Formation of NCWest
Lonesamurai
Well, i asked a couple of friends from NC Soft Europe yesterday and although neither could say anything about it, they were both very excited about things, so I'm looking forward to it aswell
Fril Estelin
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ctb
This is typical company spin.
|
P.S.: no, I'm not a carebear, or any kind of blinded gamer, it's my own balanced view of things and I'm not saying you're wrong either!
IlikeGW
Hmm... everyone's running away from Guild Wars 2, fans and devs. They might want to turn their PR machine back on by now and release some screens or something.
Operative 14
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by IlikeGW
Hmm... everyone's running away from Guild Wars 2, fans and devs. They might want to turn their PR machine back on by now and release some screens or something.
|
I have mixed ideas about how this reorganization will work out. I'm a bit worried that since NCsoft has more direct control over Anet, it might mean that NCsoft has more control over things that they really shouldn't (like monthly fees that all their other titles seem fond of, or adding more this and that to GW2). On that other hand, it would be nice if having Anet's founders at the reigns of this congolmeration might mean more and varied titles that follow GW's lead.
I suppose time will tell. Hopefully the next few months will be interesting for Arenanet and NCwest.
Regina Buenaobra
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Fril Estelin
One question I'd like to ask Regina is this: are Jeff Strain and Patrick Wyatt leaving ArenaNet for NC West and, if so, how is this going to affect ArenaNet and GW? I've got the feeling from what I read that there'll be minimal impact, but I'd like to know if you can issue a statement on that.
I sincerely hope that NC West will be a huge success, as the game they/you release are astounding and you're fighting in an arena dominated by mamoths (Blizzard Activision, EA). And grats to Jeff and Patrick for the promotion  |
Jeff Strain will be working at NC West to manage all NC West development studios across all existing and future products and he will also direct the production of NCsoft’s Asian-developed titles for NC West territories.
Pat Wyatt's role at NC West will be focusing on platform technology development, network operations, and systems engineering. However, he will still have a strong presence here at ArenaNet.
Their new roles will not impact Guild Wars very much, as we still have a good solid group of people here, including Mike O'Brien, one of the ArenaNet Founders, who is the Executive Producer for GW2 (and was Executive Producer for GW1).
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Operative 14
Umm.. not really, it's taking more of center stage it seems. (Though I agree with that last bit
I have mixed ideas about how this reorganization will work out. I'm a bit worried that since NCsoft has more direct control over Anet, it might mean that NCsoft has more control over things that they really shouldn't (like monthly fees that all their other titles seem fond of, or adding more this and that to GW2). On that other hand, it would be nice if having Anet's founders at the reigns of this congolmeration might mean more and varied titles that follow GW's lead. I suppose time will tell. Hopefully the next few months will be interesting for Arenanet and NCwest. |
Ctb
Quote:
| While what you're saying is perfectly possible |
Quote:
| So I'm enclined to think there's not much "spin", well if "standard" marketing is not considered spin anyway. |
I'm just saying, for all the people calling on Regina to give you any real meat, don't hold your breath. I'd be surprised if she even has any. If you're going to speculate on how this change affects you as a Guild Wars player, or future ANet titles, whether it will be positive or negative change, you may as well just flip a coin at this point.
And, again, I don't know anything either, and I'm not saying it's good or bad one way or the other because I have no idea. I'm just pointing out that this thread doesn't really provide anything that would be considered a hard and fast, relevant fact, and it probably never will.
Fril Estelin
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ctb
It's a business, and businesses don't divulge significant details about internal restructuring until after it's clearly and completely done, and for good reason.
|
Quote:
| I'm just pointing out that this thread doesn't really provide anything that would be considered a hard and fast, relevant fact, and it probably never will. |
We're making subjective opinions (like your opinion that ALL marketing is "spin") based on information and I can understand why people would be worried about such information (same thing with the mega-atomic-collider in Geneva a few days ago, stories of earth sucked in a black hole...), I think it's much better to have a discussion about it, however subjective, rather than let people second-guess.
Ty Regina.
illidan009
I like good ole proph better than some of these newer campaigns, but I must say ANET has been doing a pretty good job over all...congrats on the promotion and hopefully that'll do us players some good!
