YEARS of development, imagination, creativity, ingenuity, ... DOWN THE DRAIN!
The chances of EQN actually being made are slim to none.
Why? Because investment firm BUSINESS MOTHERFUCKERS with NO REGARD for customers or employees decided to take over.
... RIP EQN....
.... One of the last hopes of MMORPG genre....
(
Ok, let's not overreact.
Funny how your point of contention was whether or not EQN was the next great hope for MMORPGs
EQN deserves its fate and everyone responsible for coming up with such crap. Lesson learned. Don't make shitty games, don't get sold off and fired like a turd.
Originally posted by andre369 Now, not only will EQN be casual. It will be casual and pay to whatever you define as winning.
I had little hope in the game as it was, now that a investment corp is in charge.. There is zero chance of EQN, being an actual game world. Yet another themepark with tacked on sandbox features with a cash shop.
Good start to 2015.
I agree. I have virtually no interest in EQN at this point. None of my friends have any interest in EQN either. To me EQN seems like a shallow console-focused piece of garbage.
Perhaps that is why Sony sold it off and the new people in charge are changing things up.
Smokejumper was brought on to EQ2 specifically to bring the F2P and cash shop model to it. The first official words out of his mouth on the EQ2 boards was to deny this and his first official action was to institute F2P and a cash shop.
His EQ2 career started with a lie and he was never trusted by the old EQ2 crowd again. He sold his soul to corporate and, in the end, it did him no good.
I always kinda felt that david had a unrealistic view of some things, like the community building the game. And like someone mentioned above, there seemed to be somewhat of a fakeamile on his face haha. Ita good to move forward in the mmorpg lanscape absolutely, but they might just be trying too hard.. Destroying everything..i dunno man.. The rest of the features would have been more than enough mabye. Anyway, i hope the new people steppin in are like us, sick of this snale-paced developement. Hope they dont rush it or cancel it
I said it the day we heard about the buyout, I think EQN will be cancelled soon. If you think about it, every dollar spent on EQN so far was SONY/SOE money. Add to that, the first round of layoffs are tied to the EQ franchise and you can read between the lines.
What you have to ask yourselves is this; will CN really spend 50 or 100 million dollars finishing an MMO they have absolutlely no cash invested in, or will they use that money to develop half a dozen mobile games all with earning potential?
I think Daybreak are out of the MMO development business and we'll see no more updates or expansions for the existing ones. They'll go into maintenance mode until the die off and just get milked for whatever cash they can get. That or they'll be sold off.
I said it the day we heard about the buyout, I think EQN will be cancelled soon. If you think about it, every dollar spent on EQN so far was SONY/SOE money. Add to that, the first round of layoffs are tied to the EQ franchise and you can read between the lines.
What you have to ask yourselves is this; will CN really spend 50 or 100 million dollars finishing an MMO they have absolutlely no cash invested in, or will they use that money to develop half a dozen mobile games all with earning potential?
I think Daybreak are out of the MMO development business and we'll see no more updates or expansions for the existing ones. They'll go into maintenance mode until the die off and just get milked for whatever cash they can get. That or they'll be sold off.
Microsoft has already stated today that despite the buyout, they will not allow former SOE titles to be ported over to Xbox.
Source? That sounds rather ridiculous, how would they PREVENT that, especially if it adds to their games portfolio?
Played: Pretty much any fantasy MMO, some did not even make it to release ... Favorites: UO, EQ2, Vanguard, Wurm Online, Salem, ESO, Creativerse Playing: ESO, Creativerse, Guild Wars 2 Anticipating: (sigh) ... maybe Ashes of Creation
I wonder whether SOE really had any other options before it was forced to jettison itself to scumbags:
"Sony Corporation reported its financial results for the financial year ending 31 March 2014 Wednesday. With a wide range of products and divisions reporting, and the numbers broken out to provide greater transparency, the stand-out number for many will still be the ¥128.4 billion (approximately $1.26 billion) net loss, and ¥124.99 ($1.21) loss per share ."
"A ¥8.1 billion ($78 million) operating loss, against a narrow positive income of ¥1.7 billion in the prior year, was related to the cost of launching the PS4."
"Much of that loss was composed of a ¥6.2 billion write-off in Sony Online Entertainment, which incurred costs in development its as-yet-unreleased Everquest Next and H1Z1."
You assume there is enough of a development team left to work on EQN
Far more than just two people were let go.
Typical corp lay offs, upper management was let go. The real grunt workers are there and the staff just below upper management will have to step up for the same pay I am sure. At this point I would like to know if the people in charge now will be headed in the direction they were given from people like David and Steve or are they being handed new direction to take things? At this point it seems anything is fair game so all we can do is wait and see.
