| 1 | 'EVE ONLINE' STUDIO ACQUIRED BY KOREAN MMO MAKER (ENGADGET.COM) \r |
| 2 | \r |
| 3 | Thursday September 06, 2018 @11:30PM (msmash)\r |
| 4 | from the in-some-business-news dept.\r |
| 5 | \r |
| 6 | o News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/18/09/06/1921222/eve-online-studio-acquired-by-korean-mmo-maker\r |
| 7 | o Source link: https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/06/eve-online-pearl-abyss-ccp-games/\r |
| 8 | \r |
| 9 | \r |
| 10 | MAXOMENOS writes: EVE Online developer CCP Games has been\r |
| 11 | acquired by Pearl Abyss, the South Korean studio behind the\r |
| 12 | action-oriented MMORPG Black Desert Online. According to\r |
| 13 | VentureBeat, the deal was worth $425 million and will close in\r |
| 14 | early October. It's a surprise announcement for CCP, which has\r |
| 15 | long operated as an independent developer. Eve Online isn't\r |
| 16 | the biggest MMORPG on the market, but it has maintained a\r |
| 17 | steady and loyal userbase through continuous updates and a\r |
| 18 | well-timed switch to a hybrid premium and free-to-play model.\r |
| 19 | The 15-year-old game is unique, too, with its large-scale\r |
| 20 | battles and notoriously complex economic and political\r |
| 21 | systems.\r |
| 22 | \r |
| 23 | \r |
| 24 | ** RIP Eve (Score:3)\r |
| 25 | (by spiritplumber ( 1944222 ))\r |
| 26 | \r |
| 27 | \r |
| 28 | Now watch the new owners completely misunderstand the userbase's\r |
| 29 | culture and wreck a good thing.\r |
| 30 | \r |
| 31 | ** Re: (Score:3)\r |
| 32 | (by sinij ( 911942 ))\r |
| 33 | \r |
| 34 | \r |
| 35 | If someone could make EVE more grindy, it would be a Korean\r |
| 36 | MMO maker. I don't see them misunderstanding that aspect, as\r |
| 37 | they invented Korean Grinder.\r |
| 38 | \r |
| 39 | \r |
| 40 | ** Re: (Score:3)\r |
| 41 | (by duke_cheetah2003 ( 862933 ))\r |
| 42 | \r |
| 43 | \r |
| 44 | > Now watch the new owners completely misunderstand the\r |
| 45 | > userbase's culture and wreck a good thing.\r |
| 46 | CCP already did that years ago.\r |
| 47 | \r |
| 48 | \r |
| 49 | ** \r |
| 50 | \r |
| 51 | ** Re: (Score:1)\r |
| 52 | (by Anonymous Coward)\r |
| 53 | \r |
| 54 | \r |
| 55 | Son, if Koreans will do anything it's inject sexy alien\r |
| 56 | women and bikini-space-armor into it.\r |
| 57 | East Asia never suffered the retardation of puritanism,\r |
| 58 | which is unique to the Western world owing to Abrahamic\r |
| 59 | doctrine, to develop Gymnophobia and Genophobia, so they\r |
| 60 | don't care about the Church-Feminist anti-sexualization\r |
| 61 | offense alliance. The only exception are the "Communist"\r |
| 62 | governments there.\r |
| 63 | \r |
| 64 | \r |
| 65 | \r |
| 66 | ** \r |
| 67 | \r |
| 68 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 69 | (by jeff4747 ( 256583 ))\r |
| 70 | \r |
| 71 | \r |
| 72 | It's almost like you don't know there's already Korean and\r |
| 73 | Chinese alliances in Eve.......and they're not doing all\r |
| 74 | that well. I'm sure FRT will stop feeding Keepstars soon.\r |
| 75 | \r |
| 76 | \r |
| 77 | \r |
| 78 | ** \r |
| 79 | \r |
| 80 | ** Re: (Score:3)\r |
| 81 | (by St.Creed ( 853824 ))\r |
| 82 | \r |
| 83 | \r |
| 84 | It was bad in the beta and never actually recovered from\r |
| 85 | some pretty bad development choices. Have they discovered\r |
| 86 | parallel processing yet? And version management? Okay, I\r |
| 87 | guess the last one was a bit mean. They must have\r |
| 88 | discovered Git by now.\r |
| 89 | But seriously, the game is an unstructured mess. Played it\r |
| 90 | for a while, flew a Machariel and did incursions, level 4\r |
| 91 | missions etc. but after a while it got boring. May pick it\r |
| 92 | up again though.\r |
| 93 | \r |
| 94 | \r |
| 95 | \r |
| 96 | ** Not Good News (Score:4, Interesting)\r |
| 97 | (by Kunedog ( 1033226 ))\r |
| 98 | \r |
| 99 | \r |
| 100 | Shamus Young has a series on Black Desert, explaining how\r |
| 101 | shockingly aggressive, expensive and game-ruining he found the\r |
| 102 | microtransactions system to be, even if you're familiar with the\r |
| 103 | worst of the American systems. There's manadatory PvP and\r |
| 104 | deliberately cramped inventory space but the "cash shop" can\r |
| 105 | always make things better (i.e. playable).\r |
| 106 | \r |
