A strange thought occurred to me tonight...

[ObsidianPhoenix76]

I was explaining to my wife while we were driving tonight about our progress we have made on the Save CoH campaign, when a thought occurred to me...  (Don't laugh it happens at times...)

What if the reason we have not heard anything is because the NDA for the negotiations is in effect until Nov 30th?  What if the negotiations are done, and they cannot say anything until NC Soft is done with CoH on November 30th?

 

Interesting theory?  Or am I just being strange?

EDIT:  HAHAHA  oops.  Mistyped the title....

[DrakeGrimm]

This has been rattling around in my brain, too. It makes a certain sort of logical sense, although many signs point to the talks being on-going, that doesn't necessarily mean they're still talking about the sale itself...just the details thereof. Either way they couldn't tell us if the NDA is in effect until, as you suggest, Nov 30.

[Mantic]

More likely any NDA remains in effect in perpetuity, or at least for years after the relationship ends.

A clear answer on the prospect of transfer would probably be publicized sooner than later, in the interest of retaining what audience currently remains. Even the owner of the property being sold would want that, I believe, since it would ensure retention of value. The more time passes without any sign of reprieve, the more of this audience will drift away.

[Zolgar]

More likely any NDA remains in effect in perpetuity, or at least for years after the relationship ends.

A clear answer on the prospect of transfer would probably be publicized sooner than later, in the interest of retaining what audience currently remains. Even the owner of the property being sold would want that, I believe, since it would ensure retention of value. The more time passes without any sign of reprieve, the more of this audience will drift away.

And in this instance, it gives them good publicity, 'cause right now they got shit.

[emu265]

Brian Clayton, according to many different sources (Including Miss Lackey) has confirmed that negotiations are on-going and it's a little messy.  But they're doing everything they can.

[Atlantea]

Here's a thought for you to chew on. And it's a very basic one.

Time zones.

Consider how difficult it is to even schedule negotiations when the time zones of California and Seoul Korea are as far apart as they are. I just looked at a time zone map. It's 12:00 Midnight in California as I write this (a little bit after by the time I'm finished). And it is 4:00 PM in Seoul of the NEXT day. So California is wrapping up Friday moving into Saturday. Seoul is into 4:00 PM of Saturday.

So - SOMEBODY has to be inconvenienced in order to do these negotiations, assuming that they are talking directly to the home office in Korea. Either someone from either side has to come over in person. Or if negotiating live via "Virtual Meeting Room" then someone has to either get up at some ungodly hour or stay up late by the same amount.

Then there's a language barrier to overcome, as well as cultural to some degree. The Korean side most likely knows English on some level. But that's not guaranteed. Perhaps translators have to be involved. There may be legal specialists on either side having to navigate the legalities from one language to another as well.

If a group of former Paragon Studios employees is negotiating with NCSoft, then most of these hurdles are likely having to be overcome on THEIR end, not from the S.Korean one. And any expenses are likely going to have to come out of pocket on the western side as well. (This is a guess on my part since it would seem at first glance that the Western end of things is the one that had to get the ball rolling in the first place and wasn't in a strong negotiating position to begin with. Though maybe that could change over time.)

So the basic logistics of these negotiations may be a big part of what's taking so long. It may be difficult to even schedule a meeting where all the parties can be properly represented. How many of these sessions can even be arranged per week? I'm guessing there's really only been one or two per week. Maybe three, tops. With a lot of email and such flying back and forth in-between.

Hit Streak (Brian Clayton) showed up at AP 33 the other night around Midnight California time, 2 AM my time (Dallas, Texas) for a little while. It didn't occur to me then, but later I realized... The guy may have JUST come out of one of those negotiation sessions! It makes sense, doesn't it?

He may have shown up at AP 33 to give -himself- a morale boost after a draining day of these negotiations.

VV? You're talking with Brian. How close am I to guessing right on any of this? I don't THINK any of the above speculation is NDA breaking if Brian were to confirm it. It's just talking about logistics.

[Victoria Victrix]

I have to think, based on the little I know, that Formerly-Known-As-Paragon-Studios is talking with the execs at NCSoft West, HQ in Seattle.  So same time zone, but a bit of a haul away from California.

[DrakeGrimm]

I still imagine at least one or two "meetings" would need to include NCSoft HQ in Korea, so yeah, logistics could get...interesting.

That said, VV's probably right. It makes most sense for them to be doing the majority of their talks with NCSoft West.

[Mister Bison]

NCSofts HQ may based in Korea, but which subsidiary of NCSoft (I think there were 6 in the financial report) actually owns the license to exploit City of Heroes ? Once you know that, it's that subsidiary's office that Former-Paragon-Studios is having a discussion with.

[Atlantea]

You have a point.

But then I think of the Glass Door reports and how little the home office seems to trust anybody over here with making any big decisions. The glass door employee reviews kept mentioning over and over how much decisions had to be approved back at the home office in S.K. and how that negatively impacted any ability to get things done.

Maybe "Paragon Studios" is in fact dealing directly mostly with NCWest. But if NCWest has to constantly be vetted by the home office - that might explain part of what's taking so long.

[Dr Shadow]

Maybe "Paragon Studios" is in fact dealing directly mostly with NCWest. But if NCWest has to constantly be vetted by the home office - that might explain part of what's taking so long.

May go along with perspective also. NcWest is reporting forest fire, while home office looking over their interest, is only seeing a tree on fire.

[Chaos Ex Machina]

Brian Clayton, according to many different sources (Including Miss Lackey) has confirmed that negotiations are on-going and it's a little messy.  But they're doing everything they can.

Can you clarify?  This is the first I hear of any 'messy' negotiations.  No access to the executives or how do you mean?

[Segev]

Can you clarify?  This is the first I hear of any 'messy' negotiations.  No access to the executives or how do you mean?

"Messy" has been implied, in this case, to be "both sides want the same large idea - the separation of CoH from NCSoft so it can continue running while NCSoft gets some money out of dropping it rather than counting it as a loss - but there are a number of tricky issues they are working at hammering out."

These tricky issues are discussed in the State of the Titan thread's more recent pages, I believe. That is all speculation, mind, but it at least illustrates the KINDS of things that could be causing the "messy" situation without it being really bad news.

[hitstreak]

Brian Clayton is Crosscheck.

[Chaos Ex Machina]

Crosscheck?

[dwturducken]

Back up. Hitstreak?

[Chaos Ex Machina]

Please explain?

[DrakeGrimm]

I believe HS means that Brian Clayton's "Red Name" is Crosscheck.