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[HellofaMouse]

people trying to forgive his repeated deception because he made some good games twenty years ago

i think this is simply incorrect. ive enjoyed every single one of his games (or games hes worked on rather) since the bullfrog days. (maybe except the cube) theyre all really good games.

you just need to stop listening to him, and appreciate his games for what they are, instead of what he says theyre gonna be.

 

[thewhitehawk]

What's the last game he really delivered on? Black & White? The original Fable?

He always talks about many more features than he is able to include in his games but to be honest, hype aside, I've enjoyed most of his games. Fable was a pretty nice action RPG, just not very deep. Fable 2 was an improvement in almost every regard and Fable 3's biggest flaw, quite honestly, was that the ending which was obviously rushed, but I still found it enjoyable and felt like it had a lot more charm than the vast majority of other games in the market.

In the midst of Microsoft's testosterone-filled hyper-male-fantasy-oriented marketing Molyneux's games, and some of Rare's, were breaths of fresh air and while he didn't and doesn't keep most of his promises, he usually delivers more interesting products than most other developers.

 

[666]

Why does he even bother anymore?

 

[SneakyStephan]

What's the last game he really delivered on? Black & White? The original Fable?

Haha no
I remember how hyped my best friend was for black&white in highschool, and how incredibly dissapointed he was as soon as he played it.

edit: wow someone in the thread is saying black&white is why people should believe he can make something good? Black&white was the original overpromised dissapointment that was nothing like what he had claimed... the whole monster ai thing was the simplest , most transparent little flowchart ever.
You filled some invisible bars by repeating actions/prompts and then once you filled it the monster emotes or did whatever basic animation was tied to that... it was no more advanced than a tamagochi

 

[Triggerhappytel]

What a scam, especially specifically having a stretch goal for Linux and seemingly just ignoring it. Someone better call Molyneux out on it if he does any future interviews on his new project.

Of course they won't though; hardly anyone in the gaming press asks hard questions. It'd be great if he had an interview with David Jenkins from Gamecentral, but I'm sure that won't happen.

After all the shit Molyneux has lied about, I still can't bring myself to dislike the guy. How?

I know what you mean; he's a great salesman and has an infectious enthusiasm.

Even if you discount the games he produced, you're still left with some classic games. The guy invented a genre.

I'm making no more posts on this. I get that people are pissed at some 'broken promises' (which I think is kinda dramatic), but some of the posts here border on hostility towards the guy. That's bullshit frankly. If this is supposed to be a forum for people who genuinely love games and gaming, you have to have some respect for a guy who was a pioneer.

He did wonderful things, decades ago. Nowadays he's a hack and a liar who never delivers on his promises.

“There’s this overwhelming urge to over-promise because it’s such a harsh rule: if you’re one penny short of your target then you don’t get it. And of course in this instance, the behaviour is incredibly destructive, which is ‘Christ, we’ve only got 10 days to go and we’ve got to make £100,000, for fuck’s sake, lets just say anything’. So I’m not sure I would do that again.”

That's not acceptable. Say what you want about the Kickstarter model (I've never funded anything and doubt I ever will, personally), but outright lying about your rewards and then turning to the next game should not be legal.

Well, KS have added T&Cs that developers have to fulfil their promises, but I don't know if there's any serious legal recourse if a project is under-delivered. Backers could probably start a class-action lawsuit if they only pledged to get the Linux version.

Whatever happened to the guy who won Curiosity? Is he involved with body's now? What does he do?

He was supposed to be made the 'boss' of Godus for a while, with the power to change some things and he'd get a little bit of the money it made, but I doubt the game was successful enough to actually pay out a worthwhile amount. Quite ironic after all the noise they made over Curiosity, and all the attention the press gave him.

There was a recent interview where he basically said Kickstarter is the devil, and not really designed for the way he works - he said it's too easy to over promise, especially when you need that last little bit of funding, and that during development changes always come up but with Kickstarter you've given expectations for the final product that have now changed. He said if he had to do it again he would have waited until the game was halfway done before running the Kickstarter, so everybody would have a better idea about what the final game would be.

Very easy to blame Kickstarter for their own failings. The trouble is that if Molyneux hadn't been overpromising and underdelivering for near enough 20 years then maybe some people would believe such claims.

 

[Klart]

Please Molyneux, leave us alone.

