NCSoft was notorious for not updating their "we're hiring" pages. I have several friends who had applied on the basis of those pages only to be told that no, NCSoft West was not hiring at the time.
One of the questions the Korean Times reporter asked me about was if the Western players would support a browser-based, side-scrolling CoH2. I am going to assume he asked me that because he had some inside knowledge that such a project was being floated.
So let me quickly find the question and my answer and post it here.
8. As you know, the gaming platform is moving from PC to mobile in recent years: can you see yourself, if NCsoft decides to preserve City and make it available on mobile, playing it on a smartphone?
First of all, this is a complete fallacy. It is probably much more realistic to say that "gaming has expanded into mobile operations." There are just as many expensive gaming PCs being used now as there ever were. There are just as many PC gamers as there ever were. Big, powerful PCs are not being sold as much as they were in the past, because PC gamers are not buying new computers, they are upgrading their existing ones instead. If you want a real number of PC gamers, as opposed to what the "common impression" is, you should look at sales of advanced video cards, not PCs as a whole.
PC gaming is not going to go away, or even drop that much. In fact, as those inclined to game in the West get older, they are MORE likely to move to PCs. Quite frankly, for those of us who are older (I am 62), gaming on a small screen is next to impossible. I need as big a display as I can afford. I have tried even simple games on a smartphone, and never went past the free trial as they were impossible and frustrating. Nor am I the only one to say this. The older a player is, the MORE likely he is to want a powerful PC with a big display to game on.
Judging by the reaction from the players on the Titan Network, NONE of them would be even remotely interested in a 2D sidescrolling version of City of Heroes. Apps for a phone--checking the Marketplace, for instance, or simple chat on one of your global channels--those would be welcome. But the players reacted to the idea of a 2D sidescrolling City of Heroes with disgust--and at this point, frankly, if NCSoft offered the core playerbase free beer for a year and a brand new car with their game, we probably wouldn't buy it. If this is NCSoft's plan, it is a very bad one.
There also seems to be a fallacious assumption in Korea that everyone has 4G connectivity with unlimited airtime.
No.
In the US there are very few places with 4G connectivity. I can't get it for instance, anywhere in my area. Even 3G isn't the norm. In fact, at my house, I can only get 2G service, which only allows texting and phone calls. And US customers have limited plans with limited airtime. There are many recent news stories about parents who absent-mindedly handed their child their phone to play an online game to keep him busy only to find themselves with a shockingly high bill at the end of the month. This was not a bill for the game, which was free to play--it was a bill for the data download. Many people have been switching to texting rather than calling, despite the fact that texting is less convenient because unlimited texting is still cheaper than using phone minutes.
The hype about smartphone games ignores this. Evidently the writers of this hype live in an alternate universe, where 4G service is everywhere and costs nothing, rather than the reality I live in, where 4G service is confined to large cities, and data plans begin at $30 a month extra, with additional charges for every meg downloaded over 2GB a month. ($30 for 2GB per month, $50 for 5GB, and $80 for 10GB.)
