Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Last week, we reported that Derek Smart had fired former Alganon creator David Allen and his long-time friend Jason Blood for insubordination and acting against the best interest of the company. Gamasutra recently ran a story on the events and it seems that the former employees and now Quest Online President Derek Smart have bumped heads in the Gamasutra forums. Jason Blood, one of the individuals released by Smart and Hue Henry, who left on favorable terms, dropped by to add their own thoughts to the forums after Smart responded to the initial story to clarify a few things stating, "The fact is that in our industry, the less you say, the more people will fill in the blanks for you - and I personally know all too well how that goes."

Smart went on to explain he will have a long blog about the events once the dust settles, but he mentioned some rather disturbing dealings he had out of the exchange as he tried to explain what led to the firings without diving too deeply into the details.

In between dealing with the investors, getting the team on track, dealing with the police, the FBI (!), the banks, the attorneys (no less than three law firms to be exact) etc over this farce - I've got my hands full.

Matthew Henry was the first to respond feeling that he had been attacked by some of Smart's comments. He went on to say that the team had succeeded in making Alganon, but the game had failed due to its WoW-like similarities. Something you don't often hear coming out of a developers mouth. Smart responded with another lengthy post and Jason Blood joined the conversation not too long after. What followed is a rather heated discussion that makes for a pretty interesting read. Check it all out here.