Mythic-Electronic Arts Interview

[JCalCGM]

FiringSquad chats with Mythic Entertainment co-founder Mark Jacobs about the MMORPG developer's purchase last week by Electronic Arts. You can check out the interview right here (http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=10894). Here is a snip:
FiringSquad: Aside from Ultima Online, EA has not been very successful in developing MMORPG products. What does this new deal with Mythic mean in EA's long term goals for this genre and is it sort of a realization that EA needed help in those goals?

Mark Jacobs: EA’s track record with online games is an interesting one. On one hand they were the guys who developed the first game that had 100K paying subscribers. They have also tried to do some innovative games in this space which had less success. Everyone I’ve talked to from Larry Probst on down are huge believers in the online space. The acquisition of Mythic will mean that there are now additional resources within EA to help create online games as well as additional people from Mythic who have been part of the online industry since its earliest days who can lend their expertise to helping EA become the #1 developer and publisher of online games.

[Savok]

Online space? Has he always talked like this, or is there a money hat involved?

[Qoz]

Yeah. Seems like we will see alot of MMORPGS primarily designed to make the most money over the next 10 years. Mythic had distilled something very special and now its watered down by the shareholder driven EA.
I had hoped Mythic would remain a unit almost untouched by EA, by now they are spreading their talent thin? Not a good sign.

[niakori]

Earth and Beyond, Motor City Online, Ultima X... yeah. EA knows exactly what to do with mmos. :p

[Heretic Machine]

Listen to this man, he made his company completly irrelevant!

[captainstrombosis]

Hey man, Leave E&B out of this. I particularly liked that game. Even tho the lag was like pulling teeth :(

I was looking forward to WAR really bad. However it's starting to look like I will never get back into MMO's at this point. I will read the reviews and such at release, but I've already seen what happened when EA gobbles a company up.

That's not to say EA never makes good games. However what mythic had invisioned would be great. But when EA takes a company over they plaster their bullshit ideals on it. If by some miracle they let mythic do what they do best. I might start beliving in EA...

[holysin]

Mark Jacobs: EA’s track record with online games is an interesting one. On one hand they were the guys who developed the first game that had 100K paying subscribers.

They? EA or Origin? EA did buy origin before UO started development, but is the original team from Origin still around? Who would stick with the company just to create dozens and dozens of lame expansion packs?

[nysa]

They are allready spreading there self thin, by this I mean Mythic.. How many people actually work on Daoc anymore? Maybe 3 or 4 with the rest of them working on Warhammer...From what I have seen in shots and the movie trailer .. this will be WoW Jr..The way I look at it, Mythic has not taken care of Daoc has let there population drop in that game by the thousands... stil bugs there same ones.. after i took a 6 month break.. still bugs when the game was released same ones... and now there going to Ea... Sure Mark has spoken about how Daoc will not get thrown aside... But if he can say Oh we are not talking to Ea.. and the a couple of months Later.. on comes this who knows what wlll really happen...

[Goronmon]

I'm still hoping EA's involvement with Mythic is purely from a "trying to sell the game once its finished" kinda stance. Wonder how wrong I am...

[Goronmon]

this will be WoW Jr..Seriously, I wish people would stop making this comparison. Its silly and ignorant.

[Savok]

this will be WoW Jr
Hilarious on so many levels.

[nysa]

it may be silly... but it might be true.. I have noticed.. when i play daoc.. that in the darkness riseing client.. if you make a lvl 1 toon you get into like a noobie zone that has you learn all about the game by a quest with a talking npc.. was to say the least interesting.. it may be silly and ignorant but alot of games have gone way to the < WoW effect > making it alot easier.. to easy really..

[Goronmon]

it may be silly and ignorant but alot of games have gone way to the < WoW effect > making it alot easier.. to easy really..WTF is the "<WoW effect>"? Are you seriously saying that WoW is the first game where you talked to NPCs? Give me a break.

[Savok]

I believe you'll find grammar, spelling and logic better opponents at your skill level.

[Oblivion]

I hate and can't read posts where every sentence ends with more than one dot...

[Rakael]

I hate and can't read posts where every sentence ends with more than one dot...

What is even worse is that most of them weren't even full sentences. Poor idiot types like someone breathing on a respirator.

[niakori]

Hey man, Leave E&B out of this. I particularly liked that game. Even tho the lag was like pulling teeth :(



I was a long time player of E&B as well, I was pointing out EA's way of constantly cancelling games. In fact, in my opinion Eve-Online can't hold a light to E&B. Yes.

[Echani]

As regards WAR - I don't want to give up hope yet, but I think it's pretty safe to say that no MMOG between now and its release holds any remote interest for me (and that's a very, very good thing for my personal life). If WAR suffers because of this decision, then I may well be free forever. Or at least until the Starcraft MMOG (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/06/16) anyway :rolleyes:

We can still hope for a good game from the lads at Mythic, as long as EA aren't shoving it out the door in time for Christmas 2006 or running the staff on constant crunch hours. I want this one to work. And if not I'll get a hold of Paul Barnett and we can start working on Necromunda Online ;)

[Dakar]

Man he's already TALKING like someone from EA. It's kind of sad seeing EA assimilate more people with their money.

[lockwoodx]

Mark Jacobs has always been the father of lies with Sanya Thomas as damage controll. EA is the end for any Mythic product and it was a desperate sellout at that consider how Mythic never had any trouble driving away thier own coustomers for years now.

I have no hope for WAR now even tho I love GW despite how overpriced they always were.

Mythic entertainment your dead to me.

[Heretic Machine]

I have no hope for WAR now even tho I love GW despite how overpriced they always were.

Why would you love Games Workshop? They are probably one of the worst games company still in existence today.

[nysa]

Reguardless of what happens with Ea-Mythic. Will still be interesting to see what happens in the following months,