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If I Were Rich Enough Could I Return SWG To Pre-NGE?
MARTYB2K
Member Posts: 167
Does anyone know, if someone had alot of money to invest, could you have joint ownership of the rights to SWG from Lucasarts/Sony? That way Sony could continue to develop they're game, and another version of the game could continue from before the NGE left off? I know it would proberly mean paying through the nose for the game off Sony, but do you think with the current situation of the game, enough cash could tempt them to sell up?
I believe the Pre-NGE could still be a very profitable business, and after the huge intital outlays, could still make a profit in the long run?
Comments
IANAL, this is just my opinion.
The fact that it could be itself probably means your chances are slim. Licensing, from what I've seen, is a black art, but lisence holders have an army of people with letters after their names that help them decide what their rights are worth, and unless you were wealthy enough to pay them more than they thought the license would make them for the rest of time, they'd likely turn you down flat even if they only intended to sit on the license and had no current plans to use it.
LA just wants money, give them enought money and they will give you SWG pre-nge. Sure
If you had the code you'd have to re-skin it as something other than Star Wars because you'd never get the licensing. Not sure how much that would effect people's interest in the game, some people will play anything just because it says Star Wars, but what made galaxies so special was its mechanics.
My theory: If you were rich enough to buy all rights, code, equipment, whatnot to return preCU SWG, you wouldn't want to.
So many better things to do with that kind of money.
I believe a Pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies could still get over 250,000 subscribers today.
BTW im not personally saying i have that sort of money, but maybe all the old vets could each put in $50 or something and get a proper games company to run it for them?
If I had 20 million burning a hole in my pocket I would propose to LEC to set up a pre-cu SWG production for at least 4 years. Should be enough time to get people through to another MMO like it in the future.
Anything, and I do mean anything in this world is possible with enough money. The problem is that you don't have the 20 or so mil we are talking about....so why are we talking about it?
Likely that SoE owns all the MMORPG rights for who knows how long. And probably renewable at their option.
So, you would have to buy out SoE first (good luck with that).
Then, you would have to convince LA to go with yet another 2nd/3rd party arangement for SW MMORPG development and distribution.
Good luck with that, too.
Then, someone would have to come up with the millions for development of an already failed game.
Good luck with that one.
So, short answer would be : NO.
During 2005 SOE and Lucasarts signed a 3 year extension to there initial deal which i believe was 5 years, it can be renegotiated but tbh is Sony gonna stump up the many many millions for a exclusive IP in the MMO space for a product that isnt even turnin 30k subs.
So by that reasoning SOE's exclusive use of the IP in MMO ends 2008 that is why i strongly believe the lucasarts/bioware game is KOTOR online there is nothing to stop its development now it just acant be officially announced until the SOE deal is up.
I think the questioner was hypothesising if he had enough money would LA work with him to resurrect Pre-CU SWG? So your issue was actually covered in his first post.
If he promised the greedheads at LEC enough sugar, they'd gladly give him the rights.
And the headaches associated with it, which is constant back seat driving.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
I don't think PreNCUNGE could be profitable at this point, unless you could secure it very cheaply (read: free). The proof is in that SOE hasn't restored preCUNGE. Given the hypothesis that SOE/LA only care about the money, if preCUNGE could be profitable, wouldn't they have gone for that by now? It would cost SOE less to turn a profit on preCUNGE than you because they have already made the initial investment. It doesn't matter how fat your hypothetical bank account is.
If you want to run a nonprofit, different scenario. But you were talking profit and that opportunity has passed.
Very original ! Never get tired of that one.
If i had enough cash i could purchase microsoft, Sure it's unlikely, but maybe everyone in the world could throw in $20 and we may have enough.
if i hit the lottery i would buy the code and pay icarus technologies to run it. those guys kick ass.
Youd probably be better off looking for investers in a game similar to Pre-CU without the LA licensing.
Since theres already been a precedent set for at least a quarter of a million subscribers and currently no competition in the "sandbox mmo" field it wouldnt be too hard to get funding if you have a good development team.
The only real question is.. how many people would play pre-cu if it wasnt a Star Wars game but was polished and balanced?
I know I would.. but would you?
Hotel management software Suske? L M A O-
"From my perspective the Jedi are evil. From my perspective SOE is evil."
Personally I feel what a Star Wars MMO needs is sonic intensity that can be brought forth with an engine that can support combat that transpires on light speed, capitol ships engaged in combat side by side, Pod races, Massive cities that match the lore, and a universe that feels like Star Wars. the current engine just blows. The art of SWG is a mixture of beauty and failure. The elements of SWG that should be kept for a new game should be player houses, player cities, and social interaction. But a new game with a new vision should take the good elements of SWG and do their own thing but better. So why purchase a very outdated game that should be closed down for a brighter and better future away from the creative hands of SOE?
