Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Friday, April 20, 2007
SOE Poised to Purchase Vanguard?
As I mentioned yesterday, something's afoot! SOE has been in the news as of late, so I figure they probably have something else in the works. What could it be though? A new game? Another complete rebuilding of Star Wars Galaxies? A purchase of IGE? A new acquisition?
The evidence points towards the latter: a new acquisition. SOE is definitely ramping up it's business operations globally. They have recently modified the Station Exchange service. Plus, SOE is certainly not afraid to snatch up flailing, on the verge of death MMOGs, like The Matrix Online. Also, they have shown the ability to keep low-population games going. For example, Planetside.
It just so happens that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes isn't doing very well, as evidenced by this in depth population analysis on Silky Venom. SOE has already financially bailed Sigil out, allowing them to launch the game. SOE currently is Vanguard's publisher. Over at EQ2Flames.com players can even "help SOE make a business decision." LFG, EQ2Flames.com admin, has the rumor on the down low that SOE plans to purchase Vanguard from Sigil.
Vanguard, as Sigil's flagship, determines whether Sigil remains a financially viable company. Now is the time to sell, before rock bottom is hit. The facts just don't look good for Vanguard. There has been a sort of mass exodus as of late. Server merges are most likely in the works. I hear it is really (and I mean really) hard to find a group on most servers. Speed hacking seems to be running rampant. Vanguard is being trashed.
And who better to save it, again, than SOE. SOE wants to be the big player in this market, and whatever number of b-rate, down and out MMORPGs it takes to get there is more than worth the price of admission.
The evidence points towards the latter: a new acquisition. SOE is definitely ramping up it's business operations globally. They have recently modified the Station Exchange service. Plus, SOE is certainly not afraid to snatch up flailing, on the verge of death MMOGs, like The Matrix Online. Also, they have shown the ability to keep low-population games going. For example, Planetside.
It just so happens that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes isn't doing very well, as evidenced by this in depth population analysis on Silky Venom. SOE has already financially bailed Sigil out, allowing them to launch the game. SOE currently is Vanguard's publisher. Over at EQ2Flames.com players can even "help SOE make a business decision." LFG, EQ2Flames.com admin, has the rumor on the down low that SOE plans to purchase Vanguard from Sigil.
Vanguard, as Sigil's flagship, determines whether Sigil remains a financially viable company. Now is the time to sell, before rock bottom is hit. The facts just don't look good for Vanguard. There has been a sort of mass exodus as of late. Server merges are most likely in the works. I hear it is really (and I mean really) hard to find a group on most servers. Speed hacking seems to be running rampant. Vanguard is being trashed.
And who better to save it, again, than SOE. SOE wants to be the big player in this market, and whatever number of b-rate, down and out MMORPGs it takes to get there is more than worth the price of admission.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Something's Afoot!
Have you ever had the feeling that something interesting is going on, but you just can't see it yet? Or, that there is a party you weren't invited to? Well, that is the feeling I am having right now. There is something afoot, but I don't know what it is. I know who it may involve, but I am unsure of what it may involve.
Perplexing cryptic riddles aside, I will put my journalistic prowess to the test and uncover this mystery at once. To the mother f'n bat mobile!
Perplexing cryptic riddles aside, I will put my journalistic prowess to the test and uncover this mystery at once. To the mother f'n bat mobile!
Not A Gamer
Warrant reveals no games in Cho Seung Hui's possession. A quote from the article:
"Cho's dorm room revealed the following items to authorities:There is the possibility of some video games hiding somewhere on the PC, or hard drive, but according to Cho's roommate, he never played any games.
• Chain from top left closet shelf
• Folding knife & combination padlock
• Compaq computer from desktop
• Assorted documents, notepads, writings from desktop
• Combination lock
• Dremel tool and case
• Nine books, two notebooks, envelopes, from top shelf
• Assorted books & pads from lower shelf
• Compact discs from desktops
• Items from desktop & drawers: winchester multi tool, 3 notebooks, mail, checks, credit card
• Items from 2nd door: Kodak digital camera, Citibank statement
• Two cases of compact discs from dresser top
• Drive: Seagate: 80 Gb
• Six sheets of green computer paper
• Mirror with blue plastic housing
• Dremel tool box with receipt
• Dell Latitude service tag
So there you have it: at the moment, there is no evidence whatsoever supporting the theory that violent video games played a part in this horrific tragedy."
