Ncsoft West Layoffs...

[Ashen Fury]

Just saw this article on Massively.com: http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/03/28/ncsoft-west-confirms-layoffs/

Seems like theres more "restructuring" going on.

[FatherXmas]

I wonder if NCSOFT is going to do what they did in Europe and sell off the day to day operations of Aion and Lineage II to third parties.

[Samuraiko]

On the one hand, I have friends who work there, and I'm really hoping they're not among the ones getting the ax.

On the other hand, it's one more sign that NCsoft is in trouble, and there I admit to being vindictive enough to feel some small measure of dark satisfaction.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[JaguarX]

yeah still pains to see that when a corporation is in trouble that it's the workers that probably need that paycheck get axed. Upper level execs could retire any day and live like kings for rest of life and save company millions each in salary but they dont go anywhere.

"Gah, I messed up. You there, pack your things and get out of here. Ya fired! There, that solved that problem. Now about giving myself a raise."

[Kistulot]

As much as I am not an NCSoft Cheerleader to put it mildly, I have always tried to convey that it is the company, IE its higher ups and the entity comprised of what they want and their business decisions that I dislike. I've never wished any ill will on any employee of NCSoft that was just doing their job the best they could. I imagine 99% of their employees would sympathize with us and feel sad if we talked to them about all of this, or would at least go "that sucks, I'm sorry" and mean it.

Innocent people being pawns on the greater chesstable of corporations is a sad truth of our time. We don't live in a dystopian cyberpunk future (our tech is better for the most part and our society pretends to be better for the most part) but sometimes its hard not to feel like we do.

If we could do anything to get out the word that the SaveCoH movement really cares about the employees affected by crud like this, I would get behind it 110%.

[Surelle]

Oh, whoa!

Is that Nyx who lost her job?  Wow!  I can't believe it-- she was the glue that held the official Aion forums together for ages!  I've gotta go check on that and offer my condolences if that's the case (not that I don't feel badly no matter whom it was, but I played Aion hardcore for several years, right up until the CoH shutdown announcement in fact, and Nyx was awesome).

[Samuraiko]

Oh, whoa!

Is that Nyx who lost her job?  Wow!  I can't believe it-- she was the glue that held the official Aion forums together for ages!  I've gotta go check on that and offer my condolences if that's the case (not that I don't feel badly no matter whom it was, but I played Aion hardcore for several years, right up until the CoH shutdown announcement in fact, and Nyx was awesome).

Yes, that was Nyx.

Michelle
aka
Samuraiko/Dark_Respite

[Captain Electric]

Or to put in another way, most of the people working in Crey office buildings in Paragon City aren't evil. 

Kistulot, that was extremely well-written and I entirely agree. It's one of the reasons why I regret that our community's investigations could never turn up exactly who the individual minds were behind CoH's shutdown. A lot of people immediately sprung on the CEO and COO. But right before the closure announcement, Nexon had just bought almost $700 million in stock and become NCSoft's largest shareholder. The CEO himself on the other hand had just sold a big chunk of his stock. You can paint a few different pictures using these facts and your imagination--even one where the top management of the company may have been on Paragon's side against the shareholders. No one outside of that upper circle will ever know and that's why our PR backlash campaign felt so directionless and messy. Specific targets would have allowed us to investigate specific people, and it may have been possible to dig up dirt or generate enough bad press around those individuals to see resignations.

I have no doubt that having a villain would have made us appear more like heroes and less like vigilantes (in the gaming press I mean, who lumped us all together). Every time I've encouraged people to boycott every game by any studio under NCSoft, I've essentially been in support of collateral damage. I'm not going to lie to myself. This tactic is more Wyvern or Longbow, less Freedom Phalanx. Part of that makes me very uncomfortable, but like some others, I've done it anyway because "this is what we do".

Before I shut up, I'm going to embolden a golden opportunity in your post.

If we could do anything to get out the word that the SaveCoH movement really cares about the employees affected by crud like this, I would get behind it 110%.

Golden opportunity here.

And there are members of this community who have all of the resources that it would take to do exactly that in a timely manner. And it would be the human thing to do.

Strategically, of course, it would also be a way to get our community back into the spotlight in a manner that suggests we're still here and fighting the good fight.

So Tony, if you see this, maybe we can do a donation drive and get it out there in the gaming press and South Korean Times? Would you like to do that?

[kult666]

The stockwatch thread mentions CoH alum Beastyle was another person let go 

Aion loses their CM  - how much more life does Aion have in it?

[Surelle]

Um, upon further investigation it appears as though CMs Nyx, Sly and Kesarin have all been let go.  CM Valor posted that he has been at GDC all week but that he was not let go...at least not that he knows of at this time.  Monday morning at that office should be interesting for him to say the least.  Egads.  How horrible!

