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Moving day for EnMasse
stayontarget
Member RarePosts: 6,519
in TERA
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Comments
No wonder there hasn't been any tests
And people wonder why AAA titles burn through $50 million and 5 years and still turn out products that suck? I have huge hope for this game but seeing an office space like this doesnt speak that well of their use of resources. Looks like a 40th floor location of a downtown Seattle skyscraper with water views, a complete custom fit out of the space, the furnishings alone would be several hundred thousand dollars.
Is all of this necessary for a title that hasnt released yet? I am all about celebrating success-if WoW or EVE had space like this id totally get it-they've built something that yields huge positive monthly cash flows. But a new game working on venture funding w/out a title in the market? Seems like an exoctic expenditure of resources.
In about 18 months we'll hear about how Tera was "rushed" out the door because the funders were pushing to start generating revenue due to the initial funding running out-we can look back at these photos and start to understand why. Easily a million dollar move with the furnishings, initial deposits for the rent etc. Never mind what the monthly cost of maintaining a spot like that is. <boggles>
The textures on those chairs looks like they were lifted straight from Lineage 2.
Those furnishings wouldnt be close to a few hundred k +...
But I agree that there is no need for a software development company to pay for space in a downtown building. The office is pretty small, but does seem a bit wasteful. At least morale won't be low. Perhaps the decision was based on proximity for a bunch of specific people. There have been AAA titles with awful workspace and still end up rushed. The size of the team on this one seems quite small so will be interesting to see how they do.
It's a small point but-ever buy brand new office furniture from a high end vendor? Each cube would be around 3-5k depending on the fittings (shelves, file cabinets etc). It only goes up from there? Custom colors, higher walls, conference rooms, flat screens mounted to the walls etc etc. I would guess based on the pictures they displayed that they have easily spent 200k or more on the cubes, furnishings and fittings.
I just recently bought a cube system for my office-seats 12 of my employees-cost me 24k and it was low end (the stuff in the pictures is top shelf and custom due to the coloring) Also purchased a table/sitting station for $2,100. Again small point-but office furnishing prices will blow your mind-thats a very expensive set up they have. Top shelf all the way-and horrifically wasteful.
These guy should be set up in a "nice' suburban office park-pay about 1/8th the rent, no parking fees, no common fees for building maintenence etc.
Again-I have huge hopes for this game-but ive got that itch i cant scratch feeling that we will be seeing the "our corporate overlords FORCED us to release early" excuse when this game finally releases and isnt "finished".
P.S. Just noticed that the glass dividers between the main work spaces are custom etched with "En Masse" one letter to each panel in them. Thats about half a years salary for an entry level person hanging there in those glass dividers.
And the space didnt look that small to me-big enough for what? 40 or so people? Maybe more? How big do these staffs get these days?
Your point is valid Vantras, games could be made in peoples basments, but I guess they felt they needed office space in a nice expensive sky scaper. On the other hand, if they know what they're doing, then it shows they're serious about Tera and expect it to be a success.
If Tera fails, En Masse fails. They won't come back from a defeat because no one will trust them again.
I also have purchased office furniture for my offices and I can concur, it's very expensive.
Probably why I try to get used. There is so much used furniture out there because of start-up companies going bust that one can get a good deal.
Still, the furnitue in that office didn't look "all that". If one really looks at it they have desks and just some dividers made from the same material as regular office cubicles.
And given where they are, they might not be paying an arm and a leg for their space.
Case in point, I am currently sitting in a beautiful loft like office,, brick walls, furniture from Ikea and our rent is a paltry 15k per month. Right in the heart of MIT country here in cambridge ma.
So they might have caught a break on their office (like we did) and purchased furniture from somewhere that is similiar to Ikea.
Still, for people not in the know, office furniture can get so expensive that it really can make one pause as to where the actual value really is in this stuff!
