Raph Koster Leaves SOE

[jeffool]

Gamespot reports (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6146555.html) that Sony Online Entertainment's Chief Creative Officer Raph Koster (http://www.mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,19434/), best known for being the Lead Designer of Ultima Online and Creative Director of Star Wars Galaxies, no long works for SOE.

Koster is leaving his post of 6 years "to pursue development interests outside of the company," SOE said.

"Although his current interests take him into areas that don't match SOE's strategic goals, we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors."
As someone who's read his book and reads his blog, I hope this turns out well for him. Actually, I hope it turns out well for us all. (e.g., Some insanely rich investor gives him tons of cash and says "Please make a good MMO. We need one.")

[Varsity]

(e.g., Some insanely rich investor gives him tons of cash and says "Please make a good MMO. We need one.")
This could be my cue!

[Draft]

...says "Please make a good MMO. We need one."They probably wouldn't be talking to Ralph Koster then.

[balamoor]

From what I have been told Raph has pretty much sat in an office an collected cash since they took SWG away from him Three years ago. His contract was such that he couldn't even take a crap.

Now that SWG is pretty much over except for the pending "SWG is being taken back to LA in a full breathing suit for refit" post, he is free to move on. There has been a lot of talk about Raph going to work for Bethsheba.... maybe for an Elder Scrolls MMO?

[balamoor]

They probably wouldn't be talking to Ralph Koster then.

It wasn't Raphs fault that SWG was a bust guy...it was Darth SOE. (Face it they could take a a pile of gold and turn it into a pile of shit.) If they listened to his original design plan. (No Jedi Quest based Missions system similar to WoW Outcasting for Gankers,) The game would have been Much more sucsessful.

[Nite_Moogle]

Koster is just as much responsible for SWG's failure as any other SOE honcho. Chances are pretty slim that I will ever play a game he's worked on again.

[jeffool]

Oh? Not a big fan of UO? Y'know, the MMO that was more fun than any other that I've ever played? (By which I mean they fostered the best community I've ever seen. If you've got a better one for people who enjoy roleplay and immersion, I'd love to play it.)

[Felonous]

Night_Moogle is correct and I agree, if Koster is involved in any new projects, it's a clear sign to avoid said project like the plague.

Raph Koster was in charge of the design of SWG, it's failure is entirely his fault. His design decisions was what killed what should have been a license to print money.

I read his blog and other crap, trying to get a look into what the hell is wrong with this guy. Raph thinks that a game should "illuminate aspects of ourselves that we did not fully understand." Now doesn't that sound like fun?? When I fire up Oblivion this morning I'm trying to get in touch with my inner self... NOT!

His "gameplay theories" do NOT translate into fun gameplay. I imagine he would need to sit at the feet of Will Wright for a couple years before he gets a clue as to how to design a game system that is fun to play.

I seriously doubt Bethesda would go anywhere near this joker if they were to enter the MMORPG arena. Looking at Raph's track record, why would they?

[Hellstorm]

Having a friend at SOE, when this news hit them everyone started to cheer! Finally SOE can start moving in the right direction. Although he wrote a great book, your book is worthless when you don't follow it.

DC comic fans, have no worries, Koster had 0% input in the DCU MMO.

[Maskatron]

Um, if I were at SOE I wouldn't be celebrating while Smedley is still there.

[DigiWiz]

Raph Koster is the reason why SWG is in the state in which it is now. He has IDEAS and THEORIES, distant from reality. His theories suck.

Remember, if you read his blog, he's not making games - only services.

[Nite_Moogle]

Oh? Not a big fan of UO? Y'know, the MMO that was more fun than any other that I've ever played? (By which I mean they fostered the best community I've ever seen. If you've got a better one for people who enjoy roleplay and immersion, I'd love to play it.)
What's he done since? A one-hit wonder does not an outstanding designer make.

[jeffool]

What's he done since? A one-hit wonder does not an outstanding designer make.No, one major hit doesn't make him outstanding, but is having one major flop enough to crucify him?

[balamoor]

Raph Koster is the reason why SWG is in the state in which it is now. He has IDEAS and THEORIES, distant from reality. His theories suck.

Remember, if you read his blog, he's not making games - only services.Ummmm Right...They basically told Raph to sit the hell down by Beta Three.

jedi under Every Rock: Not Raph

Both CUs : Not Raph

NGE: Not Raph

The two idiots standing by a dome passing as Missions: Not Raph

The Millennium Falcon in every hanger ethos: Not Raph

Player Cities: Raph and a dumbass idea

Holo Grinding: Raph and a dumbass idea.

Jawas that you could slaughter but not Trade with: Not Raph

Not linking the Space game with the ground game: Not Raph.


So basically SOE looked at Raphs plan and said "Cool" until the first Uber Raider started to whine about their phat lewts.