Operative 14
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra
ArenaNet had always reported directly to NCsoft Korea. I think you've read in interviews with the Founders that NCsoft gives ArenaNet quite a lot of freedom to do things our way. The formation of NC West will not negatively impact the way ArenaNet conducts itself within the larger company.
|
Lord-UWR
So, let me get this straight...NC West is the non-Asian aspect of NC Soft and is under direct control of A-net's Jeff Strain and its CEO and CTO are both from A-net...Meaning that Guild Wars will hopefully flourish (no monthly fees please) and have a larger support base along with all those...not as well known games of NC Soft.
However, what I really want to know is whether the 3 gentlemen leaving Anet for higher ground will still have some hand in Guild Wars 2 or not at all?
However, what I really want to know is whether the 3 gentlemen leaving Anet for higher ground will still have some hand in Guild Wars 2 or not at all?
PuppyEater
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by IlikeGW
Hmm... everyone's running away from Guild Wars 2, fans and devs. They might want to turn their PR machine back on by now and release some screens or something.
|
God knows I'm already torn and don't have enough free time to devote to 2 separate games.
cthulhu reborn
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Lord-UWR
Meaning that Guild Wars will hopefully flourish (no monthly fees please)
|
wetsparks
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by PuppyEater
Especially if they hope to have any chance of keeping potential customers from buying and settling down with something like Diablo3 which already has a few 5+ minute vids of ingame footage
God knows I'm already torn and don't have enough free time to devote to 2 separate games. |
Darcy
As to the future of Guild Wars, both 1 and 2 -- are any of you actually thinking?
1. Guild Wars is NCSoft's most successful game as far as I know. 5 million units sold and more to come. You cannot beat that for a 3-year-old game.
2. Why would they cancel the sequel to Guild Wars? They are probably guaranteed a million sales at a minimum on day one of release. Do the math.
Remember that the GW games are guaranteed income to NCSoft/NCWest. The fan base is immense. Even with all the players who say they will wait for the reviews - who are they trying to kid. We will all be there to buy it, even if we deny it on the forum.
There aren't any better games out there and probably still won't be any in two years or whatever.
Forgot to congratulate the ArenaNet alumni and Mike O'Brien on their new positions. Talent is being rewarded.
1. Guild Wars is NCSoft's most successful game as far as I know. 5 million units sold and more to come. You cannot beat that for a 3-year-old game.
2. Why would they cancel the sequel to Guild Wars? They are probably guaranteed a million sales at a minimum on day one of release. Do the math.
Remember that the GW games are guaranteed income to NCSoft/NCWest. The fan base is immense. Even with all the players who say they will wait for the reviews - who are they trying to kid. We will all be there to buy it, even if we deny it on the forum.
There aren't any better games out there and probably still won't be any in two years or whatever.
Forgot to congratulate the ArenaNet alumni and Mike O'Brien on their new positions. Talent is being rewarded.
Lord-UWR
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by cthulhu reborn
Anet have officially stated in interviews as well as on their website that GW2 will NOT have monthly fees...I really wonder why people are still asking about this.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Darcy
As to the future of Guild Wars, both 1 and 2 -- are any of you actually thinking?
1. Guild Wars is NCSoft's most successful game as far as I know. 5 million units sold and more to come. You cannot beat that for a 3-year-old game. |
Jecht Scye
Well, he did say as far as HE knew.
Clarissa F
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Lord-UWR
Because that was until Anet lost two of its 3 executives...God knows what is in store for the price on Guild Wars and its philosophy.
|
It's a good thing. If you pull the blinders off your eyes and look back more than a week, you see this relates to the failure of Auto Wreck and Tabula RZA. As was said before, they saw the good job Strain did at Anet, and gave him reigns to help other parts of the company. Not everything that happens at NC Soft relates directly to the "doom" of Guild Wars.
Kashrlyyk
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by wetsparks
I understand what you are saying, but I would be willing to bet money that GW2 comes out before Diablo 3. And the only other big pc rpg (non MMO) that I can think of right now is Dragon Age and I don't know if it will have the longevity to it to keep people away from a game like GW2.
|
JR
There is a lot of unnecessary panic in this thread. NCSoft streamlining would only have been a bad thing if it meant cut-backs in support for ArenaNet. It didn't, therefore it's definately a good thing.
Lonesamurai
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by JR
There is a lot of unnecessary panic in this thread. NCSoft streamlining would only have been a bad thing if it meant cut-backs in support for ArenaNet. It didn't, therefore it's definately a good thing.
|
The ONLY way it would be bad would be if there was news of job cuts... but as NC Soft is STILL hiring, thats a GOOD thing
Zorgy
"...Jeff Strain as president, product development, David Reid as president, publishing, and Patrick Wyatt as CTO as well as yet unannounced European executives..."
