More reactions to BioWAAAGH!
We've been keeping our eyes on various blogs and forums discussing yesterday's big news that Mythic and BioWare are being restructured under EA's new MMO/RPG gaming division and that Mark Jacobs is no longer working for EA. Here's a summary of what we've found so far.
Many people are under the false impression that Mythic and BioWare have merged. One of Mythic's developers made this clarification: "We're still Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Studio, as we have been. I've posted this elsewhere, but we're not 'merging.' We are still a completely separate entity within EA, just as Bioware is, simply now grouped under the same MMO/RPG grouping and reporting to one person, collectively."
Although this may be the case, Keen is still one of many who are worried about the new group, citing EA's history of absorbing studios, restructuring them, and then letting them and their games fall to pieces. Others are excited about this new group, hoping it breathes new life into Mythic and its games.
The new structure has Rob Denton, newly crowned Mythic General Manager reporting to Ray Muzyka who takes on the new role as group GM, while retaining his old role as BioWare GM.
Quite a few people have been questioning the leadership of this new group (3rd reply down). While few can argue against BioWare releasing an extensive catalogue of high quality RPGs, they haven't really had much experience developing MMOs.
Supporters are citing two things. First, BioWare has been developing Star Wars: The Old Republic for a couple years now, and second, one can look to Blizzard for a bit of encouragement; a company that never released a single MMO before World of Warcraft.
One of the biggest things Warhammer Online fans have been asking for since the release of this news is some sort of official comment from Rob Denton stating his intentions moving forward. We have been told to keep our eyes on the Warhammer Herald today as Jeff Hickman will be releasing part 3 of his Executive Producer's Letter expanding upon the top 5 issues identified in his previous entry.
As for news about Mark Jacobs, folks seem to be running the range of emtions. Some people are expressing outright glee. Many others have paid their respects to the man and thanked him for his contributions to the genre - hoping and betting that this isn't the end.
What Mark Jacobs does next remains a mystery. Some have gone so far as to suggest he form a new team with Brad McQuaid and Richard Garriott and create a "next-gen MMO." That would be... interesting.
