NCSoft acquires "City of" Franchise!
By
2Negative,
Posted on: 2007-11-06 13:34 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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Issue 12: Statesman is dead!
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My long awaited dream has come.
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ED will be revoked and Agro cap will be REMOVED.
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Don't forget Travel Suppression.
Also, maybe we will get Super Strength Scrappers!
Hmm. I just realized that Statesman's assurance that we'd be getting Street Fighting likely no longer holds any water.
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
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I wouldn't compare this to the SWG thing, it's much closer to when EASports bought Ultima Online.
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EA purchases Origin Systems: 9/1992
Ultima Online commences development: 1995
Ultima Online commences playerbase decline (from which it never recovers): 2nd Q 2003
EA disbands Origin: 2/2004
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So... is that a doom post? If so, it's not very doomy. I'd be overjoyed if the City games took eleven years to suffer an unrecoverable playerbase decline, closing their doors after 12 years.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
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Hmm. I just realized that Statesman's assurance that we'd be getting Street Fighting likely no longer holds any water.
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Yeah, but you should see the "Fisticuffs" powerset in MUO! ZOMG its teh sweetest!
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Hmm. I just realized that Statesman's assurance that we'd be getting Street Fighting likely no longer holds any water.
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Yeah, but you should see the "Fisticuffs" powerset in MUO! ZOMG its teh sweetest!
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Aha, perhaps that's what he meant?
Please try my custom mission arcs!
Legacy of a Rogue (ID 459586, Entry for Dr. Aeon's Third Challenge)
Death for Dollars! (ID 1050)
Dr. Duplicate's Dastardly Dare (ID 1218)
Win the Past, Own the Future (ID 1429)
I have to hope this is a joke, PP, because... they don't get any of that special junk. JUST access to the other game side. Why is that a problem?
I want people with solo accounts to be able to access the stuff they didn't have before. That's a really sweet way of keeping newcomers on board. Getting them to come into bases if they couldn't, bonus.
They never said anything about getting the GVE specifics, the Preorder or Beta goodies, or any of that other extra stuff.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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Hmm. I just realized that Statesman's assurance that we'd be getting Street Fighting likely no longer holds any water.
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Yeah, but you should see the "Fisticuffs" powerset in MUO! ZOMG its teh sweetest!
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Aha, perhaps that's what he meant?
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I'm guessing it's more like the GIANT SPIDER from Superman's movie... 
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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I have to hope this is a joke, PP, because... they don't get any of that special junk. JUST access to the other game side. Why is that a problem?
I want people with solo accounts to be able to access the stuff they didn't have before. That's a really sweet way of keeping newcomers on board. Getting them to come into bases if they couldn't, bonus.
They never said anything about getting the GVE specifics, the Preorder or Beta goodies, or any of that other extra stuff.
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Is it just one game now?
Yanno kinda like vet rewards, I think it would be nice to give an extra extra perk to people who bought all those boxes.
Hmm, Like a base item that no one would really care about...(except me and maybe some other people).... like a Statesman Punching bag or something 
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I wouldn't compare this to the SWG thing, it's much closer to when EASports bought Ultima Online.
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EA purchases Origin Systems: 9/1992
Ultima Online commences development: 1995
Ultima Online commences playerbase decline (from which it never recovers): 2nd Q 2003
EA disbands Origin: 2/2004
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So... is that a doom post? If so, it's not very doomy. I'd be overjoyed if the City games took eleven years to suffer an unrecoverable playerbase decline, closing their doors after 12 years.
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No, it's not a doom post. Just correcting some ongoing myths being spread about the decline of UO.
http://derekl1963.livejournal.com/
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Is it just one game now?
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Yes. Essentially, that's what they've done today with some of the player-perks we're getting, including the Debt wipe and Prestige things. 
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for "Mountain View" would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.
Ex
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*BOGGLE* ...why would they need a 2D/Concept, and "Powers Designer"? Those 2 alone implies ambitions for a lot more New-New content than we've gotten in years. The list taken as a whole is staggering and I have a hard time believing all those resources would be going to Co(X).
