Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

 

You know this

The costs for moving office is normally huge, lots of stuff they need to sort out and make sure works as intended . Funcom have started the process, but it won't be done fast. And even tho it might take time it might be the key thing for funcom to make ,more money and be able to produce better games. Producing quality games and money goes hand in hand. Look at blizzard as a prime example. One of few companies that can tell their fanbase that Diablo 3 will be delayed by 6 months and the fans will cheer saying this would improve the game. If another company does that you would get majority of the fans yell at them for being slow with making the game. Blizzard have made quality games for years and  they have the fund to back up the production. And as ong as Blizzard continues to make quality games people will not mind waiting a 6 months extra or maybe a year for a game. Because they know the game will only become better. If funcom can reduce their costs over the coming years by moving their operation to Canada that means they can spend more money on games, and at the moment they need to ensure that they can do this. as For funcom to survive in the business they need to release some good titles in the future to get back up where they once was. AoC and AO have both hurt Funcom's reputation and only way they can restore that is to make sure the games they release from now is in a good shape.
 

About the staff I would be surprised if not a lot of the ones who got the offer to follow to Canada does so, Norway is way too small for a game developer to find good jobs in. we have a few small studios here and there I guess, but only one major studio. And that is Funcom. So for them to find a new job within game developing that means they will have to be willing to move, or find a company that allows them from work from home in Norway. If there had beens everal large studios in Norway most likely they would have stayed. These developers can probably get a job as coder for software in other companies, but most likely they won't be making games. Also from what I have heard a lot of Funcom's employee's are younger people that have the chance to move around, they don't have a family , kids that go in school etc and for the ones that are in this situation this is simply a golden opportunity to geta  fot inside the game developers in Canada, you have studios like ubisoft in the same area where funcom is going to move. So they can be able to get jobs in other companies easier then they can from Norway.

Several places has listed the benefits for a studio to move to Canada, and financial benefits are quite good. But yes Funcom need to do something to maximize their income if they had a good income now they would most likely never have thought of moving at all. So the move from Norway to Canada is not only to save money but to make sure they will be able to survive in the future too. Because you have to be blind to think Funcom is in a awesome financial position now, they aren't they do make money, but looking at the numbers it is nothing compared to what they need to make to be able to grow and release more games.  

I don't disagree with anything you said here

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by Blackwell99

Originally posted by Crashloop

 

So I'm sure blackwell can agree that this means they are dying. ;)

 

But all of this doesn't mean as you seem to think that funcom is getting closer to bankrupt, it can simply mean they look at this as a mean to increase their income. and thus make it easier for themselves to finance further projects.

 

 

 

This would suggest that they would have moved to Canada even if they were making money hand-over-fist. This is not the case. As a Canadian myself--I love the fact companies are moving here. But do you have any idea of the costs associated with this kind of move? The red-ribbon involved? The logistics? Just changing from one office to another office down the street is a royal pain. It will be a huge disruption and one FC probably doesn't need to go through right now.

It's not something you just do to become efficient. Canada is way too far from Norway for it to be that kind of move. Never mind the employees who are invited to tag along...they will have huge personal expenses to deal with. I'd be surprised if 5% of the staff will want that type of change or expense.

If this was...say Blizzard we were talking about--I'd buy what you are saying. But i follow FC's business closely, this is not a move to just maximize revenue. There may be other benefits that they will get from the move...but knowing what we ALL know about FC / AoC's situation...it's more of a salvaging operation...then a fine-tuning.

 

You know this

The costs for moving office is normally huge, lots of stuff they need to sort out and make sure works as intended . Funcom have started the process, but it won't be done fast. And even tho it might take time it might be the key thing for funcom to make ,more money and be able to produce better games. Producing quality games and money goes hand in hand. Look at blizzard as a prime example. One of few companies that can tell their fanbase that Diablo 3 will be delayed by 6 months and the fans will cheer saying this would improve the game. If another company does that you would get majority of the fans yell at them for being slow with making the game. Blizzard have made quality games for years and  they have the fund to back up the production. And as ong as Blizzard continues to make quality games people will not mind waiting a 6 months extra or maybe a year for a game. Because they know the game will only become better. If funcom can reduce their costs over the coming years by moving their operation to Canada that means they can spend more money on games, and at the moment they need to ensure that they can do this. as For funcom to survive in the business they need to release some good titles in the future to get back up where they once was. AoC and AO have both hurt Funcom's reputation and only way they can restore that is to make sure the games they release from now is in a good shape.
 

