US MMO developer Quest Online has fired its president and co-founder David Allen for insubordination. He has been replaced by Derek Smart, formerly of 3000AD.

Allen’s departure was announced last week after occurring in February but Smart has since reached out to the community of the developer’s debut title, fantasy MMO Alganon, to clarify that the former president was fired. Art director Jason Blood and design director Hue Henry have also left.

"Dave Allen didn't 'depart' I fired him back in February for insubordination and for acting against the best interests of the company, the LLC investors (who I represent), the game and the team," wrote Smart on the Alganon forums (via gamesindustry.biz).

 

Another MMO seeking to topple the leaders in the MMO business empire, or just another pretender? Alganon is neither. Its soft launch into the market place and the obvious work in process game mechanics make this a creation of love. It’s a game for those who are looking for something new, but also something that is the same. It’s for the MMO fan, and the more you play it the more you understand that it is a rare gift in the making.

Alganon has all the standard MMO fare: you have the two opposing factions, the Asharr and the Kujix. The former is humanoid, while the latter not so human. You have four classes to choose from as a player (Soldier, Mage, Ranger and Healer). Each has three differing skill trees that allow you to set up sub classes within the main class. Each faction has a starting continent, and the obligatory care bear starting area.

When beginning the game the first thing you notice is the level of familiarity. This in fact seems to have touched a raw nerve with many MMO players across the genre. Accusations of plagiarism, cut and paste of artwork and the replication of player interfaces have all been levelled at the game. Are these fair? Well it’s easy to see the similarities in places and some leave you wondering (the chat window as an example) but a troll is a troll whichever fantasy game you play. The beer gut may be bigger but the basic shape is a troll.