Originally posted by Dekoth Originally posted by Thinman You can say that the poll isn't valid all you want, but it's obvious that it is. And at the meat of the issue, the poll is what really matters.So, I offer you a challenge: Post a poll which asks what people think of SOE, in terms of consumer confidence. Do it in the most scientific manner possible, with no bias whatsoever in the poll or the post. We can see what the results are. And then we'll know the truth. At the core of the issue, the question is what people think of SOE. Sure you guys are right about them not being in a state of failing financially, which I have repeated about 4 times now. But if you've got the balls, post a scientific thread asking just what people think of SOE. Without doing that, anything that you have to say doesn't hold any water.Read what I wrote before asking me to do something that I already explained the futility on. Has nothing to do with balls or not, but thank you for informing me of your age. It has everything to do with the majority vocal audience of a particular community, and the only thing your poll does is clearly exhibit the maturity level of most of the posters here. Here lets pick it apart and analyze it shall we, and see just how representative of anything other then a bunch of young spiteful gamers it is. First part, Do you enjoy seeing SOE slowly failing as an online gaming company? Ok so we went from the thread title of It's nice to see SoE failing, which assumes this is an undeniable fact to a Poll which the title of it likewise assumes that the company failing is undeniable fact. Alright now the first option. Yes. They deserve it. ~ That is about as 5th grade playground of a response as they come. And suprise the majority of the votes go to this one, interesting that seems to correspond directly to my statement about proof of a bunch of young spiteful gamers, but offers nothing in the way of facts or evidence of them failing as a company, since nothing was offered in the actual post I have to assume the poll will offer as much. next option. I do to a point, but I also wish they could just change their practices. ~ This one is a little better, and does offer a bit more potential to be a valid response. however as the point on which they are failing is still vague at best and speculation based off the title of the thread and the poll leads one to believe this is simply a belief based on how the company is doing from a game popularity standpoint as to is the company successful based on its games. Which of course you later denounced as false after being called out. However point remains the titles and available responses thus far were misleading at best. Not really.. I'm not that type of person. ~ What does the type of person have to do with anything you said since being called out? I would love to know the explination to this. Thus far the story has changed with each post, however the original poll seems to imply something completly different..seems the options in the poll are strikingly similiar to the options and assumptions of the topic/poll title. No, I like their games. ~ Simple no would have sufficed but you had to add to it, simply reinforcing the above points that there was an agenda, other then that stated in posts later on. SOE is the best MMOG company etc. ~ Obvious fanboy bait, no respectable gamer of any genre would ever answer affirmative to such a response. Now with this one it immeditally throws the first response into stark contrast, which lends it to the other extreem the ones who simply hate for no other reason then to hate because something about that company rubbed them wrong so they need a reason to promote their personal misery, and of course most of this group is usually the fanboys of the company in question, direct competitor. Now when you look at it from that perspective you get a very clear and concise picture of this poll, and its meaning. You can spin it any way you see fit, you can change direction and state what you "suppossedly" really meant. So based on all that, you are right your poll was in fact very successful. Just not in the manner you anticipated. It was successful in detailing out quite clearly the percentage of EQ2 fanboys on this forum who are active, It was successful in picking out the percentage of people who think SOW sucks without any valid reason to back it up other then their personal dislike, or the fact that they are a fanboy of another game. And it was 100% successful in proving that a poll posted in this forum even for a serious point would have its results sckewed by people who are going to vote on something without any basis or fact, and thus any poll on this forum no matter how you look at it, is utterly worthless other then giving an extremely small group confrimation that there are in fact other people who are just as blindly loyal as they are, so they have someone else's but to slap in agreement.
I am in total agreeance with Dekoth on this one--he makes some keen observations.
Thinman, as much as you disagree, I just can't see how you can think that your poll is in any way valid. The people that post on these forums (or any forum for that matter), represent a tiny amount of the player base who actually play these games.
Furthermore, I've found that if you sit back and take a look at things, you'll find that the majority of topics on message boards (not just this one) involve childish whining or flaming about one subject or another, and NOT intelligent conversation. This says, to me at least, that of the tiny percentage of gamers that bother to post on forums, many of these are people that just like to have something to gripe about, or something to mindlessly bash. Therefore, their opinions on a poll can hardly be taken as 'fact'.
Also tell me this: if SOE's business practices are SOOOO bad, why isn't there a mass exodus of players from their games? Why do they still have so many subscribers?