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For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for "Mountain View" would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.
Ex
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*BOGGLE* ...why would they need a 2D/Concept, and "Powers Designer"? Those 2 alone implies ambitions for a lot more New-New content than we've gotten in years. The list taken as a whole is staggering and I have a hard time believing all those resources would be going to Co(X).
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COX2: The Search For More Money
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For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for "Mountain View" would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.
Ex
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*BOGGLE* ...why would they need a 2D/Concept, and "Powers Designer"? Those 2 alone implies ambitions for a lot more New-New content than we've gotten in years. The list taken as a whole is staggering and I have a hard time believing all those resources would be going to Co(X).
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Paid expansion? Yeah, I think so.
Heroes
Dysmal
Lumynous
Sam Steele
Pluck
Wile
Slagheap
Pressure Wave
Rhiannon Bel
Verified
Stellaric
Syd Mallorn
Villains
Jotunheim Skald
Saer Maen
Jen Corbae
Illuminance
Venator Arawn
Taiga Dryad
Tarranos
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For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for "Mountain View" would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.
Ex
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*BOGGLE* ...why would they need a 2D/Concept, and "Powers Designer"? Those 2 alone implies ambitions for a lot more New-New content than we've gotten in years. The list taken as a whole is staggering and I have a hard time believing all those resources would be going to Co(X).
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Im not suprised at all. Cryptic going full throttle with MUO means that NC Soft with CoX finally have to raise the bar if they're going to survive and even thrive against Marvel/cryptic. Hopefully this means more implementation of things people have been wanting for a very long time and a clean up yet other things.
Its still too early to tell, I do have reserved concern that all the "opps's" learned from the CoX "Project" will be put to use on MUO by ole Jack E boi and come up with something that CoX wont be able to compete against.... only time will tell.
One other question I have is whether this means that CoX will be now expanding more into the pacific nations markets giving servers and support for it there. Im sure the Aussie's n Kiwi's would like to see servers in their own time zones. :P I'd certainly like to be able to play with less latency for sure here in Japan. :P
-Storm Revenant-
Fires Within: Lvl 50 Fire/Kinetics Controller (Champion)
Steamed: Lvl 50 Thugs/Dark Miasma Mastermind (Freedom)
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I for one am excited by the idea that this merger of sorts will open several doors for the Co* franchise! The bonuses being given to current players is also a major plus and I thank you!
One question Ex...
How long should we expect to wait for some of the "sekrit" plans that are going to come from this purchase to get announced?
I know you said that we would start seeing big effects in around 6 months, but as far as announcing what NCSofts plans are, how long are we going to be waiting to hear any further details?
Thanks
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We had one sekrit plan we wanted to announce today, but it wasn't ready...
Ex
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iii) Statesman as the signature character will be determined, if I had my druthers it would be something the Community Team would acquire rights to, one can dream right?
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States should continue as a signature character - and appear as such in game in missions and taskforces, etc... But he should never appear 'live' again.
But the redname? No, that too should be retired with honor.
That name and character belongs to Jack Emmert (no matter whose IP it legally is), and to see it used as a sockpuppet (no offense, I just cannot think of a better term) is an insult to him and to the collective intelligence of the players.
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Let it insult away... I've never been a fan of statesman nor his real life counterpart. Sorry.
Thus I hope this whole change really frees up the team to finally let things really open up more.
-Storm Revenant-
Fires Within: Lvl 50 Fire/Kinetics Controller (Champion)
Steamed: Lvl 50 Thugs/Dark Miasma Mastermind (Freedom)
Everything I need to know about this company and how they feel about their fans/customers is summed up by this announcement and thread. That is, they were open and honest and explained what was going on, and then they actually are on the boards late at night answering what they knew would be a #$%*storm of pessimism from some people. Imagine how many companies would have made a change like this quietly, behind the scenes, with only rumors trickling out to the players. I think NCSoft is pretty awesome.
