Monthly Development Update - 28th February 2014

[Grandpa]

So... I see here no examples of what you think was botched worse in recent times than in the past. All I see is a lot of.... nothing. There have been many changes through the years some good and some bad. I don't believe there has been un upswing either way if any thing more of a status quo of some good and some bad all along. .Simply saying that one person (Lindalu) was the worst in the history of the game at causing game issues and not fixing things is an overstatement at best. To say someone was incompetent does not make it so without examples and something to compare to. BTW calling me a boot licker... really dumb and laughable, whose boots am I licking and for what reason?

Y'all have a nice day

You know very well that I cannot give examples here, so stop with the baiting already.

Notice, I didn't call you anything at all, but if the shoe, or boot, fits...

[MachSchau]

I dont want to sound like a queer or nothing, but where is March's update?

[Gunforhire]

You know very well that I cannot give examples here, so stop with the baiting already.

Notice, I didn't call you anything at all, but if the shoe, or boot, fits...

My boots fit me just fine.

[Lockdit]

I think we have come to a fork in the road in this game. Funcom the company is probably weighing it's options at corporate and maybe this is why we have not heard much lately. The gaming industry has evolved, and the model for the way online games stay profitable has evolved. As great a game as AO is, the bottom line will always remain: "how much income is it bringing in and based on that, what amount of company resources are we going to put into it."

Funcom did not do nearly as well as they had hoped with AOC and then with TSW. Sure, there was profit to be had, but was it enough to further grow the company? I think not. And furthermore; where is the vision? It appears they have grown weak as a company and consequently it's affecting the product. This makes it all the more evident the AO team is under funded and therefore under staffed.

The vitriol of the game community over the latest patch possibility is something that seems to have caught them a bit off guard. I think with the way Funcom is at the moment internally, we the game community can't set our expectations upward in anyway. We are probably fortunate the trading scandal didn't cause Funcom to implode. For certain we who enjoy the game are lucky beyond all belief that the game hasn't been shut down. I think FC has cut the AO crew to the bare minimum to maximize the profit margin of the game as they need as much income as possible to not fold. They need every scrap of profit from all the revenue sources they have, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that AO no longer has any of the company's top people on it any longer(except for maybe macrosun). No offense to those overseeing the game atm but if you were the best and the brightest you would either be working on FC's top stuff or you would be harvested by another company for your talents.

Sure, we may have a new engine(or not) at some point and they may hold off on making some huge blunders in upcoming patches; but I think the writing is on the wall. I would venture to guess that we will see something happen within the next 12-18 months that either bring AO to a halt or that changes it entirely in order to change it's revenue stream.

[Lockdit]

Additionally: I for one, hope the game goes on for eternity, as I have enjoyed it for over a decade personally...

[BytEfLUSh2]

I think we have come to a fork in the road in this game. Funcom the company is probably weighing it's options at corporate and maybe this is why we have not heard much lately. The gaming industry has evolved, and the model for the way online games stay profitable has evolved. As great a game as AO is, the bottom line will always remain: "how much income is it bringing in and based on that, what amount of company resources are we going to put into it."

Funcom did not do nearly as well as they had hoped with AOC and then with TSW. Sure, there was profit to be had, but was it enough to further grow the company? I think not. And furthermore; where is the vision? It appears they have grown weak as a company and consequently it's affecting the product. This makes it all the more evident the AO team is under funded and therefore under staffed.

The vitriol of the game community over the latest patch possibility is something that seems to have caught them a bit off guard. I think with the way Funcom is at the moment internally, we the game community can't set our expectations upward in anyway. We are probably fortunate the trading scandal didn't cause Funcom to implode. For certain we who enjoy the game are lucky beyond all belief that the game hasn't been shut down. I think FC has cut the AO crew to the bare minimum to maximize the profit margin of the game as they need as much income as possible to not fold. They need every scrap of profit from all the revenue sources they have, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that AO no longer has any of the company's top people on it any longer(except for maybe macrosun). No offense to those overseeing the game atm but if you were the best and the brightest you would either be working on FC's top stuff or you would be harvested by another company for your talents.

Sure, we may have a new engine(or not) at some point and they may hold off on making some huge blunders in upcoming patches; but I think the writing is on the wall. I would venture to guess that we will see something happen within the next 12-18 months that either bring AO to a halt or that changes it entirely in order to change it's revenue stream.

I don't want to be rude, but...

There is no "AO Team". They were all integrated into one "MMO team" that does AO, TSW and AOC. There's only one employee left that's entirely dedicated to AO, IIRC.
Also, the sky is blue.

[Xootch]

ao should have been made about players a long time ago. ao had a considerable rp group that wouldve gladly provided content. people have asked fc to turn ao over. sadly, now not only fc is incapable of maintaining ao, the players who had the ability to run this game are largely gone as well. ao is dying, there's no doubt. i know it has been declared dead a million times. but look at the facts, sever merged and still barely populated, economy totally out of hand (we're at 1.8b per piece of ai armor atm), ao staff almost nonexistent anymore and to top it of they got some guy running it on the side who in his ignorance is providing the needed collateral damage to push things over the edge. its not a matter of if, only a matter of how soon.

oh and as for the lovely engine. what about it? its supposed to make ao run smoother as it will make use of the gpu. that is it. to give ao a different look textures would need to be reworked - which could have been done with the help of players, but now wont happen at all. so ao, with minor alterations, will look pretty much like it looks now. so why the fuzz? if you don't believe me, you havent kept up with fc posts. either genele or means said so themselves: we are only reworking some of the textures, as we do not have the capacity to do them all, so the game will largely look the same. at that time it was declared that the engine was a promise to the future, to enable future features and opportunities. now that is one sweet piece of irony isnt it.

its exactly right. we, the players who love the game, are bled dry until its not profitable any longer. there will be no better, no development no new players. open your eyes. don't wait for things that wont ever happen. play the game and enjoy it as long as you can like it is.

