Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

[Dec 20, 2013, 10:25 am ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

The Red 5 board of directors has voted Mark Kern out as CEO of the company he co-founded, reports Game Front, which may be part of the reorganization they announced a few months ago along with word they were re-working PvP in Firefall, their MMORPG. Kern is the former team lead for World of Warcraft, and was the last of the four Blizzard expatriates who co-founded Red 5 to leave the company, which is now owned by Chinese publisher The9, and word is he is out "effective immediately." GameFront has an internal mail on the topic says they "owe Mark a great deal of appreciation" for his work on the company and the game, for all that he has done to help build this company and to set the vision for an incredible new game" and that this is a "major change" to the company."

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13.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 21, 2013, 04:56

Asmodai

I think the thing that got people excited about this game was the Pax2010 video preview. I know that was the hook for me.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-CdQmxH96M That game looks far more enjoyable than the turd that is still floating now. Their biggest problem wasn't "making it like wow", it was redesigning character advancement entirely twice, redoing crafting from the ground up for very little actual gain, having a shit awful UI/inventory/crafting system (seriously, the inventory is fucking godawful) and then funneling you through rinse repeat content to get you to buy boosts... I would have subbed for that game. And despite being a founder, I doubt I'll ever spend another buck on this piece of crap...

12.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 20:43

Wallshadows

Fantaz wrote on Dec 20, 2013, 19:03: isn't Warframe a totally different game? how can you compare the two? tho Warframe is good, don't me wrong... There's wasn't really any rhyme to that comparison other than being the course of action I took upon discovering Warframe. My only gripe would be the lack of map diversity in spite of being (mostly) randomized which gives me Hellgate flashbacks.

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Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 19:22

jacobvandy

Yeah... Warframe is nothing but instanced missions, very similar to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer except that you're the aggressor rather than the defender. The only thing they really have in common is the concept of cybernetic armor bestowing your abilities.

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Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 19:03

Fantaz

Wallshadows wrote on Dec 20, 2013, 18:22: Uninstall Firefall. Install Warframe. isn't Warframe a totally different game? how can you compare the two? tho Warframe is good, don't me wrong...

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 18:53

Keith

I have a founder's as well. I played pretty regularly until the "major update", and then it sucked. Based on the posts I read, the update was Mark Kern's idea, as the game wasn't fulfilling his vision. While I can respect that, I also thought the update sucked, so I'm not sure if I agreed with his vision. Maybe this will bring a welcome change to the game.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 18:37

Stanly Manly

Hah! Honestly, I feel sorry for anyone who sank money into this game. The entire concept that got me interested was a huge open world with pvp... and now that will never happen. With the unbearable grind with crafting and progression now, there is just no reason to play this game. Sad, I had a glimmer of hope a while back that this was going to turn out good. Warframe you say? Checking that out now...

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 18:22

Wallshadows

Uninstall Firefall. Install Warframe.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 16:13

Ozmodan

Well The9 can take a hike before I play this game again.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 15:18

Creston

Ballmer's available!

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 14:50

Axis

Best guy they got on their team is Scott Youngblood bar none. He was the main man designer for tribes, hope he takes over they need more tribes less wow.




Yours truly, Axis

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 11:57

jacobvandy

I have mixed feelings about this... I had been a huge proponent of the game since I started playing early last year, sunk about $150 of support into it since then, but I haven't touched it in six months now. They finally released a new class, but it was very unimaginative and the only reason it was fun to play for a while is it was something new. Then they came out and announced they were abandoning the idea of the huge open world, in favor of simply a lot more little instances that you teleport to... Crafting and progression were a big mess since they overhauled it, but the gameplay remained really fun. The dynamic missions were a great addition, but they seemed stuck in a rut of overthinking core mechanics and wanting to re-do them all the time rather than focusing on polish and adding more content. Kern was a great guy, he was always on the forums talking with people, etc. But I can't say I blame them for the mutiny. They've been hemorrhaging players lately, and somebody has to take the fall. However, there's an argument to be made for him being the savior of the project when it almost fell to the wayside several years ago, and championing the virtues of avoiding pay-to-win and gating content. Him leaving could be very bad for the game. Or it could be very good. I'll be keeping an eye on this for sure.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 10:21

Seventyfive

Shineyguy wrote on Dec 20, 2013, 09:57: Keep forgetting I have a founder pass for this game. I need to get back into it to see what has changed. It was neat, just didn't have enough to grab me early on. I paid to be a founder also and loved the game till they made a massive update, mostly for the worst. Completely reworked the skill trees to something that is very unintuitive, reset everyone's minerals they had mined, etc... Basically they wiped out all my progress. I get that it's a beta but there has to have been a better way to do things. After that I signed off and never came back.

Re: Red 5 Removes CEO Mark Kern

Dec 20, 2013, 09:57

Shineyguy

Keep forgetting I have a founder pass for this game. I need to get back into it to see what has changed. It was neat, just didn't have enough to grab me early on.

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