Highly doubt WB will overly affect any MMOs that Turbine is currently running. Though all things on the outside, Cash Shop, Customer Service and future MMO direction will be affected. If this is good or bad is beyond me at the moment. Only time and the news will deterimine that.
My thoughts. I dont think WB with meddle with the existing MMOs. But it is way too early to say what will come. Lets be calm and wait and see.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
It's all folk songs and crying when you try to hold onto the dreams of yesterday whilst struggling against the tide of overwhelming corporate greed. Such is the downfall of unchecked capitalism. What is spit out of factory lines like so many carbon copies is bereft of nuance. That very spice that makes such endeavors palatable is lost in the inexorable grind toward mass appeal and in the end the dessicated corpse of what used to be a great and promising genre will be left to rot in its wake.
I personally think that WB wont change lotro at all. They may follow EA's example when they bought out Bio aka gave them money and let them get on with it, giving use Dragon Age and ME2! (Hope they dont do what EA did with Mythic though)
Id say deeper pockets are better for the game in the long run (may get more devs in) and just in time. As we should be expecting news on the next c-pack soon. They will also have the power/money to advertise the game better, especially when the hobbit comes out.
Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out and wont stop playing the game (unlike some of the doom and gloomers on the forums, aka Im quiting now' posts.
I find it strange why noone is asking why? Was Turbine sturggling ?
As for a gaming point of view. I can't see this as good news. Turbine is no longer in charge of their own games and we have seen what that means for MMOs through the years... Just look at how EA has closed down many MMO games and studios time and time again when they dont deliver triple the money back that is put into the project.
Of course they were struggling. How long do you think they can keep up the numbers being positive with majority of their playerbase being F2P players?
Incorrect. DDO is doing far better than it has ever done. They soldthe company at a PROFIT. Smart, business wise.
BUt it could be bad. We need an state of game from WB, partictulary for DDO. FOr I predict people stopping to purchase of points until knowledge of thegame is still going to be run.
Upside: Atari lawsuits. Turbine wins, and I'd bet Hasbro would love doing business with WB.
Yes, I am a gamer girl. Dungeons and Dragons Online: April 2006 THELANIS: Guild: Merc's Only. Trissa, Kleo, Sousake, Mulder, Roselyn, Caboose, Kaname, Scully, Courwin, Oncoming, Lanarissa, Doomlord, Tnannet, Healbotatron, keitherland, Keatheran, Allura, Riversong, Johnsmith, Jennysmith I also play Star Trek Online and LotRO, on occasion.
"Warner Bros. will pay as much as $160 million, including sums to be paid to Turbine shareholders in future years if the company meets certain financial targets."
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
The way I read that is: we're buying you, but you need to keep running your business. Which, if done correctly could mean very good news for players as now those bonuses will be based on performance. This is a good opportunity for players to excise pressure on the devs to get shit done. Now players have the upper hand.
You have an unrealistically optomistic outlook.
I have strong doubts that this will be of any benefi to the fun of the players of Turbine's games. It's almost like Turbine has been run by morons for the last coupe of weeks
- Delay the 3-year anniversary events in Lotro
- "The Wall" of DDO - Up, broken and exploitaive, changed in a few days,down in record time.
It all makes me wonder who was in a coma and left the janitor in charge of the company...
I asked Meaghen about the delay on the DDO forums. They found a glitch in the shared bank that is stopping the Spring festival.
Yes, I am a gamer girl. Dungeons and Dragons Online: April 2006 THELANIS: Guild: Merc's Only. Trissa, Kleo, Sousake, Mulder, Roselyn, Caboose, Kaname, Scully, Courwin, Oncoming, Lanarissa, Doomlord, Tnannet, Healbotatron, keitherland, Keatheran, Allura, Riversong, Johnsmith, Jennysmith I also play Star Trek Online and LotRO, on occasion.
Well obviously with turbine being a bit of lame duck (poor profit forecasts) making it buyable in the first place, WB has decided to purchase a ready made studio to expand and develop their own game ideas, the sale has nothing to do with their current portfolio that's for sure and is all about future business.
Originally posted by Thillian Originally posted by BowWake
Originally posted by Thillian
Originally posted by Deadalon I find it strange why noone is asking why? Was Turbine sturggling ? As for a gaming point of view. I can't see this as good news. Turbine is no longer in charge of their own games and we have seen what that means for MMOs through the years... Just look at how EA has closed down many MMO games and studios time and time again when they dont deliver triple the money back that is put into the project.
Of course they were struggling. How long do you think they can keep up the numbers being positive with majority of their playerbase being F2P players?