[Lockdit]

Is stating a fact rude? Doubtful, unless a person is made of "glass".

So...ok, "integrated," that sounds eerily similar to the term "downsizing"; which occurs frequently when a company is loosing $$$...

As for the blue sky....who doesn't fancy a blue sky...

[Lockdit]

Xootch, I concur with you 100%

Your advice to just play it and enjoy it while you can is exactly what we all need to do.

Your post was spot on...

[BytEfLUSh2]

Is stating a fact rude? Doubtful, unless a person is made of "glass".

So...ok, "integrated," that sounds eerily similar to the term "downsizing"; which occurs frequently when a company is loosing $$$...

As for the blue sky....who doesn't fancy a blue sky...

Stating a fact is not rude, not at all. And in FunCom's case, "integrating" actually does mean "downsizing" which occurred when the company was losing $$$.
As far as the sky goes, I prefer a Penumbra-like sky. Spring, summer and autumn are the only seasons I hate from the depth of my Omega heart.

[Lockdit]

Here is some fresh news which pitches my previous posts in a different direction:

Funcom's Q4 revenues slid year-over-year from $7.78 million in Q4 2012 to $4.27 million in Q4 2013, due to previously reported deferred billings related to its massively multiplayer online game The Secret World, weaker sales and increased competition.

In its recent investor presentation (PDF link), Funcom described the number of large-scale MMO players as "relatively stable" and highlighted Age of Conan and Anarchy Online as its main sources of revenue. The company also revealed that "All games in the large-scale MMO segment are cash flow positive and will remain so in the foreseeable future."

Funcom will continue to execute a strategy it developed in 2012. That strategy focuses on creating mid-core online games, developing games more quickly, creating smaller games with smaller teams and releasing more than one game each year. The company also plans to take its Dreamworld engine cross platform and expects it to be compatible with Android and iOS this year. Its upcoming Lego Minifigures Online MMO is also on track for an open beta this summer.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian developer was delisted from the country's stock exchange and investigated by Økokrim (The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) under the su****ion of market manipulation and failing to maintain a list of people granted access to inside information. According to the financial report, no employees have been charged, and there is no indication as to how long investigation will take.

Source
Funcom

Via
Massively

[Lockdit]

I was suprised to see that AO is still a main stable of income for FC; which I thought wasn't the case anymore. So maybe the Lego game will give FC the boost to "right the ship"

*fingers crossed*

[ultion]

snip:

In its recent investor presentation (PDF link), Funcom described the number of large-scale MMO players as "relatively stable" and highlighted Age of Conan and Anarchy Online as its main sources of revenue. The company also revealed that "All games in the large-scale MMO segment are cash flow positive and will remain so in the foreseeable future."

Source
Funcom

Via
Massively

From the quarterly report on revenue : http://cdn.funcom.com/investor/2014/...esentation.pdf

Main source: revenues from The Secret World and Age of Conan games

Not sure how Massively injected AO into that statement.

[Freor]

With Q1 now over, my wild guess would be "slightly declining numbers on Anarchy Online". Tho that may be delayed to q2 with cancellings/inactivity not showing in money received yet.

From Q4 report there's one other interesting fact worth considering btw. Their equity is now *negative* if I remember right. In most cases that doesnt spell a bright future, maybe FC is an exception

[Awikun]

Look like it was too hard to write monthly development update in March.

Today we have "April Fools Day" so I expect news like:

New engine is ready and will be patched tomorrow.
We decided to abandon all stupid changes we proposed a month ago
We hired Mastablasta as a new game director
We canceled subscription so from now on AO is free to play.

[nat3s]

A little unprofessional of Funcom to post the monthly update late again.

[Gargle]

For the sake of the sanity of the developers and even the very strict moderators, I hope you all take these threads with a pinch of salt. In the words of a very wise woman and I quote:

"He told me, if I truly want to understand humanity, I need only read the comments section on Youtube. I hate the Internet."

[Anarrina]

Monthly updates frequently come on the last day of the month, but nearly as often on the first day of the following month, and a relatively recent one even on the third. There's a 3-4 day window, so assuming apathetic disinterest because its crossed into the first is a bit premature.

[Gargle]

I donate this quote to your signature Anarrina. I thought you like it.

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine

[Zwelgje]

Monthly updates frequently come on the last day of the month, but nearly as often on the first day of the following month, and a relatively recent one even on the third. There's a 3-4 day window, so assuming apathetic disinterest because its crossed into the first is a bit premature.

Not true, but funny if you replace "day" with "week": j/k

As long as there be new pica's !!!

Oh, btw, will the Oculus Rift VR be supported in the near future?