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EG interview w/ Randy Pitchford - he's at it again

Alienous

Member
Wow, just own up and move on. You still have legit game series with you, why are you doing this?

I've said this before, but I have to imagine it has something to do with Pitchford and his magician background.

If a coin falls out of your hair in the middle of the trick just pretend nothing happened and move on to the next one.
 

L Thammy

Member
Am I the only one really getting pissed off by his attitude regarding this? As in genuinely getting pissed off and thinking wtf is wrong with this guy, he needs to sort his attitude out?

Absolutely no scruples on him. And I thought Pessino was bad; this takes the cake.

Show some humility ffs.

Sorta. I known people that act like this in real life, and they're a pain in the ass to deal with. People who refuse to accept their mistakes aren't usually in the habit of learning from them. And they're often pretty smug about that too.
 
I wonder if he actually believes the story he invented about how Gearbox got its name. I'd completely forgotten about the article until someone brought it up in the previous Pitchford thread; it's still amusing.

I...uh...what?

How does he....what?!

I guess he never followed up on clarifying that story? If someone like Jim ever gets an interview this needs to be brought up as well.
 
I'm honestly not trying to set anything up, I'm just going to restate what I've said in the past on this matter:

If you aren't happy with the product, blame the guys who sold it to you. Which is in gaming -without exception- the publisher. They have the right of veto at every stage of the process both in development and marketing, and if they aren't looking out for the interests of their audience, what the dev wants or believes is kinda irrelevant.

As to what Pitchford "believes", look I've worked in the business long enough to know exactly how subjective the developers perspective is. You look at hundreds of different builds over the course of years and trust me, you are intimately aware of every fault, but at the same time you can also be very happy with a thing that other people don't like because you have inadvertently tailored it to your precise taste.

I'd also add that builds made for promotional purposes are often the thing you want to just get out the door and forget as soon as possible. As generally they are an unwanted distraction that keeps you from finishing your next milestone.

Long story short, its a different perspective, but a valid one. And as such it would be just as remiss to dismiss it out of hand, as that of a paying customer.

I didn't intend to turn you into an unofficial Randy spokesman I just find his answers bizarre and don't understand reading them and thinking 'Yeah that answers that then'. He was too vocal right up to the release of the game about how it would be all he promised from day 1 (and that E3 demo) to walk away and say 'It was all Sega's fault'.

Look we all understand how hard it is to look at something you and your team worked on for a few years and go 'Shit it's no good, is it?'. That's human, I'm sure Ed Wood went to his grave believing himself a misunderstood auteur (and you could craft an argument for that) but the general verdict will always be Ed Wood is a bad director. My issue is not with the existence of the E3 build/slice or the promotion of it, my issue is that when 12 weeks out your final build doesn't look like that you need to stop.

In my own career I've had to stand in front of rooms of people and go 'mea culpa' when we were getting ragged on for 3rd party failings but you know what it was our badge on the kit and they were our customers so I ate that shit. Life isn't always fair and we can all think of reasons why action X wasn't our fault, taking responsibility is looking at those reasons and thinking to yourself 'You know what the customer trusted me it's not good enough to say it was Jeff in the mailrooms fault'. The situation didn't end well for us from a business perspective but our approach contained the failure and stopped it from damaging our reputation further. And those who still wanted more details were willing to hear our story and believe the proportion that was our fault because we were up front about it being a failure in the first place.
 

Steroyd

Member
Eurogamer: In the case of Aliens, you must accept it's not as good as Borderlands. Surely you accept that.

Oh, a yes or no question this should have a simple answer--

Randy Pitchford: It depends on what criteria you're using to define good. It did not sell as much. It didn't receive nearly the scores. It wasn't even close. Borderlands has sold maybe 15 times as many units. And the scores are very clear. Aliens got destroyed by the critics.

1333829505765lal5.gif


My god, why did he even try to be indirect with that, how, what, why!?
 

NIN90

Member
Why does he say he lost lots of money on Alien and that he gained a shitload off Borderlands? Is he Gearbox?

Seems a little self-centered, no?
 

Nydius

Member
Randy Pitchford: It depends on what criteria you're using to define good. It did not sell as much. It didn't receive nearly the scores. It wasn't even close. Borderlands has sold maybe 15 times as many units. And the scores are very clear. Aliens got destroyed by the critics.

Looks like Randy went to the Bill Clinton School of Deflection (©1998).

But really, most people already knew Pitchford was an opinionated asshat. I'm struggling to see why anyone is surprised when he rears his head and reminds us all that he's still an asshat.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
You're aware of the fallout and the backlast, the fact that you didn't follow the game prior to launch and just after release doesn't really make you fully aware of the issues.

