Deja Vu

[TonyV]

Auto Assault (RIP, September 1, 2007)

An article about NCsoft shutting down Auto Assault

On September 1st, 2007 NCSoft will officially close the Auto Assault servers. The news hit the community hard today as this post-apocalyptic car MMO meets an end shared by games like Earth and Beyond. It's rare for an MMO to shut down, but unfortunately for fans of the game, NCSoft just didn't see it as good business sense.

"After a while it gets to the point where the return we're getting on what we're putting into it is just not matching up," NCSoft Director of Public Relations David Swofford told WarCry after the news hit. "We just didn't have that many people in the service."

According to Swofford, NCSoft owns the Auto Assault intellectual property. If that does not change before September 1st, there is no legal way that the game can continue on. However, hope may not be gone. A few years ago, NetDevil opted to run their niche space MMO Jumpgate themselves after it found only a moderate audience.

Swofford told us that no one at NCSoft will lose their jobs as a result of this move. He was unable to comment on what chances the game might have of being sold back to NetDevil and would only say that at this time they plan to close the game on September 1st and that is all.

NetDevil could not be reached for comment at the time of publish.

Eventually, NetDevil did talk (Scott Brown, CEO)

NetDevil has no plans to salvage their automobile MMORPG Auto Assault, according to CEO Scott Brown. Publisher NCSoft announced early this week that after an inglorious year and four months of commercial service they will close the doors on August 31st of this year.

"We talked about it and sort of left it where it is," Brown told WarCry in a phone interview late Thursday. "We just couldn't come to an agreement."

NCSoft owns the intellectual property that is Auto Assault. This means they own the name, the story, the idea, the art and anything that directly relates to the game. The code-base and engine that power the game remain the property of NetDevil.

"We are certainly looking at other ways we can use what we do own," Brown added.

Brown added that no jobs would be lost as a result of NCSoft's decision. NetDevil still has Jumpgate in active service and development continues on an update. They're also working on LEGO Universe and Warmonger. Nonetheless, the Colorado based developer put a lot of time into the project.

"We poured our life into that thing," Brown admitted. "We thought it was a cool idea... for whatever reason it didn't take."

The experience did provide them with a wealth of lessons that Brown believes can only help its future projects.

"[Good development] is focusing on a few things and getting them until [they're] great," he told us. He admitted that with Auto Assault they tried to do a lot of systems and then improved them slowly over time. In future projects, they're going to focus in on each system and make it hum before they move on. For him, this is the key to development, especially on the scale of MMOs.

He also mentioned that the company bares no ill-will towards their former publisher NCSoft. There simply wasn't a market for the project and if the chance arose, NetDevil would work with NCSoft again.

However, another lesson NetDevil took from Auto Assault is how to better work that kind of relationship. In future developer-publisher agreements they'll ensure that both parties have the proper incentives that make the project work.

Brown's comments appear to dash any last hope that Auto Assault could be saved. It will close its doors permanently at the end of August.

Dungeon Runners (RIP, January 1, 2010)

Announcement of layoffs at NCsoft Austin.  (Does anyone doubt where this is going?)

"We are announcing that 21 positions are being eliminated in the Austin office of NCsoft in the area of product development," an NCsoft representative told GameSpot. "Primarily this is related to products which we have not previously announced and were in prototype phases. We are also cutting some positions on the Dungeon Runners team after deciding not to port the client to other platforms at this time."

Playing down the impact that this will have on NCsoft Austin, the representative noted that the staff reductions represent only about 6 percent of the studio's total workforce, which stands at around 300. The rep also flatly denied allegations that the Tabula Rasa team will be impacted by the layoffs. As part of NCsoft's Q2 earnings report earlier today, the publisher revealed that during the three-month period ended June 30, the Richard Garriott-led sci-fi MMOG had generated just $1.9 million of the publisher's $78 million total haul.

From the shutdown notice on NCsoft's site.  Gee, I wonder why they had been whittled down to a three-man team?  Oh yeah, that's right, because NCsoft laid off their developers.  Funny how that works, but I digress...

