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I honestly think Funcom is in trouble
Shohadaku
Member Posts: 581
Hear me out.
I've had experiences with buisness crashing and burning, and know the signs of trouble.
I got a mail from funcom with this detailed survey. The format is classic example of when a company hires a outside scource to revamp or rework a company in trouble. They have hired a company to assess the major problems.
Funcom really needs to get on the ball because every update I have seen has made things worse and more buggy. The customer service is even worse then SOE. Very unprofessional. Very sloppy programming.
Many people I talk to in AOC are not going to be resubscribing. The servers are not nearly as full as release.
I feel bad for the artist team because they did a great job with the art direction, but Funcom needs to hire some programmers to fix the mess of a code, and hire some real customer service.
I am not a hater. There is alot I like about AOC. There is just more that is making me not resub.
Comments
That was probably the plan since the beginning. Release an incomplete, buggy mess then make false promises to build up the subscription base, then once they had enough money, hire someone to fix it taking the loss of the first subscriptions knowing others will come in and buy it later on.
It's no secrecy they are now solely focussing in getting the game released for the XBOX360.
Enough said.
i AM a hater. and an elitist.
anyone with half a brain (including funcom) should distance themselves from this disaster as much as possible. treat it like AIDS. it will completely crash and burn just like flagship studios and for all the same reasons, i think it is a good thing. people are finally showing through $ what launching lies, hype, and bad code will get you. its kind of like a revolution, the people are not satisfied with the way things are, so they force change. people are finally NOT paying for things sinply because they are there, too many choices these days to expect a "if you build it they will come" mentality.
think about it, they po'd tons of people with the limited early access thing, the game itself fell short on pretty much all expectations EXCEPT being in-fact a game (cant count graphics as a success since they are only dx9), and they have rotten spin doctors instead of customer support reps. not to forget the nazi forum mods. it is a text book example of how to destroy any chance of success.
i understand that a few people out there really love this game, and thats fine. but if that was all it took for them to love i am sure they will find something else to be even more passionate about with relative ease (search nude patch, youll get there). i still cant believe so many people went over the cliff on this one, dreamfall SUCKED 2x! not that its anything like conan, but you had faith in that!?!?
they may as well just close up shop @ the end of the month, they got the $ for the game and the collectors editions (snicker), at this point they know they are not pulling in the numbers they need to from subs, server downgrades are next and with that will come tons of lag (no REAL lag, not the dropped frames 95% of people that visit this site THINK are lag) thus worstening the situation.
They first going to launch for the XBOX360. Trying to get as much $$$ from the suckers there too.
Then Funcom finds out that Console gamers HATE monthly fees (they already have to pay for XBOX Live! That's THE exception). So the moment those gamers (Who never read the back of the box) figure out why they cannot log into AoC after the 30 days run out and notice they have to pay $15 bucks, the gamebox ends up with the rest of their game collection on the shelves.
The only MMO on Console exception is FFXI, but almost all (if not all) paying Console players reside in Asia, so that's no suprise.
And then the idea of Funcom throwing the XBOX360 players on the same servers with the PC players. You can imagine what L337 infestation that will bring and making the remaining PVE subscribers with any lore and RP sentiment kill their subscription.
Then! After then it will be time for Funcom to pull the plug. Not before.
erm phantsasy star universe is also a console mmorpg (sorta) , but then again THAT game also sucks. the ps2 sub thing is different from the xbox one also. but yea i totally agree, gonna fleece that stupid flock before they pull the plug.
You realize that after about a week or more LOTRO also sent a survey to it's players.
Is that game in trouble also (of course it has been going for more than a year now...hmm)
Believe me, I have no confidence in Funcom, but the survey can actually be a GOOD thing, and allow them to focus on the issues USERS see and not the Dev's (they seem to be closed minded as we can see from their patches.)
Cheers
Well the share price has leveled out and actually came up a bit in the last few days it was $21.20 (USD) a few days ago but is up to $22.30 ( USD). The box is still in the top 100 at Amazon.com in the mid 50's. Problem is they are still bleeding players every day and from all indications between 10 and 20% people a week are calling it quits. Long term subscriptions is where they make their real money but if they can level out with 100 to 150K subs they will be ok. My current guestimate is around 200 - 250 K active subs out of the 1 mil or so boxes sold, but that is probably on on the optimistic side.
