At the end of the day, who do you have more confidence in? EA as a publisher of Funcom publishing their own games?
Both have their downsides but let's face it, EA are no worse than Funcom when it comes to the publishing and all it entails ie customer support than Funcom are.
The publishing deal provides them with more money for development.
I could be wrong in this but iirc Funcom didn't publish AoC, it was published by Eidos and pressure from Eidos' side is one of the reasons of the rushed and buggy launch with not all the features implemented that they intended (or maybe it's the main reason, since money shortage and pressure from the publisher go maybe hand in hand).
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Steam is rubbish, and so will be Origin. I want to play a game without installing third party software that scans my computer, runs in background, EXCLUSIVELY sets forth in EULA, that I no longer own the game I buy, but instead I get a limited access to the game via steam or that can block my access anytime they see fit - also set forth in EULA, which applies to single player games as well. I'm sure most of you did not even read that.
You are missing out on so many good indie games in the $5 -$20 range like Terraria, Braid, Defense Grid, Greed Corp, Plants vs Zombies, World of Goo etc. These games have renewed my interest in pc gaming after too many years of being jaded by bad console ports and expensive and half finished sequels.
As for TSW, after AoC i'm not going near it till i see the response a month or more after release. Fool me once.
At the end of the day, who do you have more confidence in? EA as a publisher of Funcom publishing their own games?
Both have their downsides but let's face it, EA are no worse than Funcom when it comes to the publishing and all it entails ie customer support than Funcom are.
The publishing deal provides them with more money for development.
I could be wrong in this but iirc Funcom didn't publish AoC, it was published by Eidos and pressure from Eidos' side is one of the reasons of the rushed and buggy launch with not all the features implemented that they intended (or maybe it's the main reason, since money shortage and pressure from the publisher go maybe hand in hand).
Eidos were supposed to but Funcom ended up holding the hat. Launch wasn't rushed by any means, it wasn't ready but it was more a case of they couldn't delay any longer than the delay after delay it went through, the engine was never going to be ready for a launch day. That game had the longest beta i've ever been in.
Oddly, it's still one of my favourite games today despite the faults.
There is only a handfull of BIG publishers. Pro Tip.. They are all Evil scumsucking cooporate types. This is not news. IMO anyone - ANYONE is better than Activision publishing it. If they were publishing it it would be monetized before it even hit release.
On the flip side if it's a bomb (which I truly hope it isn't) I would be willing to bet it will be on the Funcom side.
At the end of the day, who do you have more confidence in? EA as a publisher of Funcom publishing their own games?
Both have their downsides but let's face it, EA are no worse than Funcom when it comes to the publishing and all it entails ie customer support than Funcom are.
The publishing deal provides them with more money for development.
I could be wrong in this but iirc Funcom didn't publish AoC, it was published by Eidos and pressure from Eidos' side is one of the reasons of the rushed and buggy launch with not all the features implemented that they intended (or maybe it's the main reason, since money shortage and pressure from the publisher go maybe hand in hand).
Eidos were supposed to but Funcom ended up holding the hat. Launch wasn't rushed by any means, it wasn't ready but it was more a case of they couldn't delay any longer than the delay after delay it went through, the engine was never going to be ready for a launch day. That game had the longest beta i've ever been in.
Oddly, it's still one of my favourite games today despite the faults.
Yep, AoC wasn't the publisher's fault; when they made their public apology, Funcom stated one of the reasons they launched when they did was in order to beat WAR's launch date. TSW's devs have said they learned from AoC's mistakes, so I am taking a wait and see approach to it.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
In today's column devoted to The Secret World, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy takes a look at the partnership between EA and Funcom. Bill looks at both sides of the coin, both good and bad, and offers a few insights into his thought process. Check it out and let us know what you think!
EA likely means we’ll only be able to buy TSW (digitally at least) through the company’s new Origins digital distribution platform. Frankly, as a fan of Steam and not wanting to have a multitude of these services on my PC… come on, really?
Screw Steam; I don't blame EA (or any other publisher that wants to go that route) for wanting to cut out the middleman.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
EA totally destroyed Ultima Online btw. , it was cool when it was still run by Origin. and yes EA has loads of money, but not for game development. it sucks dry IPs and ruins studios, kills inovation and creativity (and yes i know people who worked for EA). their download manager wannabesteam crap is the best example of a good idea killed by their own stinginess.
EA is interested in one thing and one thing only: putting Securom on your PC and other crapware to make sure you only do what they allow you to do with the software YOU PAID FOR.
