Jon Shafer leaves

[spartansociety]

Did anyone else see this? Makes me kind of sad, I was thinking that he would have been an awesome match for a new Paradox game/IP.

I'm guessing whatever he was working on will be delayed although it was likely a long way from finished anyway.

 

[Antediluvian Monster]

It was noted on the Game Director thread below, and indeed Johan seems to have edited him out of the OP.

 

[grandad1982]

That's a shame. I was interested in what he might have been doing.

 

[jalner]

Bye. I was never a fan of Civ5/4x games anyway. It's micromanagement cancer.

 

[Darkath]

It must really have gone badly, as in paradox was really not a fan of his ideas or something and asked him too many changes on the design of the game ?

I think it's a shame to let go of an elite game designer without him having a chance of making something.

 

[Zavaleta]

Probably for the best. Civ5 was a mess on launch and had to be redesigned by another through expansions. And his At the Gates project went nowhere.

 

[Galaahd]

I dislike the guy, he seems all hype and 0 substance. Just look at what he did with At the gates.

The fact Paradox sent him away after a couple of months only confirms my initial suspicion.

By the way, don't buy into the whole "zomg brilliant game designer!!1" narrative. For that sort of project it's always a team effort, it's not exactly Stardew Valley.

 

[Galaahd]

It must really have gone badly, as in paradox was really not a fan of his ideas or something and asked him too many changes on the design of the game ?

I think it's a shame to let go of an elite game designer without him having a chance of making something.

Elite game designer just because Rock Paper Shotgun said he is elite? To be honest the guy hasn't proven a lot in his career, besides not being able to stick to a project for long and abandoning his kickstarter.

 

[ashbery76]

He wanted a turn based Victoria3.

 

[ashbery76]

Elite game designer just because Rock Paper Shotgun said he is elite? To be honest the guy hasn't proven a lot in his career, besides not being able to stick to a project for long and abandoning his kickstarter.

Lead designer for the biggest 4x game ever made is not bad methinks.

 

[jalner]

Lead designer for the biggest 4x game ever made is not bad methinks.

That's only because it was Sid Meier's Civilization. Anything will sell with a Sid Meier on it. If there were a Sid Meier's Hitler it will still sell on Steam.

 

[caedussl]

That's only because it was Sid Meier's Civilization. Anything will sell with a Sid Meier on it. If there were a Sid Meier's Hitler it will still sell on Steam.

But it was a great game too. It wasn't just a name brand game, it was one of the best games of its genre in the generation.

 

[ashbery76]

That's only because it was Sid Meier's Civilization. Anything will sell with a Sid Meier on it. If there were a Sid Meier's Hitler it will still sell on Steam.

Actually no.Railroads,that space game thing,etc.

A SM Htiler sounds cool.

 

[MN121MN]

Elite game designer just because Rock Paper Shotgun said he is elite? To be honest the guy hasn't proven a lot in his career, besides not being able to stick to a project for long and abandoning his kickstarter.

Methink he left to make At The Gates, or maybe because he wanted to make At The Gates with PI but failed.

 

[DmUa]

Good riddance, i hated Civ 5.

 

[Badesumofu]

Civ 5 at release was not great. Civ 5 after 2 expansions was great. But Jon was not lead on the expansions, only the original release, iirc.

 

[the343danny]

But it was a great game too. It wasn't just a name brand game, it was one of the best games of its genre in the generation.

Many people would agree with you now, but that wasn't always the case. At launch, Civ 5 was quite terrible and gameplay was horribly bland aside from the exciting new combat system and hexes. Shafer made a 4x Panzer General knockoff at the expense of everything else in the game, which played like an arcade game. He left Firaxis just 2 months after the initial launch of the game (presumably because of backlash) and wasn't a part of the several years and expansions long fixing process that it took for the community to revisit their opinion on the game. I wouldn't consider that a winning record.

I really dislike what he did with the Civ franchise, and I'm glad he won't have the opportunity to ruin another.

 

[yourworstnightm]

I tried Civ 5, realised Civ 4 was better, and went back to Civ 4.

 

[caedussl]

Many people would agree with you now, but that wasn't always the case. At launch, Civ 5 was quite terrible and gameplay was horribly bland aside from the exciting new combat system and hexes. Shafer made a 4x Panzer General knockoff at the expense of everything else in the game, which played like an arcade game. He left Firaxis just 2 months after the initial launch of the game (presumably because of backlash) and wasn't a part of the several years and expansions long fixing process that it took for the community to revisit their opinion on the game. I wouldn't consider that a winning record.

I really dislike what he did with the Civ franchise, and I'm glad he won't have the opportunity to ruin another.

True enough, but I didn’t mean to suggest that Shafer was responsible for the improvements. I also think a lot of the criticism levied at Civ 5 was in part due to a rejection of change. It definitely shipped with less features than IV but I think foundationally it was still very strong and did a lot of things better than IV. V is getting old and I feel like I can still go back and play it (more so than VI at times). IV feels very dated in comparison.

 

[qer]

True enough, but I didn’t mean to suggest that Shafer was responsible for the improvements. I also think a lot of the criticism levied at Civ 5 was in part due to a rejection of change. It definitely shipped with less features than IV but I think foundationally it was still very strong and did a lot of things better than IV. V is getting old and I feel like I can still go back and play it (more so than VI at times). IV feels very dated in comparison.

Nah, IV is the culmination of the civ series when it comes to depthness and gameplay possibilities. You may like more civ V and that's okay, but if you were one of the people who bought it at launch I can tell you it wasn't due to rejection of change that it was disliked, it was disliked due to being a fucking mess. I don't think anyone dislike change for the concept, but due to the mechanics that were implemented before were more on their taste. I for example think that the direction stellaris is taking is very promising, while others hate it. The contrary would be with Hoi4 , that I believe is inferior to both DH and Hoi3, while others love it.