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President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead.
- Thread starter Subliminator
- Start date
- Watchers 2
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
That's nice. Sony used to make nice products about 20 years ago, then they decided to install rootkits on the machines of people that bought their music cds to combat music piracy. The irony was the only sure way not to be infected was to pirate the music. Sony also removes features from products several years after purchase; i.e. PS3 and linux. Of course there is that whole PS3 network data loss fiasco.
Sony exists in the marketplace mostly out of inertia.
TL;DR: I wouldn't trust what the President Sony says on anything, he should focus on getting his affairs in order.
/OT
That's nice. Sony used to make nice products about 20 years ago, then they decided to install rootkits on the machines of people that bought their music cds to combat music piracy. The irony was the only sure way not to be infected was to pirate the music. Sony also removes features from products several years after purchase; i.e. PS3 and linux. Of course there is that whole PS3 network data loss fiasco.
Sony exists in the marketplace mostly out of inertia.
TL;DR: I wouldn't trust what the President Sony says on anything, he should focus on getting his affairs in order.
/OT
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Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
LOL
That guy sounds like a tool.
FTP attracts losers and complainers.
Has anyone ever read comments made by ppl playing FTP games that have bugs or glitches but refused to shell out a dime (of what I consider a "donation") to the makers of the game? There are millions of these people. I have a hobby of trolling them on FTP FB games. Freeloaders.
LOL
That guy sounds like a tool.
FTP attracts losers and complainers.
Has anyone ever read comments made by ppl playing FTP games that have bugs or glitches but refused to shell out a dime (of what I consider a "donation") to the makers of the game? There are millions of these people. I have a hobby of trolling them on FTP FB games. Freeloaders.
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Sony Online Entertainment is helmed by John Smedley and has nothing to do with CD rootkits or anything else.
Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online, Age of Conan, Everquest 2, DC Online, City of Heroes, and many others all converted to F2P within just a couple of years. If the subscription MMO model isn't dying/dead then what exactly do you call this?
The subscription MMO model isn't just ailing, it's practically become a victim of genocide.
Sony Online Entertainment is helmed by John Smedley and has nothing to do with CD rootkits or anything else.
Lord of the Rings Online, D&D Online, Age of Conan, Everquest 2, DC Online, City of Heroes, and many others all converted to F2P within just a couple of years. If the subscription MMO model isn't dying/dead then what exactly do you call this?
The subscription MMO model isn't just ailing, it's practically become a victim of genocide.
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Umm.
I guess that makes the failure of Star Wars Galaxies easier for him to swallow? It wasn't that there was something wrong with the game, it's that the entire business model is dead.
Kind of like the folks who made the Conan remake decided that it flopped not because it sucked and that they released it in 3d which just made it suck worse, but because the Conan brand name didn't have as much recognition as they thought.
And hey, doesn't Sony have Everquest as well? And isn't Everquest still subscription-based and just released an expansion?
-Galen's player
Umm.
I guess that makes the failure of Star Wars Galaxies easier for him to swallow? It wasn't that there was something wrong with the game, it's that the entire business model is dead.
Kind of like the folks who made the Conan remake decided that it flopped not because it sucked and that they released it in 3d which just made it suck worse, but because the Conan brand name didn't have as much recognition as they thought.
And hey, doesn't Sony have Everquest as well? And isn't Everquest still subscription-based and just released an expansion?
-Galen's player
True. I apparently have a reflexive reaction to all things Sony.
I don't have any thing from 1997 that I still use regularly, other than UO... so I am not sure I would call the subscription model a failure. My wallet is considerably lighter because of it.
I loved Neverwinter Nights but I didn't pay $360/year to play it. I've never shelled out a single dime for FTP content, and doubt I would. I would probably leave the MMO market for indie single player games. Spacechem FTW!
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
UO ain't Sony; it's EA.
-Galen's player
*coughs*
UO ain't Sony; it's EA.
-Galen's player
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
I wouldn't think Lord of the Rings Online lasts too far beyond the release of The Hobbit, when all incentive to keep the Tolkein brand name out there in public as much as possible dies. We'll see. (They are releasing The Hobbit as 2 films so who knows.)