Yes, that's right. Dungeon Runners is shutting down on January 1, 2010. The full scoop follows.

Dear Dungeon Runner,

Have you ever had to give bad news to someone before? Sure you have! I've found that the best way to give bad news is to make a "crap sandwich" out of it. You know... you say something nice, drop the bad news bomb, then say something else nice. Sound like fun? Let's do it then!

First, something nice! I've really enjoyed working on Dungeon Runners for the past three years. I've come to know many of you personally and have, without a doubt, had the best time in my nearly 20 year game development career working and playing with you guys! You are dedicated, passionate players that have really helped us to make Dungeon Runners what it is today. Awesome players for an awesome game! Kudos!

Now, it's time for the bad news. Dungeon Runners just isn't cutting the mustard. If she were a ship, she'd be taking on water. Yeah, she's been taking on water for a long time now. Are my cryptic references too hard to decipher? The game just isn't profitable. And, the first rule of business is to be profitable! Man, I must have missed that day in business school... but I digress.

We've been trying to figure out how to fix things for some time now. And, that's where things get sticky. We've got some ideas that could work. But, they're expensive to implement and pretty risky. Those two facts, coupled with the recent loss of some key developers, make achieving the success we seek pretty much out of the question.

As things stand now, we're a three man team. Yeah, we lost two of our five man team recently. Not nearly enough manpower to get where we need to be. Rebuilding the team isn't really an option for various reasons. So, where does that leave us? Can you guess? Yes, that's right, we're going to be shutting Dungeon Runners down at the end of 2009. New Year's Eve to be exact.

Okay, now that the bad news is out of the way, let's get some more good news to make the sandwich complete. NCsoft has worked with us on a plan to compensate Dungeon Runners players. I think we've come up with a nice package for all players with paid memberships as of today (9/16/2009). You'll be getting a 30 day game time serial code and digital copies of City of Heroes Architect Edition and Guild Wars Prophecies. FREE games FTW! I know, it's not Dungeon Runners... but it's still frigging nice! Of course, any of you guys that need refunds for multiple-month membership purchases will be taken care of. And, as always, our helpful support staff will be available to help you with any issues you have.

Wait, there's even more good news! While we may be going out, we're going out in style, with a few changes to the game for the coming "End Time". Mythic loot will drop much more frequently. We're significantly reducing the cost of expensive King's Coin vendors. We're also quintupling the rate of XP gain to help you finish the game before year's end! Finally, we're adding a huge nuke to Townston that will blow up on New Year's and take the game down with it. There's more, but what fun is there in spilling all the beans? Oh, its gonna be a fun time till the end of the year! Loot finding, leveling madness. I may finally make it to level 100 myself now...

So, try not to be sad. It may be the end of Dungeon Runners, but it's not the end of the world! I'll still be working on the game until the very end. We can chat, reminisce and play DR until the lights go out.

See you in the game!

Stephen Nichols
DR's Producer & Lead Programmer

Exteel (RIP, September 1, 2010)

Posted on IAM-Interactive's web site following NCsoft's termination of the Exteel license to Exteel SEA:

Due to the termination of our contract with NCsoft, IAM INTERACTIVE is shutting down its game services within thirty days. Thus, all Lineage II and Exteel players are advised to use ALL their remaining iCOINs immediately.

We thank you for your unwavering support. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. You may direct all your concerns to our Customer Support and we will try our best to address them.
Thank you.

IAM INTERACTIVE MANAGEMENT

From the shutdown announcement posted July 27, 2010:

NCsoft has made the decision that the Exteel franchise is no longer financially viable. On September 1, 2010 at normal maintenance time, all Exteel servers maintained by NCsoft will shut down permanently.

This is a global shutdown, and not based on our server alone.

NCcoins will no longer be available for sale through our website, and Game Time Cards can no longer be used to add additional coins to any account. Current Game Time Cards that have not been applied can be used for any other NCsoft game. New game account and forum account creation will be disabled. We encourage anyone who has coins currently on your account to spend them as soon as possible. Please use all of your coins as no refunds will be provided.