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Sovrath-
I have very fond memories of hanging out in Harvard Square. Eating lunch every day at the counter in a tiny 5 stool dive called "the tasty" right in harvard square. I am told they gutted it and put in a starbucks or something dreadful. And browsing over at one of the original "buck a books" just up the road a few hundred feet from the square. Drinking beers in the original John Harvards pub.
*tear down my eye*
It's a bank atm lobby now, no buck a book though the coop is still there and harvard bookstore, John Harvard's is still there but the Wurshaus is not.
er... back on topic. Yay EnMasse for their new digs. whish I was working for a game company.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
EnMass is the NA publisher, and not the developing company. And most likely they will have many game titles under their belt. Besides I see all of this and think "tax deduction".
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Tax deduction? That doesnt make sense in this context. The benefits of a tax deduction are meaningless compared to the negative impact of poorly spent/invested money. Fact remains is the money was spent and companies in start up mode often run out of money or release early due to running out of money.
Tax deductions only matter when a company is generating revenue and profits and even then it lowers the taxable base-never coming close to the actual dollars spent to earn the deduction. As a business owner I cant tell you how many folks have said "oh but thats tax deduction" and not having the slighest clue as to whether a.) what a tax deduction is b.) how they work c.) whether the item speaking about is in fact deductible and if so how much is deductible and d.) meaningless if the company is running at a loss-since there'd be no taxable net income to help reduce through a deduction.
Are you an investor in their company? Cuz if not STFU =P
Remember Old School Ultima Online
Its a message board-be a pretty boring place if everyone STFU-wouldnt it? I am actually very hopeful that TERA is a great game. Having just weathered 2010 (by far the worst year for MMO's of the last 10) and watched the last batch of AAA titles absolutely crash and burn I felt that it was worth commenting on. Personally I dont think renting ocean view, 40th floor, office space in a downtown location and fitting it out w/ custom furniture, signage, custom etched glass dividers-should be a thing we all applaud. Seems like ego driven largesse. Get the pimp-space after you are successful-use the limited resource startup capital to build an awesome product-use your profits to build monuments to your awesomeness.
Just about every major silicon valley success story has humble origins. Most of the major MMO titles that havent sucked had humble origins.
And once again-as for STFU-wouldnt seem to make a ton of sense in a "discussion forum". Move along fanboi troll.
My point was that how any company spends its money is up to them and their investors.
Edit: also as far as the fanboy troll comment.. I am not really interested in Tera.
Remember Old School Ultima Online
So with your logic new companies should work in a dump because that will produce a better overall product? Even if they have the ways and means to upgrade.
Your logic is misplaced at best.
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
I do think there is some value to what you are saying.
I worked for a startup where one of the top two guys would spend money on the most ridiculous things.
We had a van with our logo on it. Thing is, there was no point to having a Van at all.
We had a custom made booth for shows that had to be stored. It's cases were so large that you needed a truck to move them.
If one is doing shows then you don't need a custom made booth that only a truck could move. At least starting out.
However, there really is nothing in those pictures that screams ultimate extravagance.
Well, maybe that Panda, but they'll soon learn!
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Yes Stayontarget because the only choices for work space are 40th floor ocean view offspace in downtown Seattle or working in a "dump". Very logical.
Personally i think a suburban office park would be just fine. Free parking, about 1/8th the rent, likely no common fees for security or cleaning. Actually MOST software companies are located in such office enviornments. Fifteen to thirty minutes from downtown, in nice but not extravagent locations.
They could also skip the custom etched 10 foot glass panels and the custom sign as well as some of that furniture-most start ups would.
That said-its their money and a business can spend it anyway they chose. Just like customers and potential customers can comment and applaud or deride those decisions.
We don't really have the insight to say how much it cost and how that will burn through investors' money...I mean, come on. They move and people complain that their new workplace is too expensive looking? You are really only looking for something to complain about, aren't you? Isn't it up to the companies to decide what they can afford or not?
