Guild Wars 2

For people do not see or use reddit the big/shocking news Colin leaves Anet. Good luck Colin with you future. You always seem like happy guy that enjoy what you do at Anet and sure you will see new good things.

Source

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/48zlyd/im_mike_obrien_here_with_gw2_dev_team_ama/

Colin will be leaving us. Colin is a personal friend, leaving on good terms, and I wish him all the best.

We’re gonna need a new face for the hype train!

Gaile?
John Smith?
Any volunteers….?

Good luck with whatever you do now Colin!

I wonder why he left and who will be the one to take up his position next. I do not see his departure as having a huge effect on the game though as it is a team effort after all.

Do we know where he’s going next? I’m impressed enough with his work on GW2 to want to be able to keep an eye on his career.

Aedelric.1287:

I wonder why he left and who will be the one to take up his position next.

Right now Mike O’Brien, president taking over.

…Surprising. Not sure what to feel.

Tanith.5264:

Do we know where he’s going next? I’m impressed enough with his work on GW2 to want to be able to keep an eye on his career.

All he said is he’ll be back with his family who from the sounds of it are NOT currently in Seattle area.

Good luck in whatever you do Colin

Behellagh.1468:

Tanith.5264:

Do we know where he’s going next? I’m impressed enough with his work on GW2 to want to be able to keep an eye on his career.

All he said is he’ll be back with his family who from the sounds of it are NOT currently in Seattle area.

Ah. makes sense. Well, I wish him the best…can’t help feeling a little sad, gonna miss that smile and his enthusiasm.

I can’t say how exicted i am .. this is sooo AWESOME !!!

ohh … wait .. thats what HE normally says

Can I have his stuff?

Seriously though, I wish him all the best, and hope he will still continue to play and enjoy this game, as much as most of us still do.

I would be lying to say I knew the man but I still wish him well.

I am sure his reasons were good ones. It’s always nice to get some fresh air.

Actually, I think this is a really good chance. The game over the last year or so has felt uninspired and I think a new look will be a good thing.

style.6173:

Actually, I think this is a really good chance. The game over the last year or so has felt uninspired and I think a new look will be a good thing.

It’s not really a new look though. Mike O’Brien was one of the founders of GW and is the current president of Arenanet. Mike is just now also Game Director.

Nilkemia.8507:

…Surprising. Not sure what to feel.

Are you really surprised? Given the way the game is going, I’m not.

GW2 needs someone with fresh idea’s in charge.

style.6173:

Actually, I think this is a really good chance. The game over the last year or so has felt uninspired and I think a new look will be a good thing.

Agreed. Hope Colin gets a new gig somewhere else though. He seems like a nice dude.

XD I needs more letter in my message so second yay face XD

GvG, GvG, GvG, GvG… and SAB too.

Reddit folks seem to think he’ll be working at Amazon but didn’t cite any source for this beyond “Amazon is hiring a lot of game devs.”

Wherever it is, I’m glad he’ll have family time and no commute. The stress relief of those two factors has to have him walking on air no matter how much fun he had working at ANet.

Um, I don’t think Gaile is qualified for the position; she’s made it clear she doesn’t theorycraft or do game design. And why would you make her leave her current one? We want someone that kind, generous, and energetic right here in the forums helping soothe all the angsty posters and brighten everyone’s day.

You’re just asking for the Peter Principle to be enacted

If Colin is the guy responsible for the low point WvW reached in GW2 then I am happy that he left the company.

I think Hugh would be great, and I’m not even into PvP, at all. Or how about Peter? He’d be great for hype, I’d bet.

This is what Colin said:
“An opportunity came up that allows me to see my family far more, support my wife on a project she is tackling after years of her supporting me, and a chance to cut my commute down to zero from an epic commute I have today. For now I’d rather let this discussion be about the future of Gw2 and leave my own future to that!”

To me that sounds like he’s now able to work from home, or is taking a break from working. Zero commute doesn’t sound like working at Amazon…

Gaile is great at her current job and I’m not sure that she would want to be lead game designer (not that I would deign to speak on her behalf or know her aspirations).