You are going to need a business plan and with no industry credentials I doubt it would be backed by Jim Ward. But with the right partners anything can happen. I love this type of thread. But SWG Pre CU is sadly gone. Eve Online my friend is slowly going to become the SWG we all loved in its own way with avatars next year. I do miss the 32 professions but I also quit SWG and SOE for good. So sure why the heck not! Go for it.
www.icarusstudios.com/
The idiots at SOE probably tossed out all the pre-cu pre-nge server files.
Why? No one knows. Why no one at SOE stole them and sell them on black market?
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If you take away all the "starwarsy" elements (rename the worlds, eliminate some of the obvious Star Wars critters and NPCs (dewbacks, Nightsisters, Tusken Raiders, rancors, etc) take out the Jedi profession (no real loss!) you could have a pretty decent game with the 33 profs (none of which are iconic the way Jedi are...bounty hunters exist IRL after all) and the basic combat system (with working specials) and reskin the races to be non-Starwars. SPI did a game back in the 70's that was basically Star Wars Rebellion on paper with all sorts of very cool modifications (a race called the Kains, which looked like big dogs, had an event called the Kain mutiny) that had a starwarsy feel without a Star Wars skin.
I think as long as you take out Jedi, and who would miss them really, you could have a decent SF sandbox game. Sure, you'd have the D&D conventions such as melee in a totally dominated by ranged universe, but you can come up with ways to justify that (BioWare did it with KOTOR) but I think it could be pulled off.
SWG had two things going for it, at least for me, at launch: the IP of course, but I found that the game itself was incredibly addictive and immersive. SWG had the much sought after "just one more turn" sort of feel that Sid Meier's strategy games (Civ, Alpha Centauri, Railroad Tycoon, and Pirates) have, but of course without the turns. I lost track of time playing it. The NGE took care of the last part by dumbing it down and conciously destroying the immersion.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
If you take away all the "starwarsy" elements (rename the worlds, eliminate some of the obvious Star Wars critters and NPCs (dewbacks, Nightsisters, Tusken Raiders, rancors, etc) take out the Jedi profession (no real loss!) you could have a pretty decent game with the 33 profs (none of which are iconic the way Jedi are...bounty hunters exist IRL after all) and the basic combat system (with working specials) and reskin the races to be non-Starwars. SPI did a game back in the 70's that was basically Star Wars Rebellion on paper with all sorts of very cool modifications (a race called the Kains, which looked like big dogs, had an event called the Kain mutiny) that had a starwarsy feel without a Star Wars skin.
I think as long as you take out Jedi, and who would miss them really, you could have a decent SF sandbox game. Sure, you'd have the D&D conventions such as melee in a totally dominated by ranged universe, but you can come up with ways to justify that (BioWare did it with KOTOR) but I think it could be pulled off.
SWG had two things going for it, at least for me, at launch: the IP of course, but I found that the game itself was incredibly addictive and immersive. SWG had the much sought after "just one more turn" sort of feel that Sid Meier's strategy games (Civ, Alpha Centauri, Railroad Tycoon, and Pirates) have, but of course without the turns. I lost track of time playing it. The NGE took care of the last part by dumbing it down and conciously destroying the immersion.
Thos eof us who spent two years grinding them would miss their Jedi, mate.
If you take away all the "starwarsy" elements (rename the worlds, eliminate some of the obvious Star Wars critters and NPCs (dewbacks, Nightsisters, Tusken Raiders, rancors, etc) take out the Jedi profession (no real loss!) you could have a pretty decent game with the 33 profs (none of which are iconic the way Jedi are...bounty hunters exist IRL after all) and the basic combat system (with working specials) and reskin the races to be non-Starwars. SPI did a game back in the 70's that was basically Star Wars Rebellion on paper with all sorts of very cool modifications (a race called the Kains, which looked like big dogs, had an event called the Kain mutiny) that had a starwarsy feel without a Star Wars skin.
I think as long as you take out Jedi, and who would miss them really, you could have a decent SF sandbox game. Sure, you'd have the D&D conventions such as melee in a totally dominated by ranged universe, but you can come up with ways to justify that (BioWare did it with KOTOR) but I think it could be pulled off.
SWG had two things going for it, at least for me, at launch: the IP of course, but I found that the game itself was incredibly addictive and immersive. SWG had the much sought after "just one more turn" sort of feel that Sid Meier's strategy games (Civ, Alpha Centauri, Railroad Tycoon, and Pirates) have, but of course without the turns. I lost track of time playing it. The NGE took care of the last part by dumbing it down and conciously destroying the immersion.
Thos eof us who spent two years grinding them would miss their Jedi, mate.
right?
and what's dominated by ranged? teras kasi whooped the hell out of everything pretty damn good.
i will admit i loved my riflemen/pistoleer/bh build xD
but when i got force sensitive and re-skilled to jedi that was just like... the awesomest thing ever!
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However, I would give up Jedi in a heatbeat if it meant going back to pre-CU. Hell, give me 250 credits, a melon, and a cdef pistol and I'll start all over again - gladly.