Inevitably these discussions become cries for UO to go ftp which won't happen....To be blunt UO's too old and too counter-intuitive a game to go with such a model.
The influx of new players we got, if it happened at all, would all leave within a week when they found out there's multiple ways to do such a simple thing as recall from one city to another!
-Galen's player
Desperation moves of failed games trying to extend their lives.
I wouldn't think Lord of the Rings Online lasts too far beyond the release of The Hobbit, when all incentive to keep the Tolkein brand name out there in public as much as possible dies. We'll see. (They are releasing The Hobbit as 2 films so who knows.)
Inevitably these discussions become cries for UO to go ftp which won't happen....To be blunt UO's too old and too counter-intuitive a game to go with such a model.
The influx of new players we got, if it happened at all, would all leave within a week when they found out there's multiple ways to do such a simple thing as recall from one city to another!
-Galen's player
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Sony what?
If they wouldn't release so much crap they might actually keep some customers. If Blizzard would make WOW a FTP-game we might have something to talk about but Sony? But heck Sony? Fail release after fail release ...
Sony what?
If they wouldn't release so much crap they might actually keep some customers. If Blizzard would make WOW a FTP-game we might have something to talk about but Sony? But heck Sony? Fail release after fail release ...
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
So you weren't necessarily wrong to associate them with the rootkits; if Sony Online still answers to the rest of Sony then Sony online is the fruit of the poisoned tree.
Of course, UO's also the fruit of a different poisoned tree!
-Galen's player
My guess is that this is the company President making the death of one of his properties, Star Wars Galaxies, easier for himself, and his superiors at Sony proper (assuming Sony Online isn't wholly independent which I doubt), to swallow.
So you weren't necessarily wrong to associate them with the rootkits; if Sony Online still answers to the rest of Sony then Sony online is the fruit of the poisoned tree.
Of course, UO's also the fruit of a different poisoned tree!
-Galen's player
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Yup its dead alright, well except for the fact that WOW is making billions of dollars a year. Oh and the fact that Ultima Online, while not exactly raking it in, is making a small profit every single year since 1997.
But except for those two examples, subscription based MMO's are dead!
Yup its dead alright, well except for the fact that WOW is making billions of dollars a year. Oh and the fact that Ultima Online, while not exactly raking it in, is making a small profit every single year since 1997.
But except for those two examples, subscription based MMO's are dead!
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
"The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage." -- Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916.
"The cinema is little more than a fad. It’s canned drama. What audiences really want to see is flesh and blood on the stage." -- Charlie Chaplin, actor, producer, director, and studio founder, 1916.
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
I wouldnt listen to a thing Sony says, they havent generally got a clue. Ever since the rootkits and the damned PS3 they've just lost any integrity they ever had. dont get me wrong the PS3 is a nice gaming console BUT its overpriced, overworked and generally a nasty bit of hardware. The only reason its in peoples homes is becuase of the Bluray and marketing ploys used.
As for MMO's and Sony.. HA!
I wouldnt listen to a thing Sony says, they havent generally got a clue. Ever since the rootkits and the damned PS3 they've just lost any integrity they ever had. dont get me wrong the PS3 is a nice gaming console BUT its overpriced, overworked and generally a nasty bit of hardware. The only reason its in peoples homes is becuase of the Bluray and marketing ploys used.
As for MMO's and Sony.. HA!
I think a major problem with a lot of corporations is they get away from their core competencies or come under the direction of the professional manager CEO. The focus ends up by this quarters profits and shareholder value, with little regard as to why the company exists in the first place.
I am too young to have owned a sony walkman, but there was a time when sony made good products. Or so I hear
Similarly, I was a fan of such EA classics as Legacy of the Ancients and Mail Order Monsters for my Commodore 64. Not sure when EA started consuming development studios to increase its mass, then destroying successful franchises through neglect, maybe it was always this way. I would like to think the EA got to where it is in the market because it was good at some thing at some point. Even if EA was just the most success game distributor, at least that would be something. Now this company can't even take our money efficiently when we try to give it to them freely.