Good luck Colin! Hope your future is as bright as ever!

Just think of all the weird gem store stuff that would pop up.

Someone had to be fired for the dlc flop. Seeing in the reddit thread that 250 devs are working at arenanet, it’s worrying about their competence given the low quality low quantity of work done since launch of GW2.

Less than a six months ago this would have made me sad (well, at least as close to ‘sad’ as I can get) but after a handful of statements Johnson has made on reddit on certain issues (coughvisualnerfcough) in which he came off as very condescending and rude to the players, I can’t really bring myself to care anymore.

Good luck Colin, I have enjoyed the game.

Tanith.5264:

Do we know where he’s going next? I’m impressed enough with his work on GW2 to want to be able to keep an eye on his career.

Some ppl think Amazon i guess they are eating up devs from anet and from all other games.

Best of luck, Colin.

As for the future of GW2, Mike is a visionary who serves his company best at the boardroom policy level. I sincerely hope this dual role as game director is a short-lived interim phase. GW2 needs an operative game director as soon as possible, and it should be someone with a stellar track record in operations management. I also hope the new director is passionate about PvP and WvW and understands their power for the longevity of GW2. If you design PvP & WvW right, this game will sustain itself far into the future on emergent gameplay alone. GW2 has the best combat system of any MMO I have ever played. It’s high time we had the infrastructure to match it.

My dream candidate for the job is circa 2006 Matt Firor before he was snatched by Zenimax. All those hard lessons learned from DAoC still fresh in mind, ready to revamp sPvP and WvW. All we need is a time machine.

Jski.6180:

Tanith.5264:

Do we know where he’s going next? I’m impressed enough with his work on GW2 to want to be able to keep an eye on his career.

Some ppl think Amazon i guess they are eating up devs from anet and from all other games.

Well few Anet devs left for Amazon actually like Jon Peters which also explains the mess in pvp we have now.

He is doing right. But it will not change anything, we just will get another face for our hate.
Everyone should desert this sinking ship lol.
They will keep up in copying and will not go back to the true developement of Guild Wars 2. So that is the reason why Guild Wars 2 is not longer Guild Wars 2 it is only a failed try.

#inmemoryofthetrueguildwars2withteirawsomeideasandactionsbefore

I’m actually quite disappointed by this, I like Colin.

Although I find it hard to know how much of an impact it will have on the game, because I don’t think I know enough about how Anet works to know how many things were directly down to him.

But I can’t fault his reasoning. I recently left a job I loved largely because the commute was insane (almost 2 hours each way). I was fortunate to find a similarly great opportunity closer to home and it sounds like Colin has done the same.

It will be interesting to see who they find to replace him and what new ideas they bring.

Not surprised.

No wonder no one is.commentating on what is happening with PvP. They are all at CJ’s leaving party.

I wonder how game developers can be creative when alot of people are being a constant downer.

Colins smile will be missed to counter that nonsense. His positive attitude in and energy is very refreshing even when the usual forum slugs were tinfoil hatting every statement.

Anyone in his place would do the same. More time with family, working from home even after developping a game for a more than a decade. Best of luck and alot of happiness to Colin.

Good luck Colin, sad to see you go.

Best of luck, Colin. I’ll definitely miss you. Hope your future endeavours bring you fulfilment and success.

FlamingFoxx.1305:

This is what Colin said:
“An opportunity came up that allows me to see my family far more, support my wife on a project she is tackling after years of her supporting me, and a chance to cut my commute down to zero from an epic commute I have today. For now I’d rather let this discussion be about the future of Gw2 and leave my own future to that!”

To me that sounds like he’s now able to work from home, or is taking a break from working. Zero commute doesn’t sound like working at Amazon…

Wow, where was he commuting from, I wonder…

Congrats on the opportunity you have embraced and good fortune be with you.

Grats Colin! I admire a guy sticking it out for as long as you did. Hope the next job isn’t as bad as this one was. If you were, i’d of been gone a little over a year ago.

Rip GW2!