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Age of Norwegian Business Practices
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Umm, you do know Norway has some of the most employee protecting laws on earth? Guaranteed holiday (with extra tax credit!) working hours that are ultra strict. Most Norwegians leave their offices like clockwork at 4 on the dot, overtime is rare (although I guess places like Funcom have some for sure, all software houses have crunch), social and health care is excellent, and employees are very well protected against poor business practises. I would take an educated guess that Funcom have far, far superior working conditions to any EA or SOE studio.
Umm, you do know Norway has some of the most employee protecting laws on earth? Guaranteed holiday (with extra tax credit!) working hours that are ultra strict. Most Norwegians leave their offices like clockwork at 4 on the dot, overtime is rare (although I guess places like Funcom have some for sure, all software houses have crunch), social and health care is excellent, and employees are very well protected against poor business practises. I would take an educated guess that Funcom have far, far superior working conditions to any EA or SOE studio.
Did you even read the article? Use google translator if you don't speak Norwegian.
Doesn't sound very good working conditions to me. Funcom ex-employees sure make it sound like a sweat shop. Are you saying they are all lying?
Of course not. They only lie when they make claims you disagree with.
"nerf rock, paper is working as intended."
- Scissors.
Head Chop
Hehe
Playing: Battlefield - Bad company (Xbox360) Arma2, DFO (PC)
On my radar: TSW, MO
MMO's played: SWG (pre cu/cu), WoW, AoC, WAR, DFO, Planetside
MMO's that I have tested: Lotro, L2, Aion, Ryzom
QFT
If I worked for an evil currupt company I would leave and find a new job, but if I lived some place and worked in an industry that it was not possible I would probably be doing the same thing. Hell the only reason Americans don't lie about Funcom is because Funcom laid off most of them.
As an American I feel sorry for Funcom employees, because we don't have sweat shops in America, that is an unethical business practice here, so we exportthem to asia, but in Norway it seems to be the norm: www.dagbladet.no/2008/12/11/kultur/funcom/spill/conan/arbeidsmiljo/4003653/
So this is the norm in Norway based on an article you read online?
If you did read the article which I hope you did since you refer to it here. there has been an improvement in Funcom. It's confirmed in the article from both the guys they have interviewed. The article does raise some warning signs about Funcom tho, and what it says is pretty much exactly the truth too. But the time period they are talking about goes back some years and the article itself is 8 months old...
Playing: Battlefield - Bad company (Xbox360) Arma2, DFO (PC)
On my radar: TSW, MO
MMO's played: SWG (pre cu/cu), WoW, AoC, WAR, DFO, Planetside
MMO's that I have tested: Lotro, L2, Aion, Ryzom
Thing is, some threads are threads where we can have a serious discussion. This thread is not, OP comes up with some crazy idea that show's he either is trying to provoke people into taking what he says serious or he simply just doesn't know any better. His ideas on how Norwegian businiess culture is is enough to make any guy with half a brain to laugh out loud. There is nothing to discuss with OP as his assumption is nothing but a poor attempt to troll these forums some more. I won't waste a second on discussing with him when he is that clueless about Norway and how things are here. There is no point in discussing with him as what he writes is a heap of made up bullshit that gives us a good laughter, but nothing more.
You are very naive.
Lets try something...if I say "GOLDFARMER."
Was there a certain region of the world that came to mind? What comes to mind? Because chances are the people reading this gave the same answer. How did they come to this impression? Most likely the same way you did...by their Online experiences.
Do you see how certain impressions can be forged even in online games?
I can tell you that different cultures do business differently. The way they do business in the UK is completely different than they do business in Japan. Now if FC is a reflection of the way business is done in Norway....
well I'll pass
If you don't believe that FC's business practices hasn't made a negetive impression...that's fine...but as someone who isn't from Norway i can tell you it has with the people who know the whole story of AoC.
ok, so norwegians do business like that
now what?
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
They are different topics. One explores why fanboi's so desperately defend such a flawed game. This one explores the business culture of Norway based on FC's practices, and the poor impressions it leaves.