 

[Lalalandia]

Haha no
I remember how hyped my best friend was for black&white in highschool, and how incredibly dissapointed he was as soon as he played it.

edit: wow someone in the thread is saying black&white is why people should believe he can make something good? Black&white was the original overpromised dissapointment that was nothing like what he had claimed... the whole monster ai thing was the simplest , most transparent little flowchart ever.
You filled some invisible bars by repeating actions/prompts and then once you filled it the monster emotes or did whatever basic animation was tied to that... it was no more advanced than a tamagochi

Yeah I remember this one and even at the time when we were a lot closer to his successes it was regarded as a dud. The AI was notorious for getting itself in loops and requiring constant tending like a really irritating tamagotchi that would actively impede your progress towards a levels goals (oh and farting all the while because every Molyneaux game has farting). All this 'B&W was awesome' love completely mystifies me as the original B&W was where the questions began long before Fable and the acorn/scars nonsense.

I don't think anyone is criticising his ambition but rather his complete lack of self awareness and failure to correct the false impressions his hyperbole generates before release. Instead he has a tedious cycle of generating stupid unattainable expectations, silence on release ignoring all broken promises or features, and then a vague acknowledgement of his 'mistakes' in an interview that exists solely to hype his next game. It's like the sonic cycle really but with more fart jokes.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I don't think anyone is criticising his ambition but rather his complete lack of self awareness and failure to correct the false impressions his hyperbole generates before release. Instead he has a tedious cycle of generating stupid unattainable expectations, silence on release ignoring all broken promises or features, and then a vague acknowledgement of his 'mistakes' in an interview that exists solely to hype his next game. It's like the sonic cycle really but with more fart jokes.

This is what I hate most of all, and he does it all the damn time - where he says "oh my last game was flawed because of XYZ, but my next game definitely won't do that! My NEXT game - coming soon! You should totally buy it because it will definitely undo all the mistakes of the previous game!"

DICE did this with Battlefield 4 as well, and it pisses me off so much. Don't try to sell your next game by undermining your previous game. It feels so two-faced and hollow.

 

[Broder Salsa]

Haha no
I remember how hyped my best friend was for black&white in highschool, and how incredibly dissapointed he was as soon as he played it.

edit: wow someone in the thread is saying black&white is why people should believe he can make something good? Black&white was the original overpromised dissapointment that was nothing like what he had claimed... the whole monster ai thing was the simplest , most transparent little flowchart ever.
You filled some invisible bars by repeating actions/prompts and then once you filled it the monster emotes or did whatever basic animation was tied to that... it was no more advanced than a tamagochi

He might have overpromised with black and white too, but I still love it to this day, what it was in the end, was enough for me.

 

[GoaThief]

Haha no
I remember how hyped my best friend was for black&white in highschool, and how incredibly dissapointed he was as soon as he played it.

edit: wow someone in the thread is saying black&white is why people should believe he can make something good? Black&white was the original overpromised dissapointment that was nothing like what he had claimed... the whole monster ai thing was the simplest , most transparent little flowchart ever.
You filled some invisible bars by repeating actions/prompts and then once you filled it the monster emotes or did whatever basic animation was tied to that... it was no more advanced than a tamagochi

Yeah I remember this one and even at the time when we were a lot closer to his successes it was regarded as a dud. The AI was notorious for getting itself in loops and requiring constant tending like a really irritating tamagotchi that would actively impede your progress towards a levels goals (oh and farting all the while because every Molyneaux game has farting). All this 'B&W was awesome' love completely mystifies me as the original B&W was where the questions began long before Fable and the acorn/scars nonsense.

You're both going with revisionist history, then? I recall it being very well received at the time both in the press and with peers. It has a metascore (shudder) of 90 which seems to back up my memory/perspective.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/black-white

 

[More_Badass]

The man himself speaks!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0P9yYG0G5I

But of course:

There are a few issues. Not least that the opening question, regarding whether Kickstarter goals will be met, is wildly ignored with irrelevant rambling on a number of other subjects, finishing with Molyneux and Attridge congratulating themselves for how well they’ve answered it.

He also says,

“I take the point that some of the pledges should have been met, and that we should have taken the time to work on them.”

Which is… astonishing. All of the pledges should have been met. If that’s not going to happen, then Kickstarter’s terms and conditions at the time of the Godus campaign suggest refunds should be offered – and the acknowledgement in the video above would seem like all the evidence that’s necessary for backers who have not received pledges to claim one.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/02/10/22cans-confirm-godus-team-shrinkage-admit-mistakes/

 

[Neolucifer]

You're both going with revisionist history, then? I recall it being very well received at the time both in the press and with peers. It has a metascore (shudder) of 90 which seems to back up my memory/perspective.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/black-white

You're doing it a bit too .

