die hards need to stop being apologists for crappy dev failures
survival of the fitest applies to MMOs too.
How did the *devs* fail? The devs did their job and did what they said they would do. There was a lot of fail in this launch, but it had nothing to do with the devs.
wow, this is bad. the game is so much fun, im still enjoying it a lot. i just hope they dont shut it down before i got to finish the story at least :P
(yea, im a slow player)
Games that were/are doing worse are still around. So I doubt this game will get shut down anytime soon. The money they lost is already gone. From this point forward they can only MAKE more money and be profitable.
wow, this is bad. the game is so much fun, im still enjoying it a lot. i just hope they dont shut it down before i got to finish the story at least :P
(yea, im a slow player)
Games that were/are doing worse are still around. So I doubt this game will get shut down anytime soon. The money they lost is already gone. From this point forward they can only MAKE more money and be profitable.
Money they "lost" have to be paid back to whoever loaned them. Funcom is not in preety financial shape.
wow, this is bad. the game is so much fun, im still enjoying it a lot. i just hope they dont shut it down before i got to finish the story at least :P
(yea, im a slow player)
Games that were/are doing worse are still around. So I doubt this game will get shut down anytime soon. The money they lost is already gone. From this point forward they can only MAKE more money and be profitable.
Unfortunately that is not true...They can lose alot more money onit by having to pay a dev team to not only maintain it but improve it.......Also alot of other costs involved with MMOs that are not free once the game launches.....I dont think it will shut down but they will msot likely have to act soon on some type of bettter income model for the game.
I feel badly for those about to lose their jobs as TSW was a good concept.
I followed this game for years, one of the first to sign up on the official forums. I was totally pumped for this game right up until they decided to add the cash shop. I lost all interest after that. That turned me and many I know off from the game. The sub plus cash shop model screams double dip and players are tired of being nickle and dimed to death. I'm sure I and my friends were not alone in this thinking.
I hope Funcom can turn it around somehow.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
I have not read through the thread but so far i understand Funcom now wants to develope games for the next oversaturated market burning through smaller amounts of money for an even more questionable roi?
Money is where everyone else is not!
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
Originally posted by Rawiz Hope they at least fired Silirrion from AoC, because that guy single-handedly ruined that entire game and made a small AO-like "only for true fans" -game. He cost FC much, much more money than those regular garbage coders did, however I bet he still has a job.
I bet they fired people from around him, sent the few community managers there are (in the company) to answer questions, while that guy is sunning his testicles by the lake. Not to mention they fired THE only community manager who actually had some interaction with the remaining, miserable playerbase, Waldgeist.
Those community managers are doing exactly as bad job as Silirrion has done for 4 years, perhaps one of them will be the lead dev soon?
As long as you blame the wrong person you will never get your game fixed. Gaute Godager delivered AoC they way that it tanked in the first month and he resigned. The players cried for changes, gear progression, pvp ranks etc. Silirrion delivered what was asked for and if he has a fault that is he takes much to much for true what a vocal minority yells out and what the left over fans of AoC mark in surveys. I think he has become a wiser person over it but is very short of the ressources to fix that damned game. The surest way to destroy your MMO is to let players have to much to say - understand their motivation etc. he has good reads about it.
Funcom is done, it does simply not matter anymore...
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
What do you expect? This is Funcom, a company that refuses to listen to its fan base, its obvious the developers don't play the game much, they dont' hire a "game" team that plays and provide feedback, and they don't include features in their games that are expected tools for the players to socialize and play. This game has very little social interaction and feels like a solo game. I tried to and wanted to like this game, but its just another Failcom game. The company should move on, cause their developers are so technically and visually gifted, yet clueless to understanding what the community wants, and inept at making the proper changes till its too late and the fanbase already leaves.
wow, this is bad. the game is so much fun, im still enjoying it a lot. i just hope they dont shut it down before i got to finish the story at least :P
(yea, im a slow player)
Games that were/are doing worse are still around. So I doubt this game will get shut down anytime soon. The money they lost is already gone. From this point forward they can only MAKE more money and be profitable.
Money they "lost" have to be paid back to whoever loaned them. Funcom is not in preety financial shape.
Not to mention didn't their stock plummet around mid Aug...bout the time TSW launched? Don't really see things getting better for em. World of Darkness is in development which could put some seriour hurt on TSW, Granted that is quite down the road but when it does arrive it might not bode well for TSW.
Originally posted by Coolit I think timing was TSW biggest problem, if it had launched in a quarter without GW2, MoP etc they would have done much better.
Sort off, but i think the big problemwas that, not only was it a niche game from the start, it had very little adverstising. Most people don't seem to even know about, compared to something like even TERA, much less TOR and GW2.
