Curse

distilledwill · Feb 13, 2009, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by timebandit

They don't have too. I am pretty sure that most of the GW2 players have not heard before of the original one. They just need a good marketing strategy in 2011 and a little reference that their previous game was a long term success (4 years and counting).

It all depends of the quality of the product. No one cares if you keep playing till then or not. If GWII is a kick ass game many will pick it up, if not even those die hard fans will back off.

Nice find!

What I mean is to keep people playing GW1 till GW2 comes out - I'm positive the vast majority of players will try GW2 regardless of what they do with GW1 in the meantime but its keeping the fanbase interested till then that will be difficult.

Nightow · Feb 13, 2009, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by eatchldrn

wow....they really dropped the ball announcing gw2 5 years before release when gw1 is already running out of content, bad choices ftwww

Would you rather be asking why in the world chapters 4, 5, 6, and so on are taking so long?

They had no choice but to announce it when they did and 5 years in development is reasonable for an MMO. Oh and just for the record, D3 has only been in development for 4 years.

Kakumei · Feb 13, 2009, 04:54 PM // 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thierry2

NCsoft never said May, that was all speculations. They only said '2009'. And no, Aion hasn't been released yet in Japan. It's released in Korea only.

edit: i am mistaken, nevermind.

Monk Gsb · Feb 13, 2009, 05:03 PM // 17:03

u guys have to remember that not all accounts that are avalible (to log in with) were purchsed, remember when they announced the bug that 1 key code could make unimited ammounts of accounts by chainging cirtian numbers or letters. and untill u enterd in the original key code, all accounts u made were active and playable.

Eragon Zarroc · Feb 13, 2009, 05:20 PM // 17:20

what a depressing chart =(

4thVariety · Feb 13, 2009, 05:27 PM // 17:27

I suggest you all listen to the telephone conference, at the end somebody is asking the question that is on all our lips, wtf-GW2-bbq??!

http://222.122.46.97/ct/ncsoft/20090213/eng.html

The answer is roughly this:
GW2 was intended to be a straight forward sequel. In the process of doing GW2, Anet "realized the opportunities within their concept". They chose to go for it, which means it's already taking longer than originally planned. In the end GW2 will be bigger and better, but take longer.

Translation: Anet said to NCsoft, "look at all the messy flops you did so far, Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Tabula Rasa. Look at us, we own, that's because we do it the right way. BTW, give us all your money, we get back to you when we are really happy with the product."

Judging from the conference call, the Koreans seem to really have given over control to NCwest in terms of release schedule. Even their answers to the release date of Aion in the west were dodgy at best. We might not get THAT unlucky after all. 6 million accounts activated, is 6 million times cash flowing in Anet's direction. Can't argue with that and does not matter who owns them. For all I care, you might as well be the 5.999.999 million alternate personalities of Bill Gates.

Meanwhile, play some Flower.

Minako Sawai · Feb 13, 2009, 05:46 PM // 17:46

Wall of text begins:

This is right in line with what I expected. 2010 was the earliest I thought we'd be likely to see GW2.

I was expecting releases something along the lines of:

Aion (NorthAm/Euro) - summer 2009

Blade&Soul (Korea) - 4Q 2009 (I doubt this will be released outside Asia - ???)

GW2 - summer 2010

With the "western" release of Aion pushed back until 4Q 2009, and B&S not launching until 2010 (the biggest surprise to me), it isn't a big shock to see GW2 being pushed to the 2010/2011 time frame.

From the quarterly report it is interesting to see how the various games are doing and projected. CoX looks fairly stable, but on a downward trend. They need to do something to boost it, especially with two new superhero MMOs on the way. Their projections for the game aren't hopeful at all.

GW's steady addition of over 200,000 "accounts" per quarter in 2008 is good, but I can't see that continuing through 2009 and into 2010 without something new added, say an expansion the size of EotN, which is very unlikely. Still, if by "accounts" they mean individual campaign/exp sales of 5.8 million copies, that is a lot of money they've taken in since release and more than enough to fund a 4 or 5 year development time for GW2. If by accounts they mean actual accounts with 1 or more campaigns, then I'd believe the sky is bright yellow, pigs can fly, and WoW has 11 million "actual" players.

Prospects for Europe look terrible, and with the recent NCSoft happenings there, well, I don't see anything hopeful. Not good at all. One of the reasons I was attracted to GW was access to the entire base of players worldwide, instead of everyone being on separate servers that are effectively separate game worlds.

Thank goodness Lineage I & II are keeping the company afloat, with good prospects for Aion. The Tabula Rasa disaster, lack of CoX growth and change in plans for the GW franchise certainly haven't helped things for the western half of the company.

On the positive side, that gives me more time to catch up with those of you that have been playing the game for so long, if you'll stay around. If not, I'll still have my heroes and those newer players like myself that are having a great time playing GW.

R.Shayne · Feb 13, 2009, 05:50 PM // 17:50

Could one of the finical people tell me what page 16 is saying on that report. I am reading it as ANet had a loss of -10,136 for 2008 and a year to date loss of -3330. Which is a greater loss then NC Europe.

I am no finical person but if I was them I would be looking for someone to buy the A.Net studio.

Shadowmoon · Feb 13, 2009, 05:56 PM // 17:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by elpedro

Put it this way guys, if this is true, still doesn't rule out a 2009 BETA

No if it is true, it completely rules out an 09 beta, the chart show when close and open beta are planned to be released, sorry but it now looks like an late 10 or early 11 beta, but that assume the game get out the developmental limbo it appears to be in.

