Posi Confirms: COH Largest and Most Active MMO Ever Shut Down
By
Adar_ICT,
Posted on: 2012-10-29 18:54 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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It is curious that they chose to use those words, but "realignment of company focus and publishing support" carries a typical PR feel to it that it sounds vague enough to not be able to completely rule out or rule in, CoX's financial standing as one reason for that realignment.|
Originally Posted by Ogi
If you believe NCSoft's carefully worded statement it was realignment of focus that was the issue, not survivability.
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Because of that, one can easily spin it to mean their publishing support for Paragon studios is no longer desirable "because" of what CoX's revenue track record looks like and can't justify continued "focus" of resources for Paragon's future projects when their current one is under-performing.
Or it can also be spun that other way you mentioned. PR can be annoying that way, hehe.
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Really? They didn't say "we're going to shut your game down" but they said instead "we shut your game down"? Are you sure that's how it happened?|
Originally Posted by Ogi
I wouldn't say the players who left jumped ship so much as had their ship shot out from under them. We didn't get a "oh, by the way, we're going to shut your game down". We got a "oh, by the way, we shut your game down, go buy GW2". |
If that is so, how is it that I'm logged into that game currently. I wouldn't be able to do that if they had already shut it down.
How is it that the announcements and statements I've read were talking about the shutting the game down in the future and not as something that had already happened?
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
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That is what I got out of it.
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Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Really? They didn't say "we're going to shut your game down" but they said instead "we shut your game down"? Are you sure that's how it happened?
If that is so, how is it that I'm logged into that game currently. I wouldn't be able to do that if they had already shut it down. How is it that the announcements and statements I've read were talking about the shutting the game down in the future and not as something that had already happened? |
-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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Probably because all development and production was cancelled on that very same day of the announcement.|
Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Really? They didn't say "we're going to shut your game down" but they said instead "we shut your game down"? Are you sure that's how it happened?
If that is so, how is it that I'm logged into that game currently. I wouldn't be able to do that if they had already shut it down. How is it that the announcements and statements I've read were talking about the shutting the game down in the future and not as something that had already happened? |
I understand why you thought you found an error there, but Ogi was actually correct.
The game was shut down the day of the announcement.
Account services, purchases, development, production... all shut down on that day as opposed to a timely proper ending.
Beta left to rot. A few folks remained as a skeleton crew, but the functionality of several aspects were ceased immediately (and then shored up a bit later so that box codes wouldn't even work to get people VIP any more).
So, I'd imagine that is how.
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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I'm really not sure why you're reading those things out of the things I have said, but I'll just let it all stand there.|
Originally Posted by Fire_Away
Ok, I get it. You're angry (still) because the time is near when you can't play CoH any longer. You are emotional and said so (and there's nothing wrong with that right?) because you have been "wronged". And it's perfectly clear in your head who deserves to be blamed for it. No need for anyone to restate the obvious (PS isn't perfect, pfft) or cloud the issue with hard data or well founded speculation developed over years. You have it all down pat... the profitability picture, the community make-up, subscription data and projections, the internal "politics", what was tried and what wasn't and how this whole thing on that fateful Friday should have never happened... and how once it did happen, the best way to "turn it around" (We are heroes! This is what we do!). Congrats! Me?... well I'm a little angry too... just not as smart... or at least not as presumptive in either the fault or recovery department.
Couple of other random thoughts FWIW. (1) If one person influences thousands (and I'm not disputing that for the purpose of this question). Why wasn't this "great" community able to force multiply the subscription numbers so that there would be no question of CoH's survivability? and (2) A bomb was dropped on the players on that fateful Friday; no question about it. But given the player demographics and trends, the way the devs (understandably and necessarily to put food on the table) jumped ship, the way many players jumped ship, and dozens of other factors wasn't the fate of CoH pretty much sealed at that point (all emotion aside)? |
Honestly, your post reads as though you're a bit angry. I honestly can't follow what you're saying as it relates to anything I've said. It's all good though (seriously).
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
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Nope. I did find an error. Ogi was incorrect.|
Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
Probably because all development and production was cancelled on that very same day of the announcement.
I understand why you thought you found an error there, but Ogi was actually correct. The game was shut down the day of the announcement. Account services, purchases, development, production... all shut down on that day as opposed to a timely proper ending. Beta left to rot. A few folks remained as a skeleton crew, but the functionality of several aspects were ceased immediately (and then shored up a bit later so that box codes wouldn't even work to get people VIP any more). So, I'd imagine that is how. |
The game wasn't shut down the day of the announcement.
The servers are still running. The store is still running. SSA 2.4 became Live after the announcement. SSA 2.5 would have gone Live if they'd had the contact already in the game. It became active on Beta when it was scheduled to because the contact was already there.
I've been able to log in my characters and level them up as I normally would, take screenshots, get in game help with problems, create some demorecords, use an external tool to extract the character data, chat with friends and more.
If they had shut down the game the day of the announcement no one would have been able to log in to the game for any reason. The servers would have been shut down. We'd have never had an AP33 for Jessie to restart after maintenance. We'd have never had the coXso costume contests or anything else in-game.
Was the staff let go? Sure. There is no disputing that. That accounts for development and production.
Were account services changed so that no one could spend money on a game that was in the process of being closed? Certainly. They'd have been stupid not to. Especially since they were likely already planning their refund policies for subscriptions. You don't let people spend money on something you are about to give refunds for.
