moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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Ashes of Creation
- Thread starter Tearofsoul
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Xevy
Log Wizard
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Exact same shit. Rich "gamer" says I can make a game people like, because I, too, like games!
Doesn't realize how hard it is to make a game and you start with a crawl not a sprint.
Bankrupt.
Elon's AI gaming company (remember that?) probably already exploded or we'd be seeing this from him very soon I'd expect.
Doesn't realize how hard it is to make a game and you start with a crawl not a sprint.
Bankrupt.
Elon's AI gaming company (remember that?) probably already exploded or we'd be seeing this from him very soon I'd expect.
Lunis
Blackwing Lair Raider
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Curt and Steven are both narcissistic retards who tried to make an AAA+ mmo instead of just making a solid mmo designed for a specific playerbase. Unsurprisingly they both ran out of money well before their games were close to being finished & both blamed everyone else but themselves. Brad, for all his faults, at least released a product that lasted 7 years & had the dignity of having a nervous breakdown over it instead of being a self-righteous tool.
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moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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Mist is a Rhode Islander. So he wasn't affected by Maine's gaping hole.
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38 studios got Rhode Island funding to locate in Providence. At least they released a semi-decent single player rpg.
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Cybsled
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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From what I recall
1) Curt started the company in Massachusetts
2) Rhode Island dangled some state money in front of Curt to get him to relocate
3) Curt relocates to RI and staff has to move down there. Some employees get less than optimal housing changes as a result
4) Single player RPG comes out, is ok but not a financial hit
5) Company collapses because of money
6) Rhode Island takes possession of all assets, but doesn't recoup its investment
1) Curt started the company in Massachusetts
2) Rhode Island dangled some state money in front of Curt to get him to relocate
3) Curt relocates to RI and staff has to move down there. Some employees get less than optimal housing changes as a result
4) Single player RPG comes out, is ok but not a financial hit
5) Company collapses because of money
6) Rhode Island takes possession of all assets, but doesn't recoup its investment
Daidraco
Avatar of War Slayer
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Im under the impression that Big Head made most of Kingdoms of Amalur, but the lore, the design and everything was changed to match R.A. Salvatore's vision. So not necessarily a complete retooling, but quite a lot of changes happened after the merger. Compared to something like Dragon Age Veilguard, at 1.2 million copies - is a success. But compared to something like Valheim, its a flop. So .. subjective is what Im getting at. Considering THQ bought Kingdoms of Amalur for less than a million, I dont think it did that well.
Looking at it from a third party perspective, though? I would have done the same thing. Releasing a single player game before even attempting to start an MMO. But like every other failed to launch MMO - it looks like 38 studios was just trying to do "too much" in the MMO's design. If they would have stuck with single player games and made a better portfolio, and gained more experience as a team (including Curt), they probably would still be around. At least thats what I "think" would have happened. After all these years, I think I would start a game company and keep pushing until I had a major blockbuster before even attempting an MMO (now).
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it was a brand new rpg IP from a new studio that sold like 1.3mil copies in the first month and had what, 2 DLC/expansions? it went on to sell like 2-3 mil copies? it was a success full stop, made like 100mil dollars.
it wasn't enough to bail out the massive amount of debt that curt's game was in but that's his fault not KoA.
It would of been fine if that had been the idea from the outset, make a single player game build the lore the IP etc then start MMO production, but no they were like 200mil into the MMO then pivoted 5 years in, bought a single player RPG and then massively redid all the lore/art etc to match the half baked MMO he had so just massively increased the cost of the game plus what he bought it for, it was enough to pay for KoA but not enough to save copernicus.
once they were bankrupt and RI government seized all their assets and sold shit at auction for pennies on the dollar sure the IP only cost a million bucks but that's not an indicator of KoA failing. Curt and his company failed, THQ relaunched KoA and even made enough to release a new expansion pack on it. granted it only cost them like a mil but they made like 10mil profit from it.
it wasn't enough to bail out the massive amount of debt that curt's game was in but that's his fault not KoA.
