Find links to complete announcements here (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=info&Number=9559646&bodyprev=#Post9559646)!
Am I allowed to analyze this without getting the "Awww, leave already, stop trying to poop on our game" comments? ;)
Seems fairly obvious that NC is breaking off to work on MUO, and Cryptic is either having a new studio taking over, or "stealing" a chunk of NC's dev employees who will simply be collecting paychecks from a different company now.
To be honest, while it would be really easy to get all upset and go all DOOOOOOOOOOM about how a new studio's gonna wreck CoH, I don't see this having much of an effect on the player end. The scale of the updates might lower a bit (it's easier to do massive code rewrites when you wrote the code you're replacing), but all that would mean is more time spent on pure content generation (missions and the like), the lack of which is actually the main thing that made me stop playing. I just wanted to be able to run to 50 without repeating the exact same missions over again. A content-based issue, rather than a feature-based issue, would've been my #1 request for the last year or so. It'll come to late to help me, but it'll be a good thing for you folks.
So, yeah. I see either no change, or good-changes-people-will-whine-about-anyway.
*shrug*
So, ok, NCSoft is going to make MUO? So does this mean that now that they own all of the meat and potatoes of CoH, that they are gonna dump it and use what made CoH successful to create MUO? Or is Cryptic making MUO?
:blink:
- Cryptic Studios created City of Heroes.
- NCSoft published it.
- A year or so ago, Cryptic Studios agreed to developed Marvel Universe Online.
- NCSoft has bought the City of Heroes intellectual property.
- NCSoft formed a new development studio (NCSoft NorCal) to maintain City of Heroes.
- It would seem that Cryptic is moving onto Marvel Universe Online full time.
- According to Wikipedia, MUO is being published by Microsoft Game Studios, not NCSoft.
And, to add a bit to the conversation, Cryptic has released a FAQ (http://www.crypticstudios.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=162&Itemid=31) about the sale.
Hmmm.
Could be good. Could be bad. I find it very interesting. I'm saddened, but not shocked that Cryptic sold their own baby though to work on some elses child.
Any matters, like Spuds said... I don't think it bodes bad on COX. May actually be for the better.
Still not interested in MUO though, even more so now.
Heres a mighty nice bone for NCsoft to toss its players.
QuoteSpecial Thanks to Our Players
Now back to you, the players. You are the lifeblood of our game. In celebration of our new studio and our exciting plans, and in order to thank you for the fantastic community that you have built, we are pleased to announce the following.
Full Access to City of Heroes and City of Villains®
All players with City of Heroes retail* accounts will now have access to City of Villains, and all City of Villains retail* accounts will now have access to City of Heroes. Players that didn't previously have access to "the other side" will find that they do now. Just log in to check it out!
Debt Wipe
After the launch of Issue 11: A Stitch in Time this Fall, we are removing Debt from all characters and giving you a fresh start. Actual date will be announced shortly. Have fun in the mean time.
20,000 Prestige
Also after the launch of Issue 11, all Supergroups will receive an additional 20,000 Prestige per Supergroup member, meaning SGs could acquire up to 3 million Prestige based upon their Supergroup membership roster! Actual date will be announced shortly.
In the near future we will begin to share more information about our development plans. With this major reinvestment and effort ahead of us, we will take City of Heroes to new heights!
Sincerely,
The City of Heroes Team
Free access to the other game if you don't already have it. Sweet deal.
RTT
I've read all the stuff I can find about this deal and I still can't figure out if I should be excited.
The knowledge that most of the CoH team will be sticking around is great. Hearing that NCSoft is going to dump money into CoH and turn it into a franchise is nice.
With only one company backing this game there's only so many hits they can take. I haven't been around as long as most of you have. I'm still just getting used to the game. I would hate it if something bad happens out of this deal. :(
-MJB
Quote from: Figure Fan on November 06, 2007, 04:55:29 PM
So, ok, NCSoft is going to make MUO? So does this mean that now that they own all of the meat and potatoes of CoH, that they are gonna dump it and use what made CoH successful to create MUO? Or is Cryptic making MUO?
