Originally posted by SpottyGekko

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

10:1 they are dangerously close to being bought out by EA. Probably going to depend a lot on how TSW does.

I wouldn't worry too much about EA. Right now, I'd imagine that "MMO" is pretty much considered a four-letter word around the EA boardroom, lol

But over in the direction of the sunrise, there are some very big fish (with very big wallets) who'd love to get a piece of the western gaming market.

 

 Mmm...good point. Yep, sure there are a few watching and waiting.

Originally posted by SpottyGekko

Originally posted by Chopsticks

Originally posted by SpottyGekko

Taking a closer look at that Funcom financial statement is quite worrisome... 0.o

It pretty much looks like the end of the road for them if TSW doesn't generate substantial profits. Their quarterly loss increased again, and the 22M USD "facility" was clearly needed to keep the wheels turning. They ARE betting the farm on TSW, it seems.

If they don't substantially shrink that quarterly loss, they will bleed to death in 6 months' time. The more they use that 22M overdraft facility, the bigger the montly interest bill will get.

 

With 250 people involved in the TSW development, a large chunk of their expenses can be attributed to TSW. So the pressure to cut that wage bill will be huge post launch. 

The life of an independent. They aint sold out yet. Still gamers making games for gamers. Despite the struggle you have to respect the path.

 

If TSW is a hit, they still have the chance of being the Blizzard, the NCsoft, the EA. The chance. Nothing like a few hundred million per year to get the ball rolling. 

I salute your enthusiasm, but I'd be more than happy if Funcom could simply retain their independant status. There are some really big sharks in the pond, and they're all hungry.

 

Hopefully TSW will put the figures back in the black, else we'll never know what "Project A - large scale MMO currently in concept phase" actually entails... :D

Rumor is it's something Ragnar has been sketching for years ;)  Like 10+ years.

When I say "have the chance to be the Blizzard, NCsoft, EA," I'm saying the still have the chance of being the gobbler instead of the gobblie ;) I hope the stay the course as well. David and Goliath.

Originally posted by skeaser

At this point, I applaud any company that's willing to say "we're not ready yet".

I mean even Blizz has started shipping unfinished games.

I agree.  The tin foil hat wearers will always find a conspiracy about these things and they are easily dismissed.

2 weeks of additional polish and iteration.  Good move and hope it helps.

Originally posted by waynejr2

Originally posted by skeaser

At this point, I applaud any company that's willing to say "we're not ready yet".

I mean even Blizz has started shipping unfinished games.

I agree.  The tin foil hat wearers will always find a conspiracy about these things and they are easily dismissed.

Hmmm...

People constructing "conspiracy theories" about  a game company that is making a game about "conspiracy theories" ?

That has a strange sort of symmetry, lol

Originally posted by Zylaxx

2 weeks of additional polish and iteration.  Good move and hope it helps.

It's not for polish. It's for some financial stuff. There's a thread about it.

Originally posted by Caldrin

Originally posted by dontadow

Originally posted by Caldrin

Origina

But they don't get back up in the spot you downded them they appear back again out of thin air.  See how the graphics don't correspond to the methos, this is a problem thrhoughout the game.  Even still, it makes no sense.  I can chop a body up and burn it to ashes and u're telling me it reappears looking like an intact zombie.  

This is a MMORPG, you cant just kill all the mobs and leave the zone empty for everyone else dont be stupid..

Its just like every other MMORPG out there.. what you think its ok for that goblin spawn to keep coming back just because they are goblins?

 

If you want a game where you kill stuff and they dont come back i suggest not playing MMORPGs..

 

Thanks

We're talking about immersion, like i said this game shoe horned horror elements in traditonal mmotropes. 

There are creative design ways they could have done this to brand their mythos. Lazy programming and lackluster design just said (lets do it like wow) and so they did.  They could have went outside the box, and they didnt.  By the numbers MMO with puzzles. 

But no MMO does this.. every MMO has mob spawns.. even jesus 2 does..

But not every game is gonig for the "immersive" experience.   There is nothing about the "atmosphere" of this game that you can't find in the darkest areas of most MMOs.  

If you are going to tote immersion, u got to come up with more than what they did in wow, rift, wow-clone games.  I'm not the one bringing this function up.  But you can't spit a mythos about the monsters unkillable and showing them killed.

There are many story reason for explaining reoccuring mobs.  Ecology, new bosses elected, rift opening in the sky.  But to explain, or attempt to explain it, and then not even show it,

I named one of the classic horror experiences I"ve had, there are many, many more examples.  Why not borrow or try to implement those in an MMO game. Instead, they take wow, chuck out the fantasy, i'mport in pispoor modern graphics and a couple of riddles and want to mascarade it as "horror" (which is how they presented it in every PR article). 

Originally posted by Zylaxx

2 weeks of additional polish and iteration.  Good move and hope it helps.

This game needs at least an additional 6 months. 

Originally posted by dontadow

Originally posted by Zylaxx

2 weeks of additional polish and iteration.  Good move and hope it helps.