Also, did EL basically come out and admit that Co* has been gimped for the last year and a half due to the MUO conflict of interest? Did he really say that? Damn!
Well, if it's a fight they want, I know which side I'm on. And it ain't Jack's.
TOP TEN REASONS WHY NCSOFT ACQUIRING "CITY" WILL NOT BE SONY/SWG DOOMAGE:
- NCSoft has owned half of the "City" Intellectual Property (IP) since before the first open beta. If NCSoft 'suits' were intent on destroying "City" with botton-line, market-blinders interference, then they would already have done so.
- "City" now represents their second most successful North American game, and most critically successful game. Why mess that up?
- NCSoft so values the direction that the current developer team (originally hired by Cryptic) was taking the "City" franchise, that they hired the entire lot away from Cryptic. That's a lot of faith in them.
- Matt "Positron" Miller has been lead designer for "City" for over a year. NCSoft has hired him to continue to lead it. The lead artist and programmer retain their jobs, too. BackAlleyBrawler, Jay, War Witch, Castle, and every single friggin developer (except one) has been hired by NCSoft. If NCSoft wanted a direction change, they would have hired other people or put their own pet 'suits' in developer positions.
- The entire developer team has jumped ship from Cryptic and joined NCSoft. Doesn't that tell you something about how they feel about NCSoft? Do you think they'd jump ship to a company that will destroy their baby?
- NCSoft has bought the "City" development team their own studio. Let me repeat that: NCSOFT HAS BOUGHT THE "CITY" DEVELOPMENT TEAM THEIR OWN STUDIO! Do you know how big an investment that is? NCSoft North America already owns two developer studios and an artistic studio. They could have easily moved the "City" team to one of their pre-existing locations. But instead, they want the "City" studio to be the originators of a brand new development studio (NCSoft NorCal) in the heart of silicon valley where all the code monkey geniuses live.
- Robert Garriot, CEO of NCSoft (brother of Richard "Lord British" Garriott who is Exec. Producer of Tabula Rasa) [edit: I originally had the two brothers confused] popped in last Friday to assure his new studio that he's taking a 'hand's off' approach to them. They're a successful bunch already, why mess with that formula. Good luck, I'm too busy with Tabula Rasa to hang around.
- NCSoft will be relocating the current "City" QA (Quality Assurance) team from the Austin studio to the new NorCal Studio. That's right, their QA gang will be able to stand up from their computer, walk down the hall, and say, "Hey, BackAlleyBrawler, found a bug with an animation you should see." How freakin' efficient is that?
- NCSoft is already dropping hints of new hardware (as in new servers, as in the hinted 'one server' system (and stop worrying about how that will be implemented, they'll find a solution to names and slots)). Just another example of how NCSoft is ready to spend big bucks on "City" and continue to develop it.
- No longer will the Community Reps on the boards be seen as employees of one company having to negotiate a relationship with the developers who are employees of the other company. It's all one family now. Ex Libris and Lighthouse don't report to a publisher who then speaks with the developers. They are working very, very, very directly with the developers now. Player feedback and community are going to become more intense, effective, and efficacious. Not that eveyone's pet peeve will be resolved, but player input definitely be heard more and matter more.
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[*]NCSoft will be relocating the current "City" QA (Quality Assurance) team from the Austin studio to the new NorCal Studio. That's right, their QA gang will be able to stand up from their computer, walk down the hall, and say, "Hey, BackAlleyBrawler" found a bug with an animation you should see." How freakin' efficient is that?
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Whoa, whoa. Do you have a source for that? I thought I'd been through all the Dev/Community posts, and I don't remember seeing that.
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For those interested in gainful gaming employment, check out the NCsoft North America Jobs Listing. Positions for "Mountain View" would be in our newly formed NCsoft NorCal Studio.
