• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Robert Bowling (of @fourzerotwo) resigns from Activision

R

rozay

Banned
Would you rather be Robert Bowling or Chris Priestly who does the same job except on Bioware's forums?

Dealing with 13 year olds cussing at you doesn't seem as bad as having to moderate Tali fanart to be honest
 
R

Radec

Member
DevosHeineken
@fourzerotwo Glad ur off the IW team cuz u single handedly ruined call of duty worse than cheeseburgers ruined Christina Aguilera #fuck402
Click to expand...

Holy Fucking Shit.

Hahaha.
 
E

excaliburps

Press - MP1st.com
I, too, get the impression that Bowling is leaving IW and Activision on less than pleasant terms. That, or he was forced to resign?

To be honest, I don't envy his job one bit. Can you imagine all the CoD kiddies "asking" for this and that? Hopefully, he can land a gig at another developer that suits him more. I know he's quite chummy with DICE and what if he gets a job for them regarding Battlefield? That would be so wrong yet so right on so many levels...
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
rozay said:
Would you rather be Robert Bowling or Chris Priestly who does the same job except on Bioware's forums?

Dealing with 13 year olds cussing at you doesn't seem as bad as having to moderate Tali fanart to be honest
Click to expand...

I'll deal with the weirdos on BSN over dealing with the COD fanbase for years. Though the ME3 ending stuff may have changed my mind, but that was an anomaly.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
From being teabagged on national television to being wished death by random 12 year olds on Twitter.

Truly he stood upon the highest heights and fell to the lowest lows.
 
E

Emperor Bohe

Member
NHale said:
I always thought the guy was an asshole because of the Treyarch-IW debacle during COD:WaW development, but I admire him for not replying to people threatening to kill his daughter on twitter if he didn't fix the lag, unbalance perks or guns, etc.
Click to expand...

what happened?
 
M

Mr. Enigma

Member
I remember a while back, some people did a podcast dedicated entirely to talking about how ugly his newborn daughter was and making fun of the shape of her head...
 
C

CyReN

Member
Emperor Bohe said:
what happened?
Click to expand...

Found this on it.
"On 7th November 2008, before the release of Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War, Robert Bowling made a post on his blog demanding Senior Producer at Activision Noah Heller to stop comparing Call of Duty: World at War to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare during interviews, explaining that the game "can stand on it's [sic] own merits". Bowling was also annoyed by Heller's remark that in previous Call of Duty games, bolt-action rifles never killed in one hit - something that Heller claimed Treyarch to have rectified in Call of Duty: World at War. Bowling explained that bolt-action rifles "are one hit kills in every Call of Duty we (Infinity Ward) made", referring to him as "Senior Super Douche Noah Heller", and urged interviewers to "talk to someone who actually works on the Dev Team at Treyarch and knows what the fuck they're talking about."
Click to expand...
 
S

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Derrick01 said:
I'll deal with the weirdos on BSN over dealing with the COD fanbase for years. Though the ME3 ending stuff may have changed my mind, but that was an anomaly.
Click to expand...

I'd deal with both if I was receiving bonuses for COD games.
 
T

TriGen

Member
I wonder what happened, I thought they were really pushing him to be the face of their CoD games so I figured he would stay their at least until sales went down.
 
C

Cheska

Member
I'm not the biggest Call of Duty fan, but Rob always seemed like a really nice dude and I feel bad for the amount of crap he had to deal with. I really wish him the best of luck with whatever his future holds.
 
S

Sent

Member
vocab said:
Never liked the guy.
Click to expand...

Me either, but I'm sure that's partly Activision's fault for their stupid-ass decisions. He announced the whole "no dedicated servers etc" on a MW podcast despite saying otherwise before. I was floored and never played CoD again. Never knew about threats against his daughter, wtf people.
 
D

D_Star

Neo Member
excaliburps said:
I, too, get the impression that Bowling is leaving IW and Activision on less than pleasant terms. That, or he was forced to resign?

