SoE to publish Vanguard - Page 17

Andric d'Regor · 05-06-2006, 10:41 AM

maybe one side effect will be that the Vanguard forums will lose most of the loons and actually be borderline usefull...? ok thats a bit much to hope for

tjac · 05-06-2006, 10:42 AM

Sony Station offers

Everquest II
Everquest
Star Wars Galaxies
Matrix Online
Planetside
3 additional EQ spinoffs
Cosmic Rift
Tanarus
Infantry Online

Not sure if I am missing anything. Anyway, this bundle looks pretty stale to me, and I do not see how Vanguard can do much better than par with this SOE association. I sort of liken it to GM having a whole bunch of redundant vehicle models that just end up weakly competing against each other and driving customers to other makes.

If anyone with guts was doing the decision making, EQ should have completely transitioned into EQ2, character imports and all. And Vanguard, even if co-published by SOE, should remain independent of the Station package.

Lenaldo · 05-06-2006, 10:43 AM

Meh... I am not sure how much having SoE as a publisher will affect the game... but I really hope that means SoE will have some affect on the stability of the servers...

Lets face it.. EQii servers are only down for a short amount of time for patches. The patches seem to go relatively smooth and I havn't noticed weekly maitenance....

WoW's servers are HORRID and they can't successfully patch the game to save their lives... the only reason i think they rarely patch is because everytime they do they piss off the playerbase with the long downtime.....

If merging with soe means we get the same stability that eqii seems to have.. im all for it.... as long as the money-grabbng bullshit is left out!

GrobbeeTrull · 05-06-2006, 10:44 AM

Nonsense! There can't be positives to this deal!

How dare you!

Etadanik · 05-06-2006, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorrac

SOE's mimicking NCSoft's policy - they going for the MMO cluster deal.

It's far more than NCSoft's policy. Practically every major vendor of MMOs in Asia use this model. Sony is still a Japanese corporation at the end of the day: regardless of how independent SoE is, their interest in Asia is not diminished (soga models, concurrent releases of MMOs in Japan & Korea, etc.)

Neric · 05-06-2006, 10:55 AM

Damn, I can't get rid of this picture in my mind. Imagine a press conference in Yalta 1942...

Roosevelt: Ladies and gentlement, we have decided to end our relationships with our former allies from Russia (Stalin leaves the room). Let me please introduce to you our new allies from Germany (in comes Hitler).
Hitler: Guten Tag!

Laerazi · 05-06-2006, 10:56 AM

So is this thread officially over now?

Maxxius · 05-06-2006, 11:02 AM

When Brad left EQ and started up Sigil, the touting was that he would design the "Next Generation" product. He obviously sold that idea to Microsoft, who bought in and started funding the project. They were funding this project for what, four years? Which funding would include payroll (the biggest expense of most companies), equipment and office expenses. And in the interim WOW came out, blindsided the competition and increased the market tenfold.

Lately rumors hit websites (this one especially) how Beta was not going well for Vanguard, the game was not fun, few people even bothering to beta it, etc.. Brad, understandably, attempted damage control, but in the process made statements that I have to believe MS didn't like, namely that he was looking at "niche" numbers to qualify as success (100k a month subscriptions vs 5 million),and that he will continue to take his time developing the game to "his" vision with MS continuing to foot the bills.

Now MS has tons of money and they I am sure are not reluctant to expend funds in continual research and develpment. But sometimes certain projects just no longer seem worth pursuing and losses have to be cut.

It just seems so obvious that that is what has happened here. They are not thrilled with the project, it is not paning out to how it was originally sold to them, and they want to cut their losses as best they can.

Unless some serious changes are planned for VG, I am getting the feeling that it will wind up being nothing more than a niche game catering to a small market that just wants to play in a virtual world for the bulk of their free time.

Now if you combine the best of WOW with the best of EQ, you might have a kick ass product.

Cybsled · 05-06-2006, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Roosevelt: Ladies and gentlement, we have decided to end our relationships with our former allies from Russia (Stalin leaves the room). Let me please introduce to you our new allies from Germany (in comes Hitler).
Hitler: Guten Tag!

Well, on the bright side it would have saved us on all the cold war bullshit ;p

"Fun" Fact: Stalin's Russia murdered far more people then Hitler's Germany!

The Allies didnt trust Russia farther then they could throw their shoe, but they did recognize the logistical benefits of maintaining that alliance.

nyx · 05-06-2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maxxius

Lately rumors hit websites (this one especially) how Beta was not going well for Vanguard, the game was not fun, few people even bothering to beta it, etc.. Brad, understandably, attempted damage control, but in the process made statements that I have to believe MS didn't like, namely that he was looking at "niche" numbers to qualify as success (100k a month subscriptions vs 5 million),and that he will continue to take his time developing the game to "his" vision with MS continuing to foot the bills.

Sigil has the opportunity to cut some losses here and hire fresh blood. And if the rumors about beta are true, they must, if they want a good product. Nepatism can be bad for a company if it is full of dead weight. But again, basing my opinion on the frothing of rabid Sigil-haters is not very fair. So I say, give me a damn beta invite.

Utnayan · 05-06-2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laerazi

Many of Vanguard's intended gameplay elements are not functioning properly or in the game at all

4 years into development I hope you do not think this is a good thing.

No wonder why MS dumped them.

Drauk · 05-06-2006, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cybsled

"Fun" Fact: Stalin's Russia murdered far more people then Hitler's Germany!

Bullshit. Unless you don't count WWII victims as killed by Hitler.