About the staff I would be surprised if not a lot of the ones who got the offer to follow to Canada does so, Norway is way too small for a game developer to find good jobs in. we have a few small studios here and there I guess, but only one major studio. And that is Funcom. So for them to find a new job within game developing that means they will have to be willing to move, or find a company that allows them from work from home in Norway. If there had beens everal large studios in Norway most likely they would have stayed. These developers can probably get a job as coder for software in other companies, but most likely they won't be making games. Also from what I have heard a lot of Funcom's employee's are younger people that have the chance to move around, they don't have a family , kids that go in school etc and for the ones that are in this situation this is simply a golden opportunity to geta  fot inside the game developers in Canada, you have studios like ubisoft in the same area where funcom is going to move. So they can be able to get jobs in other companies easier then they can from Norway.

Several places has listed the benefits for a studio to move to Canada, and financial benefits are quite good. But yes Funcom need to do something to maximize their income if they had a good income now they would most likely never have thought of moving at all. So the move from Norway to Canada is not only to save money but to make sure they will be able to survive in the future too. Because you have to be blind to think Funcom is in a awesome financial position now, they aren't they do make money, but looking at the numbers it is nothing compared to what they need to make to be able to grow and release more games.  

 

I don't disagree with anything you said here

And I don't disagree with anything you said here! 

"The Company's development of the Age of Conan expansion pack and its preparations for launch in Korea will continue as planned, as will the preparations for the limited beta of its first free- to-play MMO scheduled to take place during Q4. The development of The Secret World will be some months extended due to the initiatives with even more focus on ensuring the delivery of a game that is fully in line with the high expectations amongst fans and gamers across the world"

Sorry for those who lost their jobs.

looks like effects to Conan are minimal.

Originally posted by AmazingAvery

looks like effects to Conan are minimal.

Problem is, given AoC's history and current state, minimal effects are not a good thing.

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.

Originally posted by finaticd

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.

The fun part about you is that you have proven in other posts you are absolutely clueless about the game. So the red text I found to be extremely funny.

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by finaticd

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.

The fun part about you is that you have proven in other posts you are absolutely clueless about the game. So the red text I found to be extremely funny.

That is pure libel.

I have been dead on since I began posting, if anything the persons saying how great AoC is have been disproven time and time again.

"I just started playing AoC 5 minutes ago so I wrote a wall of text about how great it is"  or "AoC is growing" Those types of posts along with many other types have been disproven when players left en mass this month (AoC is affected by school but Aion is not, so Aion is a more mature game, i don't get it) and when free trials and win backs did not resubscribe.

If AoC was good it would not be borderline dead it would not have lost 33 million and the company would have fixed the game enough over a 1 year pepriod to win back some of the free trials and win backs and begin growing. So I am more right than you when it comes to Age of Conan and always have been.

caps for emphasis.

WHAT YOU QUOTED IN RED IS 100 PERCENT CORRECT, IMPLYING THAT IT IS FALSE LOSES ALL CREDIBILITY WITH ME, FROM NOW ON YOU ARE BLOCKED.  I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR INFERIOR GAME WITH A VERY LOW AND DECLINING POPULATION AND BAD GAME MECHANICS.

p.s. I don't get the motive to defend this game, even the players know every area needs improvement and most should have been addressed before release. All AoC has is Conan lore all other aspects have been done much better in other games. Heck, Aion has a decision combat system where you have to weave auto attacks and you get boosts for the direction you are moving....blows AoC away, which is the only innovation AoC had.

Originally posted by finaticd

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by finaticd

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.

The fun part about you is that you have proven in other posts you are absolutely clueless about the game. So the red text I found to be extremely funny.

 

That is pure libel.

I have been dead on since I began posting, if anything the persons saying how great AoC is have been disproven time and time again.

I call that bullshit, the fun part about you was the firsts posts I saw from you were dead on. Yseemed to know things no one else did and when the financial report came, you were spot on. But after a while your attempts on trolling AoC became more and more desperate. You started to make claims that wans't really true, if people asked for something you would mention one thing of it and not the whole part. I'm sorry but your facts the last months have been nothing but assumptions and lies. Some times you are correct but often you are either lying or trying to spread false information. You have maybe been dead on, but that is in your own little happyland place where your words are the law. ;)

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3093707#3093707 is a thread where I busted you so badly when it came to be clueless about the game.

"I just started playing AoC 5 minutes ago so I wrote a wall of text about how great it is"  or "AoC is growing" Those types of posts along with many other types have been disproven when players left en mass this month (AoC is affected by school but Aion is not, so Aion is a more mature game, i don't get it) and when free trials and win backs did not resubscribe.

If AoC was good it would not be borderline dead it would not have lost 33 million and the company would have fixed the game enough over a 1 year pepriod to win back some of the free trials and win backs and begin growing. So I am more right than you when it comes to Age of Conan and always have been.

A lot of posters have said how AoC is growing, that is the fun part about both fanbois and trolls, they will use the current situation the game is in and claim that it's proof of either this or that. Funcom isn't in a awesome financial position. This year they have a positive turnover so far, but they need to increase that by a lot. They will not be able to survive for years after years if they cannot start making more money. But it is not a sign they will go bankrupt anytime soon either. As long as they earn enough money to keep the production alivethey will be around.

