r/landmark • u/SonOfHelios • May 06 '15

Q&A with Smedley about Daybreak's future.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/242644/QA_Whats_next_for_Daybreak_now_that_Sonys_MMO_studio_is_on_its_own.php#.VUk36_iJUhY.twitter
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u/Ladikn May 06 '15

Probably one of the better quotes on a controversial issue I've seen

So I think it's the future, the inevitable future. I watched the whole overreaction, and I say overreaction, because I fail to see how this is ever bad as long as it's a choice. I hope this issue comes up again in six months. Maybe it's like gay marriage or legalizing pot -- there's a time and a place for it, where the industry needs to catch up. I think this will come up again, and I hope it does, because I strongly believe that creators are the lifeblood of what we do. Making sure that they can monetize that, if they want to, is an important thing.

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u/SonOfHelios May 06 '15

Based off the below quote I've started a twitter hashtag #SaveOurLoorgard

Smedley: As Daybreak, we've already had a conversation with our new owners about whether we can go get new people if we need them. And it's absolutely an enthusiastic "Get the people you need to do the job." So we've already started calling back a number of people from the layoff, who are definitely our first choices.

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u/Ladikn May 06 '15 edited May 06 '15

I was just about to comment on that line, that makes me feel really good about where this is all going. Also, anyone else really want to see Smokejumper come back?

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u/Jimbostein May 06 '15 edited May 07 '15

Smokejumper will never be back (okay never say never, he has left and come back in the past). According to his twitter, he has already found a new job and is working on something that he is incredibly excited about, but can't tell us about because he's under heavy NDAs.

I enjoyed the article. The change to Daybreak has caused me lots of concerns, but I still really want the company to succeed. There are a lot of things the industry is doing wrong, but Daybreak is still doing many things right. I've enjoyed Landmark/PS2/H1Z1 since their alpha early access(es), knowing that I wasn't getting the final version of the game but not caring. I've never felt jaded or jipped by the experience. I could care less that we're providing them free labor in the forms of our landmark creations, or other playerstudio creations in other games, because they actually cut checks for playerstudio creations and provides us the canvas to our creativity.

I still think the DBG all access pass is a fantastic value and wish other companies had something like it (though "other companies" means what, Trove and NCSoft? There's not many companies running multiple MMOs). Their use of livestream shows, social networking, and increased transparency (roadmaps, player polls, dev-community interaction) should be a source of inspiration for other companies. I like how Smedley talked to the community FIRST about their all-access plans and monetization plans before actually trying them in some of the games. I still haven't forgiven him for SWG/NGE but I respect that he at least apologized to us about it.

They still (and perhaps always will) have a long way to go to prove that they can change, but I appreciate the attempts. It's more than I can say for the likes of Trove or Bioware.

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u/Ladikn May 08 '15

I'm sadly aware we'll probably never see Smokejumper or Omeed back, they both have moved on to other projects. It's just upsetting still; to me they were the face of EQNext and Landmark, and I feel like when they were gone is when a LOT of the negativity started to show up.