"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
He didn't get forced out. He left a sinking ship. Morrison will now be the blame when Funcom goes under because AoC failed. By the way, anyone seen AmazingAvery after the news broke that Gaute resigned? Someone might want to send a doctor to check on him.
I'm sure he is fine and probably just playing and enjoying the game he loves. You never know. With new leadership, the game could become something great and I hope it does. I'll definately re-sub first things if AoC improves Heck they have certainly done some things right with the game. All we can do and wait and hope for the best.
After one week of playing AoC I posted on the official forums to ask for Godager resignation. I got fast a warning.
Today I posted just to say that it is waay too late and the game is dead and that stupid nazi Tahitoa banned me !
On these board I posted also after I checked the game and I said the game will be dead very fast and I just wanted my money back and I got a warning too.
Cause I had to agree to some ppl that was not fair to decide game is shitty after just one week I kept playing.
Now I finished ALL the contenet available and I can tell you for sure the game will never recover .
The only thing this new guy can do is to fire all the incompetents and ppl who were in FC due to the corruption of Godager and rest and try to make new target for the game - like 200k subscribers but I dont think they will get enough cash to support this idea.
After abt 11 years of mmorpgs and 23 of gaming I've never seen such incompetence, arrogance and lack of respect for the cusomers than I've experienced in AoC !
Funcom has taken the first step to recovery, Gaute was the reason Anarchy Online tripped and fell out of the starting gate, after he was replaced as director on AO the game started turning into something decent to play. Now Funcom just needs to get rid of Erling and actually start communicating with their customers instead of ignoring an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
And since they are putting out part of the PVP patch today, I may think about resubbing to check things out in a week or two, who knows, the game may become worth playing in the next few months.
The investors aren't happy over it either the gains made today are falling fc may break even today and start falling again tomorrow. I knew something would happen or be announced to try and save the stock price but never imagined it would be over Gaute leaving.
The investors aren't happy over it either the gains made today are falling fc may break even today and start falling again tomorrow. I knew something would happen or be announced to try and save the stock price but never imagined it would be over Gaute leaving.
My guess is the investors are very pissed off because they got a loan for $38 million dollars in February expecting a million or more subscribers to have the funds to start repaying short term debt. I'm also guessing with the resignation of a company founder, the money train that was suppose to be AoC has less than 100,000 concurrent subscribers left with no real way to start paying back the debt much recoup the $60 million it cost to make AoC. Since he was a co-founder, he probaby has 50,000,000 or more shares of Funcom stock and all that is probably about to be dumped on the market. Also, if the bulk of his shares are fully vested Stock OPTIONS, he will most likely single handly sink Funcom financials. If those share options are worth $30 each and the going price is $8, Funcom eats $22 an option that Gaute owns.
I don't see much Fun @ Funcom in the near future.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Godager out and Sil in? It's a dream come true. The days of no communication are over, and that may be the single biggest factor that was destroying the game. I believe people will put up with lots of problems as long as the people in charge are seen to be responsive and informative and if previous experience is anything to go on Sil will keep the players constantly updated.
I'm very pleased by this news and I won't be canceling this weekend after all.
When your stock price goes from 55 to 8, it's time to shake things up. This game was horribly mismanaged, and gaute's letters to the community were full of sunshine and lollipops while the ship was on fire and sinking. I predicted this months ago. Now that gaute is gone, this game has a chance to get the proper management it needs. Warhammer is very quickly sucking all the oxygen out of the room, so it may be too late.
Now that the new Producer and Game Director is Craig Morrison I still don't see me going back to AoC. I can't believe that they were ready to release a expansion soon and they still have not fixed the initial release bugs. Don't get me wrong alot was fixed but memory leaks and everything else was just too much for me.
So...all you knob slobs that act like this is the second coming, are you going to actually go back and pay to play the game?
I didn't think so. You made your mind up about the game and/or listened to your buddy say it sucked and jumped on the bandwagon like so many blind sheep that you would likely never play again. Funcom is one of the largest game developers around. A mediocre launch won't bring them down. IIRC there were NO MMO's that launched as perfectly as you all seem to think.
