Company News Is Troika Dead?

[Sheriff05]

If he's disowning the statement why doesn't he just come out and state it plain: "Nobody got laid off" or "Only some people got laid off, Troika is alive and well". For that matter, why don't Tim or Leon say it? Surely all this talk of Troika dying can't be good for their reputation, as if it wasn't already in the pits.

Marsh did in fact say it, through not on those forums. My understanding is that he stated it in the MapCore IRC channel and one of the regulars posted it on the MapCore forums to wish him well.

My take on this whole Troika issue would be that everybody except the bosses got laid off and they're just a shell, like Interplay is. If that is the case, then Troika is as good as dead. After all, Troika is a company that consists of many employees who work as artists, designers, programmers, and software engineers. It's not a group that consists only of 3 people.

I wonder if this means that Troika will start hiring new developers and refocus their development agenda on shitty console action games. Either way, they're dead to us.

Couple things are confusing here. First is the statement
"Activision pulled their funding", What exactly does that mean?
as far as I've read Bloodlines was a one shot. the games been released, milestones have been paid and the payment royalites falls to accountants and lawyers.

Was Troika officially on the Activision's payroll to develop more than Bloodlines?
Why should they be receiving funding other than royalties on sales at this point?

We all know they were(are) supposedly working on a new game and at this stage there is no announced publisher.

If they haven't cemented a deal for a new game yet and royalites from Activision aren't enough to float the company, what do you do with a staff of 20+ people?
You lay them off until you strike a new publishing deal to develop your next game.
Troika had a big personel shake up after ToEE, it's no suprise they're having another one after Bloodlines. It certainly doesn't mean the company's closing shop unless they've decided to just give up.
Should they find a publishing deal for their new game and hire staff back to develop it, why are they dead?

Obviously they are a stuggling company, and should they" throw in the towel" in this difficult business than that is what it is. But like Spaz said above this pretty much just speculation based on a retracted statement from one guy that we can all probably agree was definitely laid off.

 

[Lasakon]

Temple of Elemental Evil was great. So, if Troika is really closing, consider me disappointed. I still haven't played Bloodlines yet, but I guess it turned out to be TeH WorStzersZ GmAe EvER!@!112

 

[merry andrew]

I still haven't played Bloodlines yet, but I guess it turned out to be TeH WorStzersZ GmAe EvER!@!112

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of the game. During the last 1/4, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I was going to survive the heavy combat that I had been avoiding throughout the first 3/4.

 

[JanC]

If Troika closes that really would be sad news. Troika had such great ideas, but the games never seemed to be all they could be. They had too many bugs for a start. What a pity.

 

[Otaku_Hanzo]

That's okay. This'll all boil over and Troika will still be together. Then we'll get to listen to Exit go on about how he's glad they didn't fall apart and how great Bloodlines is.

 

[Stark]

That's okay. This'll all boil over and Troika will still be together. Then we'll get to listen to Exit go on about how he's glad they didn't fall apart and how great Bloodlines is.

I hope it's all bad joke, but given the little snippets of news so far it seems rather credible Troika is going under.

and it gets tiring to read Exitium's personal crusade to educate the rest of us here how Troika deserves to go under. no matter how i look at it, it is a great loss for rpg gamers.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Troika stopped making RPGs when they started making Bloodlines. It was no Arcanum. I didn't like Arcanum but I recognised it as an RPG. Bloodlines was only an RPG in the first hub, from then on it took the route of Deus Ex Invisible War, crappy combat and all.

 

[dunduks]

Troika stopped making RPGs when they started making Bloodlines. It was no Arcanum. I didn't like Arcanum but I recognised it as an RPG. Bloodlines was only an RPG in the first hub, from then on it took the route of Deus Ex Invisible War, crappy combat and all.

Oh come on, Bloodlines is more RPG then what Beth or Bio makes, and while the ending was rushed, all and all it was not that bad. Even with the glaring problems it was enjoyable.

 

[Orgad]

who else is left making pc *party-based* (ie more than 3) rpgs? death of the genre?

 

[Jinxed]

Troika stopped making RPGs when they started making Bloodlines. It was no Arcanum. I didn't like Arcanum but I recognised it as an RPG. Bloodlines was only an RPG in the first hub, from then on it took the route of Deus Ex Invisible War, crappy combat and all.

I could swear that there were times you praised Arcanum. I don't remember anything bad about Troika from you until about a year ago, when they became the creators of shit and all things nasty. Since then, I do well by disregarding anything you say about Troika or their games.

 

[Vault Dweller]

A few words that need to be said.

Exitium, you remind me of a fucking vulture.

If any of you readers are at a loss for words, I believe the word you are looking for is "pwned

they're 'as good as dead' since they wouldn't be developing any more games

there will be no more free rides for Troika

What's with all the joy? An RPG developer is possibly shutting down, and all you can say is that? Troika isn't Interplay that fucked everything and alienated everyone. They deserve compassion and support, or at least respectful silence, not what you wrote above.

