Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard calls Free Realms 'insipid'

[Den]

Article taken from Eurogamer.net

 

Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard has called Sony's free-to-play MMO Free Realms "insipid".

 

"I'm probably going to upset people from Sony," he said during his Develop speech in Brighton this afternoon. "There was a short period when Free Realms was slated to launch that we went, 'Ooh, ah, this could be scary for us.' And scary because in 2005, Sony nearly invested in our business. Instead, John Smedley said, 'I can do this myself.'"

 

"That was the thing that worried us the most, because we felt they'd looked up our proverbial skirt: they knew the business model, develop plan, everything - inside out. And with the mighty budget of Sony we would have some serious competition.

 

"The thing that saved us was that Free Realms was perfectly designed by committee. It was 100 per cent micro-transactions, 100 per cent subscriptions, 100 per cent male, 100 per cent female. As a result, it was neither fish nor fowl; it didn't resonate with anyone, didn't have any identity.

 

"It was, I guess, largely insipid," he added. "Gorgeous graphics and everything else, but it didn't have have the joie de vivre."

 

In trying for everybody but catering for nobody, Free Realms sauntered past 10 million registered users in just one year. Even Sony's John Smedley - the man who turned down Jagex - was "pleasantly surprised" by its commercial performance.

 

Nevertheless, in RuneScape, Jagex owns what the Guinness Book of Records calls the world's most popular free MMO, with over 140 million registered users counted so far. Gerhard considers RuneScape second only to World of Warcraft.

 

Jagex this week announced its new MMO Stellar Dawn, a science fiction game risen from the ashes of canned project MechScape.

 

Look out for Eurogamer's full interview with an unrestrained Mark Gerhard soon.

 

 

Link to the article on its site: http://www.eurogamer...alms-is-insipid

 

Thoughts?

[Grimy_Bunyip]

Well it's not too surprising Gerhard praised RS over some other MMO.

I wonder if people would respect him more if he took a more of a "RS is kinda a joke but I love it anyways" kinda stance.

 

anywhoo does anybody else think the stellar dawn logo looks kinda like the mass effect logo?

[Singh]

haha drama in game world

[Goonstalf]

Well that wasn't very nice.

[Tenebri]

thats funny

 

whatever happened to friendly competetiveness

 

and also nothing will beat runescape in my opinion im being realistic, its how old? still going strong, WRB, continuously growing and growing im being realistic

 

and also it could just show how worried he is about free realms but it also could just be a funny response to get himself noticed

[Dragonlordjl]

Tbh, I'd rather see a game that catered to nobody instead of one that caters to the worst possible audiences: i.e., low-levels noobs, younger users, and (to use his own word) the insipid PKing community.

[un4given]

is free realms any good?

[Range_This11]

I want to know why Jagex can't relase something without dropping the "we own a Guiness World Record" line at the end. It's sickening.

[Danqazmlp]

I want to know why Jagex can't relase something without dropping the "we own a Guiness World Record" line at the end. It's sickening.

 

 

Because it is a very large achievement in gaming terms? And if you read, Jagex didn't even say it, it was the article writer who did. That is often the case too.

 

I see no problem with him preferring his own game to another one, why should anybody?

[wildmonkeys5]

Tbh, I'd rather see a game that catered to nobody instead of one that caters to the worst possible audiences: i.e., low-levels noobs, younger users, and (to use his own word) the insipid PKing community.

 

Since when has jagex ever catered to the PKing community? :unsure:

[la la la]

Measuring Runescape as second compared to WoW is shallow and only based on commercial success. I consider the gameplay in Runescape to be far better and deeper.

[Stev]

I like the UI of Free Realms, but I like the story line, history and gameplay of RuneScape.

[Logdotzip]

Tbh, I'd rather see a game that catered to nobody instead of one that caters to the worst possible audiences: i.e., low-levels noobs, younger users, and (to use his own word) the insipid PKing community.

 

Since when has jagex ever catered to the PKing community? :unsure:

 

 

 

I'm sorry, but assuming this isn't sarcasm, I lol'd really f****ing hard

[mario_sunny]

Pretty unprofessional of MMG.

[warren211]

we felt they'd looked up our proverbial skirt

 

I am SO going to use that line someday when I own a business.

[noble_aloof]

i enjoy this man

 

^ps u own

[nubbycubby]

I consider the gameplay in Runescape to be far better and deeper.

 

:rolleyes:

[Crimsoncow42]

we felt they'd looked up our proverbial skirt

 

I am SO going to use that line someday when I own a business.

 

I'm gonna find a way to use that tomorrow.

[vox1st]

Wow, I am really losing faith in runescape staff. That was a very unkind thing to say and then hide behind your own successful game. Runescape is the casual MMORPG, so I wouldn't go around calling others bland when runescape can have some of the most bland grinding in the business. He should have been more kind. Obviously you don't want to admit that another company is doing well, but that doesn't call for harsh retorts. I love runescape for what is still leftover from the "pre-people quitting because of absurd and outrageous updates era".