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Limbaugh Lays it Straight
Limbaugh: Games Aren't To Blame
CALLER: What I really think is an issue is video violence, video gaming. I will guarantee you, I'll bet my last dollar in my pocket, that this shooter will be found to have been a compulsive video gamer, and when people are living that kind of lifestyle -- and college students do this a lot.
RUSH: (sigh) Let's say you're right. Not every video gamer goes out and murders 33 people on the college campus though. There's more to this than that. We can find all kinds of societal problems and ills, but the fact of the matter is that whatever you would look at as a bad influence -- video games as you mentioned -- it may desensitize people, but it doesn't turn everybody into mass murderers.
I know it's natural that everybody wants to throw their theories into this, and perhaps come up with perhaps a unique explanation or to understand, and I think it's natural, because people have a tough time accepting a relatively simple explanation for something of this scale. But how many people are playing video games out there? How many millions of people play video games, and how many millions of people have guns?
If you start blaming the video games, you may as well demand video game control because it's the same thing when you start trying to blame guns for this. You have here a sick individual, an evil individual who committed a random act. But if you want to start blaming the video games, this guy was this or that, weeeeell, then you've gotta maybe talk about banning them because that's the same tack that's taken with guns. You got one guy who used a gun that's it. You're falling prey to the same way the Drive-Bys propagandize, and that's, "Well, we need gun control! We gotta get guns out of the hands of people."
Rush rounds up his argument by issuing the following concern to avoid knee-jerk reactions from those hoping to profit from the tragedy.
So you gotta be real careful here not to paint with broad brushes on these things. You gotta be very careful not to plug this into your own individual political prism, because then you become no different than what the Drive-Bys are doing. If you just wait, eventually we'll find out more than we want to know about this guy, and you're going to have to listen to what's reported about this guy with keen ears, and you're going to have to read with sharp eyes out there, because the Drive-Bys are going to report about this guy in ways that will advance their political agenda because that's what this story is to them.
-----
I agree 100%. People are afraid to believe that there might be something outside their control, or more importantly, the control of the community at large. Therefore, they blame their personal dead horse and whack away.
CALLER: What I really think is an issue is video violence, video gaming. I will guarantee you, I'll bet my last dollar in my pocket, that this shooter will be found to have been a compulsive video gamer, and when people are living that kind of lifestyle -- and college students do this a lot.
RUSH: (sigh) Let's say you're right. Not every video gamer goes out and murders 33 people on the college campus though. There's more to this than that. We can find all kinds of societal problems and ills, but the fact of the matter is that whatever you would look at as a bad influence -- video games as you mentioned -- it may desensitize people, but it doesn't turn everybody into mass murderers.
I know it's natural that everybody wants to throw their theories into this, and perhaps come up with perhaps a unique explanation or to understand, and I think it's natural, because people have a tough time accepting a relatively simple explanation for something of this scale. But how many people are playing video games out there? How many millions of people play video games, and how many millions of people have guns?
If you start blaming the video games, you may as well demand video game control because it's the same thing when you start trying to blame guns for this. You have here a sick individual, an evil individual who committed a random act. But if you want to start blaming the video games, this guy was this or that, weeeeell, then you've gotta maybe talk about banning them because that's the same tack that's taken with guns. You got one guy who used a gun that's it. You're falling prey to the same way the Drive-Bys propagandize, and that's, "Well, we need gun control! We gotta get guns out of the hands of people."
Rush rounds up his argument by issuing the following concern to avoid knee-jerk reactions from those hoping to profit from the tragedy.
So you gotta be real careful here not to paint with broad brushes on these things. You gotta be very careful not to plug this into your own individual political prism, because then you become no different than what the Drive-Bys are doing. If you just wait, eventually we'll find out more than we want to know about this guy, and you're going to have to listen to what's reported about this guy with keen ears, and you're going to have to read with sharp eyes out there, because the Drive-Bys are going to report about this guy in ways that will advance their political agenda because that's what this story is to them.