We all know or at let's assume that we know the mistakes that Troika made, nobody's denying that, and that's not the point. Troika is the last, or one of the last, true RPG developers. They made 3 games that stand out and not because of bugs. Arcanum was one of the best role-playing games, ToEE was a great TB dungeon crawler, and Bloodlines was good enough to make you write that "I take it all back" post.

As for the free rides, what free rides? Oh, you mean that it was well liked here? Wow. NO MORE FREE RIDES! YOU HEAR THAT, TROIKA?! NOW YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS SHIT!!!

The truth is that Troika didn't have a single free ride in its life. It was severely fucked by Sierra, ruining what was supposed to be a flagship title, and then it was fucked by 2 other publishers. Yeah, sure, Troika is the one to blame for bugs, but it's the publisher who accepts, signs off, distributes, CHOOSES whether or not to release a patch, and most importantly may give them more time, which leads us to Blizzard.

Blizzard games have been mentioned and they are great and polished indeed. What else Blizzard is known for? How about releasing games "when they are ready", delaying games for as long as it takes, etc. I don't think that Troika ever had such an option.

Last, but not the least, I'm surprised that a guy who criticized me for that "full of shit" remark, ends a news post with "In the end, I can't say it was a good run, because it wasn't. You fucked up". Now, that's really rude and uncalled for.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Troika stopped making RPGs when they started making Bloodlines. It was no Arcanum. I didn't like Arcanum but I recognised it as an RPG. Bloodlines was only an RPG in the first hub, from then on it took the route of Deus Ex Invisible War, crappy combat and all.

Oh come on, Bloodlines is more RPG then what Beth or Bio makes, and while the ending was rushed, all and all it was not that bad. Even with the glaring problems it was enjoyable.

No way. NWN notwithstanding, everything else Bioware has done beats the shit out of Bloodlines, at least for me. Saint might not agree with me (I know he doesn't) but I loved those Baldur's Gate games.

As for my words against Troika, VD, that's debateable. I wonder how long it would take for you to call me on that. There's way too many people here willing to give Troika a rimjob than there needs to be.

As I said, Troika's not getting any more free rides. We'll hold them to the same standard as we hold every other company that enters our midst.

 

[kosie99]

What I don't understand is, how do companies like GasPowered games survive after just one title released?

Or did they release more than Dungeon Siege 1?
Or did DS1 really sell that well?
Or is Microsoft just a good publisher that allows the devs enough time to develop and not rush it?

Troika is to blame for a lot of things, but I cannot help feeling that they would have done better if they got Microsoft as publishers.

I bought BL, but have not started playing it yet, not sure if I really want to knowing it will never be patched. I wanted to get ToEE, but I don't think I ever will after the bad press it received.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

Uhhh...Atari was one of there publishers and they screwed them over. GPG is surviving because Microsoft is just pumping them full of cash (And yes DS1 sold really well, 800,000 units I think.)

 

[kosie99]

Uhhh...Atari was one of there publishers and they screwed them over. GPG is surviving because Microsoft is just pumping them full of cash (And yes DS1 sold really well, 800,000 units I think.)

Aah, right, thanks. Edited my post accordingly.

 

[Avé]

Marsh did in fact say it, through not on those forums. My understanding is that he stated it in the MapCore IRC channel and one of the regulars posted it on the MapCore forums to wish him well.

No, he did not say that exact phrase/quote, one of the members was trying to explain the thread, and came up with that quote themselves.

(Also, saying "Marsh did in fact say it", followed by "My understanding is that..." is fairly laughable)

Also, please no I AM AMERICAN SO I CAN SAY ANYTHING ANYWHERE ANYTIME WITH NO REPURCUSSIONS bullshit.

Reaffirming one's rights to free speech is not only condescending and arrogant, but presumptuous of one's stature, as well.

No, what you just posted is condescending, arrogant and presumptuous of one's stature.

Being an american doesnt mean you have a god given right to post false comments, slander, libel, deliberately misquote, post sensitive and/or priviliged information as well as many other things, so shut the fuck up and get a clue.

 

[dojoteef]

I agree with most of your post Avè, but the last I checked Exitium doesn't live in America, despite the fact that he acts the arrogant American part very well.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Shut the fuck up and get a clue. Oh, indeed. I am shaking in my boots.

Let me tell you something Ave, the guy got fired, and it's pretty fucking clear that the whole Bloodlines team got laid off, too. Slander? Libel? How so? If it's true, how is it a lie?

 

[Elwro]

Being an american doesnt mean you have a god given right to post false comments, [snip], so shut the fuck up and get a clue.