MMO's are an evolving game genre always have been always will be. Some are worse than others at getting it right quickly, others aren't. Take SWG for instance. Good amount of subscribers then NGE then very low subs then constant evolution since and subs have actually increased quite a bit since. AoC had a rough launch and the dev's dreams were bigger than their means at the time. That certainly doesn't mean those dreams can't see fruition as it evolves.
Oh God! Windows Vista had a bad launch MS MUST FAIL NOW!!!!!! Get a clue people.
The investors aren't happy over it either the gains made today are falling fc may break even today and start falling again tomorrow. I knew something would happen or be announced to try and save the stock price but never imagined it would be over Gaute leaving.
My guess is the investors are very pissed off because they got a loan for $38 million dollars in February expecting a million or more subscribers to have the funds to start repaying short term debt. I'm also guessing with the resignation of a company founder, the money train that was suppose to be AoC has less than 100,000 concurrent subscribers left with no real way to start paying back the debt much recoup the $60 million it cost to make AoC. Since he was a co-founder, he probaby has 50,000,000 or more shares of Funcom stock and all that is probably about to be dumped on the market. Also, if the bulk of his shares are fully vested Stock OPTIONS, he will most likely single handly sink Funcom financials. If those share options are worth $30 each and the going price is $8, Funcom eats $22 an option that Gaute owns.
I don't see much Fun @ Funcom in the near future.
I agree.
Three things can happen now:
1. When a founder leaves and dumps such huge chunk of stock on the market, then usually shortly after the company goes bankrupt and closes down.
2. A new big invester (call it a new co-founder) buys the full stock of Gaute and the company stays alive. This can also be very scary, as this new investor comes into control of the company and can change the whole direction and resources of this company. In worst case he can try liquidate the company for max. profit.
3. Gaute keeps his stock and only sells a portion away. This will be highly unlikely.
Either way. People shouldn't be too happy now with this guy leaving the company. As both AO and AoC have a very unsertain future.
This could indeed very well mean the beginning of the end of Funcom.
I think Gaute Godager had a passion for gaming, and he had lots of ideas and visions. Afaik he was the one that came up with the melee combat system in AoC.
I don't see him as a "bad guy" trying to con anyone, he was just fumbling too much. As a game director he didn't seem to have the skills required to be the making it all come together, to actually be the leader. Maybe he would have been better in the idea's department.
My impression is that he left simply admitting defeat. Meaning he probably wasn't forced in any way.
He said in an interview in a nowegian paper, that he considered AO to be a fiasco, at least compared what was expected pre launch. He said he felt empty and tired of mmorpg's. I think he was proud of the Shadowlands expansion though, that is considered to be one of the best expansions in mmorpg's.
AoC was probably a breaking point for him, even if it isn't for Funcom as a company. If AoC would be successful as hoped, he would have stayed. But this being his second defeat in mmorpg buisness, this was probably a blow to much for him.
I doubt we'll see him in the gaming buisness for a long time, mainly because he's probably tired of the whole thing. I think he had a university degree in psychology, maybe it'll turn useful now.
He's the only one left from the original Funcom, and now he's gone too, I just hope the uniqe visions and mood of Funcoms games don't leave as well.
As for Ellingsen I'll have to agree, he doesn't come across as a very good spokesperson. He seems to speak in cliché's and out of touch with what the community is pointing out. So he should either change his behaviour, which I doubt will happen in any near future, or resign as well.
Only one of the spokespersons I have faith in now is Jørgen Tharaldsen, if he's still around.
So...all you knob slobs that act like this is the second coming, are you going to actually go back and pay to play the game? I didn't think so. You made your mind up about the game and/or listened to your buddy say it sucked and jumped on the bandwagon like so many blind sheep that you would likely never play again. Funcom is one of the largest game developers around. A mediocre launch won't bring them down. IIRC there were NO MMO's that launched as perfectly as you all seem to think. MMO's are an evolving game genre always have been always will be. Some are worse than others at getting it right quickly, others aren't. Take SWG for instance. Good amount of subscribers then NGE then very low subs then constant evolution since and subs have actually increased quite a bit since. AoC had a rough launch and the dev's dreams were bigger than their means at the time. That certainly doesn't mean those dreams can't see fruition as it evolves. Oh God! Windows Vista had a bad launch MS MUST FAIL NOW!!!!!! Get a clue people.