-----
I agree 100%. People are afraid to believe that there might be something outside their control, or more importantly, the control of the community at large. Therefore, they blame their personal dead horse and whack away.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
The Bloody Kos : Chapter 1 : The Arrival has been posted.
I have posted the first chapter in a series entitled, The Bloody Kos. Chapter 1, The Arrival, can be read here.
I like to write, so stay tuned for more :)
I like to write, so stay tuned for more :)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
SOE hires IGE, Part II
Cuppycake over at Cuppytalk has a problem with what I had to say about SOE in my previous SOE hires IGE posting. Apparently I am not looking at the situation from a business point of view? I must admit; she caught me red handed. I am not looking at this as a business person, because I'm not.
Don't get me wrong here, I am a firm believer in game developers being a business first and a developer second. The companies that fail to adhere to this principal have fallen by the wayside, a great many vaporware titles being left in their wake. However, believing this principal, and talking about it, does not mean I look at developments within companies with a business eye.
I am a gamer. I am the customer. This is where I draw my opinion from. But, for a moment here, let me turn a more analytical eye to this.
Once again, the main issue, is the fact that SOE already operates Station Exchange servers. They are trying a new business model. Cuppy may applaud them for the effort, but I do not. As I've stated, it legitimizes a practice that directly effects the game and more importantly, it's community. As long as I know that a developer does not support RMT, I can dismiss the actions of the RMT participants. As soon as a developer starts dipping their hand into the RMT cookie jar, I as a paying subscriber, can no longer justify anything I achieve.
The next point of contention is that SOE didn't just hire this guy. They created a position for him! In the business world that usually means they hand picked the person well before the hiring. If that isn't a red flag, then I have a car you might be interested in buying.
The basics of this situation stink, and we all know what they say: if it stinks like fish; it's fish. SOE created a position for a former IGE big-wig. SOE has been exploring RMT business models for their games. If any players want to avoid developer-sanctioned RMT, avoid SOE games at all costs.
Don't get me wrong here, I am a firm believer in game developers being a business first and a developer second. The companies that fail to adhere to this principal have fallen by the wayside, a great many vaporware titles being left in their wake. However, believing this principal, and talking about it, does not mean I look at developments within companies with a business eye.
I am a gamer. I am the customer. This is where I draw my opinion from. But, for a moment here, let me turn a more analytical eye to this.
Once again, the main issue, is the fact that SOE already operates Station Exchange servers. They are trying a new business model. Cuppy may applaud them for the effort, but I do not. As I've stated, it legitimizes a practice that directly effects the game and more importantly, it's community. As long as I know that a developer does not support RMT, I can dismiss the actions of the RMT participants. As soon as a developer starts dipping their hand into the RMT cookie jar, I as a paying subscriber, can no longer justify anything I achieve.
The next point of contention is that SOE didn't just hire this guy. They created a position for him! In the business world that usually means they hand picked the person well before the hiring. If that isn't a red flag, then I have a car you might be interested in buying.
The basics of this situation stink, and we all know what they say: if it stinks like fish; it's fish. SOE created a position for a former IGE big-wig. SOE has been exploring RMT business models for their games. If any players want to avoid developer-sanctioned RMT, avoid SOE games at all costs.
SOE hires IGE
David Christianson, former Vice President of Business Development for IGE, will now be the Vice President of Business Development & International Operations for Sony Online Entertainment. SOE's official press release states that "prior to joining SOE, Christensen served as Vice President of Business Development for IGE where he drove the company’s relationships with the massively multi-player publishing community."
This news is beyond interesting. SOE already runs Station Exchange servers, which basically legitimizes the practice of Gold Farming, Power Leveling, and Real Money Trade(RMT). The ramifications of such are heavily debated, but I have yet to find a non-SOE voice that actually believes services such as Station Exchange are good for a game and it's community.
