Pending Funds Acquisition, New Ownership Coming Soon

System

Pending Funds Acquisition, New Ownership Coming Soon

Goblinworks acting CEO Lisa Stevens has sent out an update to inform backers and fans of Pathfinder Online that a letter of intent has been received that, if funding is acquired, will see transfer of ownership handed to a company headed by a longtime Pathfinder Online player. Once funding is attained, the company making the offer will take over PO beginning on March 1, 2016.

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chilliz

This whole pathfinder thing is just Bizzare. Now they are planning to sell it to some player who may or may not have the funds. If ownership is transfered this so called player/investor will find out how much money is really needed, probably hundreds of thousands if not millions, and will then abandon it and try to sell it once again. The wounders of Kickstarter right here everyone, more hype than substance

SpottyGekko

A "signed letter of intent", eh ?

Signed or not, a "letter of intent" is worthless without the funds to carry through that intent.

A mysterious company has announced that they will rescue the game IF they can raise enough money. Nothing is revealed about the prospective new owners. Do they have any experience with MMO development ?

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Velocinox

This story reeks of passionate amateurs leveraging their life's savings to keep their dream game alive.

If this turns out to be true, I feel sorry for all parties involved. And, I hope it falls through in their best interest.

DXSins

"This funding will give Pathfinder Online more money to invest in the game than has been spent in over 4 years of development."

Something doesn't sound right there.. why/how would they get more money 'after' the dam thing failed? Surely if there was some big investor they would have done so before the game and name got trumped in the mud.

Sounds like a fishing exercise like those 2 Darkfall projects to try show 'the right people' there is enough interest in the project.

Loke666

MrSyn said:
"This funding will give Pathfinder Online more money to invest in the game than has been spent in over 4 years of development."

Something doesn't sound right there.. why/how would they get more money 'after' the dam thing failed? Surely if there was some big investor they would have done so before the game and name got trumped in the mud.

Sounds like a fishing exercise like those 2 Darkfall projects to try show 'the right people' there is enough interest in the project.


This is worse, Aventurine (yeah, I might not have spelled that right) did have a government defense contract that earned them money as well as some EU sponsorship. Goblinworks have no other revenue besides the paid alpha testers of PFO. I can understand that a fan would be willing to invest some time and money into something he or she like but it wont be enough.

If a larger company would buy them out it would be to get the IP, all progress would be scrapped because larger companies are not particularly interested in really small niche products but the IP is very popular among pen and paper players.

tom_gore

Sounds like another kickstarter coming for PFO. I already gave them some money and not going to give a dime more, since what they've shown so far has been shitty.

Loke666

tom_gore said:

Sounds like another kickstarter coming for PFO. I already gave them some money and not going to give a dime more, since what they've shown so far has been shitty.

I don't think that would generate that much money anyways. They could try to do something like SC and sell ingame stuff though, like mounts, keeps and so on. That could possibly work but I have my doubts.

To me it sounds more like they are trying to let the game slowly fade away without it being really their fault....

tawess

Well... It would be funny if it turns out that this player is in fact the big hat of some of the larger game publishers/developer and this is just a way to gauge interest before they fully commit. 

Not very likely but it would be fun.

But if it is a private investor without at least some knowledge of creative project management or game design... this will make some very sad headlines. 

NordicApache

Lisa probably saw our PFO post the other day and decided to email this out to say "NUH HUH! WE ARE TOTALLY DOING FINE! SEE!"

Pemmin

Loke666 said:

If a larger company would buy them out it would be to get the IP, all progress would be scrapped because larger companies are not particularly interested in really small niche products but the IP is very popular among pen and paper players.

after reading the full letter from the CEO if this deal goes through.....this scenario still seems  the most likely. 

what it sounds like to me is goblin works will basically cease to exist as of march
1st and paizo will sell GW's exclusive licensing and art assets to this new company.

