Game Development: Salem & Haven

[jorb]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgSMxY6asoE

[painhertz]

Question: Was it Paradox's influence that kept the game from becoming the dark, cthuluesque supernatural game you guys originally advertised? what happened to Witchcraft? Creatures of the Lumberwoods? Why did it go from that "very cool" dynamic to the shitty Colonial Cmerica simulator it is?

Answer: We had -- and have -- a wonderful relationship with Paradox. They have always given us a lot of free space to work in, and they have never pushed us in any particular direction beyond minding their own immediate and reasonable business concerns. To the extent that the theme of the game has failed to live up to expectations or whatnot that is (almost) entirely due to us, and our priorities. Sure, there have been times when we have disagreed on priorities or whatever, but by and large we've always made decisions together, and in a mutually respectful fashion.

If anything we ourselves -- or the very nature of the situation -- put some uncomfortable constraints on how we could or could not work, but I couldn't at all be happier about the deal we have now.

Paradox is a great company with great people working for it. I am sometimes sad to see that they get a bit of a bad rep in these communities, as I don't think they deserve that, and I cannot recommend them enough.

No doubt, i play and love quite a number of Paradox games, but I still have no answer as to where Witchcraft and all the other cool shit went....lol

Go play EU4. I hear its great.

Weird, my post didn;t get added. I hear you, I play and love quite a few Paradox games but the main thrust of my question was more "where the hell did Witchcraft and all the cool supernatural shit that was supposed to be in Salem go?" lol

[jorb]

No doubt, i play and love quite a number of Paradox games, but I still have no answer as to where Witchcraft and all the other cool shit went....lol

The bottom line is that we never quite found the time to give them proper love or thought, as we did work in a more... intense... fashion than we normally do. We didn't want to implement them in some terrible way just to be done with it, and I'm glad we didn't.

[painhertz]

Well, hopefully they get done some day either in Salem or maybe in modified fashion in Haven. I will be a sad panda until i get Witchcraft SOMEWHERE! lol

[jordancoles]

Well, hopefully they get done some day either in Salem or maybe in modified fashion in Haven. I will be a sad panda until i get Witchcraft SOMEWHERE! lol

[Nummy]

Did you got paid for development of Salem? If not, how do you live? By air? If yes, how much did paradox paid you for that game?

[burgingham]

Of course they got paid for it, what a silly question. And to ask people for their salary on a forum is even more silly...

[Potjeh]

Salem doesn't actually need that much updating to be able to sustain a healthy population. Just some small tweaks that would reward socialization over playing a crazed axe murderer.

[burgingham]

I am not sure that is true. HnH maintained several hundred players with no development in 2 years and lag that made it basically impossible to play.

Salem is down to 5 players a week after Paradox announces they are out...

[Oddity]

http://www.webatrocity.com/salem/hnh_vs ... 24hour.php