So far, the EQNext/Landmark design team seems to be mostly intact (well the ones known to work on it with a twitter). Only missing confirmation for Terry, Rosie, Jeff and Darrin. None of them changed their twitters description that says they work on Landmark/EQNext but none commented on twitter about leaving or staying either.
Landmark/EQNext has currently lost 1 producer, 1 lore/content guy (there are others) and Dave...along with a CM.
Regardless of the ultimate outcome, the current vision for the game just changed if it ever ships at all. I'm not surprised given the recent sale but disappointed nonetheless. I see vaporware. I hope I am wrong.
I guess I'm in the minority, I'm glad he's gone. For all of you that are torn emotionally over this, ask yourself what real purpose did he serve in the actual development of any of the EQ franchise games. Same with "Brasse" Linda Carison and a handful of other people that got layed off today.
Majority of the layoffs were management ones, and community relationes or liason type jobs that could easily be cut and served very little purpose in the development of the games. They were positions to either to stay in touch with the playerbase or people like in David Georgeson's case a guy who just managed people and reported to Smedley, easily a position that could be let go.
I only saw a couple of cases were they fired a developer or artist, and no coders so far that I see from the list that we know off. Thank goodness, although I'd be glad if they let some of the old developers go, as their creativity is seriously lacking with the type of content they are putting out nowadays.
The direction EQ1 has taken over the last few years, I for one am glad they are getting rid of some of these folks, if it means they are rethinking the vision of EQ franchise.
There is no other reason to fire Dave and Lynda except cancelling EQN
Let me just explain:
For outside, he was the face behind EQ. And a very popular one. This sends a very bad signal to players, media, investors. Gets everyone worried.
For inside. Removing long time team leader is like cutting head of a team. Confusion , uncertanty , and long re-adjustment periods ensues - coupled with politics and side taking.
If you want to grind project to halt for long time, this is what you do. If you want it to work faster and more efficiently - you never do this.
There is no other reason to fire Dave and Lynda except cancelling EQN
Except neither of them are of paramount importance to the development process, and if theres one thing the last couple of years has proven, its that you need no spokesperson or even real substance to hype the shit out of a game. That was literally what their jobs at SOE were collectively.
I guess I'm in the minority, I'm glad he's gone. For all of you that are torn emotionally over this, ask yourself what real purpose did he serve in the actual development of any of the EQ franchise games. Same with "Brasse" Linda Carison and a handful of other people that got layed off today.
Majority of the layoffs were management ones, and community relationes or liason type jobs that could easily be cut and served very little purpose in the development of the games. They were positions to either to stay in touch with the playerbase or people like in David Georgeson's case a guy who just managed people and reported to Smedley, easily a position that could be let go.
I only saw a couple of cases were they fired a developer or artist, and no coders so far that I see from the list that we know off. Thank goodness, although I'd be glad if they let some of the old developers go, as their creativity is seriously lacking with the type of content they are putting out nowadays.
The direction EQ1 has taken over the last few years, I for one am glad they are getting rid of some of these folks, if it means they are rethinking the vision of EQ franchise.
Of course, the coders are needed to develop mobile games, which is likely the only thinng that made SOE worth anything to CN.
Hey folks. Author here. Just wanted to note this link I found on Reddit. Running list of those who got let go from Daybreak. It's a lot to process for me, personally.
So many fools complaining about restructuring a company that's delivered mostly garbage for the past decade. SoE games can only go up at this point. Daybreak ruining EQN? Lmao I don't see how they could do any worse then a Disney themed, Neverwinter combat crap-shoot.
I'm not sure what Smed has been doing these long 10 years but it's clearly not working. Maybe someone will fire all the idiots that completely ruined EQ1 and made EQ2 a giant laughing stock since launch. Many good things are possible now that fresh eyes are on the dying studio that was SoE. Maybe they can even resurrect something from the sea of failed games that SoE closed down.
Honestly the only thing shocking thing about all this is the fact Smed still has a job.
Originally posted by BadSpock Who honestly thinks it's NOT time for major change in a studio that hasn't released a "hit" in over a decade, and whose latest reveal (EQN/Landmark) fell on deaf ears and massive disappointment?
On topic, hope this means some real positive development changes. Some devs can be too passionate and not get anything done, dunno if this was the case here tho.
