Comment by flipnotic

5 years ago

Most of the comments I see here are people going along with the author's rant, so I'm going to take a different perspective.

Many of the author's criticisms of DreamWorld may actually be viewed as strengths. Examples:

>people with no credentials or history in the gaming industry, and try to get funding for some massive project that multi-million dollar corporations haven’t been capable of producing

Isn't this what YC is all about? This team is attempting to disrupt an industry, to do something that a large, bloated and bureaucratic corporation has trouble achieving. Why be hatin'?

>it’s definitely the first time I’ve seen it done while using the default Unreal player model.

This sounds like an intelligent move to me. If this small, two-person team wants to ship, why would they spend time creating custom models? Using default assets for as long as possible seems like the right move to me, and exactly the kind of attitude you want in a team that delivers.

>the mission statement here as well because it grossly oversells what CORE AEGIS actually creates.

The author fact-checks a corporate vision statement for accuracy, which makes me think he has little experience in the corporate world. Therefore, I wonder, what makes him a credible judge of what is or is not a viable business?

6 comments

flipnotic

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unionpivo  5 years ago

Honestly the biggest red flag to me is no artist or artist background.

Sure MMO's you need competent programmers, but what you also need is artists and someone who can manage multiple artists to create a cohesive whole.

The fact that they have 0 artist on team is just ...

As far as your strengths theory goes. It's like somebody who has only done some web programming said he would create a better phone than iPhone. Sure it's theoretically possible, but with no expertise in hardware, logistics, low level OS, legal (patents) ...

My example is just slightly more ridiculous, than what they are purposing.

  • sillysaurusx  5 years ago

    Ah, fellow gamedev! Hello!

    The telltale sign of an experienced gamedev: someone who appreciates how important an art pipeline is. And how hard it is.

    S2 Games had one of the best I've seen. Someday I should do a writeup about it. They were able to deliver a new Dota-style hero in less than a week -- concept, modeling, animation, polish, effects, sound, everything.

Vaslo  5 years ago

>Many of the author's criticisms of DreamWorld may actually be viewed as strengths. Examples: people with no credentials or history in the gaming industry, and try to get funding for some massive project that multi-million dollar corporations haven’t been capable of producing

Dual Universe's owner NovaQuark listed the SAME "strength" and it is clear by their most recent backtracking and company changes (including replacing the CEO) that NOT having gaming experience is a HUGE detriment.

Grustaf  5 years ago

>> people with no credentials or history in the gaming industry, and try to get funding for some massive project that multi-million dollar corporations haven’t been capable of producing

> Isn't this what YC is all about? This team is attempting to disrupt an industry, to do something that a large, bloated and bureaucratic corporation has trouble achieving. Why be hatin'?

No, YC is not about doing something without experience. On the contrary, YC partners have been known to say that you should work on something where you are a world class expert. The better you know something, the more likely it is you can disrupt it.

koonsolo  5 years ago

Inexperienced game devs that want to make a huge MMO is very common in the game industry.

But the keyword here is "want".