Originally posted by Nazaarael It wouldn't matter which company you placed under the spotlight (OSI, Verant, SOE, Mythic, Blizzard, NCsoft, etc ); they all have the same drones working for them who have to come up with on-the-fly decisions, borrowing a page from the generic corporate playbook, that piss a lot of people off including myself from time to time.Ive had first-class, mediocre, and piss-poor dealings with Sony Online Entertainment, but, I have never felt that their business practices were any different then my cellular phone provider or any other subscription I have ever held.All I can convey is that talk is cheap, and since this thread is as about as constructive as an abortion protest; you arent exactly fighting the good fight.
You're probably right. You are right. That's the thing about message boards, we bounce ideas off of each other, and some stick and some don't. And yours just stuck for me.
Coming from gaming in the 80s on an apple //e, and playing games made by 2 guys in their den that were fun as all get out and were made by gamers who loved games, it's hard to see where gaming is going today. It's not the same as it was then. And it most likely never will be. It's too easy to get into a trap of idealizing the games, and ranting about them not being something that they can no longer be.
Originally posted by Wickes Well I have time to kill while drinking my morning coffee here The POINT, which you now keep trying to change via revisionist history, is that your brilliant thread was about a company "failing", which it isn't. It wasn't about whether the usual people here still dislike Sony games (/boggle). It wasn't about whether the population of MMORPG.COM has more supporters of non-Sony games, which it does, or whether it is truly representative of the whole gaming community (which it isn't), or btw, whether any of the other sites which cater primarily to a younger readership are representative (all these boards cater primarily to younger readers). The thread was about whether a company is failing. That's what you clearly stated. So either that's what you intended to state or you are incapable of stating what you intended or you are a complete idiot. Which is it. It may warm your heart to see the usual Sony haters join your hopeless little crusade here. Now you can merrily go through your day thinking "yeah man, great, those other guys hate Sony too", but it is completely irrelevant to everything in human existence. Every time somebody posts one of these things, the same group pops up to say the same things. Kudos. Feel better now? Hate Sony all you want. It doesn't help you and it doesn't hurt anyone or anything. But as was noted, if it keeps you and your band of whiners and haters out of games some of us play, we could not possibly ask for more
[shaddup Willjones ... sometimes people set 'em up you have to knock 'em down]
The hell!?!? Why in the Nine Hells am I suddenly the object of abuse here? I stated my viewpoints on this subject: 1. That I don't care about SOE. 2. That this topic is rediculous and untrue. 3. It's not worth getting your nipples twisted over it.
Must I repeat myself again? *sigh*
Okay, for the last time. In no way, shape, or form do I think that SOE is "failing" as a game company. That's just stupid. They make better MMORPG's than a lot of companies out there. As of now I put SWG and EQ2 over utter piles of crap like Horizons. I will say that SOE has failed me as a customer, because I view that the didn't deliver the promises that I was expecting out of EQ2. That's just my view however, and probably the view of more than just a few others, but that is hardly evidence of a game company "failing".
So that's it. As far as SOE and myself goes: no more. I've given them three shots now, three strikes, and they swung out and missed on all chances. Post Luclin EQLive, SWG, and EQ2. Players can only take so much disappointment. So there. But don't go around saying inane babbling BS like "It's good to see SOE failing" when they clearly are not. A group of peeps voting along with your view on this site doesn't mean jack, because that's hardly the entire player base of MMORPG players.
*Sigh*
Oh, and one more thing. Stop bringing my name up on this thread! I've spoken my piece, and now I'm out of it. You've got plenty of others here who to fight with! Failure to comply will leave me no choice but to get my boy Piccolo over here to bomb your f***ing neighborhood.
Good job, thats 2 reply's now that you have shown me clearly that you did not read everything I said but only what you wanted to hear.
I explained quite clearly why your poll or any other poll posted in this forum offers nothing in the way of facts. It does not even matter how scientific you want it to be, I stated quite clearly your poll was successful. Just not in the manner you wanted, however you would know that had you bothered to read the entireity of both of my previous post's.
Read what I said in its entireity then respond, until then I am done replying as it proving to be about as effective as trying to convince a brick it is a bird.
At best, the entire genre is as stale as an old fart. It's also difficult to be innovative when there is a feeling of security nestled between the breasts of lady legal tender.