This is a sad news, as after being burned by AoC, I was cautiosly considering trying this out.
use D2D ,or gamersgate then. D2D workds great.. But EA getting involved pretty much means I'm not gonna get the 1 game I was looking forward to playing.. Guess I'll be doing other hobbies now
Unless I am badly wrong I thought EA entered into a partnership with Funcom for marketing and distribution. I haven't heard any info about funding for Funcom that involved investment control. Funcom needed a marketing and distribution network regardless of who it was and EA's world wide network provided that in spades. Still no hint (as best I can tell) that EA money and influence are affecting game development. On the surface it is simply a business deal for distributing and advertising Funcom's game, whenever it comes out. This kind of deal is not a basic inference of lack of resources for Funcom in development. Critics and investment houses have not, to my knowledge, been 'leaking' rumors of fund shortage at Funcom.
Myself, I am looking forward to TSW and intend to buy and play it along with SWtOR.
Unless I am badly wrong I thought EA entered into a partnership with Funcom for marketing and distribution. I haven't heard any info about funding for Funcom that involved investment control. Funcom needed a marketing and distribution network regardless of who it was and EA's world wide network provided that in spades. Still no hint (as best I can tell) that EA money and influence are affecting game development. On the surface it is simply a business deal for distributing and advertising Funcom's game, whenever it comes out. This kind of deal is not a basic inference of lack of resources for Funcom in development. Critics and investment houses have not, to my knowledge, been 'leaking' rumors of fund shortage at Funcom.
Myself, I am looking forward to TSW and intend to buy and play it along with SWtOR.
I somewhat also see this as a good thing. Face it, the biggest problem Funcom has had is pushing games out way too early. Most likely this is because they self published AO & AoC. Funcom simply does not have deep pockets to support both dev & publishing activities. The next Funcom game needs to be ready when it ships.
Besides, I still have not heard a good answer to why EA should give Valve 30% of the revenue when EA easily has the capability to build their own distribution service. Blizzard / Activision is already doing this as well.
Unless I am badly wrong I thought EA entered into a partnership with Funcom for marketing and distribution. I haven't heard any info about funding for Funcom that involved investment control. Funcom needed a marketing and distribution network regardless of who it was and EA's world wide network provided that in spades. Still no hint (as best I can tell) that EA money and influence are affecting game development. On the surface it is simply a business deal for distributing and advertising Funcom's game, whenever it comes out. This kind of deal is not a basic inference of lack of resources for Funcom in development. Critics and investment houses have not, to my knowledge, been 'leaking' rumors of fund shortage at Funcom.
Myself, I am looking forward to TSW and intend to buy and play it along with SWtOR.
I somewhat also see this as a good thing. Face it, the biggest problem Funcom has had is pushing games out way too early. Most likely this is because they self published AO & AoC. Funcom simply does not have deep pockets to support both dev & publishing activities. The next Funcom game needs to be ready when it ships.
Besides, I still have not heard a good answer to why EA should give Valve 30% of the revenue when EA easily has the capability to build their own distribution service. Blizzard / Activision is already doing this as well.
Eidos published AoC. Chew on that.
This a MMORPG we're talking about here anyway, it WILL be released way too soon, it will generate a lot of anger and it will take a while to fix what all that hype promised. However the hype created by FC is getting out of hand even in this website... I wouldn't blame EA for anything after all the sweet-talk I've seen here already.. Actually I'd like to see some actual gameplay footage in these highly hyped zones they've shown so far, that also includes showing how large their instances will be in-game.
"EA also tends to like to get things out the door, and since Funcom is not BioWare I worry that Ragnar and crew will be rushed to hit some arbitrary deadline."
That is my problem with big publishers. They want it out the door as soon as possible to start getting some kind of profit. However, most companies like EA forget one thing...A quality product = maximized profits.
Greed will only last so long. But, once everyone notices the true intentions, they start avoiding you like the plague. I see EA becoming the new plague.
I don't care if Funcom has to make a pact with the archduke of hell to get the necessary funding, they better release TSW in pristine, damn-near-bug-free condition, or they'll have players rioting in their streets (and probably crashing the zones).
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
EA is money grubbing to the point that they make decisions that push customers out the door. The more they push away the more money grubbing they get and the more they push away.
You see the trend.
One of the worst around.
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
For indies Steam is wonderful. It allows us to make money. For everyone else it may be useless but offer us a good alternative. You want to go to the store to always buy games for $60, even for indie games? Yeah, points taken, but to be on topic EA and Funcom = death of TSW.
It's mindblowing the amount of just outright misinformation that gets posted. Even a modicum of research (as in, actually reading the press release) might have prevented this. Thankfully I visit this site for the community updates and not for the articles.
Currently Watching: TSW. << Very Eager for a Beta invite. Have experience with Beta Testing. Not personally a big fan of raiding or current pve endgame mmo philosophy. Nothing wrong with it, I just sort of burnt out on it. Hardcore raider in wow from Launch to.. about 7 months ago. Currently Playing: Champions Online.