Whether the games survive or not, layoffs are tremendously detrimental to a company. Morale plummets, productions slow, and most of the day is spent with colleagues discussing what has happened, what it means, and how it will impact the people remaining. Remaining key people, if they are not reassured or monetarily rewarded, will start looking for new homes. Resentment festers. It will take Daybreak a year to 18 months to recover internally from this, if it ever does. Whatever the outcome for the games, it will not be a happy place to work unless a charismatic leader is able to provide substantial and effective direction.
Whether the games survive or not, layoffs are tremendously detrimental to a company. Morale plummets, productions slow, and most of the day is spent with colleagues discussing what has happened, what it means, and how it will impact the people remaining. Remaining key people, if they are not reassured or monetarily rewarded, will start looking for new homes. Resentment festers. It will take Daybreak a year to 18 months to recover internally from this, if it ever does. Whatever the outcome for the games, it will not be a happy place to work unless a charismatic leader is able to provide substantial and effective direction.
If those remaining aren't over it and productive by next week, I doubt they'll last the month. These guys are about business.
I have said it again. This Investment firm is after the EverQuest franchise.
They can sell this for big bucks and depending how desperate Sony was to get rid of SOE, they probably bought it for a good price and will be able to make a lot of profit by just selling off the EverQuest franchise to the highest bidder!
I am pretty sure there will be some big studios lining up to get their hands on the EverQuest franchise.
Then there is the new game engine they are developing, that might be of interest to this Investment firm to develop further into a licensable Product. Especially if it´s a cross platform engine, they can License it out for big bucks to other studios.
In either case. This isn´t going to end well for the current staff. MMO´s have lost their charm, their moment and it´s no longer a genre of main interest to investors.
Comments
EQN deserves its fate and everyone responsible for coming up with such crap. Lesson learned. Don't make shitty games, don't get sold off and fired like a turd.
I agree. I have virtually no interest in EQN at this point. None of my friends have any interest in EQN either. To me EQN seems like a shallow console-focused piece of garbage.
Perhaps that is why Sony sold it off and the new people in charge are changing things up.
If its broke then fix it.
Smokejumper was brought on to EQ2 specifically to bring the F2P and cash shop model to it. The first official words out of his mouth on the EQ2 boards was to deny this and his first official action was to institute F2P and a cash shop.
His EQ2 career started with a lie and he was never trusted by the old EQ2 crowd again. He sold his soul to corporate and, in the end, it did him no good.
Anyway, i hope the new people steppin in are like us, sick of this snale-paced developement. Hope they dont rush it or cancel it
I said it the day we heard about the buyout, I think EQN will be cancelled soon. If you think about it, every dollar spent on EQN so far was SONY/SOE money. Add to that, the first round of layoffs are tied to the EQ franchise and you can read between the lines.
What you have to ask yourselves is this; will CN really spend 50 or 100 million dollars finishing an MMO they have absolutlely no cash invested in, or will they use that money to develop half a dozen mobile games all with earning potential?
I think Daybreak are out of the MMO development business and we'll see no more updates or expansions for the existing ones. They'll go into maintenance mode until the die off and just get milked for whatever cash they can get. That or they'll be sold off.
Precisely.
It's over. This is the moment in which it's over.
It would be naive to think otherwise.
Source? That sounds rather ridiculous, how would they PREVENT that, especially if it adds to their games portfolio?
Played: Pretty much any fantasy MMO, some did not even make it to release ...
Favorites: UO, EQ2, Vanguard, Wurm Online, Salem, ESO, Creativerse
Playing: ESO, Creativerse, Guild Wars 2
Anticipating: (sigh) ... maybe Ashes of Creation
I wonder whether SOE really had any other options before it was forced to jettison itself to scumbags:
"Sony Corporation reported its financial results for the financial year ending 31 March 2014 Wednesday. With a wide range of products and divisions reporting, and the numbers broken out to provide greater transparency, the stand-out number for many will still be the ¥128.4 billion (approximately $1.26 billion) net loss, and ¥124.99 ($1.21) loss per share ."
"A ¥8.1 billion ($78 million) operating loss, against a narrow positive income of ¥1.7 billion in the prior year, was related to the cost of launching the PS4."
"Much of that loss was composed of a ¥6.2 billion write-off in Sony Online Entertainment, which incurred costs in development its as-yet-unreleased Everquest Next and H1Z1."
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/danielnyegriffiths/2014/05/14/sony-fy-2014-earnings-winning-the-console-battle-losing-the-profits-war/)
So far, the EQNext/Landmark design team seems to be mostly intact (well the ones known to work on it with a twitter). Only missing confirmation for Terry, Rosie, Jeff and Darrin. None of them changed their twitters description that says they work on Landmark/EQNext but none commented on twitter about leaving or staying either.