My old Earth and Beyond account got more play then WoW and EQ2 combined. I can't even imagine the man-hours and dollars that went into those premiere games while I found a cr
Then post a poll which asks the question of whether people like SOE, straight up. No one seems to be willing to do it, so I will post one which is clear, scientific, and will reveal what people think of them, whether they like them or not.
1. Players have already in the past posted polls on this site about if people like SOE.
2. Why don't you post a NEW thread and call it "Do you like or dislike SOE?". BTW, SOE has done something no other MMORPG company has ever done - it does NOT have all its eggs in 1 basket. SOE has 4 major mmorpgs, plus 3 other OMGs (Online Muliplayer games). Everquest, Planetside, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 2, plus Tanarious, Infantry, and Cosmic Rift. If one does not like any 1 or 2 of SOE's games, they still have more selections to try. If one does not like WOW, then what other MMORPGs form Blizzard can one try? If one does not like Anarchy Online, then what other mmorpgs from Funcom can one try? NONE, and NONE. In those cases one can realistically say "I don't like Blizzard!", or "I don't like Funcom!".
For anyone to realistically hate SOE, dislike SOE (which is the parent company. There are seperate, individuale, teams, that actually work on each of SOE's mmorpgs.) one would have to have experience playing every single one of the 7 online games SOE has! And not like a single one of them! Have you actutally played every single SOE game? If no then you cannot say you dislike SOE. You CAN say you dislike EQ, or "___insert name of game you played here___".
In addition, SOE has roughly 5+ more online games (like Jeopardy, and much, much more).
Mobile and Exxon are owned by the same parent company. I get cheated by the owner of the Exxon station near me. Do I scream at the parent company that its their fault? Do I then claim that it means Mobile also sucks? Should I also hate Mobil? Should I also claim Mobil cheated me too?
Your younger brother cheats me. Should I then hate your parents? Should I then claim you also cheated me? How about you post which SOE games you have played, for how long, and the last time you have played them? Then we can help you get to the bottom of your dislike.
3. For the past 6+ years, there has been a non-stop poll of how many people like SOE. To vote in this 6+ year long running poll, you need to use your wallet, purse, bag of gold, etc... Not typing, no posting messages, is involved. It is the most hardcore scientific poll in existance.
sorry to just jump in here i have no idea where the topic has lead (and im not reading through 11 pages) But i completly agree that they had it coming and they competely deserve it. Just look at EQlive and the crapp they made out of that, actually, the second they bought up EQlive it started going down hill. I used to play that back it the day and let me tell you that it was a pretty solid good game(not to mention how revolutionary it was at the time) but i recently subscribed again for a month...unfortunatly i couldnt take much more of the nauseous slop of diarrhea that had become of that once great game.
Originally posted by Veiled_light Erm SOE are the best :S They have really stepped up their game! They rn't failing and still the biggest and bets company in mmorpg gaming :P
Everquest basically started the tradition, every other game copied! Even world of warcrafy has so shut the fuck up
Um yes but unfortunatly once apon a time a company called VERRANT came up with and produced the game that is EQlive and later the big bad wolf called SOE came along and huffed and puffed and bought VERRANT up. And ever since then poor old EQlive has trembled under the raign of the big bad wolf and has gotten worse with time.
Originally posted by Veiled_light Erm SOE are the best :S They have really stepped up their game! They rn't failing and still the biggest and bets company in mmorpg gaming :P
Everquest basically started the tradition, every other game copied! Even world of warcrafy has so shut the fuck up
Um yes but unfortunatly once apon a time a company called VERRANT came up with and produced the game that is EQlive and later the big bad wolf called SOE came along and huffed and puffed and bought VERRANT up. And ever since then poor old EQlive has trembled under the raign of the big bad wolf and has gotten worse with time.
Story time over boys and girls.
"so shut the fuck up"
Actually, a guy named Smeadly was working for years for SONY. He pitched the idea of EQ numerous times to the CEO of Sony, but got the smackdown layeth on him aka kicked out of the offices of Sony's CEO numerous times. Later on down the line, the CEO retired and a new CEO took over. Smeadly pitched the idea of EQ again. By this time UO was out and doing well. Smeadly used UO as more ammo for his EQ salespitch. Sony this time listened to Smeadly, and funded EQ. Smeadly was put in charge of a sub-company called (I forget the exact name. Something like [something then some numbers after the name]).
