Sacred 3 - Ex-Game Designer Apology

Couchpotato

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A former Junior Game Designer at Keen Games who worked on Sacred 3 has posted an apology on the Steam forums. Sorry the game key is already taken.

I was one of the Game Designers of Sacred 3. Giving away my key.
Hi, I was a Junior Game Designer at keen games and worked on Sacred 3. I joined the development team in May 2013. Overall development was a bit longer, as you may know.
My main tasks where design, implementation and maintenance of the enemies and the bosses.

I'm sorry for the die-hard sacred fans, that didn't get the game they wanted to have. As a developer I received a free steam key for Sacred 3, which I would like to give to a disappointed fan, who did not purchase the game already. It's not much, just a gesture.

I've read a lot of hate against my former employer keen games, that they destroyed the franchise (on purpose)... All I can say is, that you should not overestimate the power of a developer in a "work for hire" constellation with a big publisher.

I could answer some questions but I would appreciate to not receive the full hatred package on a personal level.

- Sascha

Edit: Some people demanded proof. http://i.imgur.com/FTXrAgl.jpg?1
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More information.
 
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One fan asked on that thread about who made the decision to turn sacred series into arcade. I think its worth while to post it here…

Q: I think a question that may direct a lot of anger either on or away from Keen Games:

Who made the decision to fundamentally change so much about the series?
Did Deep Silver approach Keen Games and say, this is the kind of arcade game we want, or did they say, here is the Sacred franchise, make the game you want with it?

Either way I applaud you for coming on the forums here, and hope you don't get too much personal abuse thrown at you for doing so.
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A:I can't give you a "black or white" answer. The executive producer and creative producer were employed by Deep Silver and they did a good job. But they both had a boss too, the marketing department.
The marketing department of Deep Silver was the only one with enough power to change the direction of the franchise.
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The marketing department... No wonder so many games suck these days.
 
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How is this different from EA/Bioware (ME3 multiplayer crap, cutout lore critical content and sold separately), EA/Maxis (SimCity multiplayer crap, Sims 4 base franchise concepts removed) and EA/Mythic (Dungeon Keeper phonescam)?
 
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You needed money and you worked for a living. Why apologize for that?

It's par for the course for this industry. Get out of it or go indie if you want to work on interesting games.

Don't apologize unless you did something you thought was wrong and you had an easy alternative.
 
Dez said:
"The executive producer and creative producer were employed by Deep Silver and they did a good job. But they both had a boss too, the marketing department.
The marketing department of Deep Silver was the only one with enough power to change the direction of the franchise. "

The marketing department… No wonder so many games suck these days.
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Swen Vincke said it clearly when he told about his experience with big publishers - its mainly marketing department who decide about game development nowadays. And these guys usually have no experience with games and have no understanding for complex genres like RPGs. They like "big flying dragons" - its something they can promote.
 
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Corporations are about making money, not quality products and that carries over to games too. Marketing is just a part of it.

This is why MMORPGs have sucked for years and get worse all the time. It's why so much of the rest of gaming is so dumbed down and generic. Sell more copies to the most people, wide appeal is the goal, not quality gameplay. Sell more units. Make more money.

Fortunately there are other ways to get good games done these days and there are still occasionally good games that get thru the corporate stranglehold (or that get modded into sucking less).

Gaming has become like TV or movies (or pretty much everything else since everything is about making money and profits these days) - it's all about the greed and profit margins. All praise capitalism and money worship.
 
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Marketing departments look at trends at what's been selling well and extrapolate. Sadly very little imagination or vision or gaming experience comes into their analysis. As we know, trying to repeat the past doesn't guarantee a good future.
 
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DArtagnan said:
You needed money and you worked for a living. Why apologize for that?

It's par for the course for this industry. Get out of it or go indie if you want to work on interesting games.

Don't apologize unless you did something you thought was wrong and you had an easy alternative.
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Well said! We agree again DArtagnan; scary! ;)

I dislike it when people do these lame apologies and throw their coworkers and bosses under the bus with vague accusations. It's very unprofessional. If you have a specific issue, then voice it. Otherwise, keep the vague "it's not our fault" nonsense to yourself. You just look like a pathetic whiny child with zero loyalty.

PS: there are many people who enjoyed Sacred 3 for what it was. Hence apologizing is like saying those people are stupid.
 
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Ever had to deal with marketing departments in any business? They seem to attract the dimmest bulbs.
 
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Brumbek said:
PS: there are many people who enjoyed Sacred 3 for what it was. Hence apologizing is like saying those people are stupid.
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Well thanks to them buying the game Deep Silver will continue to ruin the name & franchise in the next cheap sequel. It's typical business as usual.:disappointed:

Now I will never agree to like this abomination, but it's seems a few gamers do. So if any true Sacred fans exist they will buy the spiritual sequel called Unbended.

Link- http://www.unbended.zone/en/
Capt. Huggy Face said:
Ever had to deal with marketing departments in any business? They seem to attract the dimmest bulbs.
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I deal with them in Retail Management meetings so I agree.

Update: I never purchased the game Brumbek, and never will. The interviews and videos gave me enough information to know it's not a true Sacred ARPG.
 
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Couchpotato said:
Well thanks to them buying the game Deep Silver will continue to ruin the name & franchise in the next cheap sequel. It's typical business as usual.:disappointed:

Now I will never agree to like this abomination, but it's seems a few gamers do. So if any true Sacred fans exist they will buy the spiritual sequel called Unbended.
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Well, you still didn't tell me how far you got in Sacred 3 or on what difficulty. Moreover, it sounds like action games like this aren't your genre, which is totally fine of course, absolutely no offense meant. Playing on the highest difficulty was quite fun and made for some intense battles, especially boss battles, which this developer says he worked on so kudos to him.

PS: Sacred 3 is the reason why GameFly is so great for console players. Just rent it and beat it in a few days and move on. Or better yet, get a friend who has GameFly to rent it then let you borrow it after he's done with it. Obviously this requires becoming a console peasant…but sometimes it's worth it. :)
 
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