"...Forgot to congratulate the ArenaNet alumni and Mike O'Brien on their new positions. Talent is being rewarded..."
Talent is being rewarded for the a/m guys, I agree with you........but watch out !!!!! its not always the best who are rewarded....its often the worst in our beautiful world
Read the following link....its amazingly sad.
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/09/1...lehmans-board/
"...Forgot to congratulate the ArenaNet alumni and Mike O'Brien on their new positions. Talent is being rewarded..."
Talent is being rewarded for the a/m guys, I agree with you........but watch out !!!!! its not always the best who are rewarded....its often the worst in our beautiful world
Read the following link....its amazingly sad.
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/09/1...lehmans-board/
Red Sonya
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Zahr Dalsk
So am I, mainly from that developer interview about it and the "hundreds of hours leveling your character" stuff.
|
Robbert Monga
I must say TR was a big disappointment for me... I am suprised it lasted this long.
ElinoraNeSangre
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Robbert Monga
I must say TR was a big disappointment for me... I am suprised it lasted this long.
|
But that could just be my take.
Ravious
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ElinoraNeSangre
Mostly, it's the fact that it's got an insanely involved dev community that listens to players and talks to them daily, frequent large, quality updates that keep making the game better every month, and a community that has a lower than average quotient of jerks.
But that could just be my take. |
Tijger
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ravious
I concur. Now Jeff Strain just needs to apply the GW business model for the complete win!
|
Different models for different games is perfectly allright, GW has done well without subscriptions and other games have done well with subscriptions. Helgate didnt necessarily have subscriptions and it died a horrible , TR has subscriptions and it wasnt a success.
A smart executive fits the business model to the product, not the other way around, I wish Jeff Strain and Pat Wyatt all the success in the world and I hope that their visionary work on GW will translate to great new games for NCWest
Robbert Monga
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by ElinoraNeSangre
Mostly, it's the fact that it's got an insanely involved dev community that listens to players and talks to them daily, frequent large, quality updates that keep making the game better every month, and a community that has a lower than average quotient of jerks.
But that could just be my take. |
Overall game was an epic fail (i would like to stress epic). And I am not saying that as a GW fan, I am saying that as a GW former fan who desperately waited for TR to replace GW.
EDIT: Oh, and don't get me started on RG's image being glued to every corner of the game - they even renamed game from TR to RGTR coupe of months before release hoping to score some popularity... Makes me wanna puke... Like if he was a hawt chic, then I might have bought some of that bs, otherwise no thanks.
Ravious
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Tijger
That would be extremely stupid and if Strain has shown anything its that he isnt stupid.
|
maraxusofk
slighty off topic but did anyone else see the word incest in the title post? i swear dyslexia is troublesome.
Fril Estelin
Great clarification of the situation in an mmorpg.com article:
http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/2262
http://www.mmorpg.com/showFeature.cfm/loadFeature/2262
Quote:
|
What's Behind NC West? MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently caught up with David Reid, the President of newly minted NC West. The formation of this new company from NCsoft has been the starting point of a number of runors about the future of NCsoft Austin. In this interview, Reid speaks about the new company, and the future of games like Tabula Rasa and Dungeon Runners. Last week, I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to David Reid, the new President of Publishing at NC West, the recently announced spinoff company from NCsoft. There has been a great deal of confusion and speculation coming out of this most recent announcement. Even looking around at various forums and even some news sites, reports and rumors of the closure of the NCsoft studio in Austin, among others, have been circulating. advertisement The best guess for the heart of the circulation of these rumors is the line in the company’s original press release which read: “NCsoft’s existing subsidiaries NC Interactive, NC Europe, NC Austin, and ArenaNet will be led as a unified organization under NC West with a dedicated focus towards becoming the world’s premier western publisher of MMOs.” This seems to have been mis-interpreted (at least according to Reid) by some readers and members of the media alike. “Basically, the idea here was to set up a new publishing headquarters for the company,” Reid said in the interview, “that would govern the operating roles throughout our western territories.” What we’re looking at here, according to Reid, is the fact that before this announcement hit, the four companies listed above: NC Interactive, NC Europe, NC Austin, and ArenaNet all have various and sundry responsibilities when it came to publishing and marketing NCsoft games. “If we’re really serious about getting into the big leagues,” he continued, “then we need to consolidate