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View Full Version : Frankie O'Connor leaves Bungie to work more closely with Microsoft on Halo


Zeus
05-17-2008, 08:00 AM
<center><img src="http://www.maxconsole.net/content_img/misterfin.jpg"></center></a>

<b>Goodnight, Sweet Pimp</b>
On a much more serious note, hearts are heavy here at Bungie -- even the cold, shriveled prune in my chest -- as this week, Frankie announced his decision to leave the studio. As much as you all will miss Frank, Bungie will miss him that much and more. He brought a finely shaped dome, spot-on writing and a much-needed Scottish lilt to Bungie. Good luck, Broconnor.

A note from Frank and one final Mister Chief are below:



"Dear BungieFans,

It’s not you, it’s me.

In many ways, you’re too good for me. You can find someone better. Maybe a little hairy dude. Maybe a Hungarian Unicyclist. I just know that I don’t deserve you, and that this is just as hard for me as it is for you.

Yours truly,

Frankie.


I am leaving you. I am off to work more closely with Microsoft on the Halo franchise, so I shan’t be too far away, but I wanted to take this last chance, appropriately enough in a Weekly Update, to tell you a very fond thanks. Thanks for being the most energized, enthusiastic, loyal, faithful, creative, imaginative and incredible community any video game could ever have.

Thanks for being patient when things went wrong, when playlists didn’t work, when matchmaking broke, when bugs were being fixed. Thanks for the mail, the screenshots, the movies, the machinima, the models, the paintings and the sheer enthusiasm and talent you’ve shown me over the years.

Thanks for not following through on the death threats.

Thanks for sticking with us through thick and thin and thanks for the loyalty you’re going to show Bungie over the coming years.

And on that note, let me tell you a bit about the coming years. It was very hard for me to make the decision to move on, but one thing that made it just a bit easier, was seeing the amazing work that’s coming down the pipe. I was busy working on a story for one of our next games, an experience that is destined to surprise, amaze and entertain like nothing we’ve ever made before. That game has an amazing team invested in it, and one that will be tasked with building the Next Big Thing. You should see what they’ve already achieved, you truly should.

And there are other things rumbling at Bungie, just as secret, just as epic and just as incredible. And the thing that turns all that rumbling into incredible gameplay experiences is, has always been and will always continue to be, the people. The brilliant, talented, industrious gang of geniuses who brought you everything from a monochrome Pong clone to the staggering vistas and vision of Halo 3.

Artists, engineers, musicians, designers, writers, administrators, producers, managers, even our security staff are Bungie people, through and through. They are all, every last man, woman and Bob, the very essence of the spirit of the company and the thing I will miss most of all.

There are too many to name. More than 120 now, more than double the number than when I first started, about halfway through Halo 2. Amazing to think that I am Old School Bungie, when I never felt like anything other than a wide-eyed child in a moonlit candy store.

So thanks again. And look forward to all that candy. They’re making it for you.

Goodbye, thanks for all the Photoshops today - and don’t eat stuff off the sidewalk."

panyan1991
05-17-2008, 08:59 AM
truly touching *weep*

*no sarcasm here*

spikerules
05-17-2008, 11:40 AM
Who and what? I thought Bungie made Halo? Are they throwing MS a bone and letting them make the Halo franchise now? And arent they the same company anyhow? I guess what I am trying to say is, why is this so important and why does it need a news story?

Kenban
05-17-2008, 12:24 PM
Who and what? I thought Bungie made Halo? Are they throwing MS a bone and letting them make the Halo franchise now? And arent they the same company anyhow? I guess what I am trying to say is, why is this so important and why does it need a news story?

They were the same company while Halo was still in development the company was purchased by Microsft. Then after Halo 3 some (all?) of the Bungie employees were unhappy with Microsoft. The company ended up splitting away with some IP's like Halo being kept by Microsoft. Nothing official has ever been said but I have read reports that believe the deal includes language that Microsoft is still their official publisher, games can only be produced for Microsoft approved platforms (so none for PS3/Wii), and that Microsoft has some form of veto rights over titles produced.

Volition
05-17-2008, 02:43 PM
Its a shame how the bungie team is being split up. Though if this is better good of recreating something fantastic like HALO 1 then Im in the same boat and part off the halo 2 and halo 3 team visionaries. Halo 1 was simply perfect. Halo 2 was improved and in some areas lacked. Halo 3 was just a miss.

I remember the first day, going to a lan party of xbox halo 1, I was blown so far away :o with the visuals and flawless physics.

NexusBurst
05-17-2008, 03:24 PM
Who and what? I thought Bungie made Halo? Are they throwing MS a bone and letting them make the Halo franchise now? And arent they the same company anyhow? I guess what I am trying to say is, why is this so important and why does it need a news story?
MS probably dominates bungie halo 3 was a mess halo 1 was better. How many times have MS captured gaming assets for whole teams to quit? The same would probably happen with the GTAIV team and EA.

Volition
05-17-2008, 04:17 PM
MS probably dominates bungie halo 3 was a mess halo 1 was better. How many times have MS captured gaming assets for whole teams to quit? The same would probably happen with the GTAIV team and EA.

