Ncsoft West Layoffs...

[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!   ;D

[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.