Agreed - one of my favorites. What really sucks is he just went through this with Copernicus and 38 Studios where he was cleaning up the mess that RA Salvatore and others left. Lore and creative continuity is among the most important aspects of any interactive game, but especially a sandbox. This is, by far, the most puzzling of the layoffs.
SOE Becomes Daybreak / Russian shutdown
- Thread starter Laerazi_sl
- Start date
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The current list (as of this post):
Linda "Brasse" Carlson (Director of Community Relations)
Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson (Director of Development)
Aaron "Gnobrin" Bisnett (EverQuest II Artist)
Akil "Lyndro" Hooper (EverQuest 1 & 2)
Tiffany "Amnerys" Spence (Community)
Racheal "Afista" McKenny (EQ2 Community)
Endymion (EQ2 dev)
Eric "Felgon" Smith (Landmark/EQNext producer)
Noah Watkins (H1Z1 artist)
Steve "Moorgard" Danuser (EQNext Lead Content/Story Designer)
Kelduum Revaan (H1Z1 Technical Designer)
For updates:
Layoffs Begin at Daybreak Games :: ZAM
some of the guys let go today were there when i worked there...ages ago. the game industry is not for everyone. i started looking for my way out right before Luclin was released. I was worried EQ was a 1 trick pony, games like SWG and PS were in development, the studio was buzzing with activity, the thing not to do was to get stuck on a project that would "date" you. how some of those guys lasted so long, through all the layoffs over the years...is a testament to them and their personnel fortitude. it just isn't easy. sad day for sure.
Yes Visionary...
His ability to see that the lack of lighting in the BB tunnel was in fact a "denial of service" was certainly visionary.
Convo
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Oldbased
> Than U
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Thank god I picked the right game to come back to soe/db/russian mafia to after 7 years.
Just went to check and it isn't public. Hmmm. Would be surprised if this WASN'T the case, but...
As a side note - on Facebook, Jeff Butler has the title Director of Development (which was Dave's title) and Steve Danuser has the title Creative Director (Jeff Butler's old title.) Makes me think that Georgeson leaving was something that was decided first, positions were reshuffled, and then other folks got laid off too. Not sure how accurate that is, but interesting nonetheless.
If I had to guess, it's likely the number of people laid off was secondary to the overall monthly amount the new overlord's agreed to spend to keep things moving and lower costs to an acceptable level. Redundant Director's and Managers are expensive and fairly easy to lay off, especially in smaller companies.
If Smed makes it through another full year, I'll be surprised. I'd expect a handpicked successor taking over eventually with a mandate of maximizing return on investment and getting rid of as much cost as possible.
Heallun
Lord Nagafen Raider
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Which seems...foolish? If they're planning on having music for these games, I mean. Not sure who better for the job.
Byr
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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radditsu
Silver Knight of the Realm
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