To be honest, I don't envy his job one bit. Can you imagine all the CoD kiddies "asking" for this and that? Hopefully, he can land a gig at another developer that suits him more. I know he's quite chummy with DICE and what if he gets a job for them regarding Battlefield? That would be so wrong yet so right on so many levels...
Click to expand...

Good god I hope that doesn't happen! Like so many, I hated the way the guy managed disappointments to a lot of players. He just casually drops that bomb and ignores the massive fallout that ensues. That's not 'managing' a community, that's being a handpuppet for a corporation.

I for one have left the COD community in favor of the Battlefield community some years ago, haven't regretted it since. I like DICE, and I really do think that Zh1nt0 (Daniel Matros) is doing an awesome job most of the time. At least he's honest as fuck, and he's not afraid of dealing with fallout.

Plus, switching him for Robert Bowling wouldn't fall well with the hardcore Battlefield community (they've been in uproar about this whole 'codification' that's going on in their eyes), and I think DICE would really lose a quality CM
 
M

Minion101

Banned
iILbOgdmHNCQp.jpg
 
W

Wario64

works for Gamestop (lol)
People who hate Robert Bowling may want to change their stance if this is true. Looks like he was fighting for the 'users'

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Ro...-Over-Wanting-Give-Gamers-Free-DLC-40834.html

Earlier today Robert Bowling made it known that he is longer employed over at the Activision Blizzard camp under their Infinity Ward development studio. The former creative strategist for the Call of Duty games let it be known that he is a free agent and Activision verified the comments in a curt press statement.

Interestingly enough, just a month earlier Bowling was in a live-stream interview with Machinma [via Call of Duty Map Packs] where he poured out his heart with a lot of truth and honesty not as a PR spokesman or a corporate "Yes man", but as a gamer and dedicated member to the gaming community, saying...

...here is my philosophy on throw back maps: Old school maps, I love maps like that, I wanna see creek, I wanna see overgrown, I wanna see crossfire, I wanna see highrise.

So my mentality on it is if you are going to do throw back maps, if you are going to do classic maps, keep it outside of the DLC model. Like for DLC, if you are paying for stuff and it’s included in your subscription, it should all be new content. ‘Give me something new I’ve never seen before’ and that’s not something we’ve done in the past before we’ve included in traditional map packs.
Click to expand...


That makes complete sense. Let's also not forget that recycled assets do not have a separate DLC budget, keep in mind that it's just a matter of copying, pasting and tweaking (usually lighting and some geometry discrepancies). Paying for copy and paste jobs out of a sense of nostalgia is almost but not quite as bad as disc-locked content. Bowling further goes on to defend this position, saying...

..since our DLC model is so different, I feel like we have a flexibility to let DLC be focused on all new content, brand new stuff you’ve never seen before in the game or any game.

And if we want to do a throwback map, let that be outside the DLC model, let it be free, let it be to everyone. Don’t let it be restricted by contracts and partnerships and all that f*cking money stuff. Let it just be there.

So that’s what I think.
Click to expand...

...



Of course, we won't know if that's the actual cause for one of the most enthusiastic promoters for Call of Duty stepping down from his position until either Activision releases further details about Bowling's departure (which is highly doubtful) or Bowling himself decides to flesh out the specifics at a later date
Click to expand...
 
Z

Zeliard

Member
Bowling should have realized we're living in a brave new world. Kids these days have no idea that map packs used to be released for free as a gift to the more loyal fans and as a way to re-invigorate the entire community, and Activision isn't going to release for free what they can have every chump throwing money at them for.
 
D

Dresden

Member
But then, this is the same guy who voiced no complaints regarding IW/Activision's practice of selling old maps in MW2.
 
H

hamchan

Member
Dresden said:
But then, this is the same guy who voiced no complaints regarding IW/Activision's practice of selling old maps in MW2.
Click to expand...
He's the PR man. Even if he believes differently it's his job to sell whatever his company is feeding to fans, not disagree with it. He did a good job being a lightning rod for fan complaints I think.
 