This topic is beyond you..please go back to one of your shallow "AoC Has Good Art" threads....the grown ups are trying to have a conversation here.
Again..im not sure you read the posts or anything really before you start your trolling.
It's a losing battle trying to have a serious conversation here. Too many fanboi trolls talking about fish or how this thread "delivers".
What other forums are there besides official and this one?
so why do you keep coming back if you have lost the battle?
I have a better question.
Why did you remove your full name from your profile?
Did you remove it to prevent people from Googling it and realizing who you work for?
Am I getting close Aceundor? Or should I say.. Sven?
hehe, this really proves that you have a loooong history in trolling these forums under different alts. That story was back before christmas, october I think. Check my posting history and you will find me suggesting that EE should be fired. Cant really do that if I am employed by them.
Now, since you are so persistent in trolling AoC (more than half a year), who do YOU work for? Somebody must be paying you for your commitment.
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
Thing is, some threads are threads where we can have a serious discussion. This thread is not, OP comes up with some crazy idea that show's he either is trying to provoke people into taking what he says serious or he simply just doesn't know any better. His ideas on how Norwegian businiess culture is is enough to make any guy with half a brain to laugh out loud. There is nothing to discuss with OP as his assumption is nothing but a poor attempt to troll these forums some more. I won't waste a second on discussing with him when he is that clueless about Norway and how things are here. There is no point in discussing with him as what he writes is a heap of made up bullshit that gives us a good laughter, but nothing more.
You are very naive.
Lets try something...if I say "GOLDFARMER."
Was there a certain region of the world that came to mind? What comes to mind? Because chances are the people reading this gave the same answer. How did they come to this impression? Most likely the same way you did...by their Online experiences.
Do you see how certain impressions can be forged even in online games?
I can tell you that different cultures do business differently. The way they do business in the UK is completely different than they do business in Japan. Now if FC is a reflection of the way business is done in Norway....
well I'll pass
If you don't believe that FC's business practices hasn't made a negetive impression...that's fine...but as someone who isn't from Norway i can tell you it has with the people who know the whole story of AoC.
As I said in the post you quoted. There is no point to discuss this theory you have as it is so far fetched and full of moronic thoughts about how businiess works that it is more hilarious then anything else. I will gladly discuss this tho, if you actually sit down and learn how businiess in Norway is done. But then again if you did this you wouldn't be bothering to have a discussion as you would see what I mean by your post being hilarious.
Impressions can be formed in Online games, but if the average MMO player base their opinion on a specific country due to how people act/how a company does businiess then they will have a harsh wake up call when they have to start living for real. You said yourself you knew close to nothing about how Norwegian businiess culture was, and if you think you do now, let me tell you this, your still clueless.
Ask any MMO players what he think of if you mention Gold farmers and he will say China most likely, there is aperfectly natural reason for that. Oh and I'm well aware that different countries have different culture when doing businiess. I work with purchasing/logistics so I do businiess with countriess across the world. Either it is to ship parts to them or buy parts from them so you didn't really enlighten me much there.
You don't have to be outside of Norway to know the entire story about AoC, I know that story perfectly well. I played since launch and I followed the hype and the game a bit before it launched. The hype was interesting to see, for my point I kinda expected a half finished game when they kept hyping the game like there was no tomorrow. It couldn't be that good, simply because Gaute was the GD, and his record of launching MMO's haven't really been a huge success. I saw the stock prices rize and rize and it was obvious that the hype of the game was kept up due to this rize. If they stopped the hype, the stocks would have fallen like a bomb. Pretty much what happened after launch. Funcom did some shady and unethical marketing stuff with AoC. Just like most other MMO developers have done. Look at Adventurine and Darkfall. EA have had their share of pushing out shit games but hyping them so they would sell. And EA did get punished by the players badly as it did result in EA going out in public apologizing to the players worldwide for pushing out low quality games. SOE have their share of bad marketing and screwing over the players.