You're getting half the picture and that's never a good place to try and defend or suggest any criticism levelled toward someone is unjustified and is purely emotional.

I'm as aware and informed as you are, I'm just not a disgruntled fan.

If that disallows my perspective in your eyes, I truly don't mind.

One last point, if this subject was one of rationality rtather than high emotion, I strongly suspect I wouldn't be receiving so much hostility for mildly expressing an opinon.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
I like Gearbox but Pitchford is really hurting their image. I hate how he keeps saying he's the company and refusing to admit to mistakes.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
He does eat a small slice of humble pie somewhere in the interview though:

We've already suffered and we continue to suffer. People will not trust us as much in the future. Do you think Fox is ever going to let me have another swing at Aliens? Come on.

At least he acknowledges this, that it's unlikely he'll get to work on a big license again. I thought this was an interesting snippet in an entire interview full of smoke, mirrors and denial. That he compares his game to the experimental tracks on the White Album is laughable.

I also love his long Syd Mead rant

I got to play with Stan Winston's original prop of the Alien queen. I got to f**king touch it and interact with it and use it. We got to rebuild Hadley's Hope with Syd Mead's direction, for all the rooms that were never built in the sets, all the rooms that were never shot on film. We got to do that.

"Fuck you and what you think of the game, at least I saw my childhood dream come true"

Also I have to admit this: I have the most morbid curiousity to play through A:CM. I have to play this at some point to see if it really is the disaster people claim it is.
 

Mahonay

Banned
I'm as aware and informed as you are, I'm just not a disgruntled fan.

If that disallows my perspective in your eyes, I truly don't mind.

One last point, if this subject was one of rationality rtather than high emotion, I strongly suspect I wouldn't be receiving so much hostility for mildly expressing an opinon.
Not seeing the hostility. Most all responses to your posts in here have been reasonable and for the sake of discussion.
 

Sojgat

Member
Also I have to admit this: I have the most morbid curiousity to play through A:CM. I have to play this at some point to see if it really is the disaster people claim it is.

PC version is a perfectly average FPS, you might actually enjoy it.

Console versions are abominations, don't even bother.
 

dmr87

Member
I like Gearbox but Pitchford is really hurting their image. I hate how he keeps saying he's the company and refusing to admit to mistakes.

Agreed, though I don't really care about their games and I have nothing against the people working there, but Pitchford is just unbearable and he's the face of the company.
 
Also I have to admit this: I have the most morbid curiousity to play through A:CM. I have to play this at some point to see if it really is the disaster people claim it is.

It's merely an average game. Sound effects are good. Level design is generally fine. AI is terrible. Combat is poor and boss battles are fucking awful.

Go into it with the right level of expectation and there's as much merit in it as any average game. But it does hurt as a big fan of the film to see the wasted potential, and the story is insultingly bad. Like, really fucking atrocious.
 

OnPoint

Member
At this point is it really still a thing? Is the goal trying to get him to admit the game and the demo are different? You won't.

Look, it's clear he's full of it. The demo was misleading and anyone can see that. But he's never going to own up to it and he's never going to apologize.

If you're upset over this enough to boycott his games, then do it. Vote with your dollars and show him that this type of behavior is unacceptable and won't gain him any support. I never really liked his games in the first place, so it's disingenuous for me to say I'm going to boycott him since he never really had my support to begin with, but I suppose I'll be ignoring anything he puts out from here on out consciously. But that's just me.

I have a feeling the general populace will still buy anything Borderlands though, so I don't think it's going to make much of a difference. People just aren't getting upset about it enough for him to change his tune.
 
So it's confirmed - I am literally the only person on earth who liked A:CM. I completed it on release day in one sitting - and then purchased the season pass :/

EDIT: I played on PC.
 

Creamium

shut uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup
PC version is a perfectly average FPS, you might actually enjoy it.

Console versions are abominations, don't even bother.

It's merely an average game. Sound effects are good. Level design is generally fine. AI is terrible. Combat is poor and boss battles are fucking awful.

Go into it with the right level of expectation and there's as much merit in it as any average game. But it does hurt as a big fan of the film to see the wasted potential, and the story is insultingly bad. Like, really fucking atrocious.

Yeah it'd be on pc, it's already on my Steam wishlist. If that thing is ever €5 or so, I'm getting it. Thanks for the impressions, mostly disappointed by the bolded, that they didn't do anything with the amazing universe they were given.
 
I...uh...what?

How does he....what?!

I guess he never followed up on clarifying that story? If someone like Jim ever gets an interview this needs to be brought up as well.