This does not portend well for the future of Aion NA, either....

[Xieveral]

If we could do anything to get out the word that the SaveCoH movement really cares about the employees affected by crud like this, I would get behind it 110%.

Golden opportunity here.

And there are members of this community who have all of the resources that it would take to do exactly that in a timely manner. And it would be the human thing to do.

Strategically, of course, it would also be a way to get our community back into the spotlight in a manner that suggests we're still here and fighting the good fight.

So Tony, if you see this, maybe we can do a donation drive and get it out there in the gaming press and South Korean Times? Would you like to do that?

Another dinner date maybe? But are these employees all in the same location or spread out between Seattle and Austin? What about getting in touch with the Aion community to put together a nice sendoff for the CMs that lost their jobs.

[Stunrunner]

All good ideas.  These are the things we as a community should be remembered for.

[Brightfires]

The stockwatch thread mentions CoH alum Beastyle was another person let go 

Aion loses their CM  - how much more life does Aion have in it?

Quite a few Aion players have been worried about what'll happen to that game ever since the CoH announcement. (Aion is my original "other MMO"... And it really sucks big time about Nyx. She's good people.)

[Illusionss]

Quite a few Aion players have been worried about what'll happen to that game ever since the CoH announcement. (Aion is my original "other MMO"... And it really sucks big time about Nyx. She's good people.)

And rightfully so, since smart money sez they are next on the chopping-block.

Were it not for the pain this will cause diehard Aion players, I would be totally behind the closure. It would be that much more fuel for the fire currently scorching the behinds of the fools running NCSoft, and hence worth doing. Hey NC, please prove us right and close Aion at once! Spread a little more of that happiness! Show more of your customers just how much they mean to you.... that is just sheer genius.

To clarify, I really don't want Aion to close. But I would not bet a single dollar that it won't, sometime soon.

[General Idiot]

But at the same time, Aion is one of their precious Korean babies. And that probably protects it more than any amount of success could.

[Brightfires]

But at the same time, Aion is one of their precious Korean babies. And that probably protects it more than any amount of success could.

To clarify a little, the people I've spoken to in-game who are worried aren't the Aion Korea players... I have no doubt NCSoft would do just about anything to keep their domestic game running. It's the Aion NA players (who rely on a localized version of the game rather than the "original"-) who are worried.

[Surelle]

And rightfully so, since smart money sez they are next on the chopping-block.

Were it not for the pain this will cause diehard Aion players, I would be totally behind the closure. It would be that much more fuel for the fire currently scorching the behinds of the fools running NCSoft, and hence worth doing. Hey NC, please prove us right and close Aion at once! Spread a little more of that happiness! Show more of your customers just how much they mean to you.... that is just sheer genius.

To clarify, I really don't want Aion to close. But I would not bet a single dollar that it won't, sometime soon.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Aion NA and Aion EU closed down this year or next.  I'm sure the Korean Mothership will keep running their Asian counterparts as well as Lineage 1 & 2's, but NCSoft, who has never given a tinker's about the lag or gold farmers that have overrun their western versions,  has pulled some nasty moves on our player bases as well (chucking very buggy, huge patches directly to live-- NA doesn't even have a test server-- and suddenly making it take twice as long to level from 50-60 while simultaneously jacking up XP pot prices in the cash shop, etc.).  Even Lineage 1 was already shut down in NA.

[FatherXmas]

Well Lineage suffered here in the west likely because it was UO/Diablo sprite style when it was release in the NA in 2001, 3 years after it came out in Korea.  By then Everquest had been around with 3D for more than 2 years and that December launched their updated graphics engine with there 3rd expansion.

What I find interesting is that Lineage II, a 3D prequel to Lineage, now has more sales outside of Korea than within it.  Also that the 2D sprite Lineage is still going strong  (Number 1 MMORPG in Korea last week according to GameNote) after nearly 15 years.

[Captain Electric]

As an aside, Japan's huge number of UO players are probably one of the biggest reasons I'm still able to log in as a NA player every so often to refresh my houses, do some crafting or go on a good old fashioned dungeon crawl. EA merged the server lists a long time ago and I've popped onto one of those Japanese shards a few times. They are as active as the Atlantic and Great Lakes shards in NA if not moreso and they have a ton of unique dev, EM and GM-built content.

By the way for all of those who think of UO as in the past, its live event teams (today's equivalent of seers) are more active than most MMOs out there, and its lead producer Mesanna is one of the game's more well-known PvPers on Siege (because she plays as her dev name heh). Players often get mini "state of the game addresses" by logging in, asking her questions and giving feedback and then posting the chat logs on Stratics. That is how you do it! (Players are often PK'd by her after those QA's though LOL, good ol' UO. )

I still love UO, still resub at least every 3 months to refresh my houses and play on my same account from 1997.

