Hey thanks ross134.
To be clear, I am not so much angry at NCSoft as I am disappointed.
Any character in their IP is theirs to do with as they see fit. No argument from me.
From a business standpoint it would make sense to include States IF there was a
chance that the player base would want to crossover.
This would be even more effective if the game that was crossing over was still in
the market.
However, NCSoft is shying away from the market that was interested in CoX.
So one might surmise that they are:
1) Using a model that they already have to save money (does MxM run on the same engine as CoX)
2) Utilizing an old IP that will move the community to a new IP (bit of a gamble for very little payback)
3) Signalling a change in direction with the IP in question (possible but unlikely, I think)
4) Simply incorporating the IP as part of a wider marketing strategy (no such thing as bad press)
5) Either they are gloriously clueless or malignantly cruel (neither of which I readily believe)
Or there may be other motivations, I can't read minds. But I have been in the boardrooms of
companies larger than NCSoft and I have a glimpse of experience when it comes to how this
particular animal thinks and acts.
When companies roll out a product, they do well to lay the ground work.
If NCSoft is trying to build goodwill with the CoX player base in the hope that it would buy into MxM,
they should lay the ground work in such a way which engages the community. This did not.
I hope that NCSoft does well with any of their properties, but I am not the demographic they are looking
for in their current lineup.