Right before EQ was finnished, Sony pulled the plug. Back then, it was unheard of to spend 5 million to make a computer game. Most computer games cost 100k to 500k to make. It was extreemly rare for one to cost 1 million to make. Smeadly got fired along with the rest of his team (including McQuaid and that other guy who's name I can't remember right now LOL!). Smeadly then made his own company called Varant and finnished work on EQ. EQ broke records. EQ got sooo many new players that the internet in the San Diego area in California went down. 50k players in a few months. 100k + players by the end of the first year. EQ recouped its investment money lest than 1 year after release.
Here is the FUN PART: Smeadly, like all patriotic Americans, Red-Blooded Americans, then went back to meeting with Sony and said "Hi, I want to sell out a NICE, uber-successful, American company to forigners! I hate having this NICE company remaining American owned! It might start a trend to back to when things were made in the USA. Show me the money Sony!!!". Sony showed Smeadly 35 million and he accepted. Varant on purpose sold itself to Sony for 35 million. Smeadly got a key position. The subgroup of Sony called Soney Online Entertainment was formed. (Sony is the uber parent company. There is Sony Movies, Sony Music, Sony Electronics, and now SOE.... which is the parent company of each individuale seperate team working on each of SOE's MMORPGs and online games - EQ, PS, SWG, EQ2, Infantry, Cosmic Rift). Within 1 year and 6 months Sony made back the 35 million it paid to Smeadly to buy back EQ. EQ went on to make between 200 million to 800 million!!! (They won't give an exact figure. Conservative and liberal estimates are based on the number of EQ expansions, and costs of development for the rest of SOE's other online games.)
Sony is not the "big bad wolf". All parties involved are "wolves". Varant, SOE, Smeadly, McQuaid, etc... Varant was super-successful and yet still could not stand being a successful American company that was American owned. Varant on purpose sold out to Sony. Just like Harley-Davidson (Harley's are owned by the Japanese now!). Other examples of patriotic Americans who could not stand having super-successful products remain American owned - The Mini-Van market, the SUV market, VCR market, CD market, DVD market, MP3 market, IPod market, TV market, the computer market, the Wankel Rotery Engine market, and much, much more!
SOURCE:
Article "The Sorcerer of Sony" in Buisness 2.0 Magazine. With interviews with Smeadly, and other game DEVs.
Originally posted by dunadurium sorry to just jump in here i have no idea where the topic has lead (and im not reading through 11 pages) But i completly agree that they had it coming and they competely deserve it. Just look at EQlive and the crapp they made out of that, actually, the second they bought up EQlive it started going down hill. I used to play that back it the day and let me tell you that it was a pretty solid good game(not to mention how revolutionary it was at the time) but i recently subscribed again for a month...unfortunatly i couldnt take much more of the nauseous slop of diarrhea that had become of that once great game.
You might want to actually read the thread, because of the direction it went and how you just replied. You managed to make yourself look like another random idiot with no knowledge on the subject who will agree with anyone that supports their views.
hmm well sorry but i didnt have the time to read through all of that, i may just though today. again that post was just my quick comments on the subject and does not at all represent my full argument on the subject. If i do read through this thread i will make a much more informed post.
I am just glad to see that there is more of a variety of MMORPG now then before. I know that a lot of players played EQ for it was the only game at the time that was available to play, well there were others but it seemed that EQ was the most enjoyable game out there.
"Hi, I want to sell out a NICE, uber-successful, American company to forigners! I hate having this NICE company remaining American owned! It might start a trend to back to when things were made in the USA. ..."
Originally posted by dunadurium Originally posted by Veiled_light Erm SOE are the best :S They have really stepped up their game! They rn't failing and still the biggest and bets company in mmorpg gaming :P
Everquest basically started the tradition, every other game copied! Even world of warcrafy has so shut the fuck up Um yes but unfortunatly once apon a time a company called VERRANT came up with and produced the game that is EQlive and later the big bad wolf called SOE came along and huffed and puffed and bought VERRANT up. And ever since then poor old EQlive has trembled under the raign of the big bad wolf and has gotten worse with time. Story time over boys and girls. "so shut the fuck up"
I don't know where this misconception came from, but the game is called Everquest, EQLive is a website by sony dedicated to Everquest.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
I read enough of this thread to put in my two cents (first 5 pages or so of the thread).
