Next-gen has a good write up based on Peter Molyneux’s recent talk at the Develop conference. And low and behold, Mr. Molyneux discusses design. I don’t agree with everything Mr. Molyneux has said or done (his managerial skills leave something to be desired — a discussion for another day), but there’s no denying he has an excellent background in design. Plus I love most of the games he’s done. However, there’s a specific thing he mentions in the article which struck a nerve with me.
“I don’t do this any more, but I used to make use of the press to seed ideas I wanted to get into a game. I’d say, for example, that there might be a new class of characters in a game. If the press responded well, it helped to persuade the team that it’s a good idea.”
As a developer, it’s possibly one of the most infuriating thing that can occur to you. You’re sitting at your desk catching up on E3 news. You’re curious to see the feedback on the demos of your game. Suddenly, you come across an interview with your producer/creative director/studio head promising some feature which no one on your team had ever heard about before.
It’s the sort of stunt you would expect from the marketing team, or your publisher. And yeah, it still sucks when they do it, but you can rationalize it. I mean after all, your publisher doesn’t really know any better…you would almost expect them to do something like that. It’s what publishers do. But when it comes from within your own team, from a leader, from someone you’d expect to protect your team and control the media’s expectations of the final product, it’s like a blow to the head. The one guy you expect to watch your back fucks you in the ass (for the lack of a better expression).
That’s what Mr. Molyneux did to his team…more than once. He did it on Black and White. He did it again on Fable. Fable was admittedly a good game, but Mr. Molyneux promised features which never ever materialized, and customers were pissed off and disappointed. At least Mr. Molyneux has learnt his lessons. Hopefully he won’t sell out his own team again.