No wonder it didn't sell much, IMO.
And sorry about Funcom. Alot of people are going to lose their jobs i bet.
Why are people surprised? Funcom has a history of failing. That's the biggest problem with the people who hype up games on this site, they completely ignore the track record of the companies behind the games they throw their money at.
Dragnon - Guildmaster - Albion Central Bank in Albion Online
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
And who you'd rather see making mmorpgs? EA?
There were and still are very few innovators in the mmorpg industry. Funcom is one of the last. With very few exceptions pretty much everyone else plays it safe.
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
I hope more and more companies that try to copy WoW fail. This way only those inspired few will remain in the market and hopefully will produce quality MMO games that may at last break the Wow mold....
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
Going free to play likely just fits with where EA want to go with the game now. Shifting gears means changes in the team. But the game has a solid core of players, an the hybrid model will likely mean a growth as players can get a lot of milage with f2p.
Funcom failed by being too niche, but SWTOR is Star Wars and the game is a good one that EA/Bioware can build into something substantial. There is a ton of content in WoW, but it has been arround for nearly ten years after all. MMOs take time, and unfortunately Funcom don't have a big IP to pull players in here.
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
Going free to play likely just fits with where EA want to go with the game now. Shifting gears means changes in the team. But the game has a solid core of players, an the hybrid model will likely mean a growth as players can get a lot of milage with f2p.
Funcom failed by being too niche, but SWTOR is Star Wars and the game is a good one that EA/Bioware can build into something substantial. There is a ton of content in WoW, but it has been arround for nearly ten years after all. MMOs take time, and unfortunately Funcom don't have a big IP to pull players in here.
The niche market is the place to go, because that is where you can still score a loyal playerbase.
The Secret World might not have sold 1 million copies, but the current people playing the game are very loyal and happy with the game (me included). And if they continue updating the game at the pace as they do now they might be able to grow the game over time.
The Mainstream market is too saturated now and people jump ship the moment the next mainstream game launches. There is no way you gonna keep your playerbase in a mainstream game anymore. Because people just keep flocking to the next big title that launches.
Warhammer Online failed, SW:TOR failed, RIFT lost a huge amount of subs, GW2 (eventho it's B2P) is already seeing a huge drop off as well.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
Star Wars: The Old Republic got the awards because they had little to no competition. A game had to be released between June 1, 2011 – May 31, 2012 in order to be eligible for this years GDC. Meaning that next year we will see The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 but not Star Wars: The Old Republic and Tera.
In the case of this years GDC it was like having a Mr Universe contest full of obese people.
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
Star Wars: The Old Republic got the awards because they had little to no competition. A game had to be released between June 1, 2011 – May 31, 2012 in order to be eligible for this years GDC. Meaning that next year we will see The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 but not Star Wars: The Old Republic and Tera.
In the case of this years GDC it was like having a Mr Universe contest full of obese people.
No. They got the awards because almost all of the "judges" were connected to EA. There was a nice thread about it elsewhere on these forums. while the other games were nothing to brag about, the contest itself was blatantly rigged.
I think you are talking crazy sparkly ponies to write that. The advisory panel consists of people from all over gaming industry, with ex-NCsoft, Blizz, EA, and others. It isn't rigged, they just judge the best games available for a year.
SWTOR is a good game. It has a strong player base, and lots of content is coming. In a years time we may be talking a major success for EA, as free-to-play hybrid will bring in a lot of players since a lot of game available for no sub. MMOs are long-term efforts. The change of gears is evident, but it may well work.
Oh, and Activision are also heading free to play model and away from sub, COD is going that way, and WoW may head there too.
TSW is a single player game until the player finishes most of the content and what is left is gear grinding for raids; I am done with these type of games; at least Age of Conan has decent combat mechanics; TSW combat sucks; no wonder they are "revamping" it.
Comments
How did the *devs* fail? The devs did their job and did what they said they would do. There was a lot of fail in this launch, but it had nothing to do with the devs.
Games that were/are doing worse are still around. So I doubt this game will get shut down anytime soon. The money they lost is already gone. From this point forward they can only MAKE more money and be profitable.
Money they "lost" have to be paid back to whoever loaned them. Funcom is not in preety financial shape.
Unfortunately that is not true...They can lose alot more money onit by having to pay a dev team to not only maintain it but improve it.......Also alot of other costs involved with MMOs that are not free once the game launches.....I dont think it will shut down but they will msot likely have to act soon on some type of bettter income model for the game.
I feel badly for those about to lose their jobs as TSW was a good concept.
I followed this game for years, one of the first to sign up on the official forums. I was totally pumped for this game right up until they decided to add the cash shop. I lost all interest after that. That turned me and many I know off from the game. The sub plus cash shop model screams double dip and players are tired of being nickle and dimed to death. I'm sure I and my friends were not alone in this thinking.