And from what I heard the only folks that cheered at the news Raph was leaving were the Smedites. (You Remember Smeg, err I mean Smed right?...he's the Asshat that killed the Albatross the third day out. :P )

Bottom line is SOE will continue to suck ass and will more than likely fold after the soon to be abysmal failure that will be DC Online hits the streets.

[vallor]

Oh? Not a big fan of UO? Y'know, the MMO that was more fun than any other that I've ever played? (By which I mean they fostered the best community I've ever seen. If you've got a better one for people who enjoy roleplay and immersion, I'd love to play it.)

For every person that thought UO was the best thing ever there were three people who quit the game and never found any enjoyment in the game.

Just like SWG the *idea* of UO was great. The execution and the reaction to change once the product hit the wild was crap.

Unlike you I *hated* UO with a passion and see it as a complete failure of game design. I had less fun during my 6 months playing UO then pretty much any game. The only reason I stayed was because I had drunk the koolaid and kept expecting the promise of the original design to show up.

SWG was also, IMO a complete failure of game design for exactly the same reason.

The reason? He puts too much trust in the "goodness" of people and his game designs allow other players too much direct power over other peoples long term gaming experience.

One of these days he has to let the idea that people playing an MMO are not the responsible, do-gooder, idealistic folks he thinks they are, or should be. More often than not the worst comes out when people go online and they sure as heck don't care what your grand ideas for people driven communities and life like economic models are, except insofar as what it takes to trash them.

I will never play another MMO with his name on it. Which is sad because its not really his fault for having a Rodenberry-esk view of human development, its all you fucktards on the internets!

/cue penny arcade comic

[balamoor]

One of these days he has to let the idea that people playing an MMO are not the responsible, do-gooder, idealistic folks he thinks they are, or should be. More often than not the worst comes out when people go online and they sure as heck don't care what your grand ideas for people driven communities and life like economic models are, except insofar as what it takes to trash them.



Okay even though I am defending Raph I have to conceed this point. He does think that everyone playing Video Games are Intellegent well mannered D&D type gamers, and they just aren't. If anyone says othertwise take a look at the Jerry Springer Cesspool that are the WoW forums. But guess what? Raph isn't the only person that thinks this way . At the Blizzcon Q&A tons of people asked the DEVs "when are you going to start enforcing your behavior policies??"...and the answer was always well people are basically nice..NO THEY FUCKING AREN"T!!!!

So even though I don't agree that Raph is the reason SWG failed, I do agree with you here.

[Nite_Moogle]

No, one major hit doesn't make him outstanding, but is having one major flop enough to crucify him?
Calling SWG a flop is like calling World War 2 a small misunderstanding. Almost every single Star Wars title ever has sold well, and for the absurd addictions that MMOs have brought on (and the associated revenue stream), SWG should have been printing money like nobody's business every single day since release. Instead it has become the laughingstock of the MMO community and will more than likely be shut down entirely within the year. Mind you, this is the game that was supposed to dethrone Everquest, which is still doing better than SWG by a considerable margin.

Flop is an understatement and then some.

[Liquidize105]

Heh, it's true what they say, "Developers are only as good as their last game."

[Mason]

Raph designed a Star Wars MMORPG without a meaningful PvP Galactic Civil War.

May the ground underneath his feet be salted, and his seed forever extinguished from the earth.

[bobbler]

It's probably for the best...

Regardless of whether or not he is the reason the MMOs hes worked on suck, or because of SOE (in the former, if Raph is gone then SOE might have a chance at making something good, if the latter then its good hes ditching SOE and moving on).

I'm not really sure which it is, and depending on who you talk to, you'll get differing views (as we've seen here in only a matter of a handful of posts).

[Zeal]

I sometimes wonder if they even beta test these games before they're released. SWG was just inexcusable and insulting.

Games like that bring down the industry as a whole.

[balamoor]

I sometimes wonder if they even beta test these games before they're released. SWG was just inexcusable and insulting.

Games like that bring down the industry as a whole.

I read a blog sometimes back from an Ex SWG developer, that was hired because he was friends with a SOE employee. He had zero clue about game design none the less he was s promoted to a supervisory role. This is how SOE Operates with all of its games, and this is why they are all abysmal Failures today. Chris Styles a very good friend of mine left the Planeside team last year for this reason. He is now working happily at Mythic rolling out WHO. He told me that in Five years SOE would be more into the service side of MMO’s than actually developing them. It’s sad to see the once giant fall this hard.

[CaptSqueeze]

Raph Koster couldn't design his way out of a hockey helmet on that short bus full of lame design ideas he has.

UO sucked (but made money) + SWG sucked (but lost a LOT of money) = Designer of sucky games that lose more than they make.

[Roc Ingersol]

Crazy thought here: We don't all have to play the same games.

If some people enjoy yet another Koster-land*, more power to em.
If some people enjoy yet another McQuaid-box*, more power to em.

They might not be my kinda games, but who cares what other people play?

(*I should say MOO and DIKU respectively, but most people have no sense of the history of these games)