The only thing that FAILED was you with this post.
With Gaute's resignation, myself and a lot of other people who bought the game and quit because of all the lies and simple fact that the game sucked and the game needing at least another year of development have finally been vindicated. All the people that were banned off of the official forums and the forums here are finally vindicated. It is a sweet day indeed when those that have been called trolls stand up with their heads held high and say, "HA, WE TOLD YOU SO!" because the company itself proved us right.
The sad part is, FANBOIS, we still love you. We are all consumers and it is us comsumers as a whole that got screwed. Now with all the drama over and the trolls proven right, we as a community can move forward together, supporting Morrison, and hopefully he can turn AoC into the game it should have been all along.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
So...all you knob slobs that act like this is the second coming, are you going to actually go back and pay to play the game? I didn't think so. You made your mind up about the game and/or listened to your buddy say it sucked and jumped on the bandwagon like so many blind sheep that you would likely never play again. Funcom is one of the largest game developers around. A mediocre launch won't bring them down. IIRC there were NO MMO's that launched as perfectly as you all seem to think. MMO's are an evolving game genre always have been always will be. Some are worse than others at getting it right quickly, others aren't. Take SWG for instance. Good amount of subscribers then NGE then very low subs then constant evolution since and subs have actually increased quite a bit since. AoC had a rough launch and the dev's dreams were bigger than their means at the time. That certainly doesn't mean those dreams can't see fruition as it evolves. Oh God! Windows Vista had a bad launch MS MUST FAIL NOW!!!!!! Get a clue people.
You are not really comparing Apples to Apples here. You named 2 different companies to compare with Funcom. Sony(SWG) and Microsoft(Windows Vista). You seriously cannot compare Sony/Microsoft to Funcom because either one of those 2 companies could buy Funcom 20x over. If a Sony game begins to tank badly(yes, SWG is a great example) then Sony has the cash flow to keep it afloat. Same with Microsoft. Because Funcom is nowhere in the same league as these other 2 companies, it has to be very careful with how they manage their money. Where a bad game like SWG may be kept alive for over a year with a negative cash flow because it's a Sony game, Funcom does not have the cash to sustain a tanking game for the same period of time.
I think he was proud of the Shadowlands expansion though, that is considered to be one of the best expansions in mmorpg's.
Strange how differently people can see that. Shadowlands is often referred to as the expansion that killed AO because it totally changed AO from a cyberpunk dystopia into a world of swords and fairies. I think it was a case of trying to be all things to all people.
Man you guys are fast, I was just going over my morning business news and was coming here to see if anyone had this already on here it's barely 10am lol.
Comments
He didn't get forced out. He left a sinking ship.
Morrison will now be the blame when Funcom goes under because AoC failed.
By the way, anyone seen AmazingAvery after the news broke that Gaute resigned? Someone might want to send a doctor to check on him.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
I'm sure he is fine and probably just playing and enjoying the game he loves. You never know. With new leadership, the game could become something great and I hope it does. I'll definately re-sub first things if AoC improves
Heck they have certainly done some things right with the game. All we can do and wait and hope for the best.
finally. he should have done this after AO SL , would have saved people a lot of troubles and money.
now fc is done for. go die in a fire gaute you lying ...
After one week of playing AoC I posted on the official forums to ask for Godager resignation. I got fast a warning.
Today I posted just to say that it is waay too late and the game is dead and that stupid nazi Tahitoa banned me !
On these board I posted also after I checked the game and I said the game will be dead very fast and I just wanted my money back and I got a warning too.
Cause I had to agree to some ppl that was not fair to decide game is shitty after just one week I kept playing.
Now I finished ALL the contenet available and I can tell you for sure the game will never recover .
The only thing this new guy can do is to fire all the incompetents and ppl who were in FC due to the corruption of Godager and rest and try to make new target for the game - like 200k subscribers but I dont think they will get enough cash to support this idea.
After abt 11 years of mmorpgs and 23 of gaming I've never seen such incompetence, arrogance and lack of respect for the cusomers than I've experienced in AoC !
Hurray...