| 107 | I'd be worried if I were an EVE Online fan.\r |
| 108 | \r |
| 109 | [1]https://www.shamusyoung.com/tw... [shamusyoung.com]\r |
| 110 | > I see all the default clothes are bland and I need to pay real\r |
| 111 | > money for a cool outfit. Aesthetics are important to me. (Which\r |
| 112 | > is why I spend so much time on sculpting my character.) So I\r |
| 113 | > really don’t want to spend the rest of my time looking at these\r |
| 114 | > blando outfits. Sigh. Fine. What’s a pretend suit of armor cost\r |
| 115 | > these days? Three bucks? Five bucks?\r |
| 116 | > \r |
| 117 | > FORTY SIX AMERICAN DOLLARS? ARE YOU TRYING TO START A FIGHT?\r |
| 118 | > The cheap outfits can be had for $22. They also offer ladies\r |
| 119 | > underwear sets for just $7, if you want to run around in your\r |
| 120 | > underpants. (I don’t, thanks.)\r |
| 121 | > \r |
| 122 | > (They also offer similar options for male characters. I was\r |
| 123 | > tempted to get the outfit that would let my kung-fu guy go\r |
| 124 | > shirtless, because he’s a kung-fu dude. But all of the choices\r |
| 125 | > looked like modern-day boxers. You can’t just wear baggy pants\r |
| 126 | > with no shirt.)\r |
| 127 | > \r |
| 128 | > Would you like to dye that super-expensive outfit you just\r |
| 129 | > bought? Or any other outfit? That will set you back another $10.\r |
| 130 | > And that’s somehow a rental. Your ten bucks gets you a month of\r |
| 131 | > being allowed to have dyed clothes. After the month is up, your\r |
| 132 | > clothes revert to their original colors and you gotta fork over\r |
| 133 | > another $10.\r |
| 134 | > Do you enjoy wheeling and dealing at the auction house in other\r |
| 135 | > games, but the egregious 35% tax on all your sales is making it\r |
| 136 | > impossible for you to have fun or turn a profit? Pay fifteen\r |
| 137 | > real-world dollars and the tax will go down to the normal 5%.\r |
| 138 | > (For one month.)\r |
| 139 | > \r |
| 140 | > Everything is exorbitantly priced like this. It’s so\r |
| 141 | > outrageously expensive that I get immediately pissed off. It’s\r |
| 142 | > not even about the money, it’s about the sheer audacity of the\r |
| 143 | > seller to ask this much[2] for what should be trivial virtual\r |
| 144 | > goods. Even if you’re a millionaire, you’re still likely to get\r |
| 145 | > offended if someone tries to sell you a stick of ordinary gum\r |
| 146 | > for five bucks.\r |
| 147 | \r |
| 148 | \r |
| 149 | \r |
| 150 | \r |
| 151 | [1] https://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=42507\r |
| 152 | \r |
| 153 | ** Re: (Score:3, Interesting)\r |
| 154 | (by Anonymous Coward)\r |
| 155 | \r |
| 156 | \r |
| 157 | > Everything is exorbitantly priced like this. It’s so\r |
| 158 | > outrageously expensive that I get immediately pissed off.\r |
| 159 | > It’s not even about the money, it’s about the sheer audacity\r |
| 160 | > of the seller to ask this much for what should be trivial\r |
| 161 | > virtual goods. Even if you’re a millionaire, you’re still\r |
| 162 | > likely to get offended if someone tries to sell you a stick\r |
| 163 | > of ordinary gum for five bucks.\r |
| 164 | Sometimes, I thought Stallman was being a pendant for gripes\r |
| 165 | about terminology like "intellectual property".\r |
| 166 | Now I realize he was exactly right.\r |
| 167 | This guy uses the words "virtual goods", like it's something\r |
| 168 | he'll actually own. Dollars to donuts, the EULA and TOS says\r |
| 169 | these 'virtual goods' are nothing more than bits on their\r |
| 170 | server, you don't own a single bit of it, and they do\r |
| 171 | whatever they like, and fuck you we're keeping your money if\r |
| 172 | you don't like it.\r |
| 173 | Seriously, this should be a legal term. If your company\r |
| 174 | \r |
| 175 | \r |
| 176 | ** \r |
| 177 | \r |
| 178 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 179 | (by Calydor ( 739835 ))\r |
| 180 | \r |
| 181 | \r |
| 182 | Remember when they wanted to make players PAY for mods for\r |
| 183 | Skyrim?\r |
| 184 | \r |
| 185 | \r |
| 186 | \r |
| 187 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 188 | (by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ))\r |
| 189 | \r |
| 190 | \r |
| 191 | $46 for a suit of armor?\r |
| 192 | If I ever had any interest in playing Eve*, this pricing\r |