AoC from launch and up to today is 2 different games, AoC today is a polished version of what the launch should have been. There is still bugs here and there, just like you find in any MMO, but the makority of the gamebreaking bugs is gone. The one thing they really needs to sort out now is the lag in sieges and making sieges playable. Sieges from what I have heard and understand is still the joke of the century with loads of lag. If they have fixed this lately that would be nice, but I haven't heard or seen anyone claiming that.  Funcom lost 34 million that is correct, but I have never denied this and this isn't a proof that you have been right. It's just a prrof that you try desperatly to stick to whatever "proof" you can to look less of a joke then you already do. :)

caps for emphasis.

WHAT YOU QUOTED IN RED IS 100 PERCENT CORRECT, IMPLYING THAT IT IS FALSE LOSES ALL CREDIBILITY WITH ME, FROM NOW ON YOU ARE BLOCKED.  I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR INFERIOR GAME WITH A VERY LOW AND DECLINING POPULATION AND BAD GAME MECHANICS.

Oh noes I'm blocked by a guy that totally fail at discussions. End of the world surely :)

p.s. I don't get the motive to defend this game, even the players know every area needs improvement and most should have been addressed before release. All AoC has is Conan lore all other aspects have been done much better in other games. Heck, Aion has a decision combat system where you have to weave auto attacks and you get boosts for the direction you are moving....blows AoC away, which is the only innovation AoC had.

The fun part here is the times I defend the game you will find me debate the arguments made by people that are either lying or not correct. Aion isn't a special combat system at all, sure it works and it wasn't too bad, yet AoC is a combat system I prefer due to several factors, but it's pointless to discuss these with you since you would never agree at all. your obsessed with hating AoC and I find that funny. :) Aoc needs improvements on several fields, but it is also a good game imo. The funny part is that I don't really even play the game much anymore. I have been on a brake since june and have played a few hours lately, but I won't start it upagain anytime soon. The game is good, but when you have done all that you can do and there isn't much more to do other then grind pvp xp to level 5 I rather play other games for a while. AoC have entertained me for a long time, and now these forums provide even more entertainment. The only downside is you and a few other posters who simply never reply to posts if they are proven wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

Originally posted by emptyhand

Originally posted by Crashloop

Originally posted by finaticd

This wont be the last downsizing....after the expansion I imagine somewhere in the range of 90-95% of AoC's staff gone....so nothing to look foward to after but patches and the odd new instance.

The issue is AoC does nothing better than any other MMO and a lot of things are much worse than other MMOs....if the game did well it would be expanding staff.

It is sad but this reduction of force will let Funcom live a bit longer.

The fun part about you is that you have proven in other posts you are absolutely clueless about the game. So the red text I found to be extremely funny.

 

I don't see what is so extremely funny about that comment. Sure it's a subjective opinion but it's an opinion shared my most players. AoC is a niche game designed for players who like graphics above all else. And layoffs are always a bad thing.

There definitely are some great aspects to AoC.  The actual combat mechanics and diversity of classes are some of the best in any MMO.

I can't really think of anohter mmo that combines the need to move while healing and anything like directional melee.  STO is coming out with directional shielding, but that's all I got.  Too bad so many other aspects just fell short at launch.  The game is much better now, but as MMOs go, it's hard to recover.

Originally posted by Aercus

If you read the *whole* article, you will find at the bottom:

"Funcom plans to hire 100 to 150 people in Canada over the next 18 months."
 

20% of 300 is 60 people laid off, which means 240 employees after. Then adding 100-150 people, the amount of employees goes up to 340-390, which is higher than the original 300. I know this is pretty difficult arithmetics...

Also to expand on this, the 60 employees who were made redundant (laid off for the Americans), could it be that this is what they preferred, instead of moving to a new country they would rather look for another job?  I know I have a workmate looking for exactly this scenario because if he is made redundant then his mortgage is covered.

Originally posted by Skellan

Originally posted by Aercus

If you read the *whole* article, you will find at the bottom:

"Funcom plans to hire 100 to 150 people in Canada over the next 18 months."
 

20% of 300 is 60 people laid off, which means 240 employees after. Then adding 100-150 people, the amount of employees goes up to 340-390, which is higher than the original 300. I know this is pretty difficult arithmetics...

Also to expand on this, the 60 employees who were made redundant (laid off for the Americans), could it be that this is what they preferred, instead of moving to a new country they would rather look for another job?  I know I have a workmate looking for exactly this scenario because if he is made redundant then his mortgage is covered.

And for the non-Americans, "plans to hire" is a promise, and we all know how much a Funcom promise is worth.

Don't bet the ranch.

Originally posted by Anerelle

More stealth layoffs....Funcom is down to less than 250 employees...which means they fired more than 70 people.

I really am starting to dislike the deception and blatant underreporting of important info. 

How many of those 250 are left working on Age of Conan?