Interestingly enough, taking DDO to F2P (with the "premium" program and microtransacions) hs made DDO FAR more proftable than it has been since shrtly after original release. And that early money counts people buying the game. And no smart CEO of a film/television conglomerate will sanction the purchase of a company that does not have a profitable business they can capitalize upon. Or just raid and dump. Look forward to WB taking away the various IP licenses,folding the into a new division of WB, and then selling Turbine off to someone else with only Asheron's Call left to Turbine's name. I wasn't talking about F2P players in DDO. I was talking about F2P in Lord of the Rings Online where majority of the community based on numerous official forum polls revealed that over 60% of the playerbase are already on lifetime which they bought at least 1 year ago. The lifetime offer was worth of 12 months of subscribtion (around 120-150$), and so 60% of its playerbase is basically now F2P players. I was asking this myself. Do many people pay for DDO or are most players there Freebies? Do many people pay for Lotro or are many of them Lifetime subs? Do many people pay for AC1 or is the game just nostalgica?
Ok, one could ask "Do many people pay for EVE, or are many accounts there paid with ingame currency?"
I think alot of people are overlooking one potential upside to all of this, and that is the marketing increase that Turbine will get out of it.
I remember when the AC2 expansion came out, I went to my local Gameshop (intentional misspelling) to pick up 2 copies for myself and my girlfriend. When I got there, on release day no less, Was there a single poster, sign, display, or other materials? No. In fact, the 2 copies weren't even on the shelf, but in the back. Of all the problems Turbine had with AC2, all the bugs, all the mismanagement... it was, IMO, the lack of grasping opportunities to market the product to the masses that killed my favorite MMO.
I look at how LOTRO and DDO are marketed, or NOT marketed, and I see alot of the same thing. Go to your local software store and look at the MMO section. You'll see six columns of WoW, three of AOC/WH, and if your lucky you might find one facing of LOTRO, and that's likely the original game, not any expansions. There will be WoW signage all over the place (I half expect Blizzard to show up at my door asking to put up a billboard in my yard), but no advertising for ANY Turbine product.
Now, they have at their disposal, and likely as a requirement, the marketing arm of one of the largest entertainment companies IN THE WORLD. I can see LOTRO being adverted at the beginning of every WB DVD/Bluray. I could potentially see new IPs being demo'd at kiosks in theatres, along with the other video games. Get 10 minutes of play time in the new Batman MMOG... or something. Will that happen? Maybe not, heck PROBABLY not, but it's something to think about. And at this point ANY advertising Turbine can get would be an improvement.
Is there cause for worry? Definitely. WB isn't much different than Sony, TCF, Universal, or any other big name conglomerate. They are about the bottom line. But I can't imagine WB grabbed Turbine thinking they *wouldn't* make money. I would expect WB to make the resources available for Turbine to succeed, and then put the screws to them if they squander it.
Of course, only time will really tell, and I have certainly been wrong before.
As an aside, I am hoping some brilliant studio manages to grab the IP an develop a VeggieTales MMO. I can think of thousands of folks sitting in Dalaran RIGHT NOW who would be right at home with The Pirates that Don't Do Anything.
soundsl ike another way for the big movie studios to pick up some more change on their movies once released by charging people to play the game they make based on the movies to help support the losses at the box office for putting out these shitty movies they keep pumping out...
Comments
My thoughts. I dont think WB with meddle with the existing MMOs. But it is way too early to say what will come. Lets be calm and wait and see.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
It's all folk songs and crying when you try to hold onto the dreams of yesterday whilst struggling against the tide of overwhelming corporate greed. Such is the downfall of unchecked capitalism. What is spit out of factory lines like so many carbon copies is bereft of nuance. That very spice that makes such endeavors palatable is lost in the inexorable grind toward mass appeal and in the end the dessicated corpse of what used to be a great and promising genre will be left to rot in its wake.
Warbine kinda has a ring to it doncha think?
just locked in the domain
What are your other Hobbies?
Gaming is Dirt Cheap compared to this...
I personally think that WB wont change lotro at all. They may follow EA's example when they bought out Bio aka gave them money and let them get on with it, giving use Dragon Age and ME2! (Hope they dont do what EA did with Mythic though)
Id say deeper pockets are better for the game in the long run (may get more devs in) and just in time. As we should be expecting news on the next c-pack soon. They will also have the power/money to advertise the game better, especially when the hobbit comes out.
Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing how it pans out and wont stop playing the game (unlike some of the doom and gloomers on the forums, aka Im quiting now' posts.
Incorrect. DDO is doing far better than it has ever done. They soldthe company at a PROFIT. Smart, business wise.
BUt it could be bad. We need an state of game from WB, partictulary for DDO. FOr I predict people stopping to purchase of points until knowledge of thegame is still going to be run.
Upside: Atari lawsuits. Turbine wins, and I'd bet Hasbro would love doing business with WB.
Yes, I am a gamer girl.
Dungeons and Dragons Online: April 2006
THELANIS: Guild: Merc's Only. Trissa, Kleo, Sousake, Mulder, Roselyn, Caboose, Kaname, Scully, Courwin, Oncoming, Lanarissa, Doomlord, Tnannet, Healbotatron, keitherland, Keatheran, Allura, Riversong, Johnsmith, Jennysmith
I also play Star Trek Online and LotRO, on occasion.