I miss DAoC
i go to amazon yo buy games at LESS than retail value, and those results are probably based on searches not sales, even i would pay 5$+3$ shipping lust to log in and laugh at all the people who paid full or collectors price for the game.
i think the best survey out there is when you cancell your sub to tabula rasa ,then and only then do they ask why you are leaving and how they could improve the game...all data that might be more useful BEFORE people left.
isnt eidos responsible for AOC as-well? lets make sure they get some pie in their faces too.
Got the same basic survey back after the Anarchy Online launch. I've also gotten similar surveys from SOE. I don't think it means what you think it means, OP.
They first going to launch for the XBOX360. Trying to get as much $$$ from the suckers there too.
Then Funcom finds out that Console gamers HATE monthly fees (they already have to pay for XBOX Live! That's THE exception). So the moment those gamers (Who never read the back of the box) figure out why they cannot log into AoC after the 30 days run out and notice they have to pay $15 bucks, the gamebox ends up with the rest of their game collection on the shelves.
The only MMO on Console exception is FFXI, but almost all (if not all) paying Console players reside in Asia, so that's no suprise.
And then the idea of Funcom throwing the XBOX360 players on the same servers with the PC players. You can imagine what L337 infestation that will bring and making the remaining PVE subscribers with any lore and RP sentiment kill their subscription.
Then! After then it will be time for Funcom to pull the plug. Not before.
Well, you can cover Tortage in less than 30 days.. That's about it for this game if you like single-player and don't want to pay a monthly subscription. I think Oblivion is a better game though.
Yep Blizzard sent me one just last month for WoW..LOTRO sent me one back in Febuary . Guess that's it for those companies as well...course I don't see Qeues anymore for WoW, never have for LOTRO despite it being an awesome game..I do for AoC.
Wouldn't be surprised if the company went bankrupt. The AoC forums is utter chaos, noone seems to enjoy the game except a handful of fanbois. They are thinking about making AoC for the 360? LOL this idea will crash and burn, along with AoC and the expasion.
AoC needs an emergency fix before everyone unsubs
If FC don't include the features they left out at launch, plus get on the right track of -fixing- things by the end of the year, then AoC at least is in big trouble. No expansion and no campaign will bring people back if they don't get their act together.
I'm not saying this because I hate the game. Quite the contrary. I love the idea of the game, I like many things about the game, but there are many things to dislike as well. While I said and still maintain, that a rough start is no reason to quit, the "start" period is just about to be over (in my eyes, people have different opinions on that, i realize). So far, patches and updates have not done much good for performance and annoyance issues. While the last patch did swing around at least a -little- bit, it's still not going anywhere near where it should be.
So, as I said, if they can#t start coming up with better patches and start including content that -should- be there already, then by the end of the year, AoC will be a Ghost Town, which would be a very sad thing, because the game -has- potential.
Me, I've decided to wait till the end of this month, see how the updates go. If they don#t start going in the right direction, I'll wait and see how things look in a couple of months. I defended FunCom a lot and gave them a lot of patience and the benefit of doubt. So far, they have not shown they deserve it and if they don't turn around quickly, it'll be too late for this game.
On a sidenote, I don#t think AoC's "failing" will completely ruin FunCom. But then again, I'm no business expert. XD
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
Final Fantasy 7
Wouldn't be surprised if the company went bankrupt. The AoC forums is utter chaos, noone seems to enjoy the game except a handful of fanbois. They are thinking about making AoC for the 360? LOL this idea will crash and burn, along with AoC and the expasion.
AoC needs an emergency fix before everyone unsubs
Plenty of us non-fanbois that enjoy the game, to a degree. But yes, I let them have it in that survey.
Just a survey doesn't mean that the company is in trouble.
