NCsoft Corporation to Sell Entire Shares of NC Interactive Inc.

[DJMoose]

Yeah... which only helps reinforce my suspicion that the killing of PS/CoH had more to do with spite and malice than any sort of cold-blooded business decision.

It could help explain the peculiar abruptness of the shutdown (one week after a major powerset release, two weeks before the release of I24). This move must have been in the works for months, unless NCsoft thinks they can succeed by making up their business plans as they go along.

Whoever felt that it was absolutely necessary for CoH to cease to exist would've felt the need to act fast... City of Heroes, being their most Western-themed game (superheroes & supervillains battling over America's East Coast), would have been a perfect cornerstone title for a new division designed specifically to serve the Western market.

If the game-changing I24 had been allowed to come out, the attention from the gaming media (not to mention new & returning subscribers), combined with CoH's new status as the gold-star title of the new Western division, might have made it impossible to ever put a knife in its back.

I'm just sayin'!

Interesting... *rubs chin*

[FatherXmas]

First of all, NC Interactive's "stock" was in penny range territory of 96 KrW per share or about $0.09 cents a share (total $73 million dollars).  Remember this is NC Interactive's stock NOT NCSoft proper.  Now they sold it to this new wholly owned subsidiary as well as funding it with another $47 million US.

Now they didn't dissolve or liquidate NC Interactive.  They simply have new "owners" who just happen to be owned by their old "owners".  What they made is a holding company.  Berkshire Hathaway is an example of a holding company, a company that simply owns stock in other companies, they don't even need to be majority shareholders in those other companies.  Now I'm not sure what NCSoft is up too with the extra layer of wholly owned subsidiary in their organization other than lumping all their western operations under one roof so they could drop it like a gecko's tail or put the whole western operation up for sale or partnership.

[Omega Mark V]

I read through every page of this topic.

... Guh.

This is an insane twist of events, and amazingly confusing at the same time. I can't put my finger on what EXACTLY is going on, other than NCSoft is manipulating the market somehow, or someone is PAYING them to make a new subsidiary.

I hope this event is in our favor, rather than in the other direction, for CoX's revival or purchase.

[Turjan]

My guess would be this is the most ironic occurrence of the phrase 'tabula rasa' that I've ever seen...

By tabula rasa in this case I'm not referring to the game NCsoft murdered, but rather the original phrase meaning "blank slate". Seems to me this is the manifestation of that "realignment of focus" they were blathering about back when they announced the closure of CoH.

We don't know exactly what the legal doodads behind the scene with the CoH IP were. VV has alluded to them of course, in that she knew the web of legal ties attached to CoH would be severed when the game closed.

So here's what I reckon.
NCsoft knew their western operation was mostly in the toilet. 4 closed MMOs does not make for happy reading if your plan is to "realign your focus" into a brave new world of Nexon-NCsoft collaboration. But, on the flipside, if you've closed 4, what extra harm is there in making it 5 if the fifth also takes a bunch of annoying legal issues with it too?

With CoH axed, this new Holding company becomes NCsoft's new puppetmaster in the west. One of the things that amused me in the linked article was the implication this change would lead to more rapid decision making in western matters. Call me cynical, but to me, that translated in my mind as "total control by HQ in Korea rather than having to continually put up with attempted western interference in our way of doing business".

To do this, you'd need a core figure pulling those strings, controlling those western operations (including GW2 and Carbine Studios) from on high. A sort of localised clone version of NCsoft's Korean HQ. I'm guessing Kim Taek-jin's missus for the starring role in this. Not just because she's his missus, but because she's an MIT graduate and so (in theory at least) is not west-naive.

So you have a shiny new operation in the west. All the embarrassments of the past (especially the Garriott business!) have been swept away along with the old name, that failed organisation with its failed practices, all disposed of and replaced with an entirely new set up. All eyes can now look to the future!

Yes. Quite.

Of course, it's extremely unlikely to actually pan out that way in the real world. Changing the name of the operation in the US may be sufficient for the consumers and investors back in Korea, but unless NCsoft really do intend to change business practices in America (which as I've said above, I actually expect the opposite to be true and NC Holdings will be run even more like a domestic Korean business, not less), then I see no reason why NC Holdings shouldn't suffer exactly the same failings as its predecessor.
Only worse.

What are we in all this? The loyal fans of CoH?