This game needs at least an additional 6 months. 

This.  Two weeks is not enough time. 

Originally posted by QSatu

If it's b/c of marketing then I guess the game needs it. The hype around this game is quite small and people saying that Funcom wants TSW to be a niche game are strange. no company wants their game to be a small niche. They all strive to success.

 

"The company's target subscriber rate is approximately half a million subscribers. They hope to have 35% of the game's revenue come from the cash shop"

I can only say good luck o_O

An MMO will greatly succeed if it targets a niche playerbase. Like the old days. If it tries to amass 6 million players, it's doomed to fail. Look at EvE. They aren't broadening their scope any time soon and they are 9 years strong. 

Originally posted by PK4TW

I don't see any miracles happening in 10 days o_0

Well, a God can make a world in 7 days. ;) In 6 actually, he had a hangover at the 7th, if I recall right. Twas some time ago.

can 2 weeks make that big a difference? The game needs more time to get ready...

Originally posted by Tokken

can 2 weeks make that big a difference? The game needs more time to get ready...

Two weeks can make some difference. Even if 1% of the game gets fixed, it's still considered a lot to developers.

THE SECRET WORLD TO LAUNCH JULY 3RD, BETA WEEKEND ROADMAP REVEALED

http://www.thesecretworld.com/news/the_secret_world_to_launch_july_3rd_beta_weekend_roadmap_revealed

Originally posted by Wickedjelly

Originally posted by SpottyGekko

Taking a closer look at that Funcom financial statement is quite worrisome... 0.o

It pretty much looks like the end of the road for them if TSW doesn't generate substantial profits. Their quarterly loss increased again, and the 22M USD "facility" was clearly needed to keep the wheels turning. They ARE betting the farm on TSW, it seems.

If they don't substantially shrink that quarterly loss, they will bleed to death in 6 months' time. The more they use that 22M overdraft facility, the bigger the montly interest bill will get.

 

With 250 people involved in the TSW development, a large chunk of their expenses can be attributed to TSW. So the pressure to cut that wage bill will be huge post launch. 

 10:1 they are dangerously close to being bought out by EA. Probably going to depend a lot on how TSW does.

No, if anything EA is in a position to be bought out by a larger firm.   AO and AoC are at the end of their life cycle.  How much return on investment can TSW and fashion week net?  Even after the stock crashes post launch it isn't a sound innvestment.

Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow.

6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

Originally posted by tares

Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow.

6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

Lol. The way some of you Americans talk about stuff, I'd think that almost all of Europe are socialist and communist in your eyes, the arrogance of it is kinda funny

Sorry, but AO was considered a pretty interesting game especially coming from such a fairly small company, and no matter how you try to twist the truth into something that fits you, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are still regarded among the best adventure games made.

I think that 6 to 12 million in sales btw is far less commonplace than you might think, especially when you widen your gaze to more than only the top 10 games that are being sold, and especially if it isn't multiplatform like many of those huge sellers are.

---

Originally posted by cutthecrap

---

Originally posted by tares Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow. 6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

---

Lol. The way some of you Americans talk about stuff, I'd think that almost all of Europe are socialist and communist in your eyes, the arrogance of it is kinda funny Sorry, but AO was considered a pretty interesting game especially coming from such a fairly small company, and no matter how you try to twist the truth into something that fits you, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are still regarded among the best adventure games made. I think that 6 to 12 million in sales btw is far less commonplace than you might think, especially when you widen your gaze to more than only the top 10 games that are being sold, and especially if it isn't multiplatform like many of those huge sellers are.

---

Most of the rest of your post seems ok...but get a clue about the world. "We" are the same as you.

Originally posted by cutthecrap

Originally posted by tares

Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow.

6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

Lol. The way some of you Americans talk about stuff, I'd think that almost all of Europe are socialist and communist in your eyes, the arrogance of it is kinda funny

Sorry, but AO was considered a pretty interesting game especially coming from such a fairly small company, and no matter how you try to twist the truth into something that fits you, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are still regarded among the best adventure games made.

I think that 6 to 12 million in sales btw is far less commonplace than you might think, especially when you widen your gaze to more than only the top 10 games that are being sold, and especially if it isn't multiplatform like many of those huge sellers are.

What is this? http://www.destructoid.com/funcom-receives-financial-backing-for-dreamfall-sequel-30150.phtml. so at least apologize and own up to your ignorance about how Norway operates. 

WoW came out two years after AO and everquest, Star wars, and doac were better at everything and came before or around.

Never played dreamfall.

Originally posted by Kinchyle

Your post is exactly what "we Americans" expect from the rest of the world. Conjecture and utter mindless BS.

 Most of the rest of your post seems ok...but get a clue about the world. "We" are the same as you.