But it is obvious that AOE isn't doing well. Just look how the ratings on this site dropped from #1 down to #34 (currently). The whole release hype was just meant to sell as many boxes as possible, not caring much about the longevity. Now they get what they deserve IMO.
The game wouldn't be doing half as bad if funcom was just honest with the situation. I'm dead serious man...
people like me would of been loyal and would have remained loyal to a game going thru rough times if they'd tell the truth and ease our concerns.
So true. When the developers (think NCSoft here) communicate with the player base on a regular basis, its amazing how understanding people will be.
Take for example the female attack speed bug. Had a lead dev taken the 5 minutes of his day to simply make a post explaining in simple terms what they thought the cause was, and how they are trying to go about fixing it, they would have gotten tons of cred from the players. Were I a dev trying to make a successful game, I would once a week make a dev blog, and come back now and then to answer questions, ignoring the haters.
The silence from FC was one of the major contributors to AoC's failier.
I think their ads say it all...
"Death never looked so hot"
And the whole "Heads will roll" on The Escapist website...
Overused lines.
Will I be sad? Yes. I love Robert E. Howards creation. But Funcom just ruined it.
I liked it while it lasted, don't get me wrong, it's great until you reach that point where you just don't want to login. I leveled a Conqueror to 51, and a ranger to 65, I only got that far thanks to guildies doing grind groups in keshetta, I managed 3 levels solo, and couldn't get any further, my shots would fire but no damage to my enemies, they'd come close and just kill me in a matter of 5 seconds or less.
I tried making yet another alt, I didn't have the heart for it, same shit all over, no thanks.
yea, the game has potential but the dev's really scared me away.
All this based on the game being 2 months live???? ROFL
Never mind
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CASUAL CONFESSIONS - Draccan's blog
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Funcom is in trouble, no point denying it. Are they going to die in 2 weeks, nope no when you stole that much money. The worst case scenario is selling the game to another company and some of the devs along. Fc is still milking the few AO players that still play, so that a bit of free cash.
If players dont come back after aoc goes out of public payign beta then fc will be in trouble, kauz fixing this will cost money, hiring programmers specialised in mmos is expensive, to a lesser extent so is hiring customer support and gms that actually speak english and have at least played a few hours of the game.
I'm not a no life that sits in front of his computer all day long, I'm an intern that sits in front of his computer all day long.
Can you mention a game that ever recovered from that much trouble and this amount of loss in subscriptions?
Looking at the art direction and the IP it is really sad FC screwed it up!
Where exactly are you getting these figures from? Pure guesswork based on xfire users? which infact is stabalised now. How do you know that maybe the people giving up the game arnt replaced by new subscribers?
Would really like to see this source. Also if someone could make a thread about new game release trends and post their graphics / stocks and we can compare?
To me, any evidence people have posted on xfire/stocks look normal to me. People buying mmo stocks before release and then waiting a couple of weeks for peak and then selling is normal and good business sense. I have already checked wow and thats what happened there, but i am no analyist. Other things in the company also affect stocks, funcom just like blizzard has many other interests. Numerous amount of things affect it. As for xfire, personally i dont think it reflects the current situation as i believe the game being for a mature audience tend not to use that software, ive yet to find anyone in my guild who has it, actually infact 2 people said they did awhile ago but it has issues and affects gameplay with AoC.
Why do mmorpg.com forum people suddently think they can judge a company and naturally be proficient in how stocks work? Beyond belief.
I fear for warhammer now, lets see if its the same people heading there with the same complaints and expert knowledge.
Knights who say Ni website!
So true. When the developers (think NCSoft here) communicate with the player base on a regular basis, its amazing how understanding people will be.
Take for example the female attack speed bug. Had a lead dev taken the 5 minutes of his day to simply make a post explaining in simple terms what they thought the cause was, and how they are trying to go about fixing it, they would have gotten tons of cred from the players. Were I a dev trying to make a successful game, I would once a week make a dev blog, and come back now and then to answer questions, ignoring the haters.
The silence from FC was one of the major contributors to AoC's failier.
Regarding the female attack speed bug Funcom have stated that they are aware of it and are working on it, but it takes time to fix it. It is not just a matter of changing a number.