What could he possibly say to follow that up? I'd imagine that he hopes no one ever brings that up in an interview.
 
So Randy seemingly has a psychological issue with telling the truth. You know Randy, you could talk to us about this and we might be able to forgive you.

Still - so far you haven't, and it cost you a sale of the Borderlands Collection at the weekend from me. Now that's the truth.
 
I've never been a big borderlands fan but clearly it was a well crafted game that people loved. That's the criteria I'm defining for "good" and I dont think anyone holds CM in as high regard as Blands 1 or 2.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
He's a deeply dishonest man who cares only about money and gives zero shits about game quality or his customers. Fuck him.
 

Jito

Banned
So it's confirmed - I am literally the only person on earth who liked A:CM. I completed it on release day in one sitting - and then purchased the season pass :/

EDIT: I played on PC.

What did you like about it?

To me it was a lazy, bog standard FPS that I've played a million times before but with Aliens shoved into it. The level design, enemy design, graphics, pacing, story, script and voice acting were all bottom of the barrel and lazy.
 
Yeah it'd be on pc, it's already on my Steam wishlist. If that thing is ever €5 or so, I'm getting it. Thanks for the impressions, mostly disappointed by the bolded, that they didn't do anything with the amazing universe they were given.

Story spoiler to prepare you for the awfulness if you're interested:

Hicks is alive and Weyland Yutani swapped his hyper-sleep body out for an imposter and then kept him imprisoned on LV-426. He says he "doesn't have time to go into that right now", or something to that effect.

Also, at the beginning of the game,
the Sulaco is back in orbit around LV-426 and it's swarming with eggs because of course it is. One of the marines asks how it got there, and again it's brushed off with a line of dialogue.

Lastly, in the film Bishop implies that the reactor detonating will completely annihilate Hadley's Hope, but in the game you run around a lot of locations from the film, damaged but mostly intact. There are outdoor areas that have a lot of melted metal structures, but nothing that looks like a nuke went off in the middle of a small colony. It all just feels phoney and insincere.

The whole thing is just embarrassingly bad, and a re-tread of the beats from Aliens. They don't even pay homage properly.
 

Freiya

Member
I just got a month ban (ended yesterday) for calling Luke Smith a **** over his comments about the Destiny DLC .

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=169440919&postcount=844

You may want to edit your posts.

'Disagreeing with someone is fine, but an ad hominem attack on them is not' ... was the reason.

Assuming that the GAF moderating team is fair and unbiased, that is.



wow that's pretty bonkers


He will still be rewarded by all the gafers that will buy the next borderlands game, those are comments from a guy that knows how predictable his audience is, kinda admirable.


Let it go.


Sadly this is so true. He doesn't even give a damn about what he says because he knows people will buy borderlands anyway. It's like he thinks he is untouchable now and it's depressing because he basically is.
 

Fury451

Banned
Just wow at the ducking. Why even agree to do the interview if you're going to duck like that?

Publicity. He gets people talking, like we are now.

As was said before, interviewers should just stop pursuing him. These questions are a lot more direct than others I've seen, and he was still eluding with a bunch of nonsense and distracting answers that were completely irrelevant to the questions being asked.

He was a magician he magically deleted an entire team.

Yeah, he is somehow taking entire responsibility for the final product, without taking any responsibility for the final product.

Schroedinger's Responsibility
 
What did you like about it?

To me it was a lazy, bog standard FPS that I've played a million times before but with Aliens shoved into it. The level design, enemy design, graphics, pacing, story, script and voice acting were all bottom of the barrel and lazy.

Well it definitely wasn't the story, that was laughable. The gunplay was really good though in my opinion, and I think Gearbox did a good job on the universe as a whole. It is far from perfect, but I think it is an enjoyable experience.
 

Etnos

Banned
As such I feel comfortable pointing out that, to me, much of the criticism aimed at Pitchford seems to come from a place of emotion, rather than reason.

That doesn't make the criticism less valid, costumers don't get emotional just "because". Pathological lying, obnoxious attitude, and tone deft answers to criticism foster the feeling this guy doesn't actually respect costumers.

Besides understanding the process is cool and all, at the end it only matters what you deliver to costumer. I can go on and on with my costumers about the cool framework we built to deliver solutions... ya know what, they give ZERO shits about it (as the should), they hiring us to develop solution not to explain-justify our process.

Side node: if you working on a team pretty shitty to refer to your work as I, even if you the president, very unprofessional.
 