In late August, we will have an event where all items will be available for 1 credit only so that everyone has the chance to experience any weapon, mech, build, etc that they ever could have wanted. Your coins should be used before that time. Additionally, we will be rewarding our loyal players who purchased NCcoins for the time and money they have invested in Exteel. More information about the loyalty rewards will be available in late August.

We know that we have many loyal players who love Exteel. Although this decision was a painful one, in the end it was a business decision that had to be made. We encourage everyone to play and have fun with the game that you love in the time you have left.

Tabula Rasa (RIP, February 28, 2009)

What is there not to say about this game?  First, one of the greatest game developers of all time "wrote" the following:

I am happy to finally be able to write the players and community of Tabula Rasa. We've been on quite a journey together. First in creating a game unlike any other on the MMO market, then growing a loyal community and finally launching the game and its players into space with Operation Immortality. It has been quite an unforgettable journey, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch...a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

This news is difficult for me to deliver. I am honored to have worked with the team I've had and I'm grateful to the community who makes this game so unique and fun.

Thank you and farewell.

Richard "General British" Garriott

The only problems is Garriott did not actually write this, and he did not leave voluntarily; NCsoft fired him, resulting in Garriott losing $27 million that he was obligated to.  How obligated?  Obligated enough that he won his lawsuit again NCsoft.  NCsoft didn't like that, so they appealed, and Garriott won again:

It would be unjust to allow NCsoft to sit back during trial, observe Garriott's litigation strategy, and then demand a new trial on damages when it dislikes the verdict," the ruling reads. Garriott's former victory was not only upheld -- NCSoft now owes him $32 million with interest and attorney fees.

[Kheprera]

To me this means it is up to us.

We are the current voice not just for our beloved City of Heroes/City of Villains, but also for Auto Assault, Dungeon Runners, Exteel, Tabula Rasa, and all other games.

Not just NCSoft.  We are the consumers, the players... we are the voices of our characters and creations.  It is never "Just A Game."  These games aren't just an escape.  They are social mediums for millions of people.  We find companions, friends, lifemates.  From the United States to Korea to Great Britain and everything in between. We invest not just time and money, but our imaginations, creativity, and heart.

Facebook is just a place to journal your personal life.  MMOs make us brothers in arms.
 
We are the voice of one united front.  For CoH.  For Lineage.  For WoW.  Our voices must be united in chorus until we are one, and we are heard.

[Codewalker]

Please note: This above section actually goes *counter* to what Wikipedia says:  (source: Dungeon Runner wikipedia page)

Or it could just be Wikipedia being as accurate as ever. (/sarcasm)

Thanks for the note on the Dungeon Runner announcement dates. That's veeeeery interesting.

[Turjan]

I love it when I don't even have to think any words up and can just cut and paste from their offical press releases

[unladenswallow]

I am familiar with all of these shutdowns but I knew next to nothing about circumstances surrounding their shut downs until people on this thread started referencing them. I still know very little but there appears to be at least some legitimate reasons for shutting down or at the very least trimming back the staff of some games. In the case of Tabula Rasa since NC Soft had their asses handed to them in a lawsuit over it's shutdown there would appear to be at least one huge illegitimate reason for shutting it down.

Has anyone here that has taken the time to research what happened during these shutdowns and found anything interesting that most people might miss by just perusing a few old articles about these shutdowns?

[TimtheEnchanter]

NCsoft had their asses handed to them over the removal of Richard Garriott and how that was handled and *not* the closure of Tabula Rasa. I was playing TR extensively when it was closed down, and in touch with a few of the support staff for it (I actually have a few of the dev staff on my facebook profile actually).

Wasn't the former done specifically to accomplish the latter?

[chaparralshrub]

Well, what we need to do is get the entire community to realize this pattern. Enough to never play another NCSoft game. Enough to get NCSoft itself to shut down. That way, somebody else can buy their IPs...

[chaparralshrub]

Yeah, I'm hopeful that somebody else could take the IP and run with it. And be smart enough (or charitable enough) to hire all of the non-evil people who still work for NCSoft, of whom I'm sure there are quite a few.