4thVariety · Feb 13, 2009, 06:52 PM // 18:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.Shayne

Could one of the finical people tell me what page 16 is saying on that report. I am reading it as ANet had a loss of -10,136 for 2008 and a year to date loss of -3330. Which is a greater loss then NC Europe.

I am no finical person but if I was them I would be looking for someone to buy the A.Net studio.

You have to consider two things here. ArenaNet is a developer tasked with creating a game. That costs money, but fortunately ArenaNet made NCsoft a lot of money with GW. Now they are not selling that much on their own and have a full dev team on the payroll. That means for 2008 that ArenaNet operated at $5 Million loss (the numbers given are South Korean Won). All things considered that's a pretty good bang for the buck.

NCeurope is a division tasked with selling games, creating revenue and only their secondary function is to make games. NCeurope games never made it to the stage of even being announced. CoH, TR, Dungeon Runners, Lineage do not exist in Europe, nobody really plays them. Yet NCeurope has a lot of people. They are not making money now, they are not making any game which will make money down the road, so what are they doing is the question NCkorea asks. As much as I like the guys of the European division, but that's their short term death sentence.

Please not that the more popular guys seem to have an offer to come work in Seattle, but that is one tall order on such a short notice. Sure, if you are single and fine with dumping your family for the next few years (possibly forever), then sign me up. Otherwise, give them some time to think this through.

snaek · Feb 13, 2009, 07:08 PM // 19:08

i've been sayin this all along...
but its nice to have some evidence to back me up this time instead of jus bein speculation

regarding beta 2009...
regina said in another thread that they wanted to release the beta closer to the actual release date
regina also said that she has already played gw2
i wonder wut regina will have to say regarding this chart

Jenn · Feb 13, 2009, 07:33 PM // 19:33

This is disappointing news for the current fanbase. At what point do we stop caring about and responding to GW1 entirely? I know I can't do this "not playing, but still interested" for another two years. Of course, this completely conflicts with me thinking that I want aNet to come out with the best came they can..

Sad panda.

Takeko Nakano · Feb 13, 2009, 08:09 PM // 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mister_Smiley

if thats true, then i hope anet has something instore for GW, cause by then GW will be dead. Also it only says "to be announced" which means it could be pushed back to even longer.

Yeah, TBA 2010-11 is a terrible schedule for keeping the franchise alive. The amount of hours I'm playing the game has literally fallen through the floor. The only reason I play it at all is because I'm in a guild with regular, fun events.

I honestly can't say that I'll be interested in GW2 by the time it comes out (if it does).

Ravious · Feb 13, 2009, 08:35 PM // 20:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4thVariety

Translation: Anet said to NCsoft, "look at all the messy flops you did so far, Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Tabula Rasa. Look at us, we own, that's because we do it the right way. BTW, give us all your money, we get back to you when we are really happy with the product."

That sounds about right. I would add in the part about how "we should take over your business outside of Asia" too.

IlikeGW · Feb 13, 2009, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Not surprising. Could even end up coming out in 2012... you guys have seen games be developed before right? It's slow. Only expansions come out fast because they're corner-cutting city.

I do think their plan is probably the worst idea they've had though.

"Hey guys spend hundreds on GW1, okay?"
"Ok, now we're shutting off support for it and you can wait 4 years for GW2, okay?"
players: "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK"

street peddler · Feb 13, 2009, 09:03 PM // 21:03

well from the looks of it anyway GW2 is becoming more like an actual MMO so being released in 2010-2011 isnt that surprising.

Age · Feb 13, 2009, 09:33 PM // 21:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by elpedro

Put it this way guys, if this is true, still doesn't rule out a 2009 BETA

I doubt it as they haven't asked the old beta testers to get ready to test it out.I am guessing very late 2011 or early 2012.

Antares Ascending · Feb 13, 2009, 09:36 PM // 21:36

Interesting chart.

Just an aside. regina said that tho she had played GW2, it needed alot of work/polishing..I guess so!

Check out Aion on utube..looks good! I have a Korean friend who has a friend that retains Korean citizenship and has played Aion. For those who want harder, this is it.

Whew, looks like I may start working on titles after all

Nereyda Shoaal · Feb 13, 2009, 09:49 PM // 21:49

Not surprised at all
Anyone who believed GW2 will be out in 2009 was living in the dreamland
Making a game like this takes time, it really does. At first I thought Q2 of 2010 is sorta realistic and always stuck to that

Gigashadow · Feb 13, 2009, 10:00 PM // 22:00

I recently watched a high quality Aion video with some English translation overlayed to explain what was going on. It looks very nice, although not particularly original, but I'll still try it. However, feedback I've been reading from people in the beta is that it has a big level grind once you get into the later levels, around ~15 hours per level of grinding mobs (quest xp becomes a tiny fraction of your xp later on), although rested XP is 300%. Not quite as bad as Lineage II, but way worse than EQ2/WAR/WoW that people are used to. I wonder if they will change the leveling curve for the Western market.

It looks like they are planning for GW2 to be pretty epic indeed. I wonder what they are doing that is taking so long, given they didn't even have to start completely from scratch. Warhammer took only 3 years to develop (according to Mythic). Does it have some crazy new features nobody has ever seen in an MMO before? I guess they want to remain completely silent about what they are doing so that Blizzard or others don't steal it for their upcoming new MMO (Blizzard's lead WoW designer just announced yesterday he is no longer working on WoW and is working on that project instead).