Jito

Banned
Well it definitely wasn't the story, that was laughable. The gunplay was really good though in my opinion, and I think Gearbox did a good job on the universe as a whole. It is far from perfect, but I think it is an enjoyable experience.

They did an ok job with re creating the Aliens universe but then Creative Assembly came along with Alien Isolation to show them how to really use the license properly. Randy brags about how he got to work with all the original assets yet churned out crap that kinda resembled Aliens, Creative Assembly lovingly created a whole new space station in the Alien art style and didn't need to brag about it.
 
They did an ok job with re creating the Aliens universe but then Creative Assembly came along with Alien Isolation to show them how to really use the license properly. Randy brags about how he got to work with all the original assets yet churned out crap that kinda resembled Aliens, Creative Assembly lovingly created a whole new space station in the Alien art style and didn't need to brag about it.

I haven't played Isolation yet, I bought it, played about 30 minutes of it, got chased by the Xeno, pooped my pants and will never turn it back on! I don't deal well with games like that haha.

I have watched streams and videos of it though, and alot of people say while it is a great game, it does drag on a bit for what it is. I don't know how true that is though.
 
My God, I feel like an absolutely terrible person as I should never wish or hope for such a thing but... damn I hope this guy gets the hell out of this company.

What a degenerate, he is either the most dense motherfucker on the planet or so far up his own ass, he doesn't remember what fresh air smells like.

You are an asshat, Randy. You make shit games. You are a pathological liar and bullshitter and somebody should have made sure you were permanently on a gag order. Every time you open your mouth, I become more and more disgusted that you hold such a high position of power in your studio.

Stop. Talking. Randy.
Just shut the hell up.

And don't compare your fuck-pile games and studio to the Beatles. Don't even think about it.
 
Ready yer Randy Pitchforks!

Personally I have no issues with him. He's a big name at GearBox and he's not one To throw his development team under the bus. I have give him credit for still answering what are quite clearly questions that make him look bad.
VideoGameDrama.
 

Jito

Banned
I haven't played Isolation yet, I bought it, played about 30 minutes of it, got chased by the Xeno, pooped my pants and will never turn it back on! I don't deal well with games like that haha.

I have watched streams and videos of it though, and alot of people say while it is a great game, it does drag on a bit for what it is. I don't know how true that is though.

Oh yeh it's definitely way too long for the kind of game it is, could have been half the length and still be as effective. I've not played all the way through myself but my friend clocked in something like 15 hours! Some really cool set pieces in the later game that are worth seeing. Just overall a better use of the Alien license than gunning down waves of poorly animated xenomorphs throwing themselves at you XD
 
Well it definitely wasn't the story, that was laughable. The gunplay was really good though in my opinion, and I think Gearbox did a good job on the universe as a whole. It is far from perfect, but I think it is an enjoyable experience.


I think this is where a lot of the divide comes in between those who say it was fine and those of us who are disappointed with it. The bits that most folks point to as good are things that come from the Aliens universe itself i.e. the sounds, the locations, the designs and the bits that are ropey the dialogue, the upgrade system (that never grants you 99 pulse rifle rounds as in the film), new Xeno types and the animations etc all came from Gearbox. I don't give them any credit for the former as that is inherent to the licence and assign them most of the blame for the latter.
 

Mahonay

Banned
Ready yer Randy Pitchforks!

Personally I have no issues with him. He's a big name at GearBox and he's not one To throw his development team under the bus. I have give him credit for still answering what are quite clearly questions that make him look bad.
VideoGameDrama.
What? Saying "I'm not at liberty to speak about that" would have been light years better than what he ended up going with. He doesn't get credit for merely responding to a question, when the answer he gave was grossly disingenuous.
 

Freiya

Member
Having read the entire article, Randy comes across surprisingly well and comprehensively deals with everything the interviewer flings at him.

As he says in closing, some people have decided he's a villain and there's nothing going to change their minds, so there's really not much more to be said on the matter.

I'd certainly expect anyone coming in legitimately neutral on the matter to be more favourable to Pitchford/Gearbox after reading that piece.



You are wrong imo. I believe I am legitimately neutral. I've never played the game and I actually like borderlands 2/ps (never got into 1). I think he sounds like a monkey and it's obvious the game took a big hit. I don't understand how someone can say "nothing can change their minds" all people want is for the man to own up to the shit and not insult their intelligence. That's really not asking for much.
 
Eurogamer shouldn't have just focused on the graphics in the question, it just sounds like whining.
The problem with aliens was that the game just wasn't very good.

he would directly throw that as subjective. At least the graphics questions can't be argued otherwise. they are 100% true. He still managed to deny that which is laughable to be honest. I have no respect for this guy at all.
 
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