Playing: Battlefield - Bad company (Xbox360) Arma2, DFO (PC)
On my radar: TSW, MO
MMO's played: SWG (pre cu/cu), WoW, AoC, WAR, DFO, Planetside
MMO's that I have tested: Lotro, L2, Aion, Ryzom
QFT
If I worked for an evil currupt company I would leave and find a new job, but if I lived some place and worked in an industry that it was not possible I would probably be doing the same thing. Hell the only reason Americans don't lie about Funcom is because Funcom laid off most of them.
As an American I feel sorry for Funcom employees, because we don't have sweat shops in America, that is an unethical business practice here, so we exportthem to asia, but in Norway it seems to be the norm: www.dagbladet.no/2008/12/11/kultur/funcom/spill/conan/arbeidsmiljo/4003653/
I think you need to wake up almost every company is evil or corrupt in some way
Ya but that article was written during the boom of Funcom when they had 1 mil box sales before they lost 34 million dollars for making Age of Conan after everyone left.... www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanhyborianadventures/news.html EDIT: after losing that much money you can bet they are a sweatshop again. However, since not much has changed since release per the failures of the free trials maybe they are hibernating over there, who knows. www.xfire.com/games/aoc/Age_of_Conan_Hyborian_Adventures/ back in the 40s just like before the trials, such fail.
I don't speak Norwegian but my friend sells Yatchs to that country exclusively and the oil days are almost over the health care and socialism are bankrupting that country. But Hey Obama will probably do the same here.
Funcom has reviewed all of its assets relevant for
impairment testing. This process has led to
recognition of an impairment loss of around
3,1 MUSD for Age of Conan due to a decrease in
numbers of subscribers for the game. Funcom Q4 10 report.
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showpost.php?p=2926123&postcount=7 500 mains/alts on Tyranny in past 30 days - instead of merge servers let's open a new PvP server, again! http://forums-eu.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=106427
I have a better question.
Why did you remove your full name from your profile?
Did you remove it to prevent people from Googling it and realizing who you work for?
Am I getting close Aceundor? Or should I say.. Sven?
hehe, this really proves that you have a loooong history in trolling these forums under different alts. That story was back before christmas, october I think. Check my posting history and you will find me suggesting that EE should be fired. Cant really do that if I am employed by them.
Now, since you are so persistent in trolling AoC (more than half a year), who do YOU work for? Somebody must be paying you for your commitment.
You didn't answer my question. Why did you remove your full name from your profile?
I was reading these forums back then, yes. And I remember this one thread about viral marketing. Your name came up and it stick into my mind. I knew all Funcom employees have an account here (it's kind of a part of their job) but I was surprised that someone would use their real name in creating one. I was even more surprised when I used Google and saw the proof myself. Of course the thread was quickly deleted and you removed your full name from your profile.
You need to be more careful next time, Sven.
As for this thread.. I agree with OP. Different cultures have different work environments and work ethics. I've worked in 3 different countries and it was always a very unique experience.
I've always thought that Norwegian people are cool and honest people. This is why I was very surprised to see what Funcom did, and is still doing. They have surely changed gamers perception on Norwegian business practices which is a shame.
Hmm! Im Norwegian, and i have been working for the last 12 years , and i dont reconice what u are saying! Now the its a bit ower the hill saying that busniss is done like that in one company is the same inn all other norwegian companyes? I mean when u start by hacking on Funcom and going over to talk bad obout the rest of the norwegian companies it only tell me that you are person who only base your "facts" on on what u read in your glossymagasine! And to another point that someone wrote that the country is almost over the hill beacause of the crysis, you are wrong there, we are doing just fine! So please check your facts and ceep on toppic! And too you Gauteisback you are realy a moron if u belive ewery thing you find on google, we only got your word on it!?!