We know what happened when EA try go bring a good and bugless game on the market. Fail everywhere^^. I really dont know when the last game outside an open beta status released- maybe BF2142- but now i dont expect too much from this. If EA needs again money they will force Funcom to bring TSW incomplete on markt. EA maybe in the 90´s or first years 2002 a good company, but in the last few years they only bring mostly shit on the market. I hope that Funcom gets time to develope the game till it´s ready to launch but i expect the worst....
EA and Funcom have reputation issues, especially regarding game launches, correct?
So they must know about their own reputations. They must know what potential customers are saying about their partnership.
So let's hope these guys are as smart as they should be and that they're going to surprise us all with a flawless launch, and in so doing restore their battered reputations, and earn a well-deserved profit from a fantastic game.
It's the outcome I'm hoping for, anyway.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
EA and Funcom have reputation issues, especially regarding game launches, correct?
So they must know about their own reputations. They must know what potential customers are saying about their partnership.
So let's hope these guys are as smart as they should be and that they're going to surprise us all with a flawless launch, and in so doing restore their battered reputations, and earn a well-deserved profit from a fantastic game.
It's the outcome I'm hoping for, anyway.
I'll be the pessimist as usual.
Funscum and EA have terrible MMOs in general.
They both scrapped a major IP to try and get a few bucks from people.
They both handle support with bans
They both are in for the quick buck rather than building customer relations
They will not change because they partner together, in fact, they'll probably make it even worse.
Lack of smarts isn't the problem, men in suits who (most likely) don't even own a game make decisions and act as if it was software and not entertainment. That is their problem. How they work, as far as software goes, is OK. Software satisfies a need, entertainment is a distraction. If that distraction isn't fun, people run, they don't wait for the next update.
Comments
Note that EA recently got one of their ppl in a spot on Funcom's Board of Directors:
http://www.funcom.com/investors/mr._gerhard_florin_proposed_as_new_chairman_of_the_supervisory_board
~\_/~\_O
I could be wrong in this but iirc Funcom didn't publish AoC, it was published by Eidos and pressure from Eidos' side is one of the reasons of the rushed and buggy launch with not all the features implemented that they intended (or maybe it's the main reason, since money shortage and pressure from the publisher go maybe hand in hand).
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
You are missing out on so many good indie games in the $5 -$20 range like Terraria, Braid, Defense Grid, Greed Corp, Plants vs Zombies, World of Goo etc. These games have renewed my interest in pc gaming after too many years of being jaded by bad console ports and expensive and half finished sequels.
As for TSW, after AoC i'm not going near it till i see the response a month or more after release. Fool me once.
Eidos were supposed to but Funcom ended up holding the hat. Launch wasn't rushed by any means, it wasn't ready but it was more a case of they couldn't delay any longer than the delay after delay it went through, the engine was never going to be ready for a launch day. That game had the longest beta i've ever been in.
Oddly, it's still one of my favourite games today despite the faults.
WIth Funcom's launch record there is no possible way in the universe that EA can make TSW worse at launch than previous Funcom mmo's.
The only company that could succeed with such an infinitesimally small chance of making it worse is Sony.
I would risk my life on EA any day over anything Sony touches and I can't stand EA.
You stay sassy!
There is only a handfull of BIG publishers. Pro Tip.. They are all Evil scumsucking cooporate types. This is not news. IMO anyone - ANYONE is better than Activision publishing it. If they were publishing it it would be monetized before it even hit release.
On the flip side if it's a bomb (which I truly hope it isn't) I would be willing to bet it will be on the Funcom side.
Yep, AoC wasn't the publisher's fault; when they made their public apology, Funcom stated one of the reasons they launched when they did was in order to beat WAR's launch date. TSW's devs have said they learned from AoC's mistakes, so I am taking a wait and see approach to it.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Screw Steam; I don't blame EA (or any other publisher that wants to go that route) for wanting to cut out the middleman.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
EA totally destroyed Ultima Online btw. , it was cool when it was still run by Origin. and yes EA has loads of money, but not for game development. it sucks dry IPs and ruins studios, kills inovation and creativity (and yes i know people who worked for EA). their download manager wannabesteam crap is the best example of a good idea killed by their own stinginess.
EA is interested in one thing and one thing only: putting Securom on your PC and other crapware to make sure you only do what they allow you to do with the software YOU PAID FOR.
This is a sad news, as after being burned by AoC, I was cautiosly considering trying this out.
