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Bets when VG will close down
Elikal
Member UncommonPosts: 7,912
So, I am taking bets for when VG will close the doors now. (Only for the fun, not for coin though .^^)
My bet is: SOE will announce the shut-down within 2007, prolly Nov or Dec 2007; maybe it goes on without further support on one server, but de facto its closed and no longer continued. Once PotBS goes life, they can say the station pass value stays the same, one goes and new comes.
EDIT: Before you flame me as hateboI: this doesnt mean I really wish it to be closed or think it should be, its only my educated guesswork.
Any other prophecies, guesses or analytic predictions?
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Comments
What a waste of bandwidth.
It will still be open in 2010.
It might not have many players or many servers. But I doubt it will close soon.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
Yeah I think it has a longer lifespan than you think. It doesn't take 1 million subs to make a game profitable. So I wouldn't be suprised if this game is around for years to come.
I don't think Vanguard will be profitable (at least not in the near future), but it will gain back more money by staying open then by closing. Saving money is the motus operandi.
You close when you don't have enough players to justify maintaining 1 server, and this, isn't going to happen soon...and even when it happen, in the far future, 1 more game in the list is also something to consider...
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
If I drove a Uhaul to New Mexico, I wonder if they would let me have all their stuff
What?
Wish Darkfall would release.
Shut down? Probably not for a long time. I'd sooner wager Vanguard becomes free to play with in-game advertising, real money trade and all of that. Like, special rare boats with Coca-Cola printed sails, the addition of a Cooking crafting tree with Pizza Hut sponsored work orders.
In all seriousness, SOE has already announced that as a company, they plan to hastily transition out of subscription dependency for their revenue. Beyond Vanguard, I expect Station Access to disappear completely, or be transitioned to something like Archlord's "free to play", where a real money trading scheme is transplanted in place of traditional subscriptions.
Who knows though? As someone mentioned above, Vanguard loses a bit of it's importance once Pirates is out, which can be used to justify the hike in Station Access pricing. We'll see if Vanguard survives the huge wave of MMO releases coming late 2007/early 2008, and if it's free trial campaign musters any momentum.
I hope today along with 90% of the other crap mmorpgs.
Shortly after PoTBS launches to keep the value of the Station Pass.
If a game like Shadowbane, or even worse, Horizons, can putter along with a few thousand or less subs, so can Vanguard.
4 months after Warhammer releases.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
I doubt they can keep the supposedly 50 strong devteam going with so little players.
It won't take long, that's for sure. To much work to be done with too little cash.
Well if these offers to players who own another SoE game and did purchase VG are true (i personally think there bogus) then i would say VG doesnt have that long a lifespan. Perhaps only a few months.
Offers i have been hearing are 2-3 months free play on old accounts for EQ1/2, SWG. To try and keep those customers happy and pull them to an existing game (of course after those 2-3 free play months you would again have to pay a subscription), but i havent had/seen any such news for me and i had EQ2 and VG under the same account.
No news = i think these reports are bogus.
Multi Level Marketing, that's the ticket. Its sad that people have to take pleasure from someone's or somethings demise, the game had potential. My concern still lies on the employees who worked very hard to make this game possible, to me they are the mark of success. They made the effort to work and make the game possible while their leader left them to fend for themselves, then the leader returns and has someone else force march them off the plank.
The Old Timers Guild
Laid back, not so serious, no drama.
All about the fun!
www.oldtimersguild.com
An opinion should be the result of thought, not a substitute for it. - Jef Mallett
I guess that's why SOE is fixing thousands of bugs? Yeah they did a bang up job. Don't get me wrong, you could never say enough bad about Brad. But that team of l33t dude wanna be game designers did horrible too. I hope they are delivering pizzas now.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Elikal, don't get cocky.
Just when you know you are right, that is when you start being wrong.
When the losses from the game effects the bottom line.
Which if the restructuring rumors of $OE are correct, that might be before the next fiscal year.
Shayde - SWG (dead)
Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled
I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
If that is what you are really saying, I'm willing to take both those bets.....
If you mean next as in....they have one more year starting in October, I withdraw my bet, I am not claire voyant enough to predict the future that far.