Were account services changed so that no one could buy points to purchase items. Certainly. They'd have been stupid not to. Especially since they were likely already planning their refund policies for points purchases. Again, you don't let people spend money on something you are about to give refunds for.
They gave about the same amount of lead time on the announcement as they did on the Tabula Rasa shutdown. They announced it in mid to late November and shut it down at the end of February, just a bit over 3 months. The servers were still up until the end. They didn't close the studio on the day of the announcement, but they shut down account services at that time from what I'm told by a few people that played it. They refunded subscription money as Gangrel_EU has regularly pointed out in addition to offering inducements to try some other games.
They gave more lead time on the announcement than they did on Auto Assault. They announced the closing in early July and closed it at the end of August. Just over a month's notice. The servers were still up until the end. They closed the account services at the time and I have no idea if there was even still a studio involved at the time. Again, they "reconciled" subcriber accounts (the wording I'm told was used at the time for refunding paid time) and offered inducements to try some other games including CoH.
The only real difference here is that they closed the studio that day (I'd have rather they let them plan a closing event as they did with TR) and haven't offered us inducements to play Guild Wars 2 or Blade & Soul, at least that have come through my inbox.
All that being said, they still didn't shut down the game the day they made the announcement.
Saying they shut the game down when they made the announcement is just plain false.
If the game spit out 20 dollar bills people would complain that they weren't sequentially numbered. If they were sequentially numbered people would complain that they weren't random enough.
Black Pebble is my new hero.
Quote:
Got it in one.|
Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
So, I'd imagine that is how.
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The three months are just the death throes and NCSoft's attempt at positive PR spin (which a few people have taken hook, line, and sinker) . We thought CoH might have a slim chance at recovery in the beginning but we didn't know yet that NCSoft had never intended any other outcome. CoH was dead at the announcement, we just didn't know it, all the while SaveCoH was playing nice and playing right into NCSoft's hands.
NCSoft deftly avoided a deathground scenario by leaving us an apparent escape route, and we took it.
Perhaps someone that tried to buy CoH will drop a dime on NCSoft and let their revenuers know that they may want to check for some overvalued write-offs. Those "negotiations" may not have been possible without the gaming community's goodwill, so hopefully NCSoft took enough rope to hang themselves with.
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So, "the game as we knew it" would be acceptable and would prevent such an argumentative insistence that Ogi was wrong?|
Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Nope. I did find an error. Ogi was incorrect.
The game wasn't shut down the day of the announcement. The servers are still running. The store is still running. SSA 2.4 became Live after the announcement. SSA 2.5 would have gone Live if they'd had the contact already in the game. It became active on Beta when it was scheduled to because the contact was already there. I've been able to log in my characters and level them up as I normally would, take screenshots, get in game help with problems, create some demorecords, use an external tool to extract the character data, chat with friends and more. If they had shut down the game the day of the announcement no one would have been able to log in to the game for any reason. The servers would have been shut down. We'd have never had an AP33 for Jessie to restart after maintenance. We'd have never had the coXso costume contests or anything else in-game. Was the staff let go? Sure. There is no disputing that. That accounts for development and production. Were account services changed so that no one could spend money on a game that was in the process of being closed? Certainly. They'd have been stupid not to. Especially since they were likely already planning their refund policies for subscriptions. You don't let people spend money on something you are about to give refunds for. Were account services changed so that no one could buy points to purchase items. Certainly. They'd have been stupid not to. Especially since they were likely already planning their refund policies for points purchases. Again, you don't let people spend money on something you are about to give refunds for. They gave about the same amount of lead time on the announcement as they did on the Tabula Rasa shutdown. They announced it in mid to late November and shut it down at the end of February, just a bit over 3 months. The servers were still up until the end. They didn't close the studio on the day of the announcement, but they shut down account services at that time from what I'm told by a few people that played it. They refunded subscription money as Gangrel_EU has regularly pointed out in addition to offering inducements to try some other games. They gave more lead time on the announcement than they did on Auto Assault. They announced the closing in early July and closed it at the end of August. Just over a month's notice. The servers were still up until the end. They closed the account services at the time and I have no idea if there was even still a studio involved at the time. Again, they "reconciled" subcriber accounts (the wording I'm told was used at the time for refunding paid time) and offered inducements to try some other games including CoH. The only real difference here is that they closed the studio that day (I'd have rather they let them plan a closing event as they did with TR) and haven't offered us inducements to play Guild Wars 2 or Blade & Soul, at least that have come through my inbox. All that being said, they still didn't shut down the game the day they made the announcement. Saying they shut the game down when they made the announcement is just plain false. |
@Zethustra
"Now at midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew come out
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
and round up everyone that knows more than they do"-Dylan
Quote:
What I got out of that is that NC Soft has a contract with the server space that hosts CoH, and it would cost them extra money to break it. They shut down everything they could without putting extra effort into being jerks.
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Originally Posted by Texas Justice
Really? They didn't say "we're going to shut your game down" but they said instead "we shut your game down"? Are you sure that's how it happened?
If that is so, how is it that I'm logged into that game currently. I wouldn't be able to do that if they had already shut it down. How is it that the announcements and statements I've read were talking about the shutting the game down in the future and not as something that had already happened? |
All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.
But memories remain, And that is beautiful.
If it was survivability as the issue there was a lot of fat (secret project(s), future development) that could have been trimmed before cutting into the meat.
I wouldn't say the players who left jumped ship so much as had their ship shot out from under them. We didn't get a "oh, by the way, we're going to shut your game down". We got a "oh, by the way, we shut your game down, go buy GW2".