MMORPG - COH profitability

[Victoria Victrix]

NCSoft will not squirm at all because of a comment that is buried beneath an article that is piling up with hundreds of comments.

Get in touch with the Korean Times reporter who took statements from Mercedes and the Korean business analyst, and have them do a nice thorough interview with Ammon, one of the world's most respected Internet marketing specialists. Everything Ammon said in that comment--say it to the Korean Times.

Bam.

About time we give NCSoft another black eye, anyhow; I think they're starting to get a little too cocky over there. We need them to sell the game and IP; but that's never going to happen if they make an uncontested habit out of throwing Paragon Studios and City of Heroes under the bus for the "strategic" blunder they made.

Alerted Rae (who has Joe's ear) and Ammon both.

I would really like it if the person on Team Wildcard who has the big, shiny credentials had a few pointed things to say in the Korean Times.

[Surelle]

I can see how a company may perceive the customer list as a strategic asset, but what can said competitor do with it apart from sending marketing emails about their games? Not much. Customers are not cattle and it is up to them whether they'll choose to play those games. I would assume publishers are aware of this.

Plus there are legal aspects. If you are to sell an MMO game, you share not only the IP and the code, but also customer information, including real names and credit card numbers of your users. There are plenty of laws governing sharing personal information and every country has their own. With a popular title that is played by people all over the world, transference of all that data could be a major pain, as you need to treat every single account individually and apply the laws of its owner's respective country. Which in many (all?) countries in EU require user consent, for example, so said user needs to be contacted before the buyer can put their customer information into their database.

I suspect that is one of the reasons why it is such a rare occurence in the world of MMOs for individual games be sold to another company. Buyouts of entire studios or publishers are more likely as that makes it much simpler to handle this situation from the legal standpoint. This may be the main reason behind NCsoft's reluctance to sell, too. They wouldn't want to be dragged to court for accusation of negligence in handling user information.

In that case, sell the IP without the customer information; at least that's my vote.  And I say  this as a former tier 9 reward veteran many times over, who had every extra powerset ever made and most of the cash shop costumes besides.   :P  Goodbye, characters;  goodbye extras.

Just give me my city back and I will take care of the rest once again!

[Kuriositys Kat]

In that case, sell the IP without the customer information; at least that's my vote.  And I say  this as a former tier 9 reward veteran many times over, who had every extra powerset ever made and most of the cash shop costumes besides.   :P  Goodbye, characters;  goodbye extras.

Just give me my city back and I will take care of the rest once again!

Give me the chance to swing on the wind around Atlas' statue, to teach baddies a lesson, to show LR he isn't the ONLY power in the RI and to play the long game against Nemesis!?!  I will start over SAS survivalist training style and enjoy every glorious minute of it. Ye  ghods great and small I miss flying!

[Ironwolf]

I would pay to get the old tiers back.

That simple. I spent from the first day the game went live until it closed playing - not leveling.

So if I would have to spend a couple of hundred dollars to get my Vet rewards back - money well spent.

[Lightslinger]

In that case, sell the IP without the customer information; at least that's my vote.  And I say  this as a former tier 9 reward veteran many times over, who had every extra powerset ever made and most of the cash shop costumes besides.   :P  Goodbye, characters;  goodbye extras.

Just give me my city back and I will take care of the rest once again!

Agreed 100%! Of course having my account, characters and perks back would be ideal, but I would start over in a heart best if it meant CoH would be back.

[Lily Barclay]

Agreed 100%! Of course having my account, characters and perks back would be ideal, but I would start over in a heart best if it meant CoH would be back.

The fun of CoH is playing CoH. I chose not to use Sentinel, because I don't care if I have to reroll.

[WildFire15]

I too would start again from scratch, but it would be nice to get my characters back

[WolfSoul]

The fun of CoH is playing CoH. I chose not to use Sentinel, because I don't care if I have to reroll.

Same here.  I dont care if I have to start over with my main and all my alts.  I just want to go home!

[Servantes]

A real question, was the break of anonymity from Ammon Johns brought to Massively's attention? I am aware the comment's there can be...childish at times, but still 'might' be worth putting it out there.

[Lucretia MacEvil]

Same here.  I dont care if I have to start over with my main and all my alts.  I just want to go home!

A thousand times, this!

Anything less is tantamount to standing by and watching.

Agreed. 

We need to keep making noise.  We need to show NC that we AREN'T going to go away.  Once they realize that, they may sell the IP just to get us to shut up, which is fine with me; I'll take our City back any way I can get it.

[FatherXmas]

What I find interesting is that article actually generated a formal response.  I'm sure NCSoft and it's new western subsidiary would rather be done with Paragon and CoH for 2013 but I think we are seeing, at least from the western group, concern that our noise may dampen B&S's big NA rollout, which would look bad for the western group.

[Lightslinger]

What I find interesting is that article actually generated a formal response.  I'm sure NCSoft and it's new western subsidiary would rather be done with Paragon and CoH for 2013 but I think we are seeing, at least from the western group, concern that our noise may dampen B&S's big NA rollout, which would look bad for the western group.

Is there an opportunity for us with the Blade & Soul launch? I propose dive bombing every article about the launch. I'm not calling for animosity, just impassioned pleas for CoH back on NCsoft's front door with the B&S launch.

[HarvesterOfEyes]

Perhaps a contest to come up with a marketing slogan for B&S?

"B&S, it must be jello because jam doesn't shake like that."

or

"B&S, you don't get many of those to the pound."

or even

"B&S, the hills are alive!"

[Sajaana]

Blade and Soul:
Grab them today, before they disappear tomorrow!

[Lily Barclay]

Blade and Soul:
Grab them today, before they disappear tomorrow!

Zing!

[Copper Cockroach]

"Blade and Soul... More than a Handful"

"Blade and Soul... They're Real and They're Spectacular"

"Blade and Soul... Like Two Puppies Fighting Under a Blanket"

Oh, okay. Why be subtle... they're marketing the damn thing to thirteen-year old boys anyways.

"Blade and Soul... BOOBS!"

[HarvesterOfEyes]

B&S, because really, there just isn't enough hentai softcore on the internet yet.

[TimtheEnchanter]

"The closest you'll ever get to bikini pillow fights."

[Floride]

Blade and Soul!
The coolest game to play! If it becomes popular and profitable, they'll never shut it down...?

[TimtheEnchanter]

We promise not to shut this one down unless it's failing.* For real this time.

*We reserve the right to alter our definition of "failing" at any time.