I asked Meaghen about the delay on the DDO forums. They found a glitch in the shared bank that is stopping the Spring festival.
Yes, I am a gamer girl.
Dungeons and Dragons Online: April 2006
THELANIS: Guild: Merc's Only. Trissa, Kleo, Sousake, Mulder, Roselyn, Caboose, Kaname, Scully, Courwin, Oncoming, Lanarissa, Doomlord, Tnannet, Healbotatron, keitherland, Keatheran, Allura, Riversong, Johnsmith, Jennysmith
I also play Star Trek Online and LotRO, on occasion.
Well obviously with turbine being a bit of lame duck (poor profit forecasts) making it buyable in the first place, WB has decided to purchase a ready made studio to expand and develop their own game ideas, the sale has nothing to do with their current portfolio that's for sure and is all about future business.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Interestingly enough, taking DDO to F2P (with the "premium" program and microtransacions) hs made DDO FAR more proftable than it has been since shrtly after original release. And that early money counts people buying the game.
And no smart CEO of a film/television conglomerate will sanction the purchase of a company that does not have a profitable business they can capitalize upon. Or just raid and dump.
Look forward to WB taking away the various IP licenses,folding the into a new division of WB, and then selling Turbine off to someone else with only Asheron's Call left to Turbine's name.
I wasn't talking about F2P players in DDO. I was talking about F2P in Lord of the Rings Online where majority of the community based on numerous official forum polls revealed that over 60% of the playerbase are already on lifetime which they bought at least 1 year ago. The lifetime offer was worth of 12 months of subscribtion (around 120-150$), and so 60% of its playerbase is basically now F2P players.
I was asking this myself.
Do many people pay for DDO or are most players there Freebies?
Do many people pay for Lotro or are many of them Lifetime subs?
Do many people pay for AC1 or is the game just nostalgica?
Ok, one could ask "Do many people pay for EVE, or are many accounts there paid with ingame currency?"
A good IP for sure. I loved the show back in the day.
However, after seeing what happens to well-known IPs when they goe MMO - I dread seeing my favourites (like Dune) mentioned now.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
It seems WB is one step closer to ruling the world. Corporate tyrants.
Our spirit was here long before you
Long before us
And long will it be after your pride brings you to your end
I think the worst but hope for the best.
But I really think no good can come from this. I hope I am wrong.
It's not all that bad, just imagine the possibilities!
Gone with the Wind Online!...ok, i'm gonna go shoot myself lol
Fingers crossed for Dawson's Creek Online!
I think alot of people are overlooking one potential upside to all of this, and that is the marketing increase that Turbine will get out of it.
I remember when the AC2 expansion came out, I went to my local Gameshop (intentional misspelling) to pick up 2 copies for myself and my girlfriend. When I got there, on release day no less, Was there a single poster, sign, display, or other materials? No. In fact, the 2 copies weren't even on the shelf, but in the back. Of all the problems Turbine had with AC2, all the bugs, all the mismanagement... it was, IMO, the lack of grasping opportunities to market the product to the masses that killed my favorite MMO.
I look at how LOTRO and DDO are marketed, or NOT marketed, and I see alot of the same thing. Go to your local software store and look at the MMO section. You'll see six columns of WoW, three of AOC/WH, and if your lucky you might find one facing of LOTRO, and that's likely the original game, not any expansions. There will be WoW signage all over the place (I half expect Blizzard to show up at my door asking to put up a billboard in my yard), but no advertising for ANY Turbine product.
Now, they have at their disposal, and likely as a requirement, the marketing arm of one of the largest entertainment companies IN THE WORLD. I can see LOTRO being adverted at the beginning of every WB DVD/Bluray. I could potentially see new IPs being demo'd at kiosks in theatres, along with the other video games. Get 10 minutes of play time in the new Batman MMOG... or something. Will that happen? Maybe not, heck PROBABLY not, but it's something to think about. And at this point ANY advertising Turbine can get would be an improvement.
Is there cause for worry? Definitely. WB isn't much different than Sony, TCF, Universal, or any other big name conglomerate. They are about the bottom line. But I can't imagine WB grabbed Turbine thinking they *wouldn't* make money. I would expect WB to make the resources available for Turbine to succeed, and then put the screws to them if they squander it.
Of course, only time will really tell, and I have certainly been wrong before.
As an aside, I am hoping some brilliant studio manages to grab the IP an develop a VeggieTales MMO. I can think of thousands of folks sitting in Dalaran RIGHT NOW who would be right at home with The Pirates that Don't Do Anything.
soundsl ike another way for the big movie studios to pick up some more change on their movies once released by charging people to play the game they make based on the movies to help support the losses at the box office for putting out these shitty movies they keep pumping out...
http://www.forceofarms.com/index.php