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[Column] ArcheAge: Disheartening Talk

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Trion recently underwent a restructuring round due to financial pressure. As those changes affect ArcheAge is unknown as Trion has remained silent. We take a look at the possible impact the restructuring may have on ArcheAge. Read on and then head to the comments to chat.

Two weeks ago, I had to skip writing the ArcheAge column due to sickness. A part of me was hoping more news would occur in the two weeks since that time, but sadly, Trion has remained rather silent, in addition to being rather foreboding of late.

For the most part, with a new product on its plate, the quiet regarding ArcheAge is disheartening because the only news you hear from Trion has been about shake-ups in either Trion Worlds or XLGames. I think it’s time we delved into those bits of news, even while we hope for better things.

Read more of Victor Barreiro Jr.'s ArcheAge: Disheartening Talk.

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Comments

  • GeezerGamerGeezerGamer Member EpicPosts: 8,855
    So, Trion is in the middle of a restructure where even it's own employees probably don't know if they even have jobs tomorrow, and now an article saying we don't know what's going on?
  • logicbomb82logicbomb82 Member UncommonPosts: 228
    Am really looking forward to this game. Have been following it for years now. I hope they can make this work out and get it going. I hear rumors the translation was almost done so hopefully it's still a top priority.
    I run the Mature Minded Gamers. We do video and board gaming videos and reviews. We also have a big Dungeons and Dragons community with multiple games active each week.
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  • CaldrinCaldrin Member UncommonPosts: 4,505
    People in bikinis fighting with clubs.. awesome..
  • SpottyGekkoSpottyGekko Member EpicPosts: 6,916
    If the rumours of AA's less-than-expected performance in Korea are true, then Trion must be really nervous about launching the game in the western market. TW absolutely cannot risk wasting a substantial amount of money in their current shape. It could kill them...
  • PAL-18PAL-18 Member UncommonPosts: 844
    Originally posted by Caldrin
    People in bikinis fighting with clubs.. awesome..

    Nothing wrong with that IF theres no social cloth tab or wowlike transmog crap.

    Wysiwyg and its ok,i think.

    So, did ESO have a successful launch? Yes, yes it did.By Ryan Getchell on April 02, 2014.
    **On the radar: http://www.cyberpunk.net/ **

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    Sad days for people that were hoping AA would be their sandbox/sandpark salvation in the West.

    Just like a lot of people hoping for sandbox/sandpark heaven from EQN seemed to be disappointed.

    Well, at least for now they can clutch on to the hope of Star Citizen, maybe the Repopulation, and some good looking/sounding news coming out of the Black Desert camp.

  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
    AA isn't as special as some people seem to think. I played the Japanese version for a while and let's just say it was beautiful but... Not as stellar as I had hoped for it to be.

    Smile

  • WizardryWizardry Member LegendaryPosts: 19,332

    First up that chick's comment was obviously going to be biased,you can't ask for a comment on your boss lmao what do you think she is going to say,that she does not belie in him?

    You also can't tell me closing down a couple offices means BETTER things for Trion.I was also skeptical when Trion after which i thought was struggling announced sales of shares to the public.I don't remember their spin but i never bought into it,i saw it as a simple way to try and churn up more money.

    I have never thought much of Trion, i consider them a sub par entry level developer trying to big bigger than they really should be.I guess there is no problem for aiming high but they tried to be too big too fast.

    I mentioned it long ago that trion will not give Archeage a lot of press,they will set their own portfolio first.My opinion was that they actually acquired the license to run AA to keep from having anyone else cash in on a competitor's product.If a competitor got it they would have fully marketed it against trion's games right when trion was announcing a new structure for Rift and with Defiance incoming.

    Trion has not changed my view as they have given AA almost no publicity and this after several months,so how serious were they really in getting this game?

    I have always feared for AA,i can see it as a giant product and a very good one at that but there is too much competition.Over there MOBA's are huge,WOW still has  a following.I seriously doubt that no matter how good AA ends up it will struggle over here,the ONLY developer to ever have success was Square Enix and they went through some struggled times in the past.