[canadiansmurf]

I wonder if he was drunk during that interview.

 

The revolving door of RS CEO's is turning again I can sense. This guy will be canned for his unprofessional attitude to the press.

 

 

In trying for everybody but catering for nobody, Free Realms sauntered past 10 million registered users in just one year. Even Sony's John Smedley - the man who turned down Jagex - was "pleasantly surprised" by its commercial performance.

^ Love how the journalist used this to refute Mg's statements.

 

It's ironic that RS imitates and lifts ideas from competitors and then has the audacity to look down on other games.

 

Quickchat is directly lifted from Club Penguin.

 

Arrows and the safe starting area and the pathing for quests is directly lifted from Free Realms.

 

Is Free Realms good? It's a SONY product.

You can tele directly to anyone in your friends list. It's easy to meet people to chat with.

There are lots of quests to do.

 

It's intuitive and more advanced then RS in some ways.

 

And Free Realms did not copy RS at all if they had, RS would have been descimated. All players would have jumped ship.

 

 

Does anyone notice the lack of details about the new game and the reliance on harping on about Runescape's success.

[Ts_Stormrage]

Pretty unprofessional of MMG.

 

TBH, I can pretty much accept unprofessionalism from Runescape...

 

Every single large gaming investor has turned Jagex down, and as evident, tried it themselves... So far, no game has yet managed to surpass RuneScape...

 

Stick it to the man, Gerhard, their fault for not tagging along the massivly prosperous project that is RuneScape :)

 

But, let's be somewhat realistic... The only TRUE test if Jagex is that much more awesome then Sony, EA, or Activision, is if Stellar Dawn becomes the 2nd most popular free game on the net :)

[Sir_Kurity]

Tbh, I'd rather see a game that catered to nobody instead of one that caters to the worst possible audiences: i.e., low-levels noobs, younger users, and (to use his own word) the insipid PKing community.

 

Since when has jagex ever catered to the PKing community? :unsure:

 

I'm sorry, but assuming this isn't sarcasm, I lol'd really f****ing hard

 

I dont know a single person who hasent as least TRIED pking.

[Sly_Wizard]

What the hell is all this talk about "being unprofessional"? I don't know where some of you guys live or what rock you live under, but companies trash talk other companies and their products all the damn time.

[WhiteHorn]

is free realms any good?

 

Well, if you like childish atmosphere, stupid puzzle each time you want to skill, WoW-like quests (bring-kill-find) and ubiquiotus microtransaction offers mixed with monthly membership (FREE realms hahaha), this is a perfect game for you ;)

[123puref2p]

Well, you have to remember that this is a Runescape fansite, so nearly all of the replies will be pro-Runescape. Majority of the posters are also active players, which means they enjoy playing Runescape for one reason or another otherwise why would they play?

 

Now, I will give my unbiased view. To have an unbiased view you have to look at both sides and understand what you're talking about, as well as each sides perspectives. I have played Runescape from 2002 until 2007 and recently came back (although going to quit soon, lol). I played Free Realms during the summer of 2009.

 

Runescape does have 140 million registered accounts. The keyword here is "registered". Players in Runescape very often have way more than just 1 single account. Pures, skillers, specialized skillers, main(s), SCOUTS (rune mining, clan scouting, ect), bank mules (back in the days of free trade, and even old bh). There is a good reason to have multiple accounts in Runescape - you can gain several advantages. I'm sure I don't need to explain. All this boils down to: Runescape has most likely had 20-50 million unique players since it opened (January 4, 2001).

 

In Free Realms, there is no reason whatsoever to have more than one account. You do not gain any type of advantages. Free Realms plays very, very differently than Runescape. You simply DO just play for fun. It's very different from the typical MMORPG. The game does not pressure you to gain any levels, there is no set "level" (as in when you hover over a player, they don't have a lvl), the max lvl in a skill is 20 - which is decently easy to achieve. The scenery in Free Realms is pretty cool :)! Because gaining max level in a skill does NOT require putting in massive amounts of hours (and it's somewhat easy, tbh), people don't no life it. They just play for fun. The amazing majority of the people that play FreeRealms are underaged - a much higher concentration than Runescape.

 

All in all, I'm pretty dang sure that 9.5/10 million FR accounts are unique users. It's a big achievement for just 1 year ;).

 

Mark is just being a cry baby that Sony felt like investing their money somewhere else and not into Jagex. If he really wants Sony's money, maybe he should think about converting Runescape from a "MMORPG" with graphics that even Everquest 1 beats TO a MMORPG with decent (or even great) graphics. No, do not use WoW as a "good graphics" example - WoW graphics are now considered standard. The very lame point-and-click combat system, as well as the VERY linear "skilling" system. Nearly every single gamer outside of Runescape regards RS as a very, very bad game. While those who do play Runescape are closed off in their own little world. Most RS players have never played another, real, MMORPG. No, WoW is not the only other MMORPG out there ;).