It will be around for awhile longer but only because of soe's Station Pass. Its like life support for all of soe's crappy games (VG, swg, mxo).
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Well, heheh the Matirix online is hasnt been closed. I am not sure, but has SOE ever closed a game?
If that is what you are really saying, I'm willing to take both those bets.....
If you mean next as in....they have one more year starting in October, I withdraw my bet, I am not claire voyant enough to predict the future that far.
The "restructuring" is supposed to go along with the announcement that they were partnering with NC Soft. For the life of me I couldn't figure out WHY they'd partner with one of their chief rivals who are whipping their asses. One insider told me he heard it was to restructure themselves as less developer and more publisher, even with their own titles. This was also supposed to herald staff reductions and supposingly at least 3 game closures or sell-offs.
Now if only Smed gets the axe.
Because you see... the REAL underlying message with what is in yellow is that nobody took notice of, is that NOWHERE is $OE mentioned AT ALL. It's all SCEI, their game division. $OE was supposed to be the PS3's exclusive player and custodian of the pS3's online market.
How the hell do I quote on this stupid window... here's the release...
NCsoft Signs Exclusive Game Development Deal with Sony Computer Entertainment
World's leading publisher of online computer games to create products
for PlayStation(r) platforms
Santa Monica, Calif., July 11, 2007 - NCsoft(r) Corporation
(KSE:036570.KS), the world's leading developer and publisher of online
games today announced an exclusive game development deal with Sony
Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) that provides for NCsoft to create
several online games for SCEI's PlayStation(r) platforms, including
PLAYSTATION(r)3 (PS3(tm)) and PSP(r) (PlayStation(r)Portable),
accessible through PLAYSTATION(r)Network. The announcement was made
today at the E3 Media and Business Summit taking place in Santa Monica,
California.
Although company officials did not divulge any details regarding the
names or types of games in development, NCsoft officials did say the
games would be created from both existing intellectual properties (IP)
owned by NCsoft, as well as new IP.
"This is a great step forward for online gaming," said Geoff Heath, CEO
of NCsoft Europe. "We are delighted to be working with Sony Computer
Entertainment. PS3, with its advanced Cell Broadband Engine(tm) and
standard hard disc drive on every unit, has already demonstrated it is a
truly versatile online platform that gives NCsoft the potential to
create massively multiplayer environments. Together with the
Internet-enabled PSP, we're confident that SCEI and NCsoft can develop
unique and compelling online experiences that will be found on no other
platform."
NCsoft is known for its highly successful online game products such as
the Guild Wars(r) and City of Heroes(r) brands and its flagship product
Lineage(r), which has a customer reach of more than 70 million
worldwide.
"NCsoft has established itself as one of the preeminent developers in
the online space," said Riley Russell, vice president of third party and
developer support, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Their track
record of creating successful online games is exactly what we are
looking for as we grow the PLAYSTATION Network, delivering new, rich
experiences on both PS3 and PSP. SCEI's hardware leadership matched
with NCsoft's extensive online experience are the hallmarks of what is
sure to be a fruitful relationship for both companies, ultimately
benefiting our core audience -- the gamer."
Shayde - SWG (dead)
Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled
I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
I doubt that Vanguard will close down, However I am not to happy with some of the up coming changes to the game that SOE is developing for it. Taking away EE, making all items bind on equip and bind on pick up is really going to hurt the game and take away from what was the original vision for the game.
When SOE took over they stated that they were not going to make major changes to the vision of the game but as I see it and a lot of other players they are changing the game to be more WoWish. If we wanted to play WoW we would go out and buy it.
Old age and treachery always overcomes youth and speed
Or you could quit VG and get EQ2 for free. It's close enough.
Shayde - SWG (dead)
Proud member of the Cabal.
It sounds great, so great in fact, I pitty those who canceled
I don't like it when you say things. - A Vanguard fan who does too.
09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0
It depends on the company which is responsible now for the game....
Just look at ww2online, the game had a similar start but the company and devs didnt sell it and they still put their whole energy in the project with much love and hope. It is still one of the oldest mmorpgs, but changes dramatically every year with content and whatever with the result that these guys are still in business, even if it is not a game for the masses. Quick business with high profit thoughts destry lots of projects.