"A man may fight for many things: His country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock and a stack of French porn" - EDMUND BLACKADDER
Thing is, some threads are threads where we can have a serious discussion. This thread is not, OP comes up with some crazy idea that show's he either is trying to provoke people into taking what he says serious or he simply just doesn't know any better. His ideas on how Norwegian businiess culture is is enough to make any guy with half a brain to laugh out loud. There is nothing to discuss with OP as his assumption is nothing but a poor attempt to troll these forums some more. I won't waste a second on discussing with him when he is that clueless about Norway and how things are here. There is no point in discussing with him as what he writes is a heap of made up bullshit that gives us a good laughter, but nothing more.
You are very naive.
Lets try something...if I say "GOLDFARMER."
Was there a certain region of the world that came to mind? What comes to mind? Because chances are the people reading this gave the same answer. How did they come to this impression? Most likely the same way you did...by their Online experiences.
Do you see how certain impressions can be forged even in online games?
I can tell you that different cultures do business differently. The way they do business in the UK is completely different than they do business in Japan. Now if FC is a reflection of the way business is done in Norway....
well I'll pass
If you don't believe that FC's business practices hasn't made a negetive impression...that's fine...but as someone who isn't from Norway i can tell you it has with the people who know the whole story of AoC.
And your proof is????? ! Do you realy think that Funcom mirrors the rest of the norwegian companies? And the case on the working conditions, is old! ARE YOU NOT BY ANY CHANCE AN EX EMPLOYI IN FUNCOM?
"A man may fight for many things: His country, his principles, his friends, the glistening tear on the cheek of a golden child. But personally, I'd mud-wrestle my own mother for a ton of cash, an amusing clock and a stack of French porn" - EDMUND BLACKADDER
Haha this thread keeps delivering good laughs I see.
Playing: Battlefield - Bad company (Xbox360) Arma2, DFO (PC)
On my radar: TSW, MO
MMO's played: SWG (pre cu/cu), WoW, AoC, WAR, DFO, Planetside
MMO's that I have tested: Lotro, L2, Aion, Ryzom
so all we see here are the same people raging over a piece of software, but what EFFORT are these ppl making to change the current situation? yes, nothing. take some action!
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
Bernie Madoff fleaced billions from investers. Glad we know about American business practices.
I have a better question.
Why did you remove your full name from your profile?
Did you remove it to prevent people from Googling it and realizing who you work for?
Am I getting close Aceundor? Or should I say.. Sven?
hehe, this really proves that you have a loooong history in trolling these forums under different alts. That story was back before christmas, october I think. Check my posting history and you will find me suggesting that EE should be fired. Cant really do that if I am employed by them.
Now, since you are so persistent in trolling AoC (more than half a year), who do YOU work for? Somebody must be paying you for your commitment.
You didn't answer my question. Why did you remove your full name from your profile?
I was reading these forums back then, yes. And I remember this one thread about viral marketing. Your name came up and it stick into my mind. I knew all Funcom employees have an account here (it's kind of a part of their job) but I was surprised that someone would use their real name in creating one. I was even more surprised when I used Google and saw the proof myself. Of course the thread was quickly deleted and you removed your full name from your profile.
You need to be more careful next time, Sven.
As for this thread.. I agree with OP. Different cultures have different work environments and work ethics. I've worked in 3 different countries and it was always a very unique experience.
I've always thought that Norwegian people are cool and honest people. This is why I was very surprised to see what Funcom did, and is still doing. They have surely changed gamers perception on Norwegian business practices which is a shame.
come one. You cant remember anything and you surely are not able to read my posting history. So for the record
1) My name is not Sven. Not even close
2) I have never worked for Funcom or received any form for payment from them or any affilated company.
3) It is true that I put my full name on the profile and it is true that it was googeld. I removed it because It was a noob mistake and I dont like to have my full name on a forums such as this.
4) When my name came up it was found in connection with a book regarding computer games. I wrote an article there. This book also had an article about AoC. I was NOT the author of that article, mine was about a different game.
5) I have denied working for Fucom before, but as mentioned you are not here to pursue the truth, but rather your distorted oppinion.
Edit/addition: Fucom did not pay the authour of the article written in that book.
Also, you didnt answer my question either. Who pays you for your persistence.
