I re-considered part of my post and edited it. But here's the part I edited out. Just in case you think I should post it as a separate replay now or later. Perhaps this should be posted on December 1st.
I think that you may be missing a bet by not pointing out -- preferably in Korean -- that the reaction of the CoH playerbase to NCSoft's sudden and heavy-handed announcement of the closure, followed by a complete stonewalling of inquiries, demonstrated very clearly that the NCSoft management is
completely incapable of understanding the mindset of the Western gamer, a proof that was only repeated with the content-free platitudes they have released. If NCSoft intends to be a top-flight gaming company worldwide, they are going to have to understand the mindset of gamers from other cultures, so that they can connect with the players in those cultures. But NCSoft has proved that they don't
care about other cultures, that their position is that the Korean MMOs are the ideal type of game, and that all they have to do is shove game after game down our throats, and we'll eventually realize the inherent superiority of Korean games and clamor to play them.
I don't think we can actually come out and SAY that it's fraud, that would open us up for libel suits and what not. What we can do is point out the closures coinciding with bad quarters and make it obvious enough for people to connect their own dots. I've been wanting to do a blog post about this, but I've had trouble actually finding the time to do the research (to be sure I'm actually correct) and write it with work and college.
If you intend to bring these facts to light, do it in the context of asking for more information. Present the documentation showing NCSoft's valuation of
all their IPs for tax purposes, and then the documentation of the value that NCSoft is claiming as a loss from shuttering
just City of Heroes, and respectfully request to be enlightened regarding the aspects of corporate tax law and financial regulations that allows NCSoft to claim a loss from the closure of
one game that is many times the value they claim for
all their games, because from our Western viewpoint that looks like misrepresentation on one end or the other, but that NCSoft wouldn't be
deliberately conducting such misrepresentation, so there must be something that we are missing, and wish to be enlightened.
Maybe it's a national pride thing then, that CoH has been embarassing them for years because it's a successful title that's made/maintained outside Korea.
It's just a theory, but
I think CoH was squashed, not just because it's a successful title that's produced outside Korea, but because it's a successful title that is almost the complete
antithesis of the Korean-style grindfest MMOs that they keep throwing at the Western market. These games generate an initial rush of subscribers attracted by the 'New Shiny', then start to hemorrhage players as they learn how horrid the grind is. City of Heroes, by bumbling along with even
moderate success, is glaring proof that NCSoft doesn't understand the Western gaming market -- that they can't 'read' their potential customers to deliver an MMO that they'll rush to play and play for years (as we have CoH). With CoH
gone, NCSoft can handwave their MMO flops in the Western market as their just not having found the right
subject for an MMO -- that everyone
loves the fundamentally-superior Korean-style grindfest MMO, and if they just get the right
content it will be an instant success and displace WoW as the premiere MMO.
We're the inconvenient counterexample that proves they don't understand the Western market, so we have to go.
