Rocket Leaving BI and DayZ. "I feel like DayZ is a fundamentally flawed concept"

[Kill8ox]

He got home sick!
Finish the game first lazy bastard.

[SpecOpsScott]

Ya make shit too complicated and it isn't gonna work. There was/is no need for all this extra mechanics the SA released. All he had to due was update the graphics, tweak the map, maybe add in some new guns/vehicles and ship it out.

Sent via Moto X

Amazes me that he didn't "get it". Just looking at the mods of the the original mod that took off would be a huge indicator as to what the community wanted and would pay good money for. At this point, i would rather play Breaking Point or Dead Nation (if its even still around) for ArmA III over the SA in its current state.

[DJ Ms. White]

Not quite. https://twitter.com/rocket2guns
He's also not been enjoying being away from his family in a place where he doesn't speak the native language. It's also not like he's stopped working on the game. I'm not exactly getting the "shitty and lazy" thing.

[BrockSamson]

I bought it and I am regretful he got my money. He should have left when it was in a better state, how will he get investors or alpha sales for his next studio/game when he abandoned this one? Nothing about this seems well thought out and very impulsive.

Well, unless by the end of the year he implements more than two working zombies, base camps, vehicles, etc to upgrade this from a PVP running simulator. I just don't see it though, what would be his motivation if he thinks the game is fundamentally broken and he won't be a part of it anymore in a shot while?

[BrockSamson]

Maybe if he didn't have it in him to see it through he shouldn't have taken as much money and shared in the royalties of releasing a game he promised to finish. Maybe he shouldn't have taken that long trip to climb a stupid mountain and hung out with his family instead? It sounds insensitive, but doesn't matter what is going on, if you ask for money, take it and soon after announce your departure I am going to be pissed and not have any desire to be part of anything else he creates until it is an actual finished product. He could have easily asked for time off and still provided direction for the game/developers at BI remotely... but no... he wants to rage quit over his broken zombies and go do his own thing. This was his baby, his idea and my money.

This is just my opinion and yes I am butt hurt, so take it for just that. I really wanted this game to succeed and become something special.

[Kanati]

I had a feeling this was going to happen when I saw he was focused on content over mechanics. THAT is a fundamentally flawed method of game development. You focus on mechanics and use placeholder graphics until the gameplay works. People that focus on content (graphics/sound/etc) are either a) piss poor programmers that are putting off TRYING to work on mechanics, or b) have no idea what it takes to develop a game. This was just inevitable.

Unfortunately this is going to have an impact across the board for early access games. People are going to be wary of dropping cash on a game that may or may not ever make it to market. It's a good business model. It allows developers to get some of their money up front to help create the game. If you are a small indie developer you probably don't have a bunch of money you can use to quit your job and work on the game full time. The Early Access model allows that if that's what they want to do. But when a high profile developer like this charges 30 bux for an alpha and eventually bails on the project there's going to be a lot less interest in supporting that model by the general public.

In short... fuck that guy. He's fucking over not only his fans, but the entire indie game development community.

[SourceSkills]

Just because Rocket is leaving doesn't spell all doom for DayZ. Everyone at BI knows what his vision is for the game by now anyways. This happens all the time in the industry I don't see why people are so upset. Did Rocket come to your house and surprise but rape you or something? Sensationalism at its best here in my opinion.

But when a high profile developer like this charges 30 bux for an alpha and eventually bails on the project there's going to be a lot less interest in supporting that model by the general public.

In short... fuck that guy. He's fucking over not only his fans, but the entire indie game development community.

BI didn't bail on DayZ. More sensational malarkey. Rocket is moving on that's all. BI is still going to develop and support the game. Might I remind you as well they could have charged 60 bucks and still have had the same sales but they decided not to. 30 bucks was well worth the investment in a future game that is no doubt going to be great. Right now it is just alright. Rocket isn't leaving immediately either. There is still plenty of time for the game to come into its own while he is there. In the mean time please stop being so over dramatic people. Is it a shock? Yes. However you have to remember this is always happening in the industry and it isn't like this is the first time someones artistic views have steered them in a different direction.

[BrockSamson]

It would be one thing if it was a free mod that drove sales to a completed game like Arma. It is another to take my money for an Alpha with a promise to deliver and then have the brains behind the project call the game broken and quit. So yeah, it is kinda like Rocket just video game raped me.

When you ask for money in advance to completing a game I become an invested interested party that has financed this game. I tolerated slow development and a non-game alpha. I was actually very optimistic and had minor grumblings. With the lead person in charge of the vision and development of the game declaring it broken and announcing their departure I am now realizing my investment is very likely not going to produce a return and will likely come at a loss. I am pissed.

Also, read what he says. It sums to him saying DayZ is not going to work out and he is going to take that base idea somewhere else and do it better/right. There is no way in hell I will invest in anything he produces again if that is his attitude.

But you are right, there is a chance BI can take this idea and make it better, get it completed in a timely manor and I will be glad I paid $30 and it will be a AAA title selling for $60 down the road. I just don't see that as very likely when the captain of the ship says they have hit an iceberg and he will be the first into the life raft.

[Warprosper]

Rocket didn't make DayZ what it is today.

[SourceSkills]

It would be one thing if it was a free mod that drove sales to a completed game like Arma. It is another to take my money for an Alpha with a promise to deliver and then have the brains behind the project call the game broken and quit. So yeah, it is kinda like Rocket just video game raped me.

When you ask for money in advance to completing a game I become an invested interested party that has financed this game. I tolerated slow development and a non-game alpha. I was actually very optimistic and had minor grumblings. With the lead person in charge of the vision and development of the game declaring it broken and announcing their departure I am now realizing my investment is very likely not going to produce a return and will likely come at a loss. I am pissed.

Also, read what he says. It sums to him saying DayZ is not going to work out and he is going to take that base idea somewhere else and do it better/right. There is no way in hell I will invest in anything he produces again if that is his attitude.

But you are right, there is a chance BI can take this idea and make it better, get it completed in a timely manor and I will be glad I paid $30 and it will be a AAA title selling for $60 down the road. I just don't see that as very likely when the captain of the ship says they have hit an iceberg and he will be the first into the life raft.

First let me ask you this. How many hours have you invested in DayZ including the mod? Second as ruled by the US supreme court (and recognized by many other nations by default) Rocket is an artist who paints with numbers on a computer screen instead of pigments on canvas. So how does one get mad at him for changing his mind on the direction of that art? You paid 30 bucks not 300 and in any case it is only money (which technically is just paper we think has value). I guess my end point is we have all had countless hours of endless fun, tense battle, and elation upon victory or heartbreak at bitter defeat and enjoyed it immensely did we not? That makes a game worth any price to me.