Layoffs at CCP Atlanta HQ, WOD MMO Affected

[Rick Gentle]

I'll believe that this firing was motivated purely by end-of-quarter financial balancing only if they hire back the 15 people next quarter and get them back to work on the WODMMO. I find it much more likely that CCP has stretched their resources too far and is now looking to cut back everything that isn't involved with EVE Online. Didn't the Atlanta office only have 30 or 40 people working in it total? But I bet the crew working on Valkyrie is still going strong...

[Cahalith]

That's not how it works. The problem causing the budget unbalance needs to be addressed, whether it's a drop in monthly revenue from Eve or the Q3 2013 financial accounts being far lower than was expected from the projections. I agree that CCP bit more than they can chew, though, but this to me still looks as regular corporate practice when the numbers don't add up at the end of the year.

According to recent docs, there were 121 employees in the CCP NA offices, but of those only 65-70 were working on WoD by last Fanfest. This puts the current number of WoD devs around 50-55. What does this mean for a game that has been in pre-production for over 5 years and from which we don't even have a single (official) screenshot?

Hell if I know, guys. Hell if I know.

[Cahalith]

According to his Twitter Thomas Holt, Art Director of WoD, is out, as well as many devs from his team.

Also I've heard through the grapevine that Chris is still working for CCP, but take that with a grain of salt, guys.

Opinions?

[Rick Gentle]

As long as they are still promising to deliver a WODMMO, they'll need to keep C. McD. on. He was a big name in the World of Darkness before CCP took over, and he's been the face of the WODMMO since it started.

But with all respects to Mr. McD., I'd rather have a level designer still working than a producer.

[VampireBill]

I picture the WOD mmo team being the most anxious/suspicious/paranoid/general-low-morale team in existence. Getting assigned to it probably even seems like a bad omen at this point...
Now the positive spin: that sounds just like the atmosphere of the WOD, so it could synergize well!

[Rick Gentle]

Yeeeeeees! Channel that paranoia and anxiety into the very code of the game, like empowering a fetish or charm!

[PANZERBUNNY]

Perhaps level designers simply aren't needed at this point and when they are, things could progress quickly.  They already said that cities will be virtually the same, right? (Or is that speculation?)

I think it would be reasonable to launch with a basic city template and then plan on rapid additions within the first 3 months of the game. That leaves more dev attention on more important parts of the game.

[Radical21]

Perhaps level designers simply aren't needed at this point and when they are, things could progress quickly.  They already said that cities will be virtually the same, right? (Or is that speculation?)

I think it would be reasonable to launch with a basic city template and then plan on rapid additions within the first 3 months of the game. That leaves more dev attention on more important parts of the game.

I couldn't agree more, and as long as a company treats its workers properly ( pay well , give good work conditions) people shouldn't fail to appreciate that the company hired them all this time.

[GlassDeviant]

CCP may also be realizing that the age of the MMO is coming to an end. MMOs are a dime a dozen these days, and most of the money is in cheap "pay2win" monetization, where the game is free but unless you buy "gameplay enhancers" from the real-world-money store you will be marginalized in-game by the simple fact that gear and character-enhancers are everything in the MMO arena now. God I miss EverQuest beta (the original game), heck I even miss the EVE Online beta, where you actually survived by being good at the game itself, and pvp was limited by the fact that there were more star systems than players (5000 vs about 2500-3000 or so at the time).

[PANZERBUNNY]

MMO's are dime a dozen with many F2P games keeping the customers, but in my mind those are customers that shouldn't even be included in the equation. Even gaining some of the drooling mobs of disloyal gamers should be considered a bonus. Sure, the MMO genre is saturated, but they are all pretty bad. Console games for the most part are pretty bad. No one is putting the effort into the product. Put the effort into the product and people will come. They have the benefit of working on a strong intellectual property that grants them a certain amount success right out of the gate.

Small item micro transactions are the place to be, whether it's straight up cash exchange or a digital currency. I assume they'll make the points for EVE have a dual purpose for both games?

If it'll get the game off the ground due to funding troubles or cold feet as to the games future if they dump a lot of time into it, get bold. MWOMercs is an example of that. They are behind schedule for community warfare for taking and holding planets etc, but their Mech packages have served them well in the three waves they've had since launch last year. I know people who have spent thousands on that game.

How bold is bold? Perhaps restricting some of the skill boost "tomes" for when a character you have reaches a certain level, letting people level up their other characters at an increased rate. (Makes sense? Your more powerful character teaching or allocating resources to his up and coming brood?)

-Open up a Blood line character slot for $30? (Maybe even more. This could even go for $99.)

-Extra starting influences for $10? A bind to account item.

-Extra starting discipline points for $10? Bind to account item.

-Haven expansions into a larger space only available by micro transaction.

