Massive layoffs at SOE?

[Shatter]

Not sure if hotlinking from Wordpress works, but anyway... something SOE-related I found on the weekend that made me laugh.

Whoever finds that probably gets the job

[Samprimary]

Free Realms launched on the PS3 this week, apparently. SOE's marketing is absolutely awful.

.. oh my god.

[Brolan]

Not sure if hotlinking from Wordpress works, but anyway... something SOE-related I found on the weekend that made me laugh.

You really can't make stuff like this up.

[Ginaz]

Like I said, my surprise is mostly that they had that many studios to close down.  Sucks for the 200+ people losing their jobs, but it is slightly amusing to go back and read the first page of the Agency thread where Schild proclaims it to be the future of MMO's.

No offense to him, but I don't think Schild is the best person to get advice from concerning what makes an MMO work.  Didn't he say that swg's nge was the future of MMO's too?  That worked out about as well for soe as The Agency did.

[schild]

Point of order: NGE got released. We'll never know with The Agency.

And like it or not (as in, opinions aside), pretty sure I work for the company solely responsible for the future of online gaming.

[Furiously]

You work for Blizzard?

[Nija]

You work for Blizzard?

Honestly that is the only place he could be talking about. Anywhere else and he's more delusional than anyone thought. I'm happy to be proved wrong but I doubt it'll happen.

[Merusk]

Zynga.

He's also correct.

[Mrbloodworth]

When did Blizzard buy Zynga! 

[Abelian75]

Zynga.

He's also correct.

While I may be nitpicking over semantics, I'm not even sure what being "solely" responsible for the future of anything would even mean, short of some sort of bizarre Orwellian nightmare where no other company but Zynga ever releases an online game until the end of time.  But "very important now and likely in coming years," sure.

[Nija]

Zynga.

Shit son, that is rough. That's like saying, "I work at the company that is the future of search and advertising!" And everyone says, "google???" "Nah, yahoo."

[Ginaz]

If Zynga is the future of online gaming, they'll be doing it without me.  Fuck Farmville and all those shitty Facebook games that are made for old people, tweens, hipsters and soccer moms.

[Merusk]

All of whom outnumber anti-social geeks in numbers.

Hmm.   

[01101010]

All of whom outnumber anti-social geeks in numbers.

Hmm.   

+1

Since I was just about to type that exact thing.

[Stabs]

Is anyone excited about the games they've decided to focus on?

- a new property in the Everquest franchise. I'm a little dour after seeing how money-grabbing the cash shopification of Eq2 turned out to be. Not that I'm against Eq2, it's a great game but I am reluctant to try a new and different game that may feel like you have to swipe your credit card every time you kill a mob.

- a new property in the Planetside franchise. I thought this game (which I haven't played) was considered evidence that FPS games work better if not part of a MMO architecture. And the first one bombed. So they're making a second one. Even if all the ex-players come back surely there's simply not enough of them to make this a success? Unless they all come back, and all stay subbed and all bring in friends.

[Hawkbit]

I wouldn't say I'm excited, but I'm interested in EQ3.  Intuition tells me that being interested as far as I'll get.  For the past 10 years, SOE has been steadily moving away from what I find enjoyable in gaming. 

[01101010]

Is anyone excited about the games they've decided to focus on?

- a new property in the Everquest franchise. I'm a little dour after seeing how money-grabbing the cash shopification of Eq2 turned out to be. Not that I'm against Eq2, it's a great game but I am reluctant to try a new and different game that may feel like you have to swipe your credit card every time you kill a mob.

- a new property in the Planetside franchise. I thought this game (which I haven't played) was considered evidence that FPS games work better if not part of a MMO architecture. And the first one bombed. So they're making a second one. Even if all the ex-players come back surely there's simply not enough of them to make this a success? Unless they all come back, and all stay subbed and all bring in friends.

Bombed is a bit of a stretch. It was great up until they started tinkering with stuff and then the stupid expac caves. That was the start of it, and the Bending was the breaking point. Yeah, I am excited having been there but I am also a bit apprehensive about it. Ask BW...