Please do elaborate. The only gaming assets MS has captured not alone for the team even to quit is Rare.

What you said was just plain uncalled for Microsoft.

NexusBurst
05-17-2008, 04:32 PM
Please do elaborate. The only gaming assets MS has captured not alone for the team even to quit is Rare.

What you said was just plain uncalled for Microsoft.

Why not pay a visit to beep industries and see what they've made lately. Remember voodoo vince? exactly.

msanchez
05-17-2008, 06:23 PM
Jesus, the guys sounds like Hector of Troy before he went to fight Achilles..... whatta drama queen!

Volition
05-17-2008, 07:24 PM
With that many supporters he has its hard NOT to pull off that kind of sincerity.

aic007
05-17-2008, 09:32 PM
According to all sides, there was no ill will with the split. They just wanted to be independant again and MS agreed so they bought the company back. MS gets the rights to Halo and they still work together.

sjkhounk
05-17-2008, 09:53 PM
Its a shame how the bungie team is being split up...

I haven't heard of any splits or much of the team leaving. Also, Frank was the "Community Liason". (Manages the web content.) Other than some play testing, he really didn't have any hand in the making of the Halo games. His experience is in journalism. So this would be his first job where he is a major part of a game's development.

I must say though, I did enjoy his weekly commentaries. Amusing guy.

shadyx
05-17-2008, 10:31 PM
Please do elaborate. The only gaming assets MS has captured not alone for the team even to quit is Rare.

What you said was just plain uncalled for Microsoft.

?????

if i can gather some sense from your bad grammar for a moment...i believe you are insinuating that most members of the RARE team quit when joining M$...


...this is NOT TRUE at all.....

maybe you should do your research....as most of the major team players from RARE left the company around the time the PS2 was due for release.

the major players that created the great n64 shooters goldeneye and perfect dark went on to form Free Radical and create the Timesplitters series for the ps2/xbox...and are currently working on Haze for the ps3.

so please dont talk such bullshit

as for frankie leaving bungie... he's just a PR guy. it matters very little in the grand scheme of things. however his leaving message opened my eyes to something i didnt know. that microsoft themselves are actually producing the next game in the Halo franchise......i cant seeing this being a good thing :P

hopefully, M$ is outsourcing Halo to a competent dev (like Gearbox perhaps?)

faceless
05-18-2008, 12:21 AM
frank was lead writer for the series, so that means even if the new Halo games suck, their stories will at least be entertaining.

crypysmoker
05-18-2008, 07:42 PM
LOl when someone says "its not you its me" it means "im fucking tired of all your whining BS and complaining about how games should be and what was screwed up. Now you can ***** directly to MS about your problems with thier half assed crappy games"

:)

grapeape
05-18-2008, 08:37 PM
?????

if i can gather some sense from your bad grammar for a moment...i believe you are insinuating that most members of the RARE team quit when joining M$...


...this is NOT TRUE at all.....

maybe you should do your research....as most of the major team players from RARE left the company around the time the PS2 was due for release.

the major players that created the great n64 shooters goldeneye and perfect dark went on to form Free Radical and create the Timesplitters series for the ps2/xbox...and are currently working on Haze for the ps3.

so please dont talk such bullshit

as for frankie leaving bungie... he's just a PR guy. it matters very little in the grand scheme of things. however his leaving message opened my eyes to something i didnt know. that microsoft themselves are actually producing the next game in the Halo franchise......i cant seeing this being a good thing :P

hopefully, M$ is outsourcing Halo to a competent dev (like Gearbox perhaps?)

Umm I'd brush up on my "research" before calling out other people if I were you. Martin Hollis the project lead of both Perfect Dark and Goldeneye did leave rare but didnt go to Free Radical, he formed his own company called Zoonami and has managed to publish Zendoku for the PSP and Go!Puzzle for PSN. 5 members of the Goldeneye team (Four of which were also on the Perfect Dark teams though in lesser roles, with the exception of the lead musician) left to form Free Radical. The Banjo/Donkey Kong Country/Conker teams are pretty much completely intact.

Kinda funny that five people (none directors) leave rare and people act like it was a shell of a company yet a company like Naughty Dog can lose their Creative Director, Lead Developer and President as well as a handful of team members and no one even talks about it. Just seems weird.

sjkhounk
05-18-2008, 08:41 PM
frank was lead writer for the series, so that means even if the new Halo games suck, their stories will at least be entertaining.

Frankie was not the lead writer. Joseph Staten was. Frankie joined Bungie during Halo 2 and runs the website (not even that much, he writes editorial updates). He had no part in the design and creation of the Halo games.

Shadyx,

Frankie doesn't mention anywhere that he will be writing the next Halo game. He just said he is writing a Microsoft game.

sjkhounk
05-23-2008, 03:55 AM
...
Kinda funny that five people (none directors) leave rare and people act like it was a shell of a company yet a company like Naughty Dog can lose their Creative Director, Lead Developer and President as well as a handful of team members and no one even talks about it. Just seems weird.

It's wierd in the real world, but here on MaxConsole. It's Sunday.