Not anymore.
use D2D ,or gamersgate then. D2D workds great.. But EA getting involved pretty much means I'm not gonna get the 1 game I was looking forward to playing.. Guess I'll be doing other hobbies now
Unless I am badly wrong I thought EA entered into a partnership with Funcom for marketing and distribution. I haven't heard any info about funding for Funcom that involved investment control. Funcom needed a marketing and distribution network regardless of who it was and EA's world wide network provided that in spades. Still no hint (as best I can tell) that EA money and influence are affecting game development. On the surface it is simply a business deal for distributing and advertising Funcom's game, whenever it comes out. This kind of deal is not a basic inference of lack of resources for Funcom in development. Critics and investment houses have not, to my knowledge, been 'leaking' rumors of fund shortage at Funcom.
Myself, I am looking forward to TSW and intend to buy and play it along with SWtOR.
I somewhat also see this as a good thing. Face it, the biggest problem Funcom has had is pushing games out way too early. Most likely this is because they self published AO & AoC. Funcom simply does not have deep pockets to support both dev & publishing activities. The next Funcom game needs to be ready when it ships.
Besides, I still have not heard a good answer to why EA should give Valve 30% of the revenue when EA easily has the capability to build their own distribution service. Blizzard / Activision is already doing this as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oPndPSo_HU
Sorry. I couldnt resist.
Eidos published AoC. Chew on that.
This a MMORPG we're talking about here anyway, it WILL be released way too soon, it will generate a lot of anger and it will take a while to fix what all that hype promised. However the hype created by FC is getting out of hand even in this website... I wouldn't blame EA for anything after all the sweet-talk I've seen here already.. Actually I'd like to see some actual gameplay footage in these highly hyped zones they've shown so far, that also includes showing how large their instances will be in-game.
This...
"EA also tends to like to get things out the door, and since Funcom is not BioWare I worry that Ragnar and crew will be rushed to hit some arbitrary deadline."
That is my problem with big publishers. They want it out the door as soon as possible to start getting some kind of profit. However, most companies like EA forget one thing...A quality product = maximized profits.
Greed will only last so long. But, once everyone notices the true intentions, they start avoiding you like the plague. I see EA becoming the new plague.
I don't care if Funcom has to make a pact with the archduke of hell to get the necessary funding, they better release TSW in pristine, damn-near-bug-free condition, or they'll have players rioting in their streets (and probably crashing the zones).
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
EA is money grubbing to the point that they make decisions that push customers out the door. The more they push away the more money grubbing they get and the more they push away.
You see the trend.
One of the worst around.
--John Ruskin
For indies Steam is wonderful. It allows us to make money. For everyone else it may be useless but offer us a good alternative. You want to go to the store to always buy games for $60, even for indie games? Yeah, points taken, but to be on topic EA and Funcom = death of TSW.
Do MMORPG staff bother to research anymore or just spout any crap that is in there heads ?
I thought the Arenanet E3 thing was funny but this is just terrible journalism.
It's mindblowing the amount of just outright misinformation that gets posted. Even a modicum of research (as in, actually reading the press release) might have prevented this. Thankfully I visit this site for the community updates and not for the articles.
Currently Watching: TSW. << Very Eager for a Beta invite. Have experience with Beta Testing.
Not personally a big fan of raiding or current pve endgame mmo philosophy. Nothing wrong with it, I just sort of burnt out on it.
Hardcore raider in wow from Launch to.. about 7 months ago.
Currently Playing: Champions Online.
We know what happened when EA try go bring a good and bugless game on the market. Fail everywhere^^. I really dont know when the last game outside an open beta status released- maybe BF2142- but now i dont expect too much from this. If EA needs again money they will force Funcom to bring TSW incomplete on markt. EA maybe in the 90´s or first years 2002 a good company, but in the last few years they only bring mostly shit on the market. I hope that Funcom gets time to develope the game till it´s ready to launch but i expect the worst....
I'll play the optimist for a change.
EA and Funcom have reputation issues, especially regarding game launches, correct?
So they must know about their own reputations. They must know what potential customers are saying about their partnership.
So let's hope these guys are as smart as they should be and that they're going to surprise us all with a flawless launch, and in so doing restore their battered reputations, and earn a well-deserved profit from a fantastic game.
It's the outcome I'm hoping for, anyway.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals.
~Albert Einstein
I'll be the pessimist as usual.
Funscum and EA have terrible MMOs in general.
They both scrapped a major IP to try and get a few bucks from people.
They both handle support with bans
They both are in for the quick buck rather than building customer relations
They will not change because they partner together, in fact, they'll probably make it even worse.
Lack of smarts isn't the problem, men in suits who (most likely) don't even own a game make decisions and act as if it was software and not entertainment. That is their problem. How they work, as far as software goes, is OK. Software satisfies a need, entertainment is a distraction. If that distraction isn't fun, people run, they don't wait for the next update.