Funcom has taken the first step to recovery, Gaute was the reason Anarchy Online tripped and fell out of the starting gate, after he was replaced as director on AO the game started turning into something decent to play. Now Funcom just needs to get rid of Erling and actually start communicating with their customers instead of ignoring an angry mob with torches and pitchforks.
And since they are putting out part of the PVP patch today, I may think about resubbing to check things out in a week or two, who knows, the game may become worth playing in the next few months.
If AoC had any hope of getting back into the game, this was it
The investors aren't happy over it either the gains made today are falling fc may break even today and start falling again tomorrow. I knew something would happen or be announced to try and save the stock price but never imagined it would be over Gaute leaving.
*sniff* this is the almost happiest day of my life *sniff* now if they can only get one particular other guy to leave lol
My guess is the investors are very pissed off because they got a loan for $38 million dollars in February expecting a million or more subscribers to have the funds to start repaying short term debt. I'm also guessing with the resignation of a company founder, the money train that was suppose to be AoC has less than 100,000 concurrent subscribers left with no real way to start paying back the debt much recoup the $60 million it cost to make AoC. Since he was a co-founder, he probaby has 50,000,000 or more shares of Funcom stock and all that is probably about to be dumped on the market. Also, if the bulk of his shares are fully vested Stock OPTIONS, he will most likely single handly sink Funcom financials. If those share options are worth $30 each and the going price is $8, Funcom eats $22 an option that Gaute owns.
I don't see much Fun @ Funcom in the near future.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
If Funcom are listening to feedback, then maybe Ellingsen will get sacked too.
He might be a good chap for all I know, but he's become the very symbol of the worst aspects of Funcom & AoC
RIP Blackguard. May a resurrection come.
Godager out and Sil in? It's a dream come true. The days of no communication are over, and that may be the single biggest factor that was destroying the game. I believe people will put up with lots of problems as long as the people in charge are seen to be responsive and informative and if previous experience is anything to go on Sil will keep the players constantly updated.
I'm very pleased by this news and I won't be canceling this weekend after all.
Eh, good riddance....in fact AoC should just Resign from the MMO industry.
The sleeper awakes...and rides his dirtbike to the mall.
When your stock price goes from 55 to 8, it's time to shake things up. This game was horribly mismanaged, and gaute's letters to the community were full of sunshine and lollipops while the ship was on fire and sinking. I predicted this months ago. Now that gaute is gone, this game has a chance to get the proper management it needs. Warhammer is very quickly sucking all the oxygen out of the room, so it may be too late.
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Now that the new Producer and Game Director is Craig Morrison I still don't see me going back to AoC. I can't believe that they were ready to release a expansion soon and they still have not fixed the initial release bugs. Don't get me wrong alot was fixed but memory leaks and everything else was just too much for me.
So...all you knob slobs that act like this is the second coming, are you going to actually go back and pay to play the game?
I didn't think so. You made your mind up about the game and/or listened to your buddy say it sucked and jumped on the bandwagon like so many blind sheep that you would likely never play again. Funcom is one of the largest game developers around. A mediocre launch won't bring them down. IIRC there were NO MMO's that launched as perfectly as you all seem to think.
MMO's are an evolving game genre always have been always will be. Some are worse than others at getting it right quickly, others aren't. Take SWG for instance. Good amount of subscribers then NGE then very low subs then constant evolution since and subs have actually increased quite a bit since. AoC had a rough launch and the dev's dreams were bigger than their means at the time. That certainly doesn't mean those dreams can't see fruition as it evolves.
Oh God! Windows Vista had a bad launch MS MUST FAIL NOW!!!!!! Get a clue people.
Where is the Amazing Avery?
Someone activate the AA Beacon in the sky!
STOP WHINING!
Resignations never looked so HOT!
Way too late though, he should have resigned before AoC was just an idea.
Be paid for Beta Testing, don't pay to Beta Test.
My guess is the investors are very pissed off because they got a loan for $38 million dollars in February expecting a million or more subscribers to have the funds to start repaying short term debt. I'm also guessing with the resignation of a company founder, the money train that was suppose to be AoC has less than 100,000 concurrent subscribers left with no real way to start paying back the debt much recoup the $60 million it cost to make AoC. Since he was a co-founder, he probaby has 50,000,000 or more shares of Funcom stock and all that is probably about to be dumped on the market. Also, if the bulk of his shares are fully vested Stock OPTIONS, he will most likely single handly sink Funcom financials. If those share options are worth $30 each and the going price is $8, Funcom eats $22 an option that Gaute owns.
