NEWS: Blair Fraser named on the Next-Gen Hot 100 Developers list

#88 for 2008

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8736&Itemid=50
from Sins Forums
Ok boys and girls, here it is hot off the press:


88. Blair Fraser
Producer
Ironclad Games

Fraser was working at Barking-Dog (he’s credited as a programmer on the studio’s Homeworld: Cataclysm expansion pack) when he met the team that would eventually become the founding members of Ironclad games. When Barking-Dog became Rockstar Vancouver, he stayed for a time, but eventually he and the founding members of Ironclad left to create what they were really passionate about—4X and real-time strategy. Fraser and the rest of his team combined these two genres in Sins of a Solar Empire, an excellently made niche title that deserves more exposure.


If you are interested in reading the entire list please follow the link.

[Notice from the site]
IMPORTANT NOTE: This list represents the commercial realities of the products released last year or in the next year. It is not in any way a leaderboard of native talent or ability. We understand that game development projects have a three year lifecycle and therefore an individual's placing on this list may simply be a matter of timing. It's about who's hot right now.
19,542 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Awesome!

Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
HAWT!
Start11 - Customize the Start Menu and Taskbar in Windows 10/11.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Watch out Blair, now that your on the list all the groupies will start grabing at you..
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
I was so looking forward to a centerfold situation. Imagine my surprise.

I can see it all now...

Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
Way to go Blair. Spartan keep your ads to yourself -- most u post r tasteless.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Spartan keep your ads to yourself -- most u post r tasteless.


It is all a matter of perception. One mans trash is another mans treasure. Creativity is key and it is all in good fun and if you cant see that then the problem is yours. After all the majority of stuff that passes for comedy could easily be considered tasteless by many for what it is worth. Please leave the prudish (or is it juvenile) orientation at the door and lets try to be a little more cordial in our next post and try to use proper English words shall we?
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Congrats to Blair Fraser. :) The list seems pretty fair to me. 100 is a big number and that's one huge list. I guess I wasn't quite aware of how many people there really are out there.

However, there's one major mistake. Cliff Bleszinski is rated higher than David Braben. That's got to be a typo or something. For all the hardships David went through with the Roller Coaster Tycoon series, he never ran away to hide or ignored issues. He never publicly trashed the PC market even when migrating over to consoles. I know I gave him some hard times at a few points, but he listened, made sure things got addressed, and really pulled through in the end. Cliff on the other hand...well, if you release a product for PC and have no intention of supporting it because "consoles are where it's at", then don't release it at all. Then when you sit by and watch while people get banned or silenced for bringing to your attention that your product wipes out its own save files...that's just unacceptable and unethical.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
 :CONGRAT: Congrats Mr. Fraser! :CONGRAT: 
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
Congrats to Blair Fraser. The list seems pretty fair to me. 100 is a big number and that's one huge list. I guess I wasn't quite aware of how many people there really are out there.However, there's one major mistake. Cliff Bleszinski is rated higher than David Braben. That's got to be a typo or something. For all the hardships David went through with the Roller Coaster Tycoon series, he never ran away to hide or ignored issues. He never publicly trashed the PC market even when migrating over to consoles. I know I gave him some hard times at a few points, but he listened, made sure things got addressed, and really pulled through in the end. Cliff on the other hand...well, if you release a product for PC and have no intention of supporting it because "consoles are where it's at", then don't release it at all. Then when you sit by and watch while people get banned or silenced for bringing to your attention that your product wipes out its own save files...that's just unacceptable and unethical.


Interesting point. Sadly I dont know about the vast majority of developers on the list to even consider making such statements. Do you do reviews or something similar? Additionally they stated that the list was an opinion of the editors at NextGen if memory serves.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
Interesting point. Sadly I dont know about the vast majority of developers on the list to even consider making such statements. Do you do reviews or something similar? Additionally they stated that the list was an opinion of the editors at NextGen if memory serves.
I've written freelance paid mobile/laptop product reviews, yes. I also write game reviews but it's those user reviews (mine are normally very lengthy). I tend to stay highly-informed about what's going on and get involved in modding, sometimes.

The underlying motive of my statements was that I have had personal interaction with David Braben and think he handled situations very professionally. He should really be bumped up on that list quite a bit. I haven't got a clue if I've had personal interaction with Cliff Bleszinski because I've been chased around the internet and insulted by another producer working at his company named Jeff Morris. It's policy of their company to ignore and/or delete and/or ban customers and their feedback. With David Braben and Frontier they listened to feedback even if it was overly negative (it's like how we have Stardock/Ironclad people on this forum often). I remember David getting frustrated people got so mad at Frontier for releasing Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 with water rides that would never slow down after the first hill, among other things. However, Frontier didn't run around rampantly eliminating any negatives or passing the blame off to someone else. They took ownership and fixed the problems, and a lot of this had to do with David Braben participating on their forums and chats. He was available, interactive, and down-to-earth. He kept you in-the-know about what was going on and you could trust what he said. He wanted input for fixes, tweaks, and more much like Stardock/Ironclad does. Now when you try to explain to Epic/Cliff/Jeff about their products deleting save games and forgetting cd-keys daily, they (or other staff) rush over to lock or delete what you typed without notice. Type it again and you get automatically permanently banned without warning from their forums and they hunt you down on fan sites to see what you're doing. Even modders with released content are not immune to this. Then they run character assassination via private messages with the admins of that fan site.

I do not know if Blair Fraser visits this site, but when the team and companies involved in a product like Sins are available, interactive, and down-to-earth it creates customer loyalty and appreciation. In David Braben and Fronteir's case, following their support of the RCT series I have been keeping an eye on what their company is doing. I will consider a product just because Frontier's name is on it same as I will now keep an eye on Ironclad and Stardock's future products. NextGen editors are entitled to their opinions, yes, but I think the interaction with the public adds an extra dimension that needs serious consideration.
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
Thank you so very much for the very through explanation. I found it rather enlightening and informative.

On a side note, I have always wondered if anyone with insider connections would start a website that profiles industry developers. The main goal of site would be to clearly show who is player base friendly and who not as well as showing detailed production team histories. Think of it as a sort of a who's who of gaming.

I think in this day and age supporting background information like that carries a great deal of weight in purchasing decisions; at least for me and the people I socialize with it does. It is because of this single reason I will SD products sight unseen and the same for IC.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
On a side note, I have always wondered if anyone with insider connections would start a website that profiles industry developers. The main goal of site would be to clearly show who is player base friendly and who not as well as showing detailed production team histories. Think of it as a sort of a who's who of gaming.
That is a very very interesting idea. When I get some free time I'll have to think about this. :)
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Cool. I hope you can make it so. I think it would be a very nice value added community service especially in the ECA vein. With the proliferation of blogs, personal and otherwise, developer journals, mega branding, franchise and IP management schemes, M&As and swath of questionable game review & community sites and a near total lack of mass media support for or focus on the industry except for asinine stories of blame and what not we are so ready to put some faces on the forefront.

I would offer to help but I dont have the programming skill nor the requisite industry knowledge. Hell that is the reason I have never set it up. However if you want an admin or planning guy then count me in.