For example I doubt that the devs for Guild Wars are any worse people than the devs for CoH. If they lose their jobs, I want them to have new jobs quite soon as well - preferably working on GW, since it's probably their passion, again just like the devs for CoH.

[chaparralshrub]

Dont forget the GM's, server maintenance peeps, billing, and customer support people (they are employed by NCsoft and not by a dev studio).

According to Rae in another thread on there (buy the GM's pizza one), there are 160 people in the NC Austin offices doing these jobs. Just because they support the other NCsoft titles (and ours as well for now), doesn't mean that they should be out of work due to our pettiness.

Let 'em work for Cryptic. Let Cryptic inherit the whole office block!

[NecrotechMaster]

as its been mentioned in other threads i think labeling ncsoft as an MMO killer would be pretty justified at this point

compare it to other companies as well, ncsoft now has 5 shutdowns on them, while i rarely hear of shutdowns from other companies (the last one that i know of was hellgate: london which wasnt even an actual MMO until it was revived recently as Hellgate: Tokyo)

[SithRose]

For example I doubt that the devs for Guild Wars are any worse people than the devs for CoH. If they lose their jobs, I want them to have new jobs quite soon as well - preferably working on GW, since it's probably their passion, again just like the devs for CoH.

Some of them are very nice people indeed, easily in the same level as Positron and War Witch. I wouldn't want them to lose their jobs or the years of work they've put in on a really good game. And they're stuck in the same position as Carbine. It is not generally a happy-making situation for devs in that position right now.

It would not be appropriate to *deliberately* try to force NCSoft out of business. If it happens organically as a result of their behavior...well, that's another story entirely. It seems likely that ArenaNet could probably continue as an independent studio based on the strength of their products. If, of course, NCSoft didn't kill them. Which would be bad for several people I know.

[Zolgar]

as its been mentioned in other threads i think labeling ncsoft as an MMO killer would be pretty justified at this point

compare it to other companies as well, ncsoft now has 5 shutdowns on them, while i rarely hear of shutdowns from other companies (the last one that i know of was hellgate: london which wasnt even an actual MMO until it was revived recently as Hellgate: Tokyo)

According to Wikipedia (yes, I know), there's been 14 MMOs (not counting CoH) which have actually shut down- this does not count servers shutting down in some regions but not others.
Of those 14, NCSoft owned 4. In 2 months NCSoft will own a full 1/3rd of the MMOs that have shut down. In addition to this, NCSoft has closed down 2 more MMOs in Korea, that were under other publishers elsewhere in the world.

Yes, they are indeed THE MMO Killer.

[Victoria Victrix]

Under no circumstances do I want NCSoftcore put out of business.  I don't want more people kicked out of their jobs.  I don't want to see anyone else's game shut down.  I merely want them to become so uncomfortable with our cattleprod to their backsides that they sell CoH to someone who will care about it--and I want every game developer to finally "get it" that they are responsible to their customers and stop treating us like hummingbird-brained sheep that will just wander off to the next shiny.

[Mindscythe]

Under no circumstances do I want NCSoftcore put out of business.  I don't want more people kicked out of their jobs.  I don't want to see anyone else's game shut down.  I merely want them to become so uncomfortable with our cattleprod to their backsides that they sell CoH to someone who will care about it--and I want every game developer to finally "get it" that they are responsible to their customers and stop treating us like hummingbird-brained sheep that will just wander off to the next shiny.

Well said, and agreed. The traditional "video game" model/mentality doesn't hold up when you apply it to MMOs, but the game owners keep trying. It's as ridiculous as when the government tried to apply Broadcast indecency rules to the Internet.

[Technerdoc]

Looks like we didn't have really a chance in saving our game, but I still don't get it why they close all this MMOs. When it's time for Aion? How long will Wildstar be online? This game is already dead and isn't out so far.

Playing an NC-Soft game isn't a good idea when it's sure that they close it after X-years, not matter what happens. This works for a little time, but one day the people will realise this and there are so many MMOs out there that there is no reason to play a game without a future.