-Which means any previous crowdfunding promises don't technically have to be honored (remember Paizo and GW were originally set up as 2 seperate entities even though they are owned and run by the same group of people)
-any kind of crowdforging(not that this was ever really a thing)  is basically out the window.
-if the new companiy is smart when assuming control...paizo will have very little say in what is done with the licensing(other then the option to not renew)

but from a business standpoint there isn't really a down side....because  in all honesty PFO is probably a waste of pazio's tangible resources in the best case scenario....and at worst it is a black hole of wasted money. If the new company can make money great!..... if not...well  pazio no longer has the to cover the financial burden and has the option of selling the license to someone else when it expires.

Wizardry

SpottyGekko said:

A "signed letter of intent", eh ?

Signed or not, a "letter of intent" is worthless without the funds to carry through that intent.

A mysterious company has announced that they will rescue the game IF they can raise enough money. Nothing is revealed about the prospective new owners. Do they have any experience with MMO development ?

 I can only say this,if they have no experience with as a mmo designer,that is only a good thing,VERY few developers /producers/Directors have impressed me with their intelligence of building a MMO game.Matter of fact MOST look like single player games.

Funding well yeah,games need it,you can't make a great game without them,so what is likely happening is a longtime Pathfinder fan just banking on taking over the current assets.

I personally do not think it possible to turn the game around but that does not mean it is not possible either,maybe this guy has some smarts and come up with some nice ideas to entice players.

Slapshot1188

One of their fundamental issues* is that the few players in game have a huge edge vs any potential new players. PFO uses a time based XP system so new folks can NEVER catch up. They also have over a year of building their resources such as armor, weapons, crafters, and yes... even their player controlled towns. Then there are Kickstarter only benefits such as Destiny's Twin, etc...

This is a FFA PvP Full Loot game based around territory control.

Nobody is going to even look at this unless they do a full wipe, which they already claimed they are not planning.



* Note I said ONE of their issues

Rommie10-284

So, some White Knight *might* have the money to buy ownership of the game. To do what? Build on the wreckage of the current game, or start over, and like someone said above, place everyone back at square one?

It'll be interesting to see who the White Knight is - an ex-developer at their own startup? An uber-Fanperson with great business connections? An idle millionaire/billionaire? Who WANTS to save this game? Chasing the IP makes far more sense.

Valentina

SpottyGekko said:

A "signed letter of intent", eh ?

Signed or not, a "letter of intent" is worthless without the funds to carry through that intent.

A mysterious company has announced that they will rescue the game IF they can raise enough money. Nothing is revealed about the prospective new owners. Do they have any experience with MMO development ?

the letter of intent means it's pending on them securing the funds first, so they will have the money. Now, whether or not they know what they're doing? Who the hell knows.

TemperHS

The "Legacy Team"?

I guess that's one way of prettying up the fact that you only have 3 active developers.

H0urg1ass

Having a player take over the helm of a game can be a double edged sword.

Several past EVE players have moved on to the development side of the team.  A couple of them have been great, and a couple of them seem hellbent on turning EVE into the game that they wanted to play when they were players; whether it's good for the overall game or not.

SpottyGekko

Valentina said:

SpottyGekko said:

A "signed letter of intent", eh ?

Signed or not, a "letter of intent" is worthless without the funds to carry through that intent.

A mysterious company has announced that they will rescue the game IF they can raise enough money. Nothing is revealed about the prospective new owners. Do they have any experience with MMO development ?

the letter of intent means it's pending on them securing the funds first, so they will have the money. Now, whether or not they know what they're doing? Who the hell knows.

Unless I have the wrong impression, this "letter of intent" means exactly zip.

Lisa could announce next week that the funding could not be raised, and that would be that. The mystery buyer would never be revealed, and things would carry on as normal.

Perhaps it's an attempt to generate interest amongst prospective buyers ?
Something along the lines of: "Get it now, before it's too late ! We already have one offer on the table, etc. etc."

Ozmodan

They basically killed the game when they went away from Pathfinder's roots.

bcbully

Velocinox said:

This story reeks of passionate amateurs leveraging their life's savings to keep their dream game alive.

If this turns out to be true, I feel sorry for all parties involved. And, I hope it falls through in their best interest.

On the surface, I was thinking the exact same thing.

Aethaeryn

It is like signing to buy a house based on financing.  You have to send the letter of intent to buy. . then take that to the bank to get financing approved, then you firm up when everyone is on the same page.  It doesn't seem that odd to me.  