Landmark/EQNext has currently lost 1 producer, 1 lore/content guy (there are others) and Dave...along with a CM.
Is there a source for this anywhere? I am not seeing this mentioned anywhere.
Could you please link a source? I'm trying to read up on all the info I can about the situation.
Seaspite
Playing ESO on my X-Box
I guess I'm in the minority, I'm glad he's gone. For all of you that are torn emotionally over this, ask yourself what real purpose did he serve in the actual development of any of the EQ franchise games. Same with "Brasse" Linda Carison and a handful of other people that got layed off today.
Majority of the layoffs were management ones, and community relationes or liason type jobs that could easily be cut and served very little purpose in the development of the games. They were positions to either to stay in touch with the playerbase or people like in David Georgeson's case a guy who just managed people and reported to Smedley, easily a position that could be let go.
I only saw a couple of cases were they fired a developer or artist, and no coders so far that I see from the list that we know off. Thank goodness, although I'd be glad if they let some of the old developers go, as their creativity is seriously lacking with the type of content they are putting out nowadays.
The direction EQ1 has taken over the last few years, I for one am glad they are getting rid of some of these folks, if it means they are rethinking the vision of EQ franchise.
There is no other reason to fire Dave and Lynda except cancelling EQN
Let me just explain:
For outside, he was the face behind EQ. And a very popular one. This sends a very bad signal to players, media, investors. Gets everyone worried.
For inside. Removing long time team leader is like cutting head of a team. Confusion , uncertanty , and long re-adjustment periods ensues - coupled with politics and side taking.
If you want to grind project to halt for long time, this is what you do. If you want it to work faster and more efficiently - you never do this.
Except neither of them are of paramount importance to the development process, and if theres one thing the last couple of years has proven, its that you need no spokesperson or even real substance to hype the shit out of a game. That was literally what their jobs at SOE were collectively.
Of course, the coders are needed to develop mobile games, which is likely the only thinng that made SOE worth anything to CN.
Hey folks. Author here. Just wanted to note this link I found on Reddit. Running list of those who got let go from Daybreak. It's a lot to process for me, personally.
http://www.reddit.com/r/EQNext/comments/2vmg2t/master_list_of_developers_affected_by_the_layoffs/
A writer and gamer from the Philippines. Loves his mom dearly.
Can also be found on http://www.gamesandgeekery.com
So many fools complaining about restructuring a company that's delivered mostly garbage for the past decade. SoE games can only go up at this point. Daybreak ruining EQN? Lmao I don't see how they could do any worse then a Disney themed, Neverwinter combat crap-shoot.
I'm not sure what Smed has been doing these long 10 years but it's clearly not working. Maybe someone will fire all the idiots that completely ruined EQ1 and made EQ2 a giant laughing stock since launch. Many good things are possible now that fresh eyes are on the dying studio that was SoE. Maybe they can even resurrect something from the sea of failed games that SoE closed down.
Honestly the only thing shocking thing about all this is the fact Smed still has a job.
mmorpg junkie since 1999
Suzie Ford's word of the week: tenure.
On topic, hope this means some real positive development changes. Some devs can be too passionate and not get anything done, dunno if this was the case here tho.
http://kompaniet.mine.nu :+: #kompaniet @ QuakeNet
Whether the games survive or not, layoffs are tremendously detrimental to a company. Morale plummets, productions slow, and most of the day is spent with colleagues discussing what has happened, what it means, and how it will impact the people remaining. Remaining key people, if they are not reassured or monetarily rewarded, will start looking for new homes. Resentment festers. It will take Daybreak a year to 18 months to recover internally from this, if it ever does. Whatever the outcome for the games, it will not be a happy place to work unless a charismatic leader is able to provide substantial and effective direction.
If those remaining aren't over it and productive by next week, I doubt they'll last the month. These guys are about business.
I have said it again. This Investment firm is after the EverQuest franchise.
They can sell this for big bucks and depending how desperate Sony was to get rid of SOE, they probably bought it for a good price and will be able to make a lot of profit by just selling off the EverQuest franchise to the highest bidder!
I am pretty sure there will be some big studios lining up to get their hands on the EverQuest franchise.
Then there is the new game engine they are developing, that might be of interest to this Investment firm to develop further into a licensable Product. Especially if it´s a cross platform engine, they can License it out for big bucks to other studios.
In either case. This isn´t going to end well for the current staff. MMO´s have lost their charm, their moment and it´s no longer a genre of main interest to investors.
Registered an account to say thank you for turning me on to Crowfall. I hadn't heard of it yet.
Crushing defeat and cautious hope in one post. Thank you, Yoottos'Horg.