Why is NCSoft murdering our Game?
By
Aett_Thorn,
Posted on: 2012-09-09 06:17 in Suggestions and Ideas
Why didn't they sell the game? Because they'd sell the IP with it, and they might want to make a CoH2 in the future, so why would they do that?
They might have killed off a revenue stream, but it might not have been big enough for it to be worth investing in, according to them. From a business standpoint, just making money isn't always enough, if you can get a better return on investment if you put the money elsewhere.
Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I was just the one with the most unsolicited sombrero." - Traegus
Well, all that sucks. -- Trust me I understand they can shut the game down. No one will stop them. They own it and its their ball so they can take it home and not let anyone play with it.
If they want to develop a CoH2, you'd like to think they would want to keep these existing customers happy. I'd be very scared to buy CoH2 now.
Its not fun to be on this end of it. We have NO POWER. Over the years we have put a lot of money in those hands. The illusion that I was building something has been burst for me. Because what I built will soon be gone.
I've also seen the death throws of other games be very different. This game seemed to still be robust. It all seems needless and a shame.
But don't confuse my sorrow with a lack of understanding that they CAN do this. But by doing this I think they really are murdering the value of a future use of the CoH universe, especially in the hands of NCSoft.
Only thing I can think of is that "refocusing" = "getting out of the NA/EU market (except for GW2) (for now)". So who cares what a few thousand soon-to-be-ex-customers think? They weren't going to be trying to sell anything to us again anyway.
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
Well if they arnt going to be selling to us in the near future lets hope they dont expect to sell to us in the long future - cause while I understand that there are many reasons for the re alignment I have a long memory and am not sure if I would ever bother with a rent ware game again
The option no one seems to have considered is that instead of selling the game, they could just spin off Paragon Studios and then license it to them.
This is the win-win-win
NCSoft keeps all the IP, doesn't contribute any funding, and just collects checks. Paragon Studios continues to develop the game and just has to keep it profitable. In case of a COH2, NCSoft could still do that. And the players get to keep their game.
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Originally Posted by eltonio
This is over the top mental slavery.
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NCSoft has been pulling out of the North American market for a long time and Nexxon now owns a big share of them and is even more skeptical of the N.A. Market. They're not interested in selling to you.
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Originally Posted by Chill_Arrow_EU
Well if they arnt going to be selling to us in the near future lets hope they dont expect to sell to us in the long future - cause while I understand that there are many reasons for the re alignment I have a long memory and am not sure if I would ever bother with a rent ware game again
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Originally Posted by eltonio
This is over the top mental slavery.
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That would be a great solution!|
Originally Posted by Smurch
The option no one seems to have considered is that instead of selling the game, they could just spin off Paragon Studios and then license it to them.
This is the win-win-win NCSoft keeps all the IP, doesn't contribute any funding, and just collects checks. Paragon Studios continues to develop the game and just has to keep it profitable. In case of a COH2, NCSoft could still do that. And the players get to keep their game. |
Now if only THEY would realize it... >.<
Like Underworld? Then take a look at! http://moonid.net/account/recruitmen.../monstersgame/
And don't forget to join the fight for our City! http://www.cohtitan.com/forum/index....ard,134.0.html
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I am hoping this is going on behind the scenes. If it were happening, it would still most likely have to get out of the NCSoft logins and there would have to be a stop of service so new billing could be set up. It is the cleanest way to separate the books. |
Originally Posted by Smurch
The option no one seems to have considered is that instead of selling the game, they could just spin off Paragon Studios and then license it to them.
This is the win-win-win NCSoft keeps all the IP, doesn't contribute any funding, and just collects checks. Paragon Studios continues to develop the game and just has to keep it profitable. In case of a COH2, NCSoft could still do that. And the players get to keep their game. |
The won't want to announce a sale until the sale is done, and I would bet that they want to sell to the highest bidder. People in the industry know that CoH is really up for sale right now. Whether its the whole IP or just a license to continue the existing versions.
Quite possibly, some of our Dev's may have been hired as consultants by other companies to get a feel for the state of the game, and what is really required to keep CoH going healthy.
But it might not be an easy negotiation. The only reason not to sell the game is the thought that CoH2 is worth something. Buyers will have to consider how much damage has been done to CoH and its player base.
And a simple licensing to another company would still leave the ultimate control of the IP in NCSofts hands. Could you imagine a company buying the license for two years and then having NCSoft decide not to renew the license then...
As PoS as NCSoft seems to be I'm not sure I'd be anxious to make a deal with NCSoft if NCSoft retains any power to screw up the deal down the road.
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Except Guild Wars 2, and Wildstar*, and Blade and Soul, and Aion, and whatever their next Lineage re-skin is...|
Originally Posted by Megajoule
Only thing I can think of is that "refocusing" = "getting out of the NA/EU market (except for GW2) (for now)". So who cares what a few thousand soon-to-be-ex-customers think? They weren't going to be trying to sell anything to us again anyway.