A good MMO should never end.

[Captain Electric]

Also when CoH closed I spent a lot of time those first few weeks playing my original UO character, and playing on the Earth and Beyond emulator with a character that had outlasted the entire length of time the game had been live under EA (I was there from beta till final server disconnect). Those two characters brought me much comfort because they helped me remember that not every game dies before its time and even when it does, there is always a way. (My namesake character in CoH was intensely interested in how he might help prevent the eventual heat death of the universe. )

Sorry to ramble, just missing our game.

[0nehanklap]

                  NCSOFT

Where LIFETIME Subscriptions go to DIE.

[Menrva Channel]

                  NCSOFT

Where LIFETIME Subscriptions go to DIE.

This looks like a mobucks motivator poster (or a de-inspirational).

[Surelle]

                  NCSOFT

Where LIFETIME Subscriptions go to DIE.

ZOMG.  You made me laugh right out loud with that one!   

[Aggelakis]

Has NCsoft ever had a lifetime sub option on any of their games? I can't think of any. [/killjoy]

[FatherXmas]

Has NCsoft ever had a lifetime sub option on any of their games? I can't think of any. [/killjoy]

No but I think that's a swipe at "Play Forever".

[Surelle]

I wonder if NCSOFT is going to do what they did in Europe and sell off the day to day operations of Aion and Lineage II to third parties.

I've been thinking they would for over a year, since Aion NA went F2P actually.  I'm not sure who would take either of them on over here, though.

[Surelle]

Well Lineage suffered here in the west likely because it was UO/Diablo sprite style when it was release in the NA in 2001, 3 years after it came out in Korea.  By then Everquest had been around with 3D for more than 2 years and that December launched their updated graphics engine with there 3rd expansion.

What I find interesting is that Lineage II, a 3D prequel to Lineage, now has more sales outside of Korea than within it.  Also that the 2D sprite Lineage is still going strong  (Number 1 MMORPG in Korea last week according to GameNote) after nearly 15 years.

I sort of wonder if Lineage 1 is so popular over there because the average Korean cannot afford a better PC to run a proper 3D game....  Just a guess though.

And  can North Koreans even access computers or play games?  Or is it just South Korea that everyone refers to concerning Korean games?  I can't imagine North Koreans would be allowed to mix with South Koreans or anyone else in the world for that matter, even in a simple gaming chat, what with their government being so overbearing.... 

[Brightfires]

I sort of wonder if Lineage 1 is so popular over there because the average Korean cannot afford a better PC to run a proper 3D game....  Just a guess though.

And  can North Koreans even access computers or play games?  Or is it just South Korea that everyone refers to concerning Korean games?  I can't imagine North Koreans would be allowed to mix with South Koreans or anyone else in the world for that matter, even in a simple gaming chat, what with their government being so overbearing....

South Korea... and most of the MMO players there seem to prefer playing in internet cafes rather than on home machines.

[FatherXmas]

I sort of wonder if Lineage 1 is so popular over there because the average Korean cannot afford a better PC to run a proper 3D game....  Just a guess though.

And  can North Koreans even access computers or play games?  Or is it just South Korea that everyone refers to concerning Korean games?  I can't imagine North Koreans would be allowed to mix with South Koreans or anyone else in the world for that matter, even in a simple gaming chat, what with their government being so overbearing....

That might have been true at the start.  Lineage came out in 1998 IIRC.  That's a year after UO.  Same year as Starcraft.  Two years before Diablo II.  Stylistically 2 1/2D sprite based games were quite acceptable.  Then as players became attached to their characters and clans they didn't want to leave.  While Lineage II was equally popular when it first came out, it's popularity in Korea has waned (sales down 68% from 2006, up 6% outside of Korea).  Players weren't all that attached to a 3D prequel.

As for North Koreans, read this blog entry from the daughter of Eric Schmidt of Google during their visit in January.

https://sites.google.com/site/sophieinnorthkorea/home

[Surelle]

That might have been true at the start.  Lineage came out in 1998 IIRC.  That's a year after UO.  Same year as Starcraft.  Two years before Diablo II.  Stylistically 2 1/2D sprite based games were quite acceptable.  Then as players became attached to their characters and clans they didn't want to leave.  While Lineage II was equally popular when it first came out, it's popularity in Korea has waned (sales down 68% from 2006, up 6% outside of Korea).  Players weren't all that attached to a 3D prequel.

As for North Koreans, read this blog entry from the daughter of Eric Schmidt of Google during their visit in January.

https://sites.google.com/site/sophieinnorthkorea/home

I just read that whole thing.  Wow.   Yikes.

I'm glad that fate's roll of the dice landed my little soul in the good ol' U S of A when I was born, that's all I have to say!  And I pity the lot of them.