It could still be all made up though.  I know they are looking at passing a law in Ontario that Real Estate Agents are not allowed to say that there is an offer unless they can provide proof in writing etc.  Too many. . yeah there are 3 offers so you had better act quickly crap.

bcbully

Pemmin said:

Loke666 said:

If a larger company would buy them out it would be to get the IP, all progress would be scrapped because larger companies are not particularly interested in really small niche products but the IP is very popular among pen and paper players.

after reading the full letter from the CEO if this deal goes through.....this scenario still seems  the most likely. 

what it sounds like to me is goblin works will basically cease to exist as of march
1st and paizo will sell GW's exclusive licensing and art assets to this new company.

-Which means any previous crowdfunding promises don't technically have to be honored (remember Paizo and GW were originally set up as 2 seperate entities even though they are owned and run by the same group of people)
-any kind of crowdforging(not that this was ever really a thing)  is basically out the window.
-if the new companiy is smart when assuming control...paizo will have very little say in what is done with the licensing(other then the option to not renew)

but from a business standpoint there isn't really a down side....because  in all honesty PFO is probably a waste of pazio's tangible resources in the best case scenario....and at worst it is a black hole of wasted money. If the new company can make money great!..... if not...well  pazio no longer has the to cover the financial burden and has the option of selling the license to someone else when it expires.

This is interesting. We saw the saw a similar thing take place earlier this year with "Greed Monger".  

The producer said they ran out of their crowd funded money, then began the process of transferring the right to the game to someone else, thus releasing the producer from any liability.  Many believed that both parties (producer and buyer) were in on it together, and what they were doing was just a scheme to avoid any possible liability. 

Another thing you mentioned about the forming of several companies, possible to absolve one from liability while the other maintains some rights?

This may or may not have anything to do with PFO, but I see a pattern emerging. It's sad to say, but crowd funding everyday looks more and more like a scam. 

H0urg1ass

bcbully said:

This may or may not have anything to do with PFO, but I see a pattern emerging. It's sad to say, but crowd funding everyday looks more and more like a scam. 

Never give anyone money up front for work they haven't done unless you have an intimate relationship with them and trust them unconditionally.

I wouldn't pay a roofer before he roofed my house.  I wouldn't pay my car mechanic before he fixed my car.  I sure as hell wouldn't pay a game developer before he made the game.

I ignored my own rule for this with Mechwarrior Online and I've regretted that decision ever since.  They made promise after promise, and then proceeded to break nearly every single promise they made us after we got ourselves $120 USD deep into the game.

Aethaeryn

H0urg1ass said:

bcbully said:

This may or may not have anything to do with PFO, but I see a pattern emerging. It's sad to say, but crowd funding everyday looks more and more like a scam. 

Never give anyone money up front for work they haven't done unless you have an intimate relationship with them and trust them unconditionally.

I wouldn't pay a roofer before he roofed my house.  I wouldn't pay my car mechanic before he fixed my car.  I sure as hell wouldn't pay a game developer before he made the game.

I ignored my own rule for this with Mechwarrior Online and I've regretted that decision ever since.  They made promise after promise, and then proceeded to break nearly every single promise they made us after we got ourselves $120 USD deep into the game.

For sure.  I don't think it is a scam though.  It was a way for people to fund things in an unconventional way. . which means they likely couldn't get it funded otherwise. . which means it maybe should not have been funded

I don't think people started out with the intention of scamming (with some exceptions of course).

I funded Wasteland 2 at a basic level and got the game.   Mostly I will buy the lowest package that gets me the game.  I thought I was saving money.  I won't do it again though.  It is like buying extended warranties for products.  Just say no and buy the product when you need / want it (and its finished) and save yourself money.

barasawa

I wasn't impressed at all with Pathfinder Online, and I've done numerous betas and alphas, even before it became a marketing technique for many companies. To tell the truth, it felt like a clunky set of mechanics, and was no more Pathfinder than name based lipservice.
It's too bad, I had really high hopes when they announced, but those are quite gone now.
So unless the unnamed buyer is Bill Gates or somebody like that, I don't see this project being completed, much less being completed with a good final product.