Mugatu

Mugatu

Member
Dresden said:
But then, this is the same guy who voiced no complaints regarding IW/Activision's practice of selling old maps in MW2.
Click to expand...

Yes, selling old maps that players asked for and paid for is deserving of death threats to one's family. Why on Earth would he complain?
 
K

kuYuri

Member
Wario64 said:
People who hate Robert Bowling may want to change their stance if this is true. Looks like he was fighting for the 'users'

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Ro...-Over-Wanting-Give-Gamers-Free-DLC-40834.html
Click to expand...

I commented about this in the MW3 OT a month or so ago when it happened, I watched the livestream when he said this and I even said back then, I would not be surprised if Activision PR came down on him after making that comment.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=450471&page=304
 
M

Mr. B Natural

Member
I wasn't a huge fan of the guy, but people getting mad at him for doing his job should be ready to get mad at the guy/gal that takes his place because they will be saying the exact same stuff. They will lie/do whatever it takes to keep the fanbase tame and the fanbase's wallets open. They will only say what they're told to say.
 
D

Deadly Cyclone

Pride of Iowa State
So it looks like he has something lined up, new studio?

Via his twitter:
"Good luck to all those let free at Relic and Vigil Games. If you're burnt out & looking for something fresh to be apart of, drop me a line."
 
K

Kifimbo

Member
Sorry to bump this, but Bowling just opened his studio, Robotoki.

After abruptly leaving developer Infinity Ward in late March, former Call of Duty creative strategist Robert Bowling is opening a game development studio called Robotoki.

...

Robotoki’s first project, which will be revealed later this year, is slated for release on next-gen consoles, PC, and mobile devices (iOS, Tablet, Android). “As a developer, our focus is on creating a universe first, experiences second, and game mechanics last, “ Bowling said. “With focus being on universe, we aim to create experiences that transcend platforms and genres and allow our players to connect to our world, their characters, and gameplay via any medium (console, PC, or mobile).
Click to expand...

Source: http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/04/23/robert-bowling-opens-game-studio.aspx
 
D

DMeisterJ

Banned
So instead of developing the game/universe concurrently, develop the universe first, and then decide on whether it's fun to play or not?

ooooookay.
 
S

Struct09

Member
As a developer, our focus is on creating a universe first, experiences second, and game mechanics last
Click to expand...

Seems to be the exact opposite of the recent Call of Duty games. They nail the mechanics, they have pretty good online modes, and who cares about the universe?
 
D

Digishine

Banned
Ok I need to ask is it in US so easy to begin your own studio ? cause these days you can't stop hearing of dev's opening their own studio.
 
F

FStop7

Banned
DMeisterJ said:
So instead of developing the game/universe concurrently, develop the universe first, and then decide on whether it's fun to play or not?

ooooookay.
Click to expand...

Isn't that kind of what's been going on with the Amalur games? They got RA Salvatore to start building up the whole universe before they even started carving out games, from the impression I've gotten.
 
legacyzero

legacyzero

Banned
OldJadedGamer said:
Maybe him staying with the devil after everyone was fired meant they weren't his "bros" anymore.
Click to expand...
Fair enough.

Maybe he's on to something then, because doing this, instead of catching Call of Duty bonuses at IW everytime an IW made COD makes fuck tons of money.

an odd move?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Kotaku EIC Resigns Over New Editorial Edict
News 2 3 4 5 6
281
18K
Randall365 replied
Ex-Unity employee told that the developers fought against the recent Unity changes. More resignations coming this week.
Game Dev
28
3K
Robb replied
Microsoft removes references of New Xbox Hardware from Blogpost
2 3 4
193
12K
XXL replied
PlayStation Will No Longer Disclose Future Consoles (PS6) With Activision If Buyout Deal Closes
News Drama Business 2 3 4 5
203
12K
Dr.Morris79 replied
Activision Isn’t Happy About Fortnite Creators Remaking Call Of Duty Maps
Game Dev Platform
7
1K
Black_Stride replied
Top Bottom