It would of been fine if that had been the idea from the outset, make a single player game build the lore the IP etc then start MMO production, but no they were like 200mil into the MMO then pivoted 5 years in, bought a single player RPG and then massively redid all the lore/art etc to match the half baked MMO he had so just massively increased the cost of the game plus what he bought it for, it was enough to pay for KoA but not enough to save copernicus.
once they were bankrupt and RI government seized all their assets and sold shit at auction for pennies on the dollar sure the IP only cost a million bucks but that's not an indicator of KoA failing. Curt and his company failed, THQ relaunched KoA and even made enough to release a new expansion pack on it. granted it only cost them like a mil but they made like 10mil profit from it.
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jayrebb
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
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Correct he bought the finished game from Big Huge Games and retrofitted it for launch.
38 studios didn't really develop anything to do with Amalur.
B_Mizzle
Avatar of War Slayer
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As its been said here, and looking at successful examples like Albion, even warcraft wasn't exactly stacked with features in 04. It had a great combat system that was fun and responsive. Dungeons and a couple raids at the end. Start with a functioning base game with good combat and add all the extra shit over time. Naval combat, yeah later. Massive world, start small add to it. 50 classes and specs, nah, start with a few and add 1 or 2 unique and then add more later.
I think thats the model of any future successful mmo. Any company trying to launch with everything and the kitchen sink, plus 50 classes, and water naval combat is going to fail.
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Daidraco
Avatar of War Slayer
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Thats what I would do. But another thing a lot of posts like these neglect to mention is what audience the game is trying to reach. Is that audience the "ideal" audience that an MMO should be reaching for? For example, I think MNM is actually doing a good job of catering to that specific niche audience and they are keeping their budget small enough that that "niche group" of players will be able to support it. The long leveling process should keep people subbed at least for a few months, and if they play that long - then the psychology of it should have them invested in their character and by extension, the game, by that point - to keep their sub going.
AOC on the other hand was shooting for... well, Im not even sure what their core audience was. You would think with all the PVP stuff it would have been clear that it was a PVP game. But you did anything but PVP to level. Anything but PVP to acquire gear. Everything was riding on the back of PVE players - the economy, the buildings, the taxes, the trade skills, the gathering, gear acquisition from PVE, gear acquisition from those trade skills, etc. ... Yet, the vibe was very clear, and ever present, that PVP held the crown of importance. The entire idea behind mules, caravans, etc. is to just straight rob PVE'ers. I think the entire concept, whether its AOC or Archeage, is just dumb. New World's fort destruction was just as dumb.
Not beating a dead horse. But I just think PVP should always be separate, with no adverse effects on your PVE players. Some of the towers in WoW for example, they came out with a pretty nice design. If your faction won King of the Hill, then your faction would receive a zone wide bonus. The bonus wasnt great, but it was something. Thats the kind of pvp I liked and wanted, not battlegrounds. Its just, Tarren Mill and places like it during classic WoW never really rewarded you like a battleground did and that was always disappointing.
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A lot of those PvP-focused games are like that. There is a famous Youtube video by Josh Strife Hayes about the failure of New World, which was announced as a "Full Loot PvP MMO with territory control"
Amazon then announced after the first alpha playtest and forum feedback, that surprisingly and most shockingly ... players did not enjoy being attacked all the time. And so they pivoted to PvE a few months before launch.
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Grim1
Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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WoW was a new type of game for most people who had never played EQ, or MuDs, etc. But WoW is way old now and the vast majority of players don't care about the old stuff. Even most of WoW's playerbase moved on to newer games and game types a long time ago. If they wanted more of the same then Wildstar would have been successful.
Repeating what was done before only works for small niche audiences. Imo the next huge MMORPG will be a totally new experience that has very little resemblance to EQ, WoW or any of their endless clones.
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