You link that as if any of his dubbed dissappointing games ever got bad reviews from the press . if anything the press was one of the two culprits (the other none than Molyneux himself obviously) behind the exagerated hype behind those game . Fables didnt even get the same backlash than Assassin Creed 1 got and deserved in some of the press for underdelivering , with everyone , including the press , busy diving in console exclusives feud

Even if plenty were happy and gave him a pass , lots still moaned and complained after release for those games , at least since Black and white and Fables .

 

[Archaix]

You're doing it a bit too .

You link that as if any of his dubbed dissappointing games ever got bad reviews from the press . if anything the press was one of the two culprits (the other none than Molyneux himself obviously) behind the exagerated hype behind those game . Fables didnt even get the same backlash than Assassin Creed 1 got and deserved in some of the press for underdelivering , with everyone , including the press , busy diving in console exclusives feud

Even if plenty were happy and gave him a pass , lots still moaned and complained after release for those games , at least since Black and white and Fables .

What? No way! They're never complicit in his schemes.

 

[jtb]

The reason why Molyneux "gets a pass" for not delivering on his promises is because the core concepts of the games are usually intact and generally translate into pretty good games. all it really proves is that the hype cycle is really stupid.

Fable 1's biggest problem isn't a lack of stupid gimmicks (a problem Lionhead was happy to solve at the expense of the game's quality with the sequels), it's that it's ridiculously thin on content. It's actually a really solid action RPG, with a lot of charm to boot.

 

[Neolucifer]

There was also a huge trend mindset and cult following , because he was a mega star of the industry that did create a genre , and some stellar titles once upon a time .

Basically he could do no wrongs , till he runs out of once deserved credited fame and goodwill , as time goes on . Of course that's only assuming he never finds his mojo back and doesnt fully deliver again , one day

 

[Neuromancer]

What? No way! They're never complicit in his schemes.

Wow I forgot about this.

I guess the fact you could head slightly left or right as you moved forward made Fable: Journey not technically on rails, but it may as well have been. It certainly wasn't an open world game you could head out in any direction in.

 

[Samurai G0SU]

While well-known people at 22Cans, such as producer Jemma Harris, are no longer with the company, other talent has moved on to the studio's next project, called The Trial. This workforce movement further fuels speculation that the Godus project no longer has full support at the studio.

In an interview with GameSpot he added, however, that some previously promised features might not materialise.

Speculation surrounding the fate of Godus was raised on Monday when Rock, Paper, Shotgun published an article that highlighted how far the game was from meeting its promised Kickstarter pledges

""As always happens in development, when you finish something and start something new, then you very often refresh your team. Sometimes you do that by asking some of your team to leave, and sometimes people on the team want to look elsewhere," he said.""

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rocky-road-ahead-for-godus-as-key-devs-depart/1100-6425211/

 

[BibiMaghoo]

Haha no
I remember how hyped my best friend was for black&white in highschool, and how incredibly dissapointed he was as soon as he played it.

edit: wow someone in the thread is saying black&white is why people should believe he can make something good? Black&white was the original overpromised dissapointment that was nothing like what he had claimed... the whole monster ai thing was the simplest , most transparent little flowchart ever.
You filled some invisible bars by repeating actions/prompts and then once you filled it the monster emotes or did whatever basic animation was tied to that... it was no more advanced than a tamagochi

Yeah, that game with a 90 meta, must be a turd...

He promised out the arse, and that came back to him, but the game is undeniably of good quality, regardless of if you liked it or not.

 

[Sevenfold]

No pressure Conrad. It's all on you.

 

[Sayers]

You're both going with revisionist history, then? I recall it being very well received at the time both in the press and with peers. It has a metascore (shudder) of 90 which seems to back up my memory/perspective.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/black-white

Right, because the games press is the final arbiter of how a game is received and not at all often complicit in the overhyping of major releases.

 

[Zuhzuhzombie!!]

you just need to stop listening to him, and appreciate his games for what they are

They're mediocre to bad games lacking in content.

 

[ShadowKingpin]

How has this not happened yet?

I'll try to get to this after i am done with work if no one else has. Lol... Work... keeping me from what really is important.

I really look forward to them, haha. Thanks, man!

 

[NewGame]

Honestly if Kickstarter would just enable him all of his dreams could come true.

 

[subrock]

I bought Godus and got a few good hours out of it. I stopped playing when I realize how incomplete the game was and I started running into some pretty giant bugs and hitting the edges of the game world. Not worth $20, but also not wasted money I guess.