1. Clearly establish criteria for failure.
Money is what makes the world move, so if a business is failing, it should be due to loosing money (net). If a company has a goal of obtaining 50 million in revenue, but only manages 35 million (say due to a loss of subscribers), that shouldn't be considered a failure because they are still turning a profit (only lost potential revenue).
2. I never trust polls.
They are all skewed in one way or another, whether it is intentional or not.
3. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Whether they have a base or not. It's up to the individual to decide whether the argument is valid or not. You don't necessarily have to like it. Everyone also have the right to express their opinion, it's up to you to decide whether to listen to them or not.
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Personally I wouldn't want SoE to fail, no matter how bad other people say they are. I can't say that because I never had to deal with customer service for one, and overall I was satisfied in my time playing EQ1 and EQ2 (I am currently not playing either for several reasons, none of which are because of hate towards SoE).
I also wouldn't want Blizzard to fail either (I love their stand-alone Warcraft series and Starcraft), nor Square-Enix (formerly Squaresoft, I love the FF stand-alone series). This is what 's great about capitalism. I hope more companies release more quality MMORPGs, create even stiffer competition. It can only benefit us MMORPG players.
To end this post, I just wanted to say: Can't we all just get along????
Comments
I am in total agreeance with Dekoth on this one--he makes some keen observations.
Thinman, as much as you disagree, I just can't see how you can think that your poll is in any way valid. The people that post on these forums (or any forum for that matter), represent a tiny amount of the player base who actually play these games.
Furthermore, I've found that if you sit back and take a look at things, you'll find that the majority of topics on message boards (not just this one) involve childish whining or flaming about one subject or another, and NOT intelligent conversation. This says, to me at least, that of the tiny percentage of gamers that bother to post on forums, many of these are people that just like to have something to gripe about, or something to mindlessly bash. Therefore, their opinions on a poll can hardly be taken as 'fact'.
Also tell me this: if SOE's business practices are SOOOO bad, why isn't there a mass exodus of players from their games? Why do they still have so many subscribers?
*sigh* well, that's my 2 cents.
You're probably right. You are right. That's the thing about message boards, we bounce ideas off of each other, and some stick and some don't. And yours just stuck for me.
Coming from gaming in the 80s on an apple //e, and playing games made by 2 guys in their den that were fun as all get out and were made by gamers who loved games, it's hard to see where gaming is going today. It's not the same as it was then. And it most likely never will be. It's too easy to get into a trap of idealizing the games, and ranting about them not being something that they can no longer be.
Don't know what else there is to say.
_______________________________________________________________________
Looking forward (cautiously) to: Age of Conan, Dark Solstice, Armada Online.
Will soon try: Guild Wars
Overall: Amazed and bewhildered at the current sad state of the artform of gaming.
The hell!?!? Why in the Nine Hells am I suddenly the object of abuse here? I stated my viewpoints on this subject: 1. That I don't care about SOE. 2. That this topic is rediculous and untrue. 3. It's not worth getting your nipples twisted over it.
Must I repeat myself again? *sigh*
Okay, for the last time. In no way, shape, or form do I think that SOE is "failing" as a game company. That's just stupid. They make better MMORPG's than a lot of companies out there. As of now I put SWG and EQ2 over utter piles of crap like Horizons. I will say that SOE has failed me as a customer, because I view that the didn't deliver the promises that I was expecting out of EQ2. That's just my view however, and probably the view of more than just a few others, but that is hardly evidence of a game company "failing".
So that's it. As far as SOE and myself goes: no more. I've given them three shots now, three strikes, and they swung out and missed on all chances. Post Luclin EQLive, SWG, and EQ2. Players can only take so much disappointment. So there. But don't go around saying inane babbling BS like "It's good to see SOE failing" when they clearly are not. A group of peeps voting along with your view on this site doesn't mean jack, because that's hardly the entire player base of MMORPG players.
*Sigh*
Oh, and one more thing. Stop bringing my name up on this thread! I've spoken my piece, and now I'm out of it. You've got plenty of others here who to fight with! Failure to comply will leave me no choice but to get my boy Piccolo over here to bomb your f***ing neighborhood.
Thank you very little.
The mention of your name was totally joking
Oh nm lol.
Good job, thats 2 reply's now that you have shown me clearly that you did not read everything I said but only what you wanted to hear.