    I thought i would mention Square Enix because even with the success of their PS FFXI,they were reluctant to enter the NA industry.They said it was Capcom that actually influenced them that they could succeed over here.Even still FFXI was predominantly a JPN funded game,only now have w seen a large populace from NA in FFXIV.All other foreign game developers are either f2p or struggling.L2 has very few NA players.

    Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.

  • ElikalElikal Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Sad days for people that were hoping AA would be their sandbox/sandpark salvation in the West.

    Just like a lot of people hoping for sandbox/sandpark heaven from EQN seemed to be disappointed.

    Well, at least for now they can clutch on to the hope of Star Citizen, maybe the Repopulation, and some good looking/sounding news coming out of the Black Desert camp.

    Hello BadSpock, nice to see yousa again. Hope yer well. ^^

     

    Yeah it is sad indeed. Same with EQN; I mean it can be good, but it doesnt sound so far like what I think a sandbox is.

    People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert

  • RandomCasualtyRandomCasualty Member UncommonPosts: 327

    I totally blame this on Race cars and Beach Blanket Bingo moments in Archeage!

    Kidding aside, it will really suck not to get to try this one out, but maybe it would have stood a better chance if it was given birth in North America? The concepts don't seem to be the Korean way of MMOing

     

  • ArakaziArakazi Member UncommonPosts: 911
    Are they not making money with Rift ftp?
  • DauzqulDauzqul Member RarePosts: 1,982

    I'm currently playing ArcheAge. It's the best MMO I've played since SWG / EQ2. I forgotten how large and vast MMO worlds can be.

    The "westernization" doesn't seem to be that big of a project. It's not like they have a half-arse game or anything.

    Nothing to worry about.

  • Jester92Jester92 Member Posts: 156
    @Caldrin I believe that is a fish not a club! lol

    J. B.

  • XiaokiXiaoki Member EpicPosts: 3,848


    Originally posted by Arakazi
    Are they not making money with Rift ftp?
    Well, obviously thats not the case because Free to play is some kind of MMO magic cure all that will make your profits soar by 8 million percent and make everyone love your game.
  • mastersomratmastersomrat Member UncommonPosts: 373
    Bottom line is, Trion can be a great company.  Problem is, I think some of their employees came from SOE.  They need to stop dipping into so many things and master one at a time.
  • EhliyaEhliya Member UncommonPosts: 223
    Originally posted by Jester92
    @Caldrin I believe that is a fish not a club! lol

    Bikini fights with giant fish before they jump into their race cars and head off to Starbucks and the Mall!  

    Sad news though on Trion Worlds as they are highly regarded by gamers.  I hope they turn things around.

  • NephaeriusNephaerius Member UncommonPosts: 1,671
    Hartsman was there and involved in all the decisions that got Trion here in the first place. Then he jumped ship cause he thought he was a valuable commodity in the genre, found out he wasnt, and came back to trion to keep them continuing down the same fail path. As another poster suggested trion had really bit off more thanthey can chew and are not the major development studio they believe themselves to be.

    Steam: Neph

  • stragen001stragen001 Member UncommonPosts: 1,720
    Becoming less and less interested in thus game.....

    Cluck Cluck, Gibber Gibber, My Old Mans A Mushroom

  • ShadanwolfShadanwolf Member UncommonPosts: 2,392

    Everywhere I look I see weakness.

    -XL weak financials

    -XL  walking away from crafting as a major factor in game play(was watered down significantly). As an x marketer one thing a company must do is have a clear vision for their product  and hold on to that vision until evidence suggests that vision needs adjusting.XL  watered down crafting's importance....did that help game sales....heck no

    -Trion financial weakness

    -Trion development team restructured, downsized,re-focused.The guy responsible for RIFT'S development put in charge of the company ? !

    and ArcheAge right in the middle

    I'm not at all optimistic about AA or Trion's long term future atm.

  • CalerxesCalerxes Member UncommonPosts: 1,641

    Similar thoughts occurred to me in May, though many thought I was in lalaland and now with the XLGames news I feel its even more pertinent. 