[Merusk]

If they're smart it'll be F2P with purchasable items, skins, leader boards and other social stuff.  If they're not they'll try the whole Subscription FPS game thing again.

I'm betting on the latter.

[schild]

You work for Blizzard?

Blizzard is only responsible for one online game every decade or so and the only fallout is people try to compete with them. Poorly.

Everyone and their dog tries to compete with Zynga. Even companies that have nothing to do with gaming.

[Sheepherder]

You laugh now, but we all know who'll be shitting in a sock when Diablo III comes out.

[Paelos]

You laugh now, but we all know who'll be shitting in a sock when Diablo III comes out.

I wear sandals now.

[schild]

You laugh now, but we all know who'll be shitting in a sock when Diablo III comes out.

Well yea, but what has that got to do with the price of tea in China?

[Sheepherder]

You laugh now, but we all know who'll be shitting in a sock when Diablo III comes out.

Well yea, but what has that got to do with the price of tea in China?

Will rise sharply as thousands of Chinese find new employment at workstations operating 24/7.

[Margalis]

Zynga makes games?

[Bzalthek]

Apparently, yes.  My mother plays all those facebook games.  Actually she stopped playing Zynga games because all the popups drove her insane.  She called them 'too needy.'

[Lantyssa]

Zynga makes games?

What do games have to do with the future of online gaming?

[SnakeCharmer]

Zynga makes games?

From what I can tell, they made a game but just put a new coat of paint on it every now and then.   And copied Mob Wars.  Or Mafia Wars.  One of the two.

And autospam your friends in facebook.

[HaemishM]

I can't for the life of me understand why SOE decided to shitball everything else including the Agency in favor of Planetside Next. The franchise is not what you'd call a success.

[01101010]

I can't for the life of me understand why SOE decided to shitball everything else including the Agency in favor of Planetside Next. The franchise is not what you'd call a success.

I tend to agree; however, from a veteran standpoint, this game had the best involvement and history than any game I have played. Anyone who played PS from the onset had those "holy fuck yeah!" moments which they tend to center on, myself included... Perhaps SOE just fed off the fan mantra of "Planetside was ahead of its time" and took it a little too close to heart. I am all for the sequel considering my past affinity with PS, but I fully understand people being flabbergasted by the move.

[Numtini]

The whole Zynga thing is going back to the future. Back in the elder days when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there were two classes of game companies. Mainstream companies like Parker Brothers that made games for the masses. Then there were little specialty companies like TSR that made far more sophisticated games for a smaller more geeky group.

Zynga is not going to replace Blizzard as TSR, nor is it going to replace Trion as Chaosium. It's simply creating a mainstream Parker Brothers to their smaller geeky entries.

[slog]

I can't for the life of me understand why SOE decided to shitball everything else including the Agency in favor of Planetside Next. The franchise is not what you'd call a success.

Sometime projects take on a life of their own as they spiral down into the toilet bowl of disaster. 

[Amaron]

Everyone and their dog tries to compete with Zynga. Even companies that have nothing to do with gaming.

This comment had me snorting up some soda.   I have no doubt Zynga and their ilk will create a huge (beyond what it is already) industry.   That industry really has nothing to do with what we call online gaming though.

[Mrbloodworth]

Plantside was one of the best experiences in MMOs for many people. Those coming out of the woodwork when the sequel was announced reinforces this. It also has a built in audience, and is 100% SOE owned.

If they can capture the glory of the original, but with modern resources and work out some of the old games issues. It will be money hats.


The agency did not really test or play well, with any one.

[Nebu]

If they can capture the glory of the original, but with modern resources and work out some of the old games issues. It will be money hats.

Why do you think this?  It's essentially a large scale FPS and most FPS enthusiasts can play other, prettier titles to their heart's content without incurring a sub fee. 

[Mrbloodworth]

You assume it will have a sub fee.