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
come one. You cant remember anything and you surely are not able to read my posting history. So for the record
1) My name is not Sven. Not even close
2) I have never worked for Funcom or received any form for payment from them or any affilated company.
3) It is true that I put my full name on the profile and it is true that it was googeld. I removed it because It was a noob mistake and I dont like to have my full name on a forums such as this.
4) When my name came up it was found in connection with a book regarding computer games. I wrote an article there. This book also had an article about AoC. I was NOT the author of that article, mine was about a different game.
5) I have denied working for Fucom before, but as mentioned you are not here to pursue the truth, but rather your distorted oppinion.
Edit/addition: Fucom did not pay the authour of the article written in that book.
Also, you didnt answer my question either. Who pays you for your persistence.
So let me get this straight..
- you are Norwegian
- you work in computer gaming industry
- your name was mentioned in an article regarding Funcom
- you have posted almost 200 posts saying how great Funcom is
BUT...
- you are not affiliated with Funcom in any way?
Yep. I'm convinced.
If that book is so innocent, why not tell its name or give a link to it? That would surely clear your name, right?
I might believe you when you say you are not Sven. It has been such a long time since I saw your full name that my memory is a little hazy. But if you are not Sven then you must be Olaf, correct? I'm 99% sure it's one of those names.
Hell Yeah you got him now, 200 posts in 3 years proves it+++ hes norwegian too?!?!
come one. You cant remember anything and you surely are not able to read my posting history. So for the record
1) My name is not Sven. Not even close
2) I have never worked for Funcom or received any form for payment from them or any affilated company.
3) It is true that I put my full name on the profile and it is true that it was googeld. I removed it because It was a noob mistake and I dont like to have my full name on a forums such as this.
4) When my name came up it was found in connection with a book regarding computer games. I wrote an article there. This book also had an article about AoC. I was NOT the author of that article, mine was about a different game.
5) I have denied working for Fucom before, but as mentioned you are not here to pursue the truth, but rather your distorted oppinion.
Edit/addition: Fucom did not pay the authour of the article written in that book.
Also, you didnt answer my question either. Who pays you for your persistence.
So let me get this straight..
- you are Norwegian
- you work in computer gaming industry
- your name was mentioned in an article regarding Funcom
- you have posted almost 200 posts saying how great Funcom is
BUT...
- you are not affiliated with Funcom in any way?
Yep. I'm convinced.
If that book is so innocent, why not tell its name or give a link to it? That would surely clear your name, right?
I might believe you when you say you are not Sven. It has been such a long time since I saw your full name that my memory is a little hazy. But if you are not Sven then you must be Olaf, correct? I'm 99% sure it's one of those names.
still not answering my question. Doesnt matter, wont get a straight answer.
Originally posted by BishopB:
Are a lot of the trolls just angry kids with old gaming hardware?
Im abit late adding comments to this - but gonna skip the flamewars.
Is Funcom representing every Norwegian company? No
But it is Norwegian company and considering that AOC was released with what alot of custimors would call false advertisement - it might actually effect the reputation of other Norwegian companies. I hope not tho. I still feel cheated when hearing the name Funcom and I - like probably millions of players will never trust any product that they make ever again - not to mention that most know now that Funcom is totally unable to release quality content (including free content) at same rate as the big companies in the buisness. Still they want more more money than all the others....
Here is the thing...
Im from Iceland. Iceland has produced one of the most successfull MMO games ever - with a small company starting from scratch and maintaining - updating and progressing a long term gaming enjoyment for hundred of thousands of ppl. Im talking about EVE- Online ofc. And you know what.... They have managed to make their game as sub based ONLY - meaning that you dont pay extra for the expansions. And the company is thriving. They offer more for less. And they deliver quality.
Compare that to Funcom and their method of delivering less for more - with ???? quality....
Nothing is perfect - but the attitude goes a long way.... Funcom has proven again and again - with past - current and even future releases - that custimors and quality of service is worth shit to them. Thats nothing new - and it will not change. Its that simple. It has nothing to do where they are from - it has to do with who are in charge.