Exactly! If this really was a huge financial burden, I would agree that they are being stupid. But it isnt my decision. If they fail because of it its their own fault. I will assume that they can afford it however, there is no reason not too.
Remember Old School Ultima Online
Bastards!
They should be working here:
Its a slow work day. If they release a great product-all is forgiven. But many on this forum and others sit around and marvel at how $50 million dollar titles get released in crappy condition with no real vision, unpolished, nothing creative etc. FFXIV, Tabula Rasa, AoC, Warhammer, Vanguard at release-the list goes on and on. It is for reasons similar to what is displayed in these pictures (but by no means limited to) that this is occuring.
Tons of staff, focusing time and money on things that dont matter to the game (signs, etched glass and downtown ocean views). I think many folks dont quite know how extravagent a 40th floor downtown seattle location with ocean views is relative to the office space that 90% of all American companies actually work out of.
If they believe that this was the best use of money, it will attract or keep the talent they require to release an awesome game, that THIS was the best way to spend the money-great for them-its a private venture-100% their choice. But when/if the game releases a year from now and the lead producer posts his state of the game letter (after a shoddy release) and says "we were forced to release by our investors". I can gurantee you it was because of decisions like this and likely dozens of other similar ones-that burned through cash in irresponsible ways.
I will bet you a battleship in EVE
that this office building is one of the best in Seattle w/ some of the highest square foot prices in the city-And they are located on a side (maybe they have the entire floor) which has an ocean view-which would make it a premium rental even inside of a premium building. It is extravagant-not insane, not over the top-but by almost every measure a luxury-and not one you would see in a venture funded silicon valley start up or an east coast bio-tech start up -just wouldnt happen.
Wow I really am bored-even google searching now <boggles>
“We see Russell Investments Center as the crown jewel in the downtown Seattle office market,”......
En Masse Entertainment, (www.enmasse.com) a new breed of game publisher specializing in bringing globally renowned online properties to Western audiences, has committed to a long-term, 12,000 square foot lease.
“It’s an honor for us to attract four top-tier tenants like Acucela, Northern Trust, En Masse and DocuSign and we’re pleased to provide them with Class-A plus space, premier amenities and a prime location,” added Ottele. “With the 23,000 square-foot deck on the 17th floor, the sweeping views of the Olympics and Elliot Bay, state-of-the-art building systems and incredible building amenities, Russell Investments Center is a world-class address that attracts world-class tenants.”
En Masse apparently isnt a startup with a South Korean parent company. So perhaps just a drop in the bucket for this company. I can tell you this-no true startup would locate in THE premier office building in Seattle w/out its investors going bat shit. And few established companies would spring for an address like that for a "new" division in a new region w/out first establshing a profitable income stream.
I guess this speaks well for the financial stability of En Masse or at the very least for their parent company to spend uber bucks on the NA division and TERA. I remain hopeful that this game doesnt suck.
Love the new office and the kitchen! I like the layout they chose, it seems much more open than the usual closed cubicles most companies use. Considering the Korean open beta is the 11th, I am hoping that the week or two following that event we get an announcement from them about when the next focus group test will be and maybe even an open beta schedule. By the way has there been any sort of announcement about a Collector’s Edition?
On another note I want to contract someone who is a professional “skyscraper climber.” And no it is not to get me that huge adorable huggable lovable squeezable panda bear around midnight with a forecast of light snow during that time. Although… now that you mention it.
Just a few official polls to get feedback from the community: http://www.tera-online.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12447
Velika: City of Wheels: Among the mortal races, the humans were the only one that never built cities or great empires; a curse laid upon them by their creator, Gidd, forced them to wander as nomads for twenty centuries...
Thanks for the link StayOnTarget . Funny I visit the official forums from time to time, but I must have skipped that post as well as the other polls! It’s refreshing to see En Masse having good communication with the player base. I would choose early access with name reservation first and physical bonus items such as an art book and soundtrack second (prefer if both were included). If the music is good I need the soundtrack, and I just love art books!