:blink:
Cryptic is making MUO, NCSoft now owns 100% of the CoH/CoV property and they pretty much brought everyone that was still working on CoH to work with them in their newly created NorCal Studio or something.
I think this is for the better.
Quote from: MJB on November 06, 2007, 07:09:58 PM
I've read all the stuff I can find about this deal and I still can't figure out if I should be excited.
The knowledge that most of the CoH team will be sticking around is great. Hearing that NCSoft is going to dump money into CoH and turn it into a franchise is nice.
With only one company backing this game there's only so many hits they can take. I haven't been around as long as most of you have. I'm still just getting used to the game. I would hate it if something bad happens out of this deal. :(
-MJB
It's always just been one company backing the game financially...NCSoft, the same company that just bought the rights. It's a huge company with deep pockets and millions of subscribers worldwide.
Hmmm. The way I read the announcement and the interview, there will be more "free" issues BUT ...
The but seems to revolve around the way they hedge their language about how they intend to "expand the franchise." That sounds to me like new games to buy and/or new monthly fees, especially since they repeated that language in a few places. "We're looking beyond the normal slate of free Issues for City of Heroes. We want to use City of Heroes as a focal point and really build on this franchise."
As for the special "Thank You" gifts, have the left anyone else with the feeling that these are "in name only," or is it just my jaded old AncientSelf having spent too many years in relationship marketing.
I suspect that most of COX players already have both Heroes and Villians, so the offer to give you both for "free" sounds more like a PR gimmick than anything else to me. A few will benefit, but I got to think that the majority of players won't.
Debt wipe, also, seems like a marginal marketing ploy since it takes so little time in-game to wipe out debt to begin with.
Not sure what the extra prestige will mean for SGs. To me, it sounds like the best sweetener in the packet - but in truth, because of my limited amount of time to play, I've really been deeply involved with the creation or maintenance of a SG. I would be interested though in insight from those who do all the heavy lifting in SGs to tell be if this is good news or indifferent to mature SGs. Will the extra prestige allow you to make things bigger, better, bolder ... or have you taken the SuperGroup headquarters as far as you can go.
Of course, they didn't need to say "Thank You" at all ... and I guess I would have preferred that they didn't rather than make this half-@$$ed effort that leaves me feeling like they're trying to manipulate how I feel about their announcement rather than actual Thank Me for staying around. (And haven't they done that already with the Veteran Rewards, which I actually enjoy because some thought has gone into them, and they oftentimes provide real game enhancement and value.)
Does anyone else feel like I do? Or am I simply acting my cranky age?
As they say over and over throughout NINE episodes of Star Wars: "I have a BAD feeling about this... "
I've always hoped that MUO will tank big-time. Now I can continute to do so without worrying about how the financial downside of such a failure will affect CoX. :P
It's been clear to me (I have no evidence, only my keen observational skills) that Cryptic has been shifting it's focus towards the development of MUO and away from the support of CoX for some time. Let's be honest, when MUO launches, it will be the most direct competition to CoX yet. There was a massive conflict of interest brewing.
This announcement can only be for the best.
-BG
Though some of us are against this, I hope this leads to a new box expansion pack. You can only cram so much into a downloadable issue, but a box expansion can can be chocked full of goodies. I'd be willing to pay 30 dollars just for the remaining exclusive powersets being given to the other sides.
So long as Posi, Castle, Bab and War Witch went with them, I can't see the game doing worse. If anything, NCsoft could throw money into the pot, since it's their baby fully, and we could see more of the stuff we wanted.
Plus now States won't have his "vision" around in even the slightest. Let him ruin MUO without Zeb Cook to keep things sane :lol:
Quote from: Verfall on November 07, 2007, 06:16:27 AM
Though some of us are against this, I hope this leads to a new box expansion pack. You can only cram so much into a downloadable issue, but a box expansion can can be chocked full of goodies. I'd be willing to pay 30 dollars just for the remaining exclusive powersets being given to the other sides.
I've always said I'd be willing to pay for another box expansion as long as it contained an equivalent amount of content to what CoV brought. That would mean 10 to 15 new zones, new ATs, new Powersets, many many many new missions and task forces, and probably at least one new mode of gameplay. Basically, it would have to feature an entire new "city".