I explained quite clearly why your poll or any other poll posted in this forum offers nothing in the way of facts. It does not even matter how scientific you want it to be, I stated quite clearly your poll was successful. Just not in the manner you wanted, however you would know that had you bothered to read the entireity of both of my previous post's.
Read what I said in its entireity then respond, until then I am done replying as it proving to be about as effective as trying to convince a brick it is a bird.
At best, the entire genre is as stale as an old fart. It's also difficult to be innovative when there is a feeling of security nestled between the breasts of lady legal tender.
My old Earth and Beyond account got more play then WoW and EQ2 combined. I can't even imagine the man-hours and dollars that went into those premiere games while I found a cr
1. Players have already in the past posted polls on this site about if people like SOE.
2. Why don't you post a NEW thread and call it "Do you like or dislike SOE?". BTW, SOE has done something no other MMORPG company has ever done - it does NOT have all its eggs in 1 basket. SOE has 4 major mmorpgs, plus 3 other OMGs (Online Muliplayer games). Everquest, Planetside, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 2, plus Tanarious, Infantry, and Cosmic Rift. If one does not like any 1 or 2 of SOE's games, they still have more selections to try. If one does not like WOW, then what other MMORPGs form Blizzard can one try? If one does not like Anarchy Online, then what other mmorpgs from Funcom can one try? NONE, and NONE. In those cases one can realistically say "I don't like Blizzard!", or "I don't like Funcom!".
For anyone to realistically hate SOE, dislike SOE (which is the parent company. There are seperate, individuale, teams, that actually work on each of SOE's mmorpgs.) one would have to have experience playing every single one of the 7 online games SOE has! And not like a single one of them! Have you actutally played every single SOE game? If no then you cannot say you dislike SOE. You CAN say you dislike EQ, or "___insert name of game you played here___".
In addition, SOE has roughly 5+ more online games (like Jeopardy, and much, much more).
Mobile and Exxon are owned by the same parent company. I get cheated by the owner of the Exxon station near me. Do I scream at the parent company that its their fault? Do I then claim that it means Mobile also sucks? Should I also hate Mobil? Should I also claim Mobil cheated me too?
Your younger brother cheats me. Should I then hate your parents? Should I then claim you also cheated me? How about you post which SOE games you have played, for how long, and the last time you have played them? Then we can help you get to the bottom of your dislike.
3. For the past 6+ years, there has been a non-stop poll of how many people like SOE. To vote in this 6+ year long running poll, you need to use your wallet, purse, bag of gold, etc... Not typing, no posting messages, is involved. It is the most hardcore scientific poll in existance.
Erm SOE are the best :S They have really stepped up their game! They rn't failing and still the biggest and bets company in mmorpg gaming :P
Everquest basically started the tradition, every other game copied!
Even world of warcrafy has so shut the fuck up
"Silly rabbit, WoW's for kids"
************************
Um yes but unfortunatly once apon a time a company called VERRANT came up with and produced the game that is EQlive and later the big bad wolf called SOE came along and huffed and puffed and bought VERRANT up. And ever since then poor old EQlive has trembled under the raign of the big bad wolf and has gotten worse with time.
Story time over boys and girls.
"so shut the fuck up"
"Silly rabbit, WoW's for kids"
************************
Um yes but unfortunatly once apon a time a company called VERRANT came up with and produced the game that is EQlive and later the big bad wolf called SOE came along and huffed and puffed and bought VERRANT up. And ever since then poor old EQlive has trembled under the raign of the big bad wolf and has gotten worse with time.
Story time over boys and girls.
"so shut the fuck up"
Actually, a guy named Smeadly was working for years for SONY. He pitched the idea of EQ numerous times to the CEO of Sony, but got the smackdown layeth on him aka kicked out of the offices of Sony's CEO numerous times. Later on down the line, the CEO retired and a new CEO took over. Smeadly pitched the idea of EQ again. By this time UO was out and doing well. Smeadly used UO as more ammo for his EQ salespitch. Sony this time listened to Smeadly, and funded EQ. Smeadly was put in charge of a sub-company called (I forget the exact name. Something like [something then some numbers after the name]).
Right before EQ was finnished, Sony pulled the plug. Back then, it was unheard of to spend 5 million to make a computer game. Most computer games cost 100k to 500k to make. It was extreemly rare for one to cost 1 million to make. Smeadly got fired along with the rest of his team (including McQuaid and that other guy who's name I can't remember right now LOL!). Smeadly then made his own company called Varant and finnished work on EQ. EQ broke records. EQ got sooo many new players that the internet in the San Diego area in California went down. 50k players in a few months. 100k + players by the end of the first year. EQ recouped its investment money lest than 1 year after release.