those efforts and make sure that everyone is on the same page.” Essentially, the company decided that rather than having a number of different smaller companies with a myriad of responsibilities, that they would bring them all together under one roof in Seattle. This also allows the company to keep a separate outlook for the Eastern Market (Asia) than they have for the Western Market (Everywhere else) which, according to Reid, require quite different approaches. The long and the short of the situation is that, according to Reid, rumors of the death of NCsoft’s studio in Austin have been greatly exaggerated. And that they are more of a case of mistaken identity than anything else. “There has been some misperception about the Austin office, which is still a very vibrant place with over 200 employees. Nothing has changed on that front other than the publishing headquarters which is primarily: marketing, sales, PR, some of those customer facing things are what is moving up to the Seattle office.” This is all fine and good, and completely understandable. NCsoft has always had a bit of an identity crisis in terms of being a developer and a publisher at the same time. This left open the question of the recent rounds of layoffs that we have been hearing about, leading fans and industry speculators alike foretelling doom. “The first one was several weeks ago,” Reid said in response to my question about the two recent incidents of layoffs. “and that was really a decision based on focusing the company’s development efforts on these large scale AAA MMOs that very few companies are successful in doing aside from ourselves and maybe two other companies. Those particular positions are related to what we call “light” MMOs, a couple of unannounced projects, some explorations on things that just weren’t really in the wheelhouse of what has made NCsoft the successful company that it is.” In terms of the move toward AAA MMOs, David had this to say: “We are one of the best companies in the world at these large-scale MMOs. The business is great, the product is successful, the gamers love our products. Why should we be doing anything else?” The implementation of this new focus for the company, we were told, is what was responsible for the first round of layoffs. The second and more recent round only last week, we were told, was 12 jobs out of an office of 250 employees. These were positions that were eliminated as a result of the move of positions (from the departments listed above) into the Seattle office. So what about the speculation that these consolidation moves are born out of Tabula Rasa performing under expectations? “The company has been fairly straightforward about the fact that Tabula Rasa hasn’t delivered exactly on the level that we had hoped it would but we are still very behind the game.” The company has indeed been behind the game as of late, with a marketing push centered around Operation Immortality that will see human DNA taken into space when Richard Garriott reaches the International Space Station. This promotion, which has collected not only public DNA, but also the DNA of people like Stephens, both Hawking and Colbert, and a number of other celebrities. This has resulted in the program being mentioned on television shows like The Colbert Report and even TNA Impact, a wrestling program. “We would have preferred that the game got off to a better start,” he said, “but we are behind the game, the team is intact and we are very excited about the progress that we are seeing. In a lot of ways, this is a brand new game… Twelve updates later, people who went through a beta or launch experience with that game would find a brand new game and we’ve got the free trials for them to give it a shot and a promotion around it to encourage them to do so.” “The move to Seattle has nothing to do with any of our development studios,” he continued. “It has everything to do with building a world-class presence for the publishing side of the business.” So, a move toward AAA size MMOs is a move away from what Reid described as “Lite MMOs”. A couple of these MMOs have been making waves for NCsoft recently in the form of Dungeon Runners and Exteel. I asked Reid about the future of Dungeon Runners given this new direction and he told me that while DR would continue to run for the PC, they have abandoned thoughts of expanding its scope to the platforms like Xbox (this would be one of those “explorations” we mentioned earlier). So, in the end, according to Reid, NCsoft isn’t in the level of trouble that many have speculated. NCsoft Austin isn’t going anywhere and in fact will be a “critically important office”. “NC West is really about NCsoft getting serious and doubling down back into the AAA side of the business. These games have big teams, require huge investments, and take years to build but there aren’t many people who do that as well as we do and you can expect to see and hear more from us on the Lineage / City of Heroes / Guild Wars kind of product going forward. That’s what this company is going to be all about.” Author: Jon Wood Created: September 24, 2008 |
Zorgy
"...In terms of the move toward AAA MMOs, David had this to say:
“We are one of the best companies in the world at these large-scale MMOs. The business is great, the product is successful, the gamers love our products. Why should we be doing anything else?”...."
“We are one of the best companies in the world at these large-scale MMOs. The business is great, the product is successful, the gamers love our products. Why should we be doing anything else?”...."