I don't see much Fun @ Funcom in the near future.
I agree.
Three things can happen now:
1. When a founder leaves and dumps such huge chunk of stock on the market, then usually shortly after the company goes bankrupt and closes down.
2. A new big invester (call it a new co-founder) buys the full stock of Gaute and the company stays alive. This can also be very scary, as this new investor comes into control of the company and can change the whole direction and resources of this company. In worst case he can try liquidate the company for max. profit.
3. Gaute keeps his stock and only sells a portion away. This will be highly unlikely.
Either way. People shouldn't be too happy now with this guy leaving the company. As both AO and AoC have a very unsertain future.
This could indeed very well mean the beginning of the end of Funcom.
Have a nice day.
Not a moment too late!
Oh wait...
I think Gaute Godager had a passion for gaming, and he had lots of ideas and visions. Afaik he was the one that came up with the melee combat system in AoC.
I don't see him as a "bad guy" trying to con anyone, he was just fumbling too much. As a game director he didn't seem to have the skills required to be the making it all come together, to actually be the leader. Maybe he would have been better in the idea's department.
My impression is that he left simply admitting defeat. Meaning he probably wasn't forced in any way.
He said in an interview in a nowegian paper, that he considered AO to be a fiasco, at least compared what was expected pre launch. He said he felt empty and tired of mmorpg's. I think he was proud of the Shadowlands expansion though, that is considered to be one of the best expansions in mmorpg's.
AoC was probably a breaking point for him, even if it isn't for Funcom as a company. If AoC would be successful as hoped, he would have stayed. But this being his second defeat in mmorpg buisness, this was probably a blow to much for him.
I doubt we'll see him in the gaming buisness for a long time, mainly because he's probably tired of the whole thing. I think he had a university degree in psychology, maybe it'll turn useful now.
He's the only one left from the original Funcom, and now he's gone too, I just hope the uniqe visions and mood of Funcoms games don't leave as well.
As for Ellingsen I'll have to agree, he doesn't come across as a very good spokesperson. He seems to speak in cliché's and out of touch with what the community is pointing out. So he should either change his behaviour, which I doubt will happen in any near future, or resign as well.
Only one of the spokespersons I have faith in now is Jørgen Tharaldsen, if he's still around.
The only thing that FAILED was you with this post.
With Gaute's resignation, myself and a lot of other people who bought the game and quit because of all the lies and simple fact that the game sucked and the game needing at least another year of development have finally been vindicated. All the people that were banned off of the official forums and the forums here are finally vindicated. It is a sweet day indeed when those that have been called trolls stand up with their heads held high and say, "HA, WE TOLD YOU SO!" because the company itself proved us right.
The sad part is, FANBOIS, we still love you. We are all consumers and it is us comsumers as a whole that got screwed. Now with all the drama over and the trolls proven right, we as a community can move forward together, supporting Morrison, and hopefully he can turn AoC into the game it should have been all along.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
You are not really comparing Apples to Apples here. You named 2 different companies to compare with Funcom. Sony(SWG) and Microsoft(Windows Vista). You seriously cannot compare Sony/Microsoft to Funcom because either one of those 2 companies could buy Funcom 20x over. If a Sony game begins to tank badly(yes, SWG is a great example) then Sony has the cash flow to keep it afloat. Same with Microsoft. Because Funcom is nowhere in the same league as these other 2 companies, it has to be very careful with how they manage their money. Where a bad game like SWG may be kept alive for over a year with a negative cash flow because it's a Sony game, Funcom does not have the cash to sustain a tanking game for the same period of time.
Think this sums up what most of us are thinking really well.....
www.youtube.com/watch
Be paid for Beta Testing, don't pay to Beta Test.
Strange how differently people can see that. Shadowlands is often referred to as the expansion that killed AO because it totally changed AO from a cyberpunk dystopia into a world of swords and fairies. I think it was a case of trying to be all things to all people.
Man you guys are fast, I was just going over my morning business news and was coming here to see if anyone had this already on here it's barely 10am lol.