The comedy train that is Alganon just keeps on rolling. Ethic over at Kill Ten Rats alerts us to a press release for the newly relaunched fantasy MMORPG that copies, nearly word for word, the verbiage used by Bioware to promote Star Wars: The Old Republic almost two years ago.
"'Traditionally, massively multiplier online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression,' Derek Smart continued. 'In Alganon, in addition to these we've added the fourth pillar to the equation; a story. We delivered a fun, immersive adventure that gamers expect in a top quality massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, we're not done yet. A whole new adventure with new updates will follow soon, starting with a consignment house, new classes, PvP and much more,'" proclaims the offending release.
Sound familiar? That's probably because it was posted a while back on The Old Republic's official site:
"Traditionally, massively multiplayer online games have been about three basic gameplay pillars – combat, exploration and character progression," said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder and General Manager/CEO of BioWare and General Manager/Vice President of Electronic Arts Inc., "In Star Wars: The Old Republic, we're fusing BioWare's heritage of critically-acclaimed storytelling with the amazing pedigree of Lucasfilm and LucasArts, and adding a brand-new fourth pillar to the equation – story. At the same time, we will still deliver all the fun features and activities that fans have come to expect in a AAA massively multiplayer online game. To top it all off, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a very exciting, dynamic period in the Star Wars universe," reads a BioWare release dated in October 2008.
Check out Ethic's post over at Kill Ten Rats. Additionally, Massively has contacted Quest Online for comment and will update the story as information becomes available.
[Update: Quest CEO Derek Smart has responded with this post over on Alganon's official boards.]
Reader Comments (98)
Posted: May 9th 2010 4:31AM (Unverified) said
Pay attention to this line; "It's not that they are known for their dignity anyways..."
Reply
Posted: May 8th 2010 10:07PM (Unverified) said
The gist of this has been covered well enough by those posting here in the comments. Really, the only thing I can think to say at this point is:
"How the Frakk did they *not* think someone would not notice this?!"
I mean, if they had ripped the statement from some low-key MMO on the Horizen, maybe it might have gotten past folks. But...Come on! Of all the companies to Rip off they choose the one company with the most anticipated Release in Years. Jesus...did the person who made that call fall off a cart full of Brain-damage?
"How the Frakk did they *not* think someone would not notice this?!"
I mean, if they had ripped the statement from some low-key MMO on the Horizen, maybe it might have gotten past folks. But...Come on! Of all the companies to Rip off they choose the one company with the most anticipated Release in Years. Jesus...did the person who made that call fall off a cart full of Brain-damage?
Posted: May 8th 2010 10:08PM Russell Clarke said
More proof, if anyone needed it, that PR people are just lazy hacks.
Posted: May 8th 2010 10:26PM breezer said
LOL!
10 bucks says they did it on purpose as a (hello) brilliant! marketing ploy.
10 bucks says they did it on purpose as a (hello) brilliant! marketing ploy.
Posted: May 8th 2010 10:29PM Rialle said
Derek Smart post incoming in 3... 2...
Posted: May 8th 2010 11:26PM Bartlebe said
This.
Is.
Awesome.
Is.
Awesome.
Posted: May 8th 2010 10:44PM Keen and Graev said
These people need to stop making games.
Posted: May 8th 2010 11:07PM (Unverified) said
No doubt this will be all blamed on anonymous part-time intern #12 that nobody remembers hiring at all.
Posted: May 8th 2010 11:20PM monoflakon said
haha lmao! hilarious!
Posted: May 8th 2010 11:44PM (Unverified) said
Hmm I'm thinking this has intentional written all over it
Posted: May 8th 2010 11:53PM Warrior said
This wording seems to be copied from the BioWare 2008 press release, which seems to be copied from Smed's 2004 Fan Faire keynote. The point of contact on the BioWare press release is now the principal at AdVerbum Communications. AdVerbum's slogan? "The right words. To the letter. Every time." LOL. Hopefully, she's not actually self-plagiarizing and this is just a case of flattering imitation. Self-plagiarism is certainly an unethical practice and against the tenets of PRSA.