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*Anyone still think this game's gonna release at all, now? Or get any post-release support from NC?
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Originally Posted by Talionis
I am hoping this is going on behind the scenes. If it were happening, it would still most likely have to get out of the NCSoft logins and there would have to be a stop of service so new billing could be set up. It is the cleanest way to separate the books.
The won't want to announce a sale until the sale is done, and I would bet that they want to sell to the highest bidder. People in the industry know that CoH is really up for sale right now. Whether its the whole IP or just a license to continue the existing versions. |
Oh, wait...
An MMO closure is definitely not a joke, and I have no intention of making light of it. And it can be a tough and emotional thing for players to go through, speaking from personal experience. And I know that it's often much harder on the developers than on the publisher. However, I also know that it doesn't necessarily turn you into a sad, depressed sack of tears for the rest of your life. People can move past it, and heal.
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I wish I could. I was really looking forward to it. Now? Not so much.|
Originally Posted by Kobold_Commander
Except Guild Wars 2, and Wildstar*, and Blade and Soul, and Aion, and whatever their next Lineage re-skin is...
*Anyone still think this game's gonna release at all, now? Or get any post-release support from NC? |
I keep imagining the scene where one character is running for safety, and another who's there and looking back can see what they can't - a bad guy getting ready to shoot them in the back. And all the second character can do is shout something helpless and cliched as it all plays out in inevitable slow motion...
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
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Selling off AA and TR would have been fairly pointless as they were flops. CoH is a bit different in that it is making money, so they might have got a meaningful sum for it. I suspect the cultural difference and loss of face if something they flog off succeeds is dooming CoH. They will never develop CoH2, as they know the people who played CoH will not trust them, are unlikely to buy it and are likely to point out what happened to CoH to prospective customers of CoH2 if they develop it.
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Originally Posted by Kobold_Commander
Except Guild Wars 2, and Wildstar*, and Blade and Soul, and Aion, and whatever their next Lineage re-skin is...
*Anyone still think this game's gonna release at all, now? Or get any post-release support from NC? Just like how they sold off Dungeon Runners, Auto Assault, and Tabula Rasa? Oh, wait... |
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
Buisness.
-Female Player-
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Originally Posted by mauk2
Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words.
"Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard.  Never change, E_L! |
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Business.|
Originally Posted by Evil_Legacy
Buisness.
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Global@SteelDominator
I'm just astonished they won't sell the game and make a buck. Once they shut it down they severely damage the value of the IP.
Loss of Face may be a cultural thing I don't understand, but I don't understand the BUSINESS decision that shuts the IP down.
NONE OF US, at CoX customers are going to another NCSoft game if they really shut CoX down. And the thought we might go to a newer game of theirs seems to be the only logical reason not to auction off CoX and get what you can for the property.
As I've said before:
That assumes that they actually want any of us as customers, when their other customers (in their home country/market) make them so much more money.
My characters at Virtueverse
Faces of the City
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^^This!^^|
Originally Posted by Talionis
I'm just astonished they won't sell the game and make a buck. Once they shut it down they severely damage the value of the IP.
Loss of Face may be a cultural thing I don't understand, but I don't understand the BUSINESS decision that shuts the IP down. NONE OF US, at CoX customers are going to another NCSoft game if they really shut CoX down. And the thought we might go to a newer game of theirs seems to be the only logical reason not to auction off CoX and get what you can for the property. |
Seriously, Do they think just because after AA flopped/died... people tried TR because it was the best game out there? NO, It was largely because they gave Former AA players (=> who were Active/Subbed at the time of the announcement of it's sun-setting) A copy of the "Digital Collectors' Edition of TR" w/ the free month or so to try it... And, they gave (many/most?) of us TRUE = Early Beta Access to Tabula Rasa! - in what would have been "Friends and Family only" & for quite a while it was Friends and Family & AA die-hards, then some other folks who'd been in COH Beta's and whatnot (probably Lineage players too - IDK for certain but it seemed like it, for awhile there were "gold sellers" in the Beta
), then significantly later they let in the normal people via "Beta Sign-ups" from gaming sites.They also gave away digital key codes for COH & Lineage (maybe Lineage II(?) IDK for sure = I never wanted to even try it.
Plus they pushed the Dungeon Runners - not sure if it was beta still at that point - I think so, it was or soon became to be F2P if you didn't want more than 1 page/small section of inventory(?) or use any of the really "nice items" OR the larger health/mana options = though (IIRC) for a bit you still got them as drops... THey camera placement & movement made me "sea-sick" - sort like "shakey-cam video" footage only this was the whole world/screen behind what there was of the UI = which wasn't much. I didn't play that "Casual Game" (and the PR release said/says paraphrasing - that they were going to Focus on their "Triple AAA games" = essentially the just the opposite oif what they appear to be doing now = No Excrement! -> Look it up!!)