Here is the FUN PART: Smeadly, like all patriotic Americans, Red-Blooded Americans, then went back to meeting with Sony and said "Hi, I want to sell out a NICE, uber-successful, American company to forigners! I hate having this NICE company remaining American owned! It might start a trend to back to when things were made in the USA. Show me the money Sony!!!". Sony showed Smeadly 35 million and he accepted. Varant on purpose sold itself to Sony for 35 million. Smeadly got a key position. The subgroup of Sony called Soney Online Entertainment was formed. (Sony is the uber parent company. There is Sony Movies, Sony Music, Sony Electronics, and now SOE.... which is the parent company of each individuale seperate team working on each of SOE's MMORPGs and online games - EQ, PS, SWG, EQ2, Infantry, Cosmic Rift). Within 1 year and 6 months Sony made back the 35 million it paid to Smeadly to buy back EQ. EQ went on to make between 200 million to 800 million!!! (They won't give an exact figure. Conservative and liberal estimates are based on the number of EQ expansions, and costs of development for the rest of SOE's other online games.)
Sony is not the "big bad wolf". All parties involved are "wolves". Varant, SOE, Smeadly, McQuaid, etc... Varant was super-successful and yet still could not stand being a successful American company that was American owned. Varant on purpose sold out to Sony. Just like Harley-Davidson (Harley's are owned by the Japanese now!). Other examples of patriotic Americans who could not stand having super-successful products remain American owned - The Mini-Van market, the SUV market, VCR market, CD market, DVD market, MP3 market, IPod market, TV market, the computer market, the Wankel Rotery Engine market, and much, much more!
SOURCE:
Article "The Sorcerer of Sony" in Buisness 2.0 Magazine. With interviews with Smeadly, and other game DEVs.
You might want to actually read the thread, because of the direction it went and how you just replied. You managed to make yourself look like another random idiot with no knowledge on the subject who will agree with anyone that supports their views.
hmm well sorry but i didnt have the time to read through all of that, i may just though today. again that post was just my quick comments on the subject and does not at all represent my full argument on the subject. If i do read through this thread i will make a much more informed post.
until then,
Dunadurium
"Silly rabbit, WoW's for kids"
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I am just glad to see that there is more of a variety of MMORPG now then before. I know that a lot of players played EQ for it was the only game at the time that was available to play, well there were others but it seemed that EQ was the most enjoyable game out there.
Originally posted by Veiled_light
"Hi, I want to sell out a NICE, uber-successful, American company to forigners! I hate having this NICE company remaining American owned! It might start a trend to back to when things were made in the USA. ..."
lol omg how true
-=<VlaDrak>=-
www.sugarfist.com
I don't know where this misconception came from, but the game is called Everquest, EQLive is a website by sony dedicated to Everquest.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
I read enough of this thread to put in my two cents (first 5 pages or so of the thread).
1. Clearly establish criteria for failure.
Money is what makes the world move, so if a business is failing, it should be due to loosing money (net). If a company has a goal of obtaining 50 million in revenue, but only manages 35 million (say due to a loss of subscribers), that shouldn't be considered a failure because they are still turning a profit (only lost potential revenue).
2. I never trust polls.
They are all skewed in one way or another, whether it is intentional or not.
3. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions.
Whether they have a base or not. It's up to the individual to decide whether the argument is valid or not. You don't necessarily have to like it. Everyone also have the right to express their opinion, it's up to you to decide whether to listen to them or not.
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Personally I wouldn't want SoE to fail, no matter how bad other people say they are. I can't say that because I never had to deal with customer service for one, and overall I was satisfied in my time playing EQ1 and EQ2 (I am currently not playing either for several reasons, none of which are because of hate towards SoE).
I also wouldn't want Blizzard to fail either (I love their stand-alone Warcraft series and Starcraft), nor Square-Enix (formerly Squaresoft, I love the FF stand-alone series). This is what 's great about capitalism. I hope more companies release more quality MMORPGs, create even stiffer competition. It can only benefit us MMORPG players.
To end this post, I just wanted to say: Can't we all just get along????
Enjoy.