Scott Hartsman returns to Trion, takes CEO role

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Tidbit Scaledclaw_sl

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Mughal_sl said:
Just to be clear I think Archage might be happening, but it will be just translated rather than 'localized' and balanced for a Western audience. Trion does no longer have the money to develop new games so they are looking at low cost/high impact projects like publishing a game such as Archage.

Trion has been struggling for a long time. Their best employees are long gone and the EQN team has been able to pick what they wanted (have you talked to the guys at SOE Live? not the main famous dudes but the 2nd line guys? they all shipped amazing games and were there in a leadership role) since they have been in development for a long time.

Domino is amazing. Before her joining SOE there was little outreach beyond traditional 'marketing' and it was very hard to be heard. This is no longer the case.
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Question Mughal or anyone for the Trion doing ArcheAge in the Euro as well as the West, will Trion be able to make a lot of the items in house for the cash shop?
I know there bringing this over here but since this game will have a cash shop with some type of hybrid sub model as well a well stocked cash shop is important to not only the PNL of the game but to Trion its self.
 
spronk

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I played a few games of End of Nations alpha this week, was a big retool from the old Rise of Nations beta. I'm not into MOBAs at all, so I got my ass kicked a few times and just alt-f4'd when people started getting mad at me for sucking so bad. It looked like a decent enough game (felt like sc2/LoL with tanks) but I'm not sure why anyone would play a Trion MOBA over LoL or DOTA2, which is the only thing I see younger assholes ever talking about.

Anyways point being its a weird genre for them to try and pump out, but I guess makes more sense in the context of trying to sell the studio and polish a turd? Kinda weird though to bring Hartmann back just for that, unless he's a bigger deal in the MMO dev world than I realize.
 
G

Gecko_sl

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Actually, given the staggering amount of people who play DOTA2 and LoL, I'd think it would be an easier road to travel down than the mainline MMO world. I'm amazed at how popular MOBAs are, as I really don't care for them. I feel the same way about ''playing card' games, though, so I guess to each their own.
 
Utnayan

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If done right, they are very strategic and fun. But very few people can get it right. I hope to God we do not see every mom and pop shop trying to copy cat when they don't understand the first thing about these games. But... Yay gaming industry....
 
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gogojira_sl

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This is like WoW all over again and the MOBA shit is already played out while suckers line up for failure trying to cash in. DOTA2, LoL and Blizzard will all line their pockets (or are already lining), while the clones battle for scraps. Obviously development costs are considerably lower than an MMO, but I don't see any form of success for EoN, Strife, Dawngate or the 12 other ones in development. There's even a Legacy of Kain MOBA-like game in development.

I'm sure with End of Nations it's a desperation move to make money off a product that's spent way too long in development, but most people don't and won't know it exists.
 
J

Jackdaddio_sl

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and.. it continues.

Trion Worlds to close EU branch

Only a week after acknowledging the closure of its San Diego office, Trion Worlds has announced in a statement that it will be closing down another office. Trion Europe in Guildford, UK, will be cutting 10 jobs in the process, including branch boss John Burns and communications boss Jon Goddard.

"European localized versions of Trion's live and upcoming games will not be affected as all regional game development and support continues from Redwood City, CA," said the statement.
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Looks like Hartsman is all out of bubble gum.

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Jait

Jait

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Scott’s one of the rarest spawns in all of gaming. An actual decent guy who can navigate and maintain relationships with the far right players of FoH while embracing virtue signaling.

Hope he churns out some mobile bullshit to make bank. At this point you’d be dumb not to take advantage of pay to win systems. You ever see the return on games like Contest of Champions? It’s all profit. Even development costs are minimal. You just need the popular IPs and someone who can make an addictive game. And 90s MUD/MMO designers are exactly what you need. And more power to him. Hope he makes a mint.
 
Muligan

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Scott was the best thing to happen to EQ2. It's a shame he couldn't get a little more out of Rift. It had promise and had some great concepts but it lost its luster quickly. Hope he hits a homerun eventually.
 
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Pasteton

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Did he have nothing to do with the disaster that was the archeage port? he shoulda dumped them when they refused to remove the cash shop bs
 
Kriptini

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I have a complicated opinion of Hartsman because while I love what he did with EQ2, he did not deliver to the players as Trion CEO. The entire time he has been there, it feels like he has been bailing water from a sinking ship. I have no doubt that he is responsible for keeping Trion from going under after the failure of Defiance, End of Nations, and the failed negotiations with Crytek for Warface, but as a result Rift and ArcheAge got cash-cowed. It probably wasn't easy for him to give the order to make Rift go F2P but once the money started rolling in again... he never stopped it.

So while I appreciate him for giving some great times with EQ2 and for saving as much of Trion as possible, I really dislike the decisions he made with Trion's games to get to that point.
 
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Rhanyn

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This could turn it around for Trion.

I like Scott, I like what he did while he was with EQ2, and that buys him getting the good 'ole wait and see.
 
Warrik

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Eh, Rift wasnt a bad game at all. I hate its F2P transition and would rather just pay 15 a month and not have the store at all, but it is what it is.

He did great with EQ2. If I have issues with Trion, Rift isnt one of them. Arche Age is another matter altogether however...
 
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