-The obvious amount of store exclusive clothing options, extra character slots etc.

-When and IF the Sabbat are introduced, offer a quest chain that needs to be unlocked through the store that will give your chosen character access, at the end of it, with the option of joining the Sabbat OR something suitable for turning down the offer and staying with the Camarilla. Playing along as a double agent for the quest chain. Instead of waiting for low level vamps leveling up through the game to challenge the existing Camarilla structure, you'd have people switching sides and getting down to business ripping each other apart, breathing new life into a character they may be getting tired of.

They could even come up with age related packages before launch. Neonate-Ancillae-Elder-Methuselah. Grants a forum tag or even a tag on your character sheet showing your support at the start of the game. Each package granting a certain amount of goodies?

Have they already pondered these concepts? Possibly. The cheapest gamers tend to be the loudest, but if this game is going to make it and not flop out like an afterbirth, they need to know that we are willing to spend cash. IF you aren't, be happy it makes it out at all and say thanks to those who contribute. (IF such cash schemes are introduced.)

I may not like the path that LOTRO has taken, but I don't mind their point scheme at all and the gating of content. If people want WOD to be like EVE with only basic PVE content and missions, make all that PVE content paid packages. Have waves or seasons of PVE content that keep people advancing various stories that grant, well, whatever they want them to grant. People that are after PVP aren't forced t drag themselves through PVE missions and PVE people are given a break from being ganked over and over. I supposed this creates the controversy of "safe zones", but the game needs to semi user friendly to welcome the hordes of care bear Toreadors.

In ending this rant, I don't think the market is coming to an end. I think as people age and gain experience in gaming their tastes refine and to be honest, there isn't much out there beyond the Horizon of crap cartoon games so people give up.

I also won't take vaporware promises about this game seriously until I see some kind of official forum or avenue where they can listen to what at least a portion of their paying customer base are looking for in the title. Ideas that may gel with their current vision and concepts they may not have thought of.

For all we know they are still high fiving and patting backs over the perma death concept from two years ago and have been staring at a dry erase board since then.

[GlassDeviant]

One can but hope. I've pretty much given up on MMOs and am not even looking forward to TES Online personally, despite being a longtime player of TES games. Having been through the millstone of many MMOs from the very beginning (UO, EQ1/2, EVE, and even WoW after years of being badgered by freinds to just try it, not to mention LotRO, DDO, STO and other smaller offerings) I've gotten disillusioned by the whole concept.

[PANZERBUNNY]

When I found out TES wasn't Bethesda, I didn't give it another thought.

Been with LOTRO since launch. The Hamster wheel mechanic they adopted with vigour and the dragging out of Rohan and Helms deep left me sour. I could care less anymore. Game probably won't make it to Mordor.

I actually went and played Conan again after not logging in since launch. Played that for a while.

I would probably try out Darkfall 2 if I felt motivated.

There is a drought of sandbox games. I'd play EVE, but I think the combat is tedious and boring.

I would have waited for the Fallout MMO as I feel it would be craft heavy, but we all know where that is now.

The Secret War turned out to be fairly cartoonish, no ammo. Seemed very theme park. ie follow the yellow brick road and don't put much thought into it. Never played it. Was let down by the game play video. At first I was excited to see something with Occult lore as a game theme. Blah.

The gaming industry has turned into a ripe turd.


The hope that WOD will be as dark and gritty as it should be and not a cartoon mess with fangs seems like a long shot.

[VampireBill]

Coming soon: Limited edition gold-plated +120% xp gain rate monocle pre-orders - $500.
(sorry, couldn't resist when MWO mentioned, haha)

[GlassDeviant]

The Secret War turned out to be fairly cartoonish, no ammo. Seemed very theme park. ie follow the yellow brick road and don't put much thought into it.

Yeah it kinda struck me as being a lot like ToonTown (a Disney children's "MMO" that I played with my daughter when she was wee). Actually I think ToonTown was better.

I'll give CCP it's due, if anyone can pull off an MMO based on WoD they are one of the more likely suspects, but it's still a faint hope given what they did with EVE after such a promising beginning. At first you could almost believe it would put gameplay before mass market pandering but that fell to the wayside over the years. As it is only the Earth & Beyond Emulator is giving me what little Science Fiction fix I can get, but if Star Citizen sticks to its course there may be *some* value there...but in the offline/private server area, not the MMO side.

Will we ever see a decent WoD or even just general supernatural-based MMO? Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath. How much do you want to bet that items like the Weekapaug Thistle will be in the WoD MMO store? Ah, don't bother, it's almost a sure thing.

[VampireBill]

The sales of Arma 2 specifically for the DayZ mod, and now the sales already for the DayZ Standalone (early) Alpha release show that there is definitely a considerable audience for more "hardcore" gameplay, -a gameplay style a modern AAA publisher would never, ever touch.