Eh, that's why I said 'some Americans'. This isn't actually the place to discuss it, but ok, just very shortly then: I'd been following the whole political discussions of stuff like the healthcare plan, and it just amazed me how many Americans - at least in the media and discussion sites - were all too quick to call measures 'communist' that have been common practice in Europe for decennia, while European nations have been democracies for ages as well. The comment of the poster I quoted reminded me of that again, how easily some Americans judged European structures to be some Soviet Union equivalent. Nothing more to it than that.

Originally posted by tares

Originally posted by cutthecrap

Originally posted by tares

Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow.

6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

Lol. The way some of you Americans talk about stuff, I'd think that almost all of Europe are socialist and communist in your eyes, the arrogance of it is kinda funny

Sorry, but AO was considered a pretty interesting game especially coming from such a fairly small company, and no matter how you try to twist the truth into something that fits you, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are still regarded among the best adventure games made.

I think that 6 to 12 million in sales btw is far less commonplace than you might think, especially when you widen your gaze to more than only the top 10 games that are being sold, and especially if it isn't multiplatform like many of those huge sellers are.

What is this? http://www.destructoid.com/funcom-receives-financial-backing-for-dreamfall-sequel-30150.phtml. so at least apologize and own up to your ignorance about how Norway operates. 

WoW came out two years after AO and everquest, Star wars, and doac were better at everything and came before or around.

Never played dreamfall.

Apologize? For what? That's funny, bc you're the one saying that FC doesn't have any motivation to make a great game bc of the socialist nature of its government. I mean, seriously, if you really want to talk ignorance, I'm baffled that you don't see at all the prejudice in that.

As for the money, eh, wasn't 38 Studios a very recent example of financial backing of the state for its game development?

As for Dreamfall and The Longest Journey, they were great adventure games. Despite that some people might think that European countries are apparently so socialist that no company has to have any motivation to get things done

Originally posted by cutthecrap

Originally posted by Kinchyle

Your post is exactly what "we Americans" expect from the rest of the world. Conjecture and utter mindless BS.

 Most of the rest of your post seems ok...but get a clue about the world. "We" are the same as you.

Eh, that's why I said 'some Americans'. This isn't actually the place to discuss it, but ok, just very shortly then: I'd been following the whole political discussions of stuff like the healthcare plan, and it just amazed me how many Americans - at least in the media and discussion sites - were all too quick to call measures 'communist' that have been common practice in Europe for decennia, while European nations have been democracies for ages as well. The comment of the poster I quoted reminded me of that again, how easily some Americans judged European structures to be some Soviet Union equivalent. Nothing more to it than that.

 

Originally posted by tares

Originally posted by cutthecrap

Originally posted by tares

Funcom has Norway backing them.  I know it is wealthy and socialist after passing through so Funcom has little motivation to make some great game, as we have both seen twice before, so they don't know how to compete with blizard/activision or NSoft who made much better games than peers when they were starting out and success allowed them to grow.

6 to 12 million in sales of a non MMO game is commonplace now days, even at a 10% revenue margin that is 72 million in revenue.  I would think revenue for developer would be 20-30 then publisher 20-30 then the rest is retailer.  Those games cost 60+ million to make just like TSW.

Lol. The way some of you Americans talk about stuff, I'd think that almost all of Europe are socialist and communist in your eyes, the arrogance of it is kinda funny

Sorry, but AO was considered a pretty interesting game especially coming from such a fairly small company, and no matter how you try to twist the truth into something that fits you, The Longest Journey and Dreamfall are still regarded among the best adventure games made.

I think that 6 to 12 million in sales btw is far less commonplace than you might think, especially when you widen your gaze to more than only the top 10 games that are being sold, and especially if it isn't multiplatform like many of those huge sellers are.

What is this? http://www.destructoid.com/funcom-receives-financial-backing-for-dreamfall-sequel-30150.phtml. so at least apologize and own up to your ignorance about how Norway operates. 

WoW came out two years after AO and everquest, Star wars, and doac were better at everything and came before or around.

Never played dreamfall.

Apologize? For what? That's funny, bc you're the one saying that FC doesn't have any motivation to make a great game bc of the socialist nature of its government. I mean, seriously, if you really want to talk ignorance, I'm baffled that you don't see at all the prejudice in that.

As for the money, eh, wasn't 38 Studios a very recent example of financial backing of the state for its game development?

As for Dreamfall and The Longest Journey, they were great adventure games. Despite that some people might think that European countries are apparently so socialist that no company has to have any motivation to get things done

RI, the smallest state gave them a loan, 38 studios bounced a check  then paid them back after the CFO, CEO, and CFO resigned.  Grant differs from a loan in you need not pay anything back.  What put them out of business was the inability to pay.  If you read my link, it is about a partnership and grants to Funcom.  TBH just heed the advice of your name.

Dreamfall nets a 75/100 on metacritic, it came out during a lull in game releases and I never heard about it so it can't be that amazing.  If it was amazing and profitable then Funcom would switch to single player RPG's and we wouldn't be having this discussion here.  Since I prefer single player RPGs, I would sing great praise if they made great RPGs as bioware and square enix are faltering.