QuotePlus now States won't have his "vision" around in even the slightest. Let him ruin MUO without Zeb Cook to keep things sane :lol:
To be fair, I thought States had a very good vision for what type of game he wanted to make. It's just that he was usually completely wrong about how to make it. Or to put it a differently... he was usually trying to achieve the correct goal, but doing it in an incorrect way. Some of his decisions and ideas were purely boneheaded. Nonetheless, I am still grateful to him for his role in getting this game up and running. But then, I'm also happy that it's since been passed onto other, more capable hands.
But I'm not going to waste any more breath trying to convince Verfall that Statesman has any redeeming qualities. Some battles simply can't be won. :D
-BG
I see it as a good thing, really. NCSoft gets key employees from the Cryptic side, so it's not like they're starting over fresh. More focus on the franchise can only be a good thing.
As to Jack Emmert ruining MUO, he'll only be able to ruin it insofar as Marvel allows him to. If Marvel hasn't been able to destroy themselves from within, Jack Emmert isn't going to make much of a dent. I would imagine that they'll be keeping close tabs on their 'baby' and they're not about to allow anything that would muck up their own marketing.
In fact, I would suspect that MUO might even feature tie-ins with current events in MU for even more marketing punch. Now that would be something. Maybe not great news for the fanboys, but something.
Maybe the deal will allow Cryptic to produce MUO faster than it would have come anyhow.
Quote from: Bugbear on November 07, 2007, 06:38:27 AM
QuotePlus now States won't have his "vision" around in even the slightest. Let him ruin MUO without Zeb Cook to keep things sane :lol:
To be fair, I thought States had a very good vision for what type of game he wanted to make. It's just that he was usually completely wrong about how to make it. Or to put it a differently... he was usually trying to achieve the correct goal, but doing it in an incorrect way. Some of his decisions and ideas were purely boneheaded. Nonetheless, I am still grateful to him for his role in getting this game up and running. But then, I'm also happy that it's since been passed onto other, more capable hands.
But I'm not going to waste any more breath trying to convince Verfall that Statesman has any redeeming qualities. Some battles simply can't be won. :D
-BG
The guy had good ideas, and he did get the game going, I of course, have to give him that. He took a game in a genre that had been notoriously shat on, with the only game being relatively successful at that time was our own FF, and he made it work, and managed to garner a large, by MMO standards, playerbase. But as time went on, his lack of video game knowledge became more evident. Not giving players the numbers was one of the things that really struck me as a boneheaded move. Especially when the terms used to describe power strength really meant nothing at all when one looked for examples outside of the AT. Hell, in some cases attacks listed as moderate damage in one set may be outdamaged by almost a 100 in another set in the same AT. Things like that always bothered me.
But truth be told, I didn't utterly hate the guy until his infamous "where's your team" comment during the days of the GDN testing. Sure he probably wasn't personally attacking me, but he was still being a douchebag. The guy, at times, had the people skills of dog poo. Of course from what I read Geko was quite the moron himself, so any problems back than can't be solely blamed on Jacky Boy.
But quite frankly, Castle and Positron whup the crap out of States and Geko any day. The last 3 issues of content have given us more of what we wanted than anything from States days. Best example of how much States sucked when he was in charge? The Shadow Shard. Miles and miles of space all for nothing. Sure the mobs are interesting, but there is nothing of substance there, and the TF's are just....ow.....
The way I see it, combine the company that thought Elektra was a good idea for a movie with one of the most clueless game developers out there and, well, do the math.
Quote from: Verfall on November 07, 2007, 06:16:27 AM
Though some of us are against this, I hope this leads to a new box expansion pack. You can only cram so much into a downloadable issue, but a box expansion can can be chocked full of goodies. I'd be willing to pay 30 dollars just for the remaining exclusive powersets being given to the other sides.
I'd like to see an expansion box as well. I'd also like to see certain powersets that have always been a little subpar get some attention (War Mace, etc.). I'm relatively optimistic about the whole thing.
DK
Now nothing can stop States from being the new Captain America now. Nothing.
