10-17-2005, 09:24 PM | #1 | |
OB
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 662
|
New Ken Williams interview
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...php?story=6864
Quote:
__________________
The Disenfranchisedâ„¢ - A Film Noir adventure series for the PC. Coming later. |
|
10-18-2005, 02:31 AM | #2 | |
Thats the ticket
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 395
|
Quote:
Face it, Sierra was getting into a rut and they made a good timely decision to sell the company. I still would one day want to personally meet Roberta and Ken Williams and thank them for pioneering graphic adventure games. |
|
10-18-2005, 03:00 PM | #3 | |
Custom User Title
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 271
|
Quote:
|
|
10-18-2005, 03:17 PM | #4 |
cows are my friends...
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Tonawanda, NY
Posts: 258
|
No disrespect, but I don't get it. He says it's painful to watch from the sidelines, but he has no desire to get back in it and start something new. I'm not saying I blame him. I too would like to retire before I die, let alone sometime before 50. But which is it? You yearn to make new, innovative games and be a leader in the industry, or you want to sit on the sidelines and complain about how things are going downhill? Honestly, I agree with him that the state of games is largely pathetic. But he's in a position, and even seems to kind-of-sort-of want to do something, to change it.
No disrespect, but I smell BS. He's got nothing, and he's afraid to admit it. Enjoy your retirement, you've earned it. I'm insanely jealous of everything you've been through and of where you are today. But I'm just not buying it. (man, I'm being mean today... what up with that?)
__________________
Quadriflax "To Insanity and Beyond!" |
10-18-2005, 05:54 PM | #5 | |
Rattenmonster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 10,404
|
Quote:
I think he probably recognizes that even if he did get back into the industry, it wouldn't be the same as it was when he was a big player, and that even though he misses it, as a relatively young retiree he's having much more fun. |
|
10-18-2005, 09:04 PM | #6 | |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
Quote:
--Josh |
|
10-19-2005, 05:24 PM | #7 | |
cows are my friends...
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Tonawanda, NY
Posts: 258
|
Quote:
What I see is a former player knocking the state of things without offering any solutions. If he really wanted to get back into it, he would. So either he doesn't miss it enough to come out of retirement, or he's got nothing left to offer. Maybe both. Like I said, I couldn't blame the guy for never wanting to work again. But someone in his position could easily get back into things and start "innovating" if he wanted to. Not the same as it was? Isn't that the point? He could make it the way he wants to. He supposedly prides himself on his ability to revolutionize the industry. If he's that good at it, he doesn't have to fear the craptacular state of the industry because he'll just change it and make things all better. Why doesn't he? Again, because either he doesn't want to work that badly (making him contradict himself) or he's got nothing. I'm just sayin'. There's really nothing stopping him except himself.
__________________
Quadriflax "To Insanity and Beyond!" |
|
10-19-2005, 05:32 PM | #8 | |
OB
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 662
|
Quote:
__________________
The Disenfranchisedâ„¢ - A Film Noir adventure series for the PC. Coming later. |
|
10-19-2005, 05:45 PM | #9 | |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
Quote:
--Josh |
|
10-19-2005, 08:25 PM | #10 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Tornado Alley
Posts: 1,541
|
Quote:
__________________
Glad to have my old username back. GhostPirateLechuck no longer. |
|
10-20-2005, 01:14 AM | #11 | |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
Quote:
--Josh |
|
10-20-2005, 04:49 PM | #12 | |
Codger
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 1,080
|
Quote:
__________________
For whom the games toll... They toll for thee |
|
10-20-2005, 05:20 PM | #13 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 26
|
That does make sense. People don't want to try new ideas today because it costs too much to do so now because the level of percision and how games take more work to live up to the potential of the technology which has increased.
That is why adventure games could still flurish in the fan community, because then the expectations of fufilling the technological potential are not the same, and using lower technology doesn't really destroy the experience of an adventure game, but I won't debate that here. |
10-21-2005, 04:47 AM | #14 |
Multi-dimensional avatar
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Schloss Ritter
Posts: 97
|
I was the type to complain about Sierra in the mid 1990's, mainly about their decision not to make Quest for Glory V, which lasted multiple years. Still, the work that the Williams did was groundbreaking, I still love the Sierra games from the 1990's, and I don't blame Ken Williams for not getting back into the fray (assuming this stance is not based on a contractual obligation as some forum members here suggested).
The PC arena has changed drastically since the 1990's. I see it as mostly FPS games, various action games, and a big race to have the most addictive MMORPG with the most subscribers. I wish Sam and Max 2 would have been released, and not just because *I* myself wanted it so badly, but also to see how a new adventure game would fare in today's market.
__________________
"I am Bishop Mandible, Transultimate Apostle of the Antisecular Conclave of Clerics." |
10-21-2005, 08:35 AM | #15 | |
cows are my friends...
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Tonawanda, NY
Posts: 258
|
Quote:
__________________
Quadriflax "To Insanity and Beyond!" |
|
10-21-2005, 09:22 AM | #16 | |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
Quote:
But let's put that aside for the moment and assume that he's no longer under a non-competition clause. Your argument is infinitely extendable. Have you, Quadriflax, ever complained about a game, or the gaming industry in general? If so, what has prevented you from getting a job in the industry and helping change it from within? Is there anything stopping you from working to become a game designer and making a better game? Only the choices you've made are standing in your way. --Josh |
|
10-21-2005, 10:50 AM | #17 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 948
|
What is a non-competition clause?
Did they actually agree never to make computer games again for as long as they lived? |
10-21-2005, 12:31 PM | #18 | |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
Quote:
How long the Williams's non-competition clause lasts, I don't know -- I don't remember reading it nor do I remember Ken or Roberta telling me. But even if it were a relatively short term -- say, 10 years -- it would still be in effect today. Perhaps when Quadriflax gets a few (more?) years experience in the workforce, he/she will understand that it's not in the least bit odd to miss working in an industry that one poured one's heart and soul into for decades, without necessarily wanting to re-enter that particular rat race in one's later years. --Josh |
|
10-21-2005, 02:00 PM | #19 | |
Bearly Here
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Barcelona
Posts: 1,145
|
Quote:
If they did sign an agreement containing such a draconian clause - it would be very doubtful [make that virtually impossible] Sierra could get it enforced. |
|
10-21-2005, 03:45 PM | #20 |
Third Guy from Andromeda
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 248
|
LauraMac,
I've heard of several people in the industry getting 5-year non-competition clauses. The reason I'm suspecting that the Williams's clause was longer is that, within the last two years, Roberta Williams told the KQIX people that she could not, legally, look at or comment on the details of their fangame. That indicated to me that she was still under restraint of some form as part of her contractual obligation to the owners of the KQ franchise. --Josh |