And, When they closed TR they did the same sorta thing (Here's the details I just dug up for the EU version/announcement = it may have been a little different for the US? - but not much.)
- 3 free months of City of Heroes including digital client
- 3 free months of Lineage II including digital client
- Aion Exclusive Preview Event access (details coming soon)
- Aion pre-order access (available in 2009)
- 1 free month of Aion including digital client (available in 2009)
From my point of view I think these people want to be in this business anymore! Or that don't want us as customers?? Someone Ought to look at what has been the Real "staple"/sustenance for them while they're looking for the next "AAA-Mega-Hit" OR, now the next *Mini-Mega-Hit" for "mobile gaming" platforms!
I'm can't imagine why they have problems with investors at all now?
I mean REALLY??
This is your plan??? 
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
City of Heroes didn't fail, City of Heroes was killed. If a 747 dropped on your house, you'd say you were killed, not you failed to find a safer dwelling.
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How many times has a closing MMO been sold? Once? NCsoft's decision shouldn't be a surprise.
The 1st Message Board Warrior. m/
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How many times has a closing MMO been profitable and not being imminently replaced by "samegame 2".
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Originally Posted by Moderated_IRL
How many times has a closing MMO been sold? Once? NCsoft's decision shouldn't be a surprise.
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It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
Many peoples in my country are playing GW2. I don't know why because that game is so boring near COX.
I think the NCSOFT's managers do not realized yet how their no ethical behavior is bad to the business.
NCSoft killed about 4 games in the past? From the posts aroun the forums, it would seem those games either wasnt generating money, was losing money at their closing, or dead in the water, all except this game. Maybe they seen the revenue slipping and wanted to end it before they loose money like the last four?
-Female Player-
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Originally Posted by mauk2
Evil_Legacy became one of my favorite posters with two words.
"Kick Rocks." I laffed so hard. Never change, E_L! |
Can we save ours chars? One guy said in another topic:"Your characters can be moved to other media, if you choose. Many people imported characters from their table top games into CoH."
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let us say that keeping your computer on cost you 10.000 dollars a day. Would you keep your computer on or invest your money somewhere else were you will get a greater profit than 100 dollars?
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Originally Posted by Talionis
Why is it going away? My understanding is that it is making money. If I were making a hundred dollars a month profit (profit is money after all my expenses) for basically leaving my computer on, I don't turn the computer off. Some money is better than No Money.
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If I died and went to Heaven, Coh be My Heaven, NcSoft Don't care about us and lets face it, they only want Money.
It always about Greed and Profit First, then Feelings and Emotion, We just want to play this game, Just let us.
I don't want new Content any more or anything Else, I just want to play Coh, We Don't need Devs or Maintenance workers, we can do that our Selves, with the help of Titian Network or Chipping in and Working together.
I No I am Retarded because of my Meds, Have Grammar Issues and I have Personnel Issues, but I care about this game and all of you guys.
I Do whatever it Takes to keep on Playing this game, I wish NcSoft let us Run this game Ourselves and just let us be.
Never play another NcSoft game, If you feel pride for our game, then it as well, I Superratz am Proud of all of you Coh people, Love, Friendship will last for a lifetime.
Global:@Greenflame Ratz
Main Toons:Super Ratz, Burning B Radical, Green Flame Avenger, Tunnel Ratz, Alex Magnus
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So using your figures the "computer" cost $10 bucks a day to run with the cents broken down to three decimal places, and my profit is one $100 dollars even. |
Originally Posted by savagedeacon_NA
let us say that keeping your computer on cost you 10.000 dollars a day. Would you keep your computer on or invest your money somewhere else were you will get a greater profit than 100 dollars?
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Since you said that $100 bucks is profit then my "expenses" have already been deducted. So hell no I wouldn't shut down. That's a huge friggin success. By the end of the week I'll have spent $70 bucks and earned $700.
In a month I'll have spent $300 bucks and earned $3,000.
In a year I'll have spent $3,650 bucks and earned $36,500.
Only an idiot or someone whose motivations are far more complicated than simple greed would shut that down.
There is Something Wacky Here. I doubt we'll ever know, and that is one of the reasons I am pretty much now highly distrustful of ncsoft.
A lack of confidence that our games will go on makes people less likely to invest money into pay to play or purchasing of games. CoH has had a long life, but its been still got a large player base and is generating profits.
Why don't they just sell the property to someone to run it? They get cash infusion. We can still play.
This maybe business, but its not good business and its making me reluctant to enter the MMO market again.