If they've kept most of the developers who really care about the game and put them together in a place where they get more time and resources (i.e. money and more, better coders), then it's all good. I'm sure most of these devs have been wanting to make new mishes, mission types, zones, ATs, power sets, etc. and have just been restricted by timeline and staffing limitations. Give 'em what they need, I say! Then give us Street Fighting! :P
EC
Quote from: El Condor on November 07, 2007, 09:29:23 AM
Then give us Street Fighting! :P
Signed!
Got my Street Fighting/Willpower scrapper all mapped out . . . huge black man with these great big armored gauntlets . . . what? :unsure:
Quote from: Uncle Yuan on November 07, 2007, 11:36:07 AM
Quote from: El Condor on November 07, 2007, 09:29:23 AM
Then give us Street Fighting! :P
Signed!
Got my Street Fighting/Willpower scrapper all mapped out . . . huge black man with these great big armored gauntlets . . . what? :unsure:
Way back when I created my first CoH character, Alaric 7, I wanted him to be a Street Fighting/Willpower Scrapper. Unfortunately, neither of those power sets existed, so I did my best to cobble together the equivelent using Martial arts, Regeneration, and several power pools...
Actually, my Brute, Crazy Kate, should really be Street Fighting/Willpower, also... If and when they add street Fighting, I may have to recreate both characters on another server...
I don't think this will change much in the status quo for awhile. maybe we'll see more waves in the pond in 6 months, but the world can radically shift more than once, in 6 months.
I think MUO will have to work very hard and be incredibly innovative, to usurp the current king of the hill, CoX
Quote from: B A D on November 07, 2007, 09:18:43 AM
Now nothing can stop States from being the new Captain America now. Nothing.
Heh. More like Sentry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentry_%28Robert_Reynolds%29).
I've been reading the various interviews and posts by devs on the official CoH board and I gotta say I'm now quite jazzed.
I would be willing to buy an expansion pack every other year or so but one thing has me puzzled...
QuoteIn the interview he confirmed that work on the existing titles will be ongoing, but also hinted that the company may now look to expand the City of IP with a new title not related to Heroes or Villains.
What could this be? City of What? City of Wizards? City of Street Performers?
-MJB
Ok, now I get it. This does sound cool, actually. Maybe they'll lower the fee? LMAO.
Oh, and Meej--City of Street Performers--
L O L
Quote from: Figure Fan on November 09, 2007, 01:29:18 AM
Ok, now I get it. This does sound cool, actually. Maybe they'll lower the fee? LMAO.
I seriously doubt it. What I do recall the development team saying is that one day they would like to make CoH serverless. Saying that if you log into the hero-side you don't have to worry what server you are one. Perhaps that will happen soon?
-MJB
Quote from: MJB on November 08, 2007, 11:01:23 PM
QuoteIn the interview he confirmed that work on the existing titles will be ongoing, but also hinted that the company may now look to expand the City of IP with a new title not related to Heroes or Villains.
What could this be? City of What? City of Wizards? City of Street Performers?
City of Strippers. Strippers aren't all that unlike superheroes. They may want to keep their identities secret, so they assume aliases. They tend to wear costumes. They make the world a better place (their good deed being lapdances at a reasonable price.)
I'm all for expansion sets or downloadable expansions. I'm guessing they'll also be able to get CoH2 going with this new plan. That would be nifty.
Quote from: Figure Fan on November 09, 2007, 01:29:18 AM
Ok, now I get it. This does sound cool, actually. Maybe they'll lower the fee? LMAO.
Oh, and Meej--City of Street Performers--
L O L
City of Mimes. That way, you don't have to worry about sound-lag.
Quote from: Stopman on November 09, 2007, 01:58:25 PM
City of Mimes. That way, you don't have to worry about sound-lag.
I already have that.
(I keep sound turned off anyway.)
Quote from: Tortuga on November 09, 2007, 01:56:03 PM
I'm all for expansion sets or downloadable expansions. I'm guessing they'll also be able to get CoH2 going with this new plan. That would be nifty.
It took me 3 years to finally get a machine capable of playing CoH, there's no telling how long it would take me to be able to play CoH2. :(
-MJB