing a few statements before me, how about giving us a little peek at the project you were working on?
#5 by Ryan Shwayder on August 14th, 2008
Good luck, Scott. I was hoping to play an updated version of what made Ultima Online so great. Alas, it seems that time is even further off. Good to see you found a place to go, though.
#6 by Hawken on August 14th, 2008
Good luck Lum! Enjoy the new gig.
#7 by Walter Yarbrough on August 14th, 2008
Adding my best wishes publically.
Glad you landed on your feet so quickly.
#8 by darrenl on August 14th, 2008
I’m sorry to hear the bad news….but I wish you the best luck with Webwars.
Totally agree with you btw regarding MMO budgets right now btw.
#9 by Bonedead on August 14th, 2008
I’m going to be the only comment to call you a fucking asshole because I like to stand out like a loser, you fucking asshole.
<3
#10 by Klaitu on August 14th, 2008
I knew Iceland would come into play somewhere!
Everything leads to iceland.
#11 by Ashendarei on August 14th, 2008
Best of luck Lum! Hopefully this new gig will be even more valuable to you then the NCSoft position was.
Smaller companies in my experience typically offer much more flexibility and typically are more relaxed (not always a good thing
)
Austin is hotter then hell this time of year though (I’ve only been here a few months now, but good GOD it’s hot) I’m looking forward to the winter, where MAYBE we’ll see the temperature drop down to below 70 degrees!
#12 by Will on August 14th, 2008
Urgh, that kind of scares me. I’m going to college now, won’t be done for four years, working on a BS in Computer Science with a minor in math. I live in Austin and plan to stay here, but I’m afraid there will be no jobs for me when I’m done. Good luck in future endeavors, Lum.
#13 by Chas on August 14th, 2008
Best of luck, Scott.
#14 by Troy Goodfellow on August 14th, 2008
Good luck with the new gig. Always nice to see that employers respect good AAR writing.
#15 by yunk on August 14th, 2008
good luck
What we’re all really wondering is in this Webwars can we taxi to victory?
#16 by J. on August 14th, 2008
“I live in Austin and plan to stay here, but I’m afraid there will be no jobs for me when I’m done.”
You haven’t heard about the huge technology sector in Austin, besides games? If you’re any good, you’ll find a job. If you’re a wannabe (and there’s plenty of those in Austin) you’ll have more trouble.
But as has been pointed out elsewhere, Austin’s game sector goes through major layoffs and buildups every 2-3 years.
#17 by houstoncollector on August 14th, 2008
I agree with J. I came down to Austin /because/ of the huge tech sector, even outside of gaming. Sure, I’d love to work for a gaming company, but as long as I’m working with computers? I’m happy.
#18 by Iconic on August 15th, 2008
“This webwars game sounds gimmicky and dumb, but hey, we’ve been through this before.”
I don’t see how a game that allows me to pillage myspace for strategic resources can possibly be dumb.
Working at a company named after an Ayn Rand character however…
#19 by Salaryn on August 15th, 2008
Bummer! How on earth could they let you go
The dogs. Glad someone scooped you up, good luck going forward.
#20 by Marc on August 15th, 2008
Any chances going back to Mythic ? =D
#21 by damijin on August 15th, 2008
Welcome to the web, Scott! Things are good here
I wish nothing but the best of luck to everyone down in Austin. It’s been rough times down there, and I’m sure everyone will put this behind them quickly.
#22 by Diane on August 16th, 2008
Glad to hear you’re going to Webwars Scott – best of luck there! it looks really interesting!
Keep in touch, see you at Austin GDC?
#23 by Zubon on August 17th, 2008
Glad to hear you found something new. Keep fighting the good fight. Who is John Galt?
#24 by Atlas on August 18th, 2008
Shrug
#25 by Jeff Freeman on August 22nd, 2008
I pitched a game idea with a whole lot in common with WebWars not too long ago. Some folk even took to refering to it as “the web war game” since I didn’t offer a name for it.
So I hope it does well. Imma take credit for the whole thing, if it does.
#26 by nerd gone bad on August 26th, 2008
Dang…sorry the big project got cancelled, I would’ve like to have seen what you would’ve done with it.
But glad you got something else too.
If I could start my own game studio I’d hire you! We’d probably argue about dumb politics and skill vs. level based systems tho.