Exchange rate and perception

[Terwyn]

Possibly because of the way that the cash shop worked.

Account buys Paragon Points.  Points are linked to CoH, and Paragon Studios can see the number of Points bought.
Paragon points are linked to Account.  NCSoft and Cash Shop both credit RealMoney to Account but not to the game the money came from
Paragon Points are spent by Account.  NOW the RealMoney is credited to the game the money came from.

If you hoarded your Paragon Points and didn't spend them, NCSoft can say "well that money didn't come from CoH" even while the Folks at Paragon Studios are saying "Wow, look at all the points bought!  We're doing GREAT!"

That is double plus ungood.

[MakoMako]

Possibly because of the way that the cash shop worked.

Account buys Paragon Points.  Points are linked to CoH, and Paragon Studios can see the number of Points bought.
Paragon points are linked to Account.  NCSoft and Cash Shop both credit RealMoney to Account but not to the game the money came from
Paragon Points are spent by Account.  NOW the RealMoney is credited to the game the money came from.

If you hoarded your Paragon Points and didn't spend them, NCSoft can say "well that money didn't come from CoH" even while the Folks at Paragon Studios are saying "Wow, look at all the points bought!  We're doing GREAT!"

Maybe I missed it somewhere...

But can you point to your source where it's fully acknowledged that's how the system worked? I'm no accountant but there's gotta be a ledger that indicates where that "RealMoney" is coming from. Otherwise, where -did- it come from?

If anything, that sounds like an incredibly serious flaw in the system, where money comes in but it isn't reported from where. If income was actually doubled, that's a -lot- of money with no real noted 'source'. The IRS would be screaming murder.

[Victoria Victrix]

Maybe I missed it somewhere...

But can you point to your source where it's fully acknowledged that's how the system worked? I'm no accountant but there's gotta be a ledger that indicates where that "RealMoney" is coming from. Otherwise, where -did- it come from?

If anything, that sounds like an incredibly serious flaw in the system, where money comes in but it isn't reported from where. If income was actually doubled, that's a -lot- of money with no real noted 'source'. The IRS would be screaming murder.

My source is one of the people at Paragon Studios.  I confirmed this with my source, making sure I understood it correctly.  I cannot reveal the identity of my source.  My sources still face the probability of serious problems with NCSoft if they are found out.

I really wish the IRS would scream murder. 

[Twisted Toon]

The entire absence of marketing is my worst beef with NCsoft, especially since super heroes were experiencing a popularity boost.  I mean HELLO?  A little publicity would've gone a longer way than usual because of that, but NCsoft squandered that golden opportunity.  They not only got an "F" in Business 101, they got a "0".

I give them a D...minus. The only reason it's not an F is because I would to have to see them in summer school.

Oh wait. I wouldn't have to see them in summer school anyway...make that an F minus minus. 

[MakoMako]

My source is one of the people at Paragon Studios.  I confirmed this with my source, making sure I understood it correctly.  I cannot reveal the identity of my source.  My sources still face the probability of serious problems with NCSoft if they are found out.

I really wish the IRS would scream murder.

That's exactly why I made that statement. That method isn't inherently illegal, but it's a -very- strange way to go about it. It's unreported income. And the fact -you- know about it, and have made it public here, means that it's very weird someone in a position, even in NCSoft accounting, hasn't stepped forward to say "So... Where exactly did this money come from?" I think someone in charge of taxes might even find it weird that they had such income but no reported source. Just kinda -there-.

I don't mean to say your contact is wrong. But that's... Kind of a big deal. In a business you don't just have such a large amount of unreported income.

Does your contact actually say what that money is being reported as, at least?

[FatherXmas]

Money is still reported, if what the unnamed source said was true, it just means that it wouldn't be included as part of the game's sales income until the proxy currency is spent.  This would under report the actual sales income when a P/L analysis is done by game.

[MakoMako]

If that's true, then I suddenly regret having 80 thousand unspent points as the servers went black.

[dwturducken]

Reporting isn't so much the issue. Well, maybe a little. If it's not counting toward a game until the points are spent, it's another (possibly deliberate) way the parent company can tell the subsidiary and the players that their game is under-performing. It's shifty, and it's BS, but I'm not even sure it's unethical in today's business world.