Half of me still thinks the death of CoH was 'collateral damage' in some nebulous future vision NCsoft has for its operation in the west. Not hacked down with malice but rather because it had stringy sinewy bits attached that would get in the way of a nice, surgical amputation and transplantation of NC Interactive's head onto the new NC Holdings body.

Remember the infamous phrases "a realignment of company focus and publishing support" and "the continued support of the franchise no longer fits with our long-term goals for the company". In that light, those corporate doublespeak phrases actually do make a sort of sense at last.

[DrakeGrimm]

None of which excuses their bullshit, Turjan. They will release the IP to responsible hands, or we will make sure they pay dearly for it. Paragon City will return. One way or another.

[Kistulot]

None of which excuses their bullshit, Turjan.

No one is saying anything NCSoft is doing has any excuse.

Let's try to take everything said here with a grain of salt, and remember people are only here, taking the time to talk here, because they care about CoH.

And while I'm not a prude about language, let's try to avoid outright swearing at eachother not because of keeping it PG or anything, but because using strong words with eachother, even directed at a third party, makes everything sound and feel nastier than it is.

I agree with you. We will get Paragon City back.

As a united front. :)

[corvus1970]

As a united front. :)

Speak for yourself. I see us as a united backside, mooning NCSoft until they crack like an egg.

...

Or is that just me then? ;)

[SARobb]

mooning NCSoft until they crack...

I see what you did there...  ;D

[corvus1970]

Aw shucks, you noticed!  8)

[Kistulot]

Speak for yourself. I see us as a united backside, mooning NCSoft until they crack like an egg.

...

Or is that just me then? ;)

Well to make an omelet you have to crack a few eggs, and Paragon did have two moons! :D

wait...

>.> New metaphor time.

[JaguarX]

Yeah... which only helps reinforce my suspicion that the killing of PS/CoH had more to do with spite and malice than any sort of cold-blooded business decision.

It could help explain the peculiar abruptness of the shutdown (one week after a major powerset release, two weeks before the release of I24). This move must have been in the works for months, unless NCsoft thinks they can succeed by making up their business plans as they go along.

Whoever felt that it was absolutely necessary for CoH to cease to exist would've felt the need to act fast... City of Heroes, being their most Western-themed game (superheroes & supervillains battling over America's East Coast), would have been a perfect cornerstone title for a new division designed specifically to serve the Western market.

If the game-changing I24 had been allowed to come out, the attention from the gaming media (not to mention new & returning subscribers), combined with CoH's new status as the gold-star title of the new Western division, might have made it impossible to ever put a knife in its back.

I'm just sayin'!

Or maybe they just learned something from all of this and is trying to set things right. If they repeat process as same way they did PS, people would be screaming that they are at it again. Now if they dont, then they are still damned it seems.

[Celtic Lass]

"What? A swallow carrying a coconut?"

It could grip it by the husk!

[Atlantea]

It could grip it by the husk!

"It's not a question of where e' grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A 5 ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut!"


(we're having way too much fun with this tangent, aren't we? ^.^)

[Celtic Lass]

"It's not a question of where e' grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A 5 ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut!"


(we're having way too much fun with this tangent, aren't we? ^.^)

"It could be carried by an African swallow!"

tee heehttps://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa341/xXPixieBratXx/Forum%20Smileys/Holidays/north_pole-1715.gif

[Atlantea]

"It could be carried by an African swallow!"

tee hee

"Oh yeah! An African Swallow maybe,  but not a European Swallow, that's my point. And then of course African Swallows are non-migratory, so they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway!"


(Don't worry about us completely derailing the thread, folks, we're about to run out of sketch anyway. ^.^; )

[Celtic Lass]

"Oh yeah! An African Swallow maybe,  but not a European Swallow, that's my point. And then of course African Swallows are non-migratory, so they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway!"


(Don't worry about us completely derailing the thread, folks, we're about to run out of sketch anyway. ^.^; )

"Wait a minute... supposing two swallows carried it together?"
:D

[Atlantea]

"Wait a minute... supposing two swallows carried it together?"
:D

"Nah... they'd have to have it on a line."

[Celtic Lass]

"Nah... they'd have to have it on a line."

"Well, simple!  They'd just use a standard creeper!"
-
"What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?"
-
"Well, why not?"
(And scene! ... I now return you to your regular forum subject)
https://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa341/xXPixieBratXx/Forum%20Smileys/spinquisition.gif

[Lily Barclay]

But the question really is...

What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

[Minotaur]

But the question really is...

What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

African or ...

AAAAAAAAH