     

    http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/385299/Archeage-are-we-going-to-see-a-new-publisher-step-up-doom-and-gloom-included.html

     

     

    This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up™ the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.

  • DAOWAceDAOWAce Member UncommonPosts: 432

    Well, Trion already ruined End of Nations in hopes to generate more money, so I personally would rather them not publish it anymore. Though, the longer time goes on without it coming over to the west, the less relevant the game becomes.

    Would've been nice to play it, but with how hard it's becoming to survive in the industry now, I'd be surprised if it actually released over here and held a profitable playerbase.

  • CalerxesCalerxes Member UncommonPosts: 1,641
    Originally posted by Torvaldr
    Originally posted by Calerxes

    Similar thoughts occurred to me in May, though many thought I was in lalaland and now with the XLGames news I feel its even more pertinent. 

    http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/385299/Archeage-are-we-going-to-see-a-new-publisher-step-up-doom-and-gloom-included.html

    Who would pick this up, assuming there were no legal entanglements for doing so?

    Like I said in that thread, EnMasse would have been a good choice since they have experience, but there could be issues why XL did not choose them.  It's not going to be NCSoft.  So what NA publisher has the money and resources to do a full text translation and the interest and savvy to market this.

    Trion is a really good publisher.  They advertise well, better than most except maybe ANet, and that's what a publisher is really there to do.

    You didn't really say much in that thread other than turning on the dripping faucet of impending doom.  If Trion doesn't pick it up then who can do it without also over-extending themselves.  I don't see EA being able to do that at the moment, nor Acti-Blizz - they have their own hands full.  SoE could, maybe, but they're not really a great publisher.  There is PWE, Aeria, and Nexon I guess, but AA doesn't seem to fit their revenue model well.

    If Trion can weather the mistakes of Buttler and his leadership team and come out the other side then I think Trion could be in a great place with the Red Door.

     

    You've got Turbine, Perfect World, Aeria Games, Nexon, even SOE but really the thread was about me not wanting a half arsed rushed conversion just to try and bail out an ailing company. And Trion are not a really good publisher they are a company laying off staff, shutting down studio's and having a company wide restructuring, don't let that you like Rift cloud your judgement, a good publisher makes money Trion is losing it with releasing stale, mediocre and unfinished games, they have no quality product or IP to get themselves out of this hole, do you really think that making a LoL or Dota clone will help them any? Though with XLGames' problems the whole matter could be moot. 

    This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up™ the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.

  • LordSneergLordSneerg Member Posts: 119
    The only thing I am worried about is I may never get to play aa at this rate. 
  • CalerxesCalerxes Member UncommonPosts: 1,641
    Originally posted by Torvaldr
    Originally posted by Nephaerius
    Hartsman was there and involved in all the decisions that got Trion here in the first place. Then he jumped ship cause he thought he was a valuable commodity in the genre, found out he wasnt, and came back to trion to keep them continuing down the same fail path. As another poster suggested trion had really bit off more thanthey can chew and are not the major development studio they believe themselves to be.

    This is not true.

    Hartsman was the creative director behind Rift, and not in charge of all things Trion.  You would be thinking of Lars Buttler who was a founder and the CEO at the time of those decisions.  Dr. Buttler remains on the Trion board.

    Why he left Rift is his own business.  He apparently came back as CEO because he thinks he turn the ship around. I'm sure he is as good of a candidate as any. We will see.

     

     

    Scott Hartsman was CCO (Chief Creative Officer) of Trion Worlds not just of Rift, he was also General Manager of Redwood Studio's. I imagine he was involved with all aspects of Trion with those titles

    http://www.linkedin.com/in/hartsman

    This doom and gloom thread was brought to you by Chin Up™ the new ultra high caffeine soft drink for gamers who just need that boost of happiness after a long forum session.

  • TheDarkrayneTheDarkrayne Member EpicPosts: 5,297
    Wow.. nowt like stirring shit MMORPG.com
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.
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