Posted: May 9th 2010 12:15AM Stormwaltz said
I don't know when the purported Fan Faire speech occurred, but I can say that when I started working at BioWare in July 2004, they were already internally using the "four pillars" metaphor to guide the development of single-player RPGs.
Reply
Posted: May 12th 2010 7:28AM Warrior said
I went looking for a transcript or video of Smed's keynote as I was writing this, but I couldn't find anything on the official website or anywhere else. I was hoping Memmio, who first claimed this at KTR, would later provide evidence. He did not. I really wanted Smed to be the originator because I think he's a cool guy, but in retrospect, supporting Memmio's claim for that reason was my mistake.
An anonymous individual claims Smed didn't even attend the Fan Faire in New Orleans. Given that there's no transcript, no video, and no mentions, I'd say that's probably true. I realize I'm just another anonymous poster and thus really don't have any credibility to start. I just regret my lapse in sound judgment. Parroting was completely out-of-character. And I'm sorry if I misled anyone. Or, God help me, strengthened Serek Dmart's case even just a tiny bit.
Reply
An anonymous individual claims Smed didn't even attend the Fan Faire in New Orleans. Given that there's no transcript, no video, and no mentions, I'd say that's probably true. I realize I'm just another anonymous poster and thus really don't have any credibility to start. I just regret my lapse in sound judgment. Parroting was completely out-of-character. And I'm sorry if I misled anyone. Or, God help me, strengthened Serek Dmart's case even just a tiny bit.
Posted: May 9th 2010 12:34AM (Unverified) said
I'm no fan of these guys...trust me...anyone who knows my post history know I give this game nothing but sh*t
But I work for the US Government and my agency has "4 pillars" approach on a few things.
A few philosophies have a pillar approach on subjects...there are some theologies that us a pillar approach as well.
Also...who takes the time to dig this stuff up??? I mean seriously, who remembers a fricking statement from 2004 and then compares to an obscure game statement? The game is dead, destroyed and finished.
Seriously, who is taking the time sitting there digging this crap up? That is a sorry statement if anything.
But I work for the US Government and my agency has "4 pillars" approach on a few things.
A few philosophies have a pillar approach on subjects...there are some theologies that us a pillar approach as well.
Also...who takes the time to dig this stuff up??? I mean seriously, who remembers a fricking statement from 2004 and then compares to an obscure game statement? The game is dead, destroyed and finished.
Seriously, who is taking the time sitting there digging this crap up? That is a sorry statement if anything.
Posted: May 9th 2010 12:40AM Bartlebe said
Straw man argument. How the person dug up this information isn't in question.
The Alganon devs couldn't take 20 mins to type up something about their game. While I don't think Bioware is going to pay much attention, it speaks to the "effort" they're putting in as well as their integrity.
Reply
The Alganon devs couldn't take 20 mins to type up something about their game. While I don't think Bioware is going to pay much attention, it speaks to the "effort" they're putting in as well as their integrity.
Posted: May 9th 2010 2:08AM Its Utakata stupid said
Yes, 4 pillars are correct torak. But we're not talking about a standard comparison that was hacked up to give flavor to what ever brand and spin Quest Online has for their product that seems similar to others. We're talking about duplicating pretty much from word to word. The likeliness of this being accidentally coincidental is extremely low.
Reply
Posted: May 9th 2010 12:38AM (Unverified) said
The true beauty of this is that Derek Smart had a recent blog post threatening legal action towards anyone who copied one of his TL;DR rants. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but if I was on the inside and wanted to embarrass Quest Online intentionally, this would be a good way to do it.
Posted: May 9th 2010 1:23AM whateveryousay said
I'll put it simply.
FAIL
FAIL
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