Ex
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*BOGGLE* ...why would they need a 2D/Concept, and "Powers Designer"? Those 2 alone implies ambitions for a lot more New-New content than we've gotten in years. The list taken as a whole is staggering and I have a hard time believing all those resources would be going to Co(X).
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Paid expansion? Yeah, I think so.
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It's possible that NorCal will become the site of development of new NCSoft products. Most development studios have several irons in the fire.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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[*]NCSoft will be relocating the current "City" QA (Quality Assurance) team from the Austin studio to the new NorCal Studio. That's right, their QA gang will be able to stand up from their computer, walk down the hall, and say, "Hey, BackAlleyBrawler" found a bug with an animation you should see." How freakin' efficient is that?
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Whoa, whoa. Do you have a source for that? I thought I'd been through all the Dev/Community posts, and I don't remember seeing that.
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Well the fact that they all had a pumpkin carving contest in the same building said volumes to me...
My issue is 9: I don't see where Ex mentioned any hint at 'single server' - she replied to my query about servers with "we're getting new hardware". Not "we're getting new hardware and it'll all support one big gigantic megaserver". Sorry on that one, but *eeeent*. nope. New hardware = 11 servers. Down the way? sure, but not while they're investing so much in this. I don't see that at all.
And what does Garriot have to do with COH? Nothing, so... shrug on that one.
Please read my FEAR/Portal/HalfLife Fan Fiction!
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[*]NCSoft will be relocating the current "City" QA (Quality Assurance) team from the Austin studio to the new NorCal Studio. That's right, their QA gang will be able to stand up from their computer, walk down the hall, and say, "Hey, BackAlleyBrawler" found a bug with an animation you should see." How freakin' efficient is that?
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Whoa, whoa. Do you have a source for that? I thought I'd been through all the Dev/Community posts, and I don't remember seeing that.
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It's in here
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And what does Garriot have to do with COH? Nothing, so... shrug on that one.
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Ummm.... he owns it now.
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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And what does Garriot have to do with COH? Nothing, so... shrug on that one.
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Ummm.... he owns it now.
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Yeah, was just gonna say... since Garriot is NCsoft's North American President of Operations and all... he's Posi's boss now (after this Brian Clayton person)
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[*]NCSoft will be relocating the current "City" QA (Quality Assurance) team from the Austin studio to the new NorCal Studio. That's right, their QA gang will be able to stand up from their computer, walk down the hall, and say, "Hey, BackAlleyBrawler" found a bug with an animation you should see." How freakin' efficient is that?
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Whoa, whoa. Do you have a source for that? I thought I'd been through all the Dev/Community posts, and I don't remember seeing that.
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My issue is 9: I don't see where Ex mentioned any hint at 'single server' - she replied to my query about servers with "we're getting new hardware". Not "we're getting new hardware and it'll all support one big gigantic megaserver". Sorry on that one, but *eeeent*. nope. New hardware = 11 servers. Down the way? sure, but not while they're investing so much in this. I don't see that at all.
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The QA info was a private chat that I know Ex Libris intends for general consumption.
The server info was also part of a private chat but mostly from the history of the little hints dropped here and there. There definitely will be new hardware. The one server system is something they're 'looking into,' with no promises and no more information than that. [IOW, if they can do it, and do it well, they will.]
Speeding Through New DA Repeatables || Spreadsheet o' Enhancements || Zombie Skins: better skins for these forums || Guide to Guides
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iii) Statesman as the signature character will be determined, if I had my druthers it would be something the Community Team would acquire rights to, one can dream right?
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States should continue as a signature character - and appear as such in game in missions and taskforces, etc... But he should never appear 'live' again.
But the redname? No, that too should be retired with honor.
That name and character belongs to Jack Emmert (no matter whose IP it legally is), and to see it used as a sockpuppet (no offense, I just cannot think of a better term) is an insult to him and to the collective intelligence of the players.
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I agree that the redname thing is probably necessary.
However, I think that States could still be invited and log on as... well himself as a special honorary guest in the case of these events...