Afaik Exit isn't an american.
edit: eh, ok.
Can anyone clarify what does it exactly mean that some people were "laid off"? Like "Take a rest for a month" or "Find yourself another job"? Did Activision tell Troika "You won't get any more $ from us", or did the Troikans tell their Bloodlines team to go away? I'm asking because I thought that Activision was just a publisher of one Troika game, not in position to decide about the studio's demise.

 

[Sol Invictus]

Laid off means find yourself another job.

 

[Avé]

Shut the fuck up and get a clue. Oh, indeed. I am shaking in my boots.

wow, you make a career of replying to parts of posts that dont exist.

Why would you be shaking in your boots, considering I didnt threaten you?

Let me tell you something Ave, the guy got fired, and it's pretty fucking clear that the whole Bloodlines team got laid off, too. Slander? Libel? How so? If it's true, how is it a lie?

YAY FOR EXIT

Let's seeI will have to type in bold and large font, because in Exit's haste to insult/make troika look as bad as possible, he responded to things that dont exist anywhere but his mind)

In fact that exact phrase was posted by the original poster of the thread, not me. I just want to clear that up becuase I do not want people assuming things based on something that I was falsely quoted as stating. The rest of the quotes are indeed my public comments, and you have every right to post them.

So, David Marsh gets attributed A QUOTE HE DID NOT SAY/POST/COMMUNICATE DIRECTLY.


You say:

I think that Odin has every right to post anything he wants, David, especially if it's true, but I digress.

David can legitimately say Odin has no right to attribute a comment, made by another forum poster, to David Marsh.
NO, ODIN DOES NOT HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO POST ANYTHING HE WANTS, AS SET DOWN BY A MYRIAD OF LAWS IN EVERY COUNTRY

Your only response to this is "FREE SPEECH, NA-NA-NA, NANANA, NA-NA-NA!!!"


Next, you say:

Let me tell you something Ave, the guy got fired, and it's pretty fucking clear that the whole Bloodlines team got laid off, too. Slander? Libel? How so? If it's true, how is it a lie?

Where did I say Odin slandered or libelled?
Where did I say he wasnt fired, or the whole Bloodlines team laid off?

My whole point, adequately supported by your own blundering attempts at a defense against it, is that you were looking for something to use, to make a snide remark at a troika employee.

In this case, what you chose was obvious bullshit, and your floundering around screaming FREE SPEECH and pointing out they guy got fired, has absolutely fucking zilch to do with it.

Grow up and take your head out of your ass, many people liked Troika's games, you dont seem to like them purely on whim, or maybe because it's cool not to like them these days - you certainly cant come up with a good personal reason other then FRIEND X HAS A GEFORCE 4 TI4200 AND BLOODLINES PLAYS SHIT <Insert bullshit fps statistics about other modern games> TROIKA SUCKS!



Oh, and if anyone's offended by the american+Free speech thing, I'm sorry, it's just each time someone screams about their freedom of speech being curtailed on the internet, it usually turns out to be an american kid.

 

[Odin]

One of Ex's point's Avé is that anything you post on a public forum can be posted as news, because it's already public then. Both I and Ex posted that we couldn't find this quote on that forum and we also edited the newsbit on NMA, as per Marsh's wishes.

But besides, the whole point is that Marsh does somewhat point out that this is true by saying "I'll survive"... Sure he doesn't come straight out and say it, but it's like the quotes from the Bethesda devs, you know they're up to something..

And we can post anything that is on a public forum, it's not our fault is the devs overstep and tell a secret. We got banned at SA for doing just that, which was kinda funny

 

[Spazmo]

Posting what a dev said as news is fine and standard practise for this kind of site, but then trumpeting "TROIKA DIES!" all over the damn internet when you don't know what's really happening is too fucking much. Odin just posted the rumour and suggested possible implications, which is what ought to be done. Rex flying off the handle for ten hours straight blabbering about "no more free rides" and how every game Troika ever made sucked ("I take it all back... back... then forwards... but now back again!") is ridiculous.

 

[Avé]

One of Ex's point's Avé is that anything you post on a public forum can be posted as news, because it's already public then. Both I and Ex posted that we couldn't find this quote on that forum and we also edited the newsbit on NMA, as per Marsh's wishes.

But besides, the whole point is that Marsh does somewhat point out that this is true by saying "I'll survive"... Sure he doesn't come straight out and say it, but it's like the quotes from the Bethesda devs, you know they're up to something..

And we can post anything that is on a public forum, it's not our fault is the devs overstep and tell a secret. We got banned at SA for doing just that, which was kinda funny

I'm not having a go at your Odin, it's a pretty easy mistake to attribute a quote to the wrong person.

My point is solely that David Marsh is within his rights, is not being condescending/presumptuous to ask you to remove a quote attributed to him, that he did not actually make.

However, according to Exitium, doing that makes you some sort of massively egotistical arsehole(at least if you work for troika).

 

[Jinxed]

Someone needs to start taking sedatives.