Right now Guild Wars 2 is going well, but this game is just boring. The people buy and play it because it dosn't have an monthly fee. Did they buy something from the shop? Did they all buy the Add-Ons? I'm not so sure about this. Closing a game with a a good community, supporting their game for years is just stupid no matter how old the game is, but it makes money. A lot of publishers will do everything to have a game with a community like City of Heroes, I'm sure. And they never ever try to sell the IP. Fire the entire team before trying this isn't a good strategy in selling a game IP.

But maybe we aren't clever enough to understand this...

[HEATSTROKE]

Tony, can you enlighten me on the purpose of this post? Are you reporting this somewhere > Is it going into an article ?

[Codewalker]

and I want every game developer to finally "get it" that they are responsible to their customers and stop treating us like hummingbird-brained sheep that will just wander off to the next shiny.

I can't blame game developers too much. After playing WoW for a few years and being fairly involved in that 'community', it certainly seems like the majority of MMO players really are hummingbird-brained sheep who are fickle and jump from one shiny game to the next, playing them only so long until they get bored, then moving to another.

CoH is something of an anomaly in that respect, having such a loyal core player base. The average maturity level seems to be quite a bit higher as well. It's a shame NCSoft didn't seem to recognize that or know what to do with it.

[HEATSTROKE]

I can't blame game developers too much. After playing WoW for a few years and being fairly involved in that 'community', it certainly seems like the majority of MMO players really are hummingbird-brained sheep who are fickle and jump from one shiny game to the next, playing them only so long until they get bored, then moving to another.

CoH is something of an anomaly in that respect, having such a loyal core player base. The average maturity level seems to be quite a bit higher as well. It's a shame NCSoft didn't seem to recognize that or know what to do with it.

Of they just didnt care... period...

[Turjan]

The thing that puzzles me the most is not the similarities between previously closed NCSoft titles and CoH, it's the differences.

In every case prior to CoH, NCSoft MMOs were closed on simple grounds of profitability. The Dungeon Runners team even said as much directly, same with Exteel. And given the many years and many, many millions of dollars Tabula Rasa cost to develop, there's simply no way it was ever going to claw that back (ironically, when it closed, it was pretty much perfected IMO, but that was definitely too little, waaaaay too late in business terms).

City of Heroes though...every bit of info we have says the game was profitable. Just chugging along perhaps, not breaking any records, but definitely PROFITABLE. So for that reason alone, the closure of CoH can't be lumped together with the other MMO bodies buried in NCSoft's back yard.

Being brutally honest, I can see - and sympathise (despite all my Mars Attacks and Yongary cartoons) - with NCSoft closing down Auto Assault, Exteel, Dungeon Runners and Tabula Rasa...and for me, THAT'S what makes me so angry about CoH. It's not the same situation at all.

And I suppose that's why I chose to use the Mars Attacks "shooting Congress" scene as the basis of that "total support - no, wait - you're all FIRED!" gag because to me it's the same : basically, "we come in peace...shoot to kill!". It's irrational, out of the blue, a complete 180, bipolar madness

[Omega Mark V]

Got a question, then a statement:

What is this post for? To remind us of the odds? I don't see much 'light at the end of the tunnel' anymore, and this post doesn't help that hope much. I'm still praying for our success, but that's about all I can do anymore.

As for my statement:

Since this post is entitled: "Deja Vu" I'm going to share my own dream that I remember concerning CoH; I believe it will be Deja Vu soon:

I was standing as my main character, Omega Mk. V, under Atlas's Statue. I was talking to one single person whom I don't remember, but I don't recall this happening before. This means the game had to be going yet in this Deja Vu dream, and this may mean CoH is going to survive, or this was a dream sometime in the next two months before the shutdown.

I still have not experienced this Deja-Vu-to-be yet, and this is the only hope I grasp onto.
As for a disclaimer, I've posted this message elsewhere before, but this topic is a better place for it.

I'm still hoping that this dream means our game will live on.