I hope Funcom can turn it around somehow.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
I have not read through the thread but so far i understand Funcom now wants to develope games for the next oversaturated market burning through smaller amounts of money for an even more questionable roi?
Money is where everyone else is not!
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
As long as you blame the wrong person you will never get your game fixed.
Gaute Godager delivered AoC they way that it tanked in the first month and he resigned.
The players cried for changes, gear progression, pvp ranks etc.
Silirrion delivered what was asked for and if he has a fault that is he takes much to much for true what a vocal minority yells out and what the left over fans of AoC mark in surveys.
I think he has become a wiser person over it but is very short of the ressources to fix that damned game.
The surest way to destroy your MMO is to let players have to much to say - understand their motivation etc. he has good reads about it.
Funcom is done, it does simply not matter anymore...
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Not to mention didn't their stock plummet around mid Aug...bout the time TSW launched? Don't really see things getting better for em. World of Darkness is in development which could put some seriour hurt on TSW, Granted that is quite down the road but when it does arrive it might not bode well for TSW.
Why are people surprised? Funcom has a history of failing. That's the biggest problem with the people who hype up games on this site, they completely ignore the track record of the companies behind the games they throw their money at.
Dragnon - Guildmaster - Albion Central Bank in Albion Online
www.albioncentralbank.enjin.com
Funcom has no chance of staying afloat in its current situation.
It has too much debt to just cut the company down to 75 people. Debt servicing 10's of millions of dollars cannot be fun.
Funcom really just needs to stop trying to make MMOs and go back to making adventure games like "The Longest Journey". They have not had much success with MMOs and they have a terrible track record.. (AO,AOC,TSW)
Can't say I am the least bit surprised by this.
And who you'd rather see making mmorpgs? EA?
There were and still are very few innovators in the mmorpg industry. Funcom is one of the last. With very few exceptions pretty much everyone else plays it safe.
Come on man! Funcom one of the few dev houses left that tried to do something different. While every other dev house out there keeps playing safe hanging onto the WoW formula.
I mean.... after the total dissaster and most expensive fiasco in MMO history with SW:TOR, I would have thought people would start waking up and see that continuing copying the WoW formula is pointless.
/shrug
Actually in the gaming developer industry awards recently SWTOR got top awards...
http://gdconlineawards.com
Going free to play likely just fits with where EA want to go with the game now. Shifting gears means changes in the team. But the game has a solid core of players, an the hybrid model will likely mean a growth as players can get a lot of milage with f2p.
Funcom failed by being too niche, but SWTOR is Star Wars and the game is a good one that EA/Bioware can build into something substantial. There is a ton of content in WoW, but it has been arround for nearly ten years after all. MMOs take time, and unfortunately Funcom don't have a big IP to pull players in here.
The niche market is the place to go, because that is where you can still score a loyal playerbase.
The Secret World might not have sold 1 million copies, but the current people playing the game are very loyal and happy with the game (me included). And if they continue updating the game at the pace as they do now they might be able to grow the game over time.
The Mainstream market is too saturated now and people jump ship the moment the next mainstream game launches. There is no way you gonna keep your playerbase in a mainstream game anymore. Because people just keep flocking to the next big title that launches.
Warhammer Online failed, SW:TOR failed, RIFT lost a huge amount of subs, GW2 (eventho it's B2P) is already seeing a huge drop off as well.
SWTOR only had TERA for competition - TSW was released after the cutoff date
http://gdconlineawards.com/rules/
released in Beta or full version June 1, 2011 – May 31, 2012 in North America
http://gdconlineawards.com/nominee/index.html
EQ2 fan sites
Star Wars: The Old Republic got the awards because they had little to no competition. A game had to be released between June 1, 2011 – May 31, 2012 in order to be eligible for this years GDC. Meaning that next year we will see The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 but not Star Wars: The Old Republic and Tera.
In the case of this years GDC it was like having a Mr Universe contest full of obese people.
Because flying a Minmatar ship is like going down a flight of stairs on an office chair while firing an Uzi.
I think you are talking crazy sparkly ponies to write that. The advisory panel consists of people from all over gaming industry, with ex-NCsoft, Blizz, EA, and others. It isn't rigged, they just judge the best games available for a year.
SWTOR is a good game. It has a strong player base, and lots of content is coming. In a years time we may be talking a major success for EA, as free-to-play hybrid will bring in a lot of players since a lot of game available for no sub. MMOs are long-term efforts. The change of gears is evident, but it may well work.
Oh, and Activision are also heading free to play model and away from sub, COD is going that way, and WoW may head there too.