Rough estimate of WWII victims - 25 millions
Rough estimate of people died from Stalin's regime - 2 millons

Laerazi · 05-06-2006, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Utnayan

4 years into development I hope you do not think this is a good thing.

No wonder why MS dumped them.

Let me rephrase; many of the gameplay systems in the game aren't at 100%, obviously. Brad has stated that they are building the game in layers, and each part of the game is going to end up at different phases. Some will be more solid than others.

I don't think you can accurately determine how well the game is going to turn out when there are elements that won't be nearly the same come release. That is all I'm saying.

I didn't mean to imply that the game is non-functioning and unplayable.

Slick Willey · 05-06-2006, 11:32 AM

Quote:

Market saturation in the MMORPG realm also isnt a problem if you own the market. They might not be able to match WoW game for game, but if they own the other 90% of the MMORPG market, they might win the war.

ROFL! SOE is soooooooo far from even being close to this. Prediction: Even with Vanguard, SOE's stable of games won't match WoW's North American subscribers. Good grief, doesn't FFXI have more subscribers than all of SOE's games combined?

P.S. Reolien01 -- you are now the undisputed official FoH Forum Vanboy. Seriously, are you hoping for a job with Sigil or something?

Quineloe · 05-06-2006, 11:39 AM

Aradune, Smed

Does this mean that subscriptions etc will be handled by the station?
Sony GMs will run CS?

05-06-2006, 10:41 AM	#241 (permalink)
Andric d'Regor Registered User Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: London Posts: 414 -1 Internets	maybe one side effect will be that the Vanguard forums will lose most of the loons and actually be borderline usefull...? ok thats a bit much to hope for __________________ Staniforth -Swashbuckler The Blackhand Runnyeye

05-06-2006, 10:42 AM	#242 (permalink)
tjac Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,628 -18 Internets	sony station value Sony Station offers Everquest II Everquest Star Wars Galaxies Matrix Online Planetside 3 additional EQ spinoffs Cosmic Rift Tanarus Infantry Online Not sure if I am missing anything. Anyway, this bundle looks pretty stale to me, and I do not see how Vanguard can do much better than par with this SOE association. I sort of liken it to GM having a whole bunch of redundant vehicle models that just end up weakly competing against each other and driving customers to other makes. If anyone with guts was doing the decision making, EQ should have completely transitioned into EQ2, character imports and all. And Vanguard, even if co-published by SOE, should remain independent of the Station package.

05-06-2006, 10:55 AM	#246 (permalink)
Neric <insert funny comment here> Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,996 -6 Internets	Damn, I can't get rid of this picture in my mind. Imagine a press conference in Yalta 1942... Roosevelt: Ladies and gentlement, we have decided to end our relationships with our former allies from Russia (Stalin leaves the room). Let me please introduce to you our new allies from Germany (in comes Hitler). Hitler: Guten Tag! __________________ All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. - Arthur Schopenhauer

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05-06-2006, 10:43 AM	#243 (permalink)
Lenaldo Registered User Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 1,433 -21 Internets	Meh... I am not sure how much having SoE as a publisher will affect the game... but I really hope that means SoE will have some affect on the stability of the servers... Lets face it.. EQii servers are only down for a short amount of time for patches. The patches seem to go relatively smooth and I havn't noticed weekly maitenance.... WoW's servers are HORRID and they can't successfully patch the game to save their lives... the only reason i think they rarely patch is because everytime they do they piss off the playerbase with the long downtime..... If merging with soe means we get the same stability that eqii seems to have.. im all for it.... as long as the money-grabbng bullshit is left out!

05-06-2006, 10:44 AM	#244 (permalink)
GrobbeeTrull Banned Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Springfield, Ohio Posts: 1,685 +0 Internets	Nonsense! There can't be positives to this deal! How dare you!

05-06-2006, 10:56 AM	#247 (permalink)
Laerazi Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Earth Posts: 1,288 -2 Internets	So is this thread officially over now?

05-06-2006, 11:02 AM	#248 (permalink)
Maxxius Banned Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: n/a Posts: 1,607 +1 Internets	When Brad left EQ and started up Sigil, the touting was that he would design the "Next Generation" product. He obviously sold that idea to Microsoft, who bought in and started funding the project. They were funding this project for what, four years? Which funding would include payroll (the biggest expense of most companies), equipment and office expenses. And in the interim WOW came out, blindsided the competition and increased the market tenfold. Lately rumors hit websites (this one especially) how Beta was not going well for Vanguard, the game was not fun, few people even bothering to beta it, etc.. Brad, understandably, attempted damage control, but in the process made statements that I have to believe MS didn't like, namely that he was looking at "niche" numbers to qualify as success (100k a month subscriptions vs 5 million),and that he will continue to take his time developing the game to "his" vision with MS continuing to foot the bills. Now MS has tons of money and they I am sure are not reluctant to expend funds in continual research and develpment. But sometimes certain projects just no longer seem worth pursuing and losses have to be cut. It just seems so obvious that that is what has happened here. They are not thrilled with the project, it is not paning out to how it was originally sold to them, and they want to cut their losses as best they can. Unless some serious changes are planned for VG, I am getting the feeling that it will wind up being nothing more than a niche game catering to a small market that just wants to play in a virtual world for the bulk of their free time. Now if you combine the best of WOW with the best of EQ, you might have a kick ass product.

05-06-2006, 11:39 AM	#255 (permalink)
Quineloe Hard Rock Hallelujah Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 9,608	Aradune, Smed Does this mean that subscriptions etc will be handled by the station? Sony GMs will run CS?