I was thrilled that Bioware was the studio that ended up with the UO hot potato, though not thrilled that it meant that bioware had to come under the EA flag. Bioware made some truly great RPGs. Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate were my gateway drugs to UO. Even then I remember the UO graphics were a pixilated mess compared to the Bioware titles, though a couple hours playing the UO demo and I was hooked.
Unfortunately I didn't arrive at UO they way many vets here did, through the Ultima series.
Hopefully Bioware maintains some independence from EA, so the toxin is slow to spread.
T
Tazar
Guest
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Considering how many times their systems have been hacked and personal info including credit card numbers have been stolen... I wouldn't want to keep that sort of info any longer either... It just screams liability to me.
Considering how many times their systems have been hacked and personal info including credit card numbers have been stolen... I wouldn't want to keep that sort of info any longer either... It just screams liability to me.
C
Capn Kranky
Guest
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
EQ2 has a F2P model as well as sub model.
EQ2 has a F2P model as well as sub model.
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
I think Mr. Smedley's perspective is coming straight from his basket of sour grapes. SOE has not launched a good product since EQ2.
His product is crap, but he denies it, instead claiming that it's the subscription model.
I would challenge him to come up with something better that DC Online and perhaps he could keep a couple of people playing. I mean come on, the Superman model in that game was based off of ice powers! Geeze!
There is a valid argument to be made about there being a lot of free options on the market, but if your product is great, people will pay to play. I think that Champions Online has a very good F2P system and other companies should perhaps take a look at it.
Either way, I'll pay to play UO! Love it, despite all the quirks!
I think Mr. Smedley's perspective is coming straight from his basket of sour grapes. SOE has not launched a good product since EQ2.His product is crap, but he denies it, instead claiming that it's the subscription model.
I would challenge him to come up with something better that DC Online and perhaps he could keep a couple of people playing. I mean come on, the Superman model in that game was based off of ice powers! Geeze!
There is a valid argument to be made about there being a lot of free options on the market, but if your product is great, people will pay to play. I think that Champions Online has a very good F2P system and other companies should perhaps take a look at it.
Either way, I'll pay to play UO! Love it, despite all the quirks!
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Think about this: We pay. They ignore a bug for half a decade. People get free houses on closed accounts. Freeloading in a pay game!
Yeah why can't they be smart like us and PAY to have the makers of the game ignore our cries to fix bugs and glitches? Dumb freeloaders.
Think about this: We pay. They ignore a bug for half a decade. People get free houses on closed accounts. Freeloading in a pay game!
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
So a bunch of MMOs that nobody really plays anymore went F2P to try and save themselves, whats your point?
W
waishou
Guest
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Sony exists in the marketplace mostly out of inertia.
Sony exists in the marketplace mostly out of inertia.
K
Kralock
Guest
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
John Smedley=SWG NGE all I need to know, a tool, a moron and a guy who thinks he can predict the future, Here is prediction, if he has anything to do with an MMO it will fail.
John Smedley=SWG NGE all I need to know, a tool, a moron and a guy who thinks he can predict the future, Here is prediction, if he has anything to do with an MMO it will fail.
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Hehe, I loved SWG all the way up until NGE was announced and immediately canceled all 3 accounts. And I had people in my guild with 5 accounts that all closed them within a week after.
Hehe, I loved SWG all the way up until NGE was announced and immediately canceled all 3 accounts. And I had people in my guild with 5 accounts that all closed them within a week after.
F
ForTheCity
Guest
Re: President of Sony Online Entertainment declares subscription-based MMO model dead
Everyone has their own opinion. Games like APB weren't doing so good when it was in the p2p stage. it ended up closing down and was purchased by another company set to release it in f2p. Now its doing better than ever.
But other games like WoW are still doing great and i'm sure SWOTR is going to do amazing too. People will pay as long as you make an amazing game that is worth paying for.
Everyone has their own opinion. Games like APB weren't doing so good when it was in the p2p stage. it ended up closing down and was purchased by another company set to release it in f2p. Now its doing better than ever.
But other games like WoW are still doing great and i'm sure SWOTR is going to do amazing too. People will pay as long as you make an amazing game that is worth paying for.