This may seem like just a RMT issue to most people, but a little research into IGE will show a slew of unethical, and questionable business practices. It would not be surprising to wake up tomorrow, and see IGE being investigated on money laundering charges. Why would SOE even think about hiring a former IGE employee; let alone an employee so entrenched within the company? This hiring speaks volumes about the business politics of SOE and their money first mentality.
This strongly supports my opinion that SOE just wants your money. Everything they can charge you for; they will. They don't give a damn about you as a player, and I doubt they ever will. Sorry Grimwell, I had to say it.
This news is beyond interesting. SOE already runs Station Exchange servers, which basically legitimizes the practice of Gold Farming, Power Leveling, and Real Money Trade(RMT). The ramifications of such are heavily debated, but I have yet to find a non-SOE voice that actually believes services such as Station Exchange are good for a game and it's community.
This may seem like just a RMT issue to most people, but a little research into IGE will show a slew of unethical, and questionable business practices. It would not be surprising to wake up tomorrow, and see IGE being investigated on money laundering charges. Why would SOE even think about hiring a former IGE employee; let alone an employee so entrenched within the company? This hiring speaks volumes about the business politics of SOE and their money first mentality.
This strongly supports my opinion that SOE just wants your money. Everything they can charge you for; they will. They don't give a damn about you as a player, and I doubt they ever will. Sorry Grimwell, I had to say it.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Bye-bye Labels
I have removed the label section in my sidebar. It was getting a bit unwieldy to look at, so I removed it. If anyone absolutely can't live without it, let me know and I can bring it back. You can still click any label attached to any post to browse other articles with the same tag.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Turbine, Get Your Head Out of Your Ass
Turbine Inviting Over 1,000,000 Players to Play Lord of The Rings Online.
Lord of the Rings Online will never hit one million subscribers. It will never even get to the 500,000 mark. The game is not that great, and it definitely offers nothing new or exciting. These are all bold statements, but if Turbine can spew some, then so can I.
I have no idea where Turbine has gotten the idea that Lord of the Rings Online will be joining the Million Player club. Before beta even started, they were trumpeting the idea that they were going to hit the one million player mark. This misleading headline is just another notch on the pole of misleading quotes from Turbine. There is no evidence, either provided by Turbine or from any other source, that says there are a million interested players in the market looking for a new game. To hand out a million beta invites is nothing more than a spam rush on our already spam ridden e-mail accounts. Shame on Turbine.
The most popular MMORPG of all time, World of Warcraft, didn't even break the one million mark in beta. It was amazing that they hit 500,000 without the servers melting in a fiery cataclysmic event. WoW surprised most of us and went on to become a smashing success beyond anything we could have imagined. However, it was a Blizzard product, so a million+ copies being sold was not unrealistic. Can anyone name the last Turbine game that shipped a million copies?
Turbine is quickly transforming itself into a spin machine, drudging up emotions reserved for the likes of SOE. Turbine, get your collective head out of your collective ass.
Lord of the Rings Online will never hit one million subscribers. It will never even get to the 500,000 mark. The game is not that great, and it definitely offers nothing new or exciting. These are all bold statements, but if Turbine can spew some, then so can I.
I have no idea where Turbine has gotten the idea that Lord of the Rings Online will be joining the Million Player club. Before beta even started, they were trumpeting the idea that they were going to hit the one million player mark. This misleading headline is just another notch on the pole of misleading quotes from Turbine. There is no evidence, either provided by Turbine or from any other source, that says there are a million interested players in the market looking for a new game. To hand out a million beta invites is nothing more than a spam rush on our already spam ridden e-mail accounts. Shame on Turbine.
The most popular MMORPG of all time, World of Warcraft, didn't even break the one million mark in beta. It was amazing that they hit 500,000 without the servers melting in a fiery cataclysmic event. WoW surprised most of us and went on to become a smashing success beyond anything we could have imagined. However, it was a Blizzard product, so a million+ copies being sold was not unrealistic. Can anyone name the last Turbine game that shipped a million copies?
Turbine is quickly transforming itself into a spin machine, drudging up emotions reserved for the likes of SOE. Turbine, get your collective head out of your collective ass.
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