Peter Molyneux Makes More Promises He Can't Keep

[TinCow]

It looks like the king of game hype is at it again.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6434471.stm


Veteran designer Peter Molyneux has said that he wants to put love into his next game, Fable 2.

"This is my bold claim - I need you to experience something in Fable that you as gamers have never experienced before," he declared.

I'm usually not one to post rants like this, but I'm sick of this guy. He was a glorious designer back when Bullfrog was around, but he has lost all credibility IMO after the debacles of Black & White and Fable. His games aren't bad, but they're nowhere near what he promotes them as. Every single time, he talks about how amazingly new and revolutionary the game will be, how many great new features they will have that we've never seen in a game before. Then when the games show up, that stuff is nowhere to be seen.

Fable was the deal-breaker for me. He claimed it would be a game in which everything you did changed the world around you. Every action would have a consequence and the world would be shaped around your character. Such a shame it just turned out to be Diablo with pretty haircuts and tattoos. I thought Molyneux had learned his lesson after that one too. The guy actually apologized for his failure to deliver on his early promises and said"


"I have come to realise that I should not talk about features too early so I am considering not talking about games as early as I do. This will mean that the Lionhead games will not be known about as early as they are, but I think this is the more industry standard."

Yet here we are just under a year away from a release date and he's saying that he's going to once again produce something we've never seen... this time the emotion of love. Not only do I feel absolutely certain that this is more hype he can't deliver on, but by what standards does he think love has never been done in a game before? I can name dozens of games off the top of my head that had highly in-depth romances that altered the entire course of the plot and the ending of the game.

Ug... sorry Pete. You've fooled me twice before. I'm not falling for it again.

[professorspatula]

I don't really care if he lives up to promises or not - he's a thinker, a visionary. Unfortunately having a vision doesn't mean that you can practically achieve that vision - not if you want to actually release something before you go bust. Yea he talks everything up a bit, ends up making a prat of himself, but still it's good the industry has some people willing to say things should improve, that games should be more than they just are. Most games and designers seem content to churn out the same old drivel without thinking, 'Hey, perhaps really we should be doing this instead....' I don't listen to half what he says, but just knowing the chap is willing to stick his head above the parapet to get it sniped by the critics and cynics, well I salute him for that if nothing else.

Richard Garriot was another visionary who knew games should move on. Unfortunately after EA swallowed up his beloved Origin and the Ultima franchise he disappeared more or less into obscurity - well he's doing things but how many people know what they are?

[TinCow]

I understand that and his visionary appeal is what made me buy Fable after my first letdown with Black & White. B&W actually was revolutionary in many aspects... it just wasn't a very good game. It failed to do many of the things he promised, but the central aspect (the creature) was absolutely revolutionary.

Fable though... I'm sorry, but there was nothing remotely visionary about that. It's not enough to simply spout off about your vision... you've got to convert it into reality. Will Wright continues to do it to this day. People complain about EA wrecking developers (and they do) but Maxis is an EA subsidiary now as well, yet Spore looks like it really might be an actual revolution in gaming.

I definitely think Molyneux can make fabulous games. I fully believe he could make a game that would deserve the term "visionary." He did it with Populous, Syndicate, and (IMO) Dungeon Keeper... but those are a long time in the past now. He's still making games, he's still claiming the visions, but they simply aren't being produced anymore. Garriott had the balls to leave Origin when he saw what was happening to his creations. Molyneux is stagnating.

[Spino]

I don't believe Fable was actually a Molyneaux creation. I believe it was conceived by another developer that Molyneaux's Lionhead Studios bought.

Regardless Molyneaux is certainly the master of shameless self-promotion. It served him well for Black and White, that game sold like mad in spite of its mediocrity.

[TB666]

well to be fair he actually keep his word with "the movies".
That game turned out as he said it would.
Fable was a good game as well.
He is a good developer, constantly trying to do new and fresh things however he shouldn't boast about it until it actually works and is in the game.

[Mikeus Caesar]

After the disappointment that was Black and White 2 (so many broken promises - i followed that game through 4 years of development, and it was nothing like what Molyneux had gone on about) i doubt i'll be listening to him this time around.

[rory_20_uk]

I too can spout vision. As it happens I can't even code. Never mind!

A visionary that pushes the limit of what can be done is a good thing. One that promises gold and delivers Iron pyrites isn't much use.

I too was one who got B&W, and played it in the mistaken belief that it was not the game failing but my own failure to not see the brilliance of the game.

So, until I see expressive verbal diarrhoea backed up with at the very least a demo I'm not interested.

~:smoking:

[doc_bean]

well to be fair he actually keep his word with "the movies".
That game turned out as he said it would.


You haven't heard the masses complain about the lack of camera control ?

It was a decent game, and did what it set out to do pretty well imo (that is, a movie tycoon game, not a film director simulator). I played black and white for about half an hour before giving up due to the difficult control scheme (the leashes), the inane missions (find this, find that)and the general feeling of dissapointment.

IMO Molyneux has good some ideas, but he needs to wait for technology to catch up so he can actually do them justice.

[Kekvit Irae]

I thoroughly enjoy The Movies and its expansion pack. It's not so much a tycoon game as it is a movie maker. Make movies in the game and upload them on the Lionhead website for others to view. The more views you get, you can get unlockable downloads. Some of the best and funny movies come from the game. Go to YouTube and search for POOL'S CLOSED

[Midnight]

B+W2 here, not too impressed. I'd love what he says to be true, but I've now come to the conclusion that *everything* *anybody* involved with a game says about it is absolutely not to be trusted, or at least taken with a sackful of salt. Molyneux seems to talk an awful lot, but doesn't deliver much.

As for Garriott, mentioned above, he too was amazing early on (Ultimas 4-7 particularly), but I think he lost all credibility when he tried to defend Ultima 9.

Maybe I'm a little too cynical, but I've had one disappointment too many from computer games companies.

[TB666]

You haven't heard the masses complain about the lack of camera control ?

Well from what I have read the expansion pack gave you free camera control.
Haven't tried the XP myself tho.

[TinCow]

Apparently the Penny Arcade guys agree with me.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/03/07