| 193 | would instantly cure me of that notion.\r |
| 194 | *Which I don't, but still...\r |
| 195 | \r |
| 196 | \r |
| 197 | ** Eve + Korean MMO + Pay To Win (Score:2)\r |
| 198 | (by Crashmarik ( 635988 ))\r |
| 199 | \r |
| 200 | \r |
| 201 | If that isn't a match made in hell I don't know what is.\r |
| 202 | \r |
| 203 | ** \r |
| 204 | \r |
| 205 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 206 | (by MAXOMENOS ( 9802 ))\r |
| 207 | \r |
| 208 | \r |
| 209 | ....if they can only get out of beta......\r |
| 210 | \r |
| 211 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 212 | (by blackomegax ( 807080 ))\r |
| 213 | \r |
| 214 | \r |
| 215 | The current beta is 3 moons, 2 stations, and a shitty\r |
| 216 | framework of a "game" that runs at 10fps on a GTX1060\r |
| 217 | at low settings and looks 5x worse than games like doom\r |
| 218 | or E:D.\r |
| 219 | \r |
| 220 | \r |
| 221 | ** \r |
| 222 | \r |
| 223 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 224 | (by St.Creed ( 853824 ))\r |
| 225 | \r |
| 226 | \r |
| 227 | They're not even in Alpha. They call it that, but\r |
| 228 | what it actually is, is "perpetual development\r |
| 229 | hell". It doesn't have a version number but if it\r |
| 230 | had, it would be 666.\r |
| 231 | \r |
| 232 | \r |
| 233 | \r |
| 234 | \r |
| 235 | \r |
| 236 | ** Why didn't microsoft acquire it? (Score:3)\r |
| 237 | (by xxxJonBoyxxx ( 565205 ))\r |
| 238 | \r |
| 239 | \r |
| 240 | Since its unofficial tagline is, ya know, "spreadsheet online"\r |
| 241 | \r |
| 242 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 243 | (by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ))\r |
| 244 | \r |
| 245 | \r |
| 246 | It's also known as "Spreadsheet Simulator".\r |
| 247 | \r |
| 248 | \r |
| 249 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 250 | (by meglon ( 1001833 ))\r |
| 251 | \r |
| 252 | \r |
| 253 | But...it's a really pretty spreadsheet.\r |
| 254 | \r |
| 255 | \r |
| 256 | ** \r |
| 257 | \r |
| 258 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 259 | (by ctilsie242 ( 4841247 ))\r |
| 260 | \r |
| 261 | \r |
| 262 | Makes me wonder too. I wonder if White Wolf would be sold off\r |
| 263 | (likely) or spun off (unlikely, but would be nicer). My fear\r |
| 264 | is that it gets tossed to some big company, and the IP\r |
| 265 | completely shelved, never to see the light of day again,\r |
| 266 | similar to how EA has done with a lot of Origin IP.\r |
| 267 | \r |
| 268 | \r |
| 269 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 270 | (by jeff4747 ( 256583 ))\r |
| 271 | \r |
| 272 | \r |
| 273 | CCP was making a World of Darkness MMO, but canceled the\r |
| 274 | project a few years ago. I think they sold the IP.\r |
| 275 | \r |
| 276 | \r |
| 277 | ** Only half a billion? (Score:2)\r |
| 278 | (by beheaderaswp ( 549877 ) *)\r |
| 279 | \r |
| 280 | \r |
| 281 | My god... that number is kinda high...\r |
| 282 | That aside... this new owner will just accentuate the problem\r |
| 283 | areas of Eve that kept it from truly meeting it's potential.\r |
| 284 | As it is, it's already a griefing sandbox with little wiggle\r |
| 285 | room for anything except PVP and/or massive corporate/alliance\r |
| 286 | industry or fleet ops. When it could be far more balanced and\r |
| 287 | appeal to a larger player base.\r |
| 288 | Pushing it further into "gang warfare" style griefing will\r |
| 289 | eventually make the player base smaller.\r |
| 290 | I stopped playing in 2016. So I play\r |
| 291 | \r |
| 292 | ** Re: (Score:3)\r |
| 293 | (by Luckyo ( 1726890 ))\r |
| 294 | \r |
| 295 | \r |
| 296 | Your description of events is the exact opposite of your\r |
| 297 | conclusion. It sounds like EVE has in fact achieved\r |
| 298 | greatness, because the process you describe functions exactly\r |
| 299 | like real world functions on macro level.\r |
| 300 | The fact that they apparently managed to recreated the world\r |
| 301 | on macro level in a game through long standing player\r |
| 302 | interactions in less than two decades is mind blowingly\r |
| 303 | amazing.\r |
| 304 | \r |
| 305 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 306 | (by St.Creed ( 853824 ))\r |
| 307 | \r |
| 308 | \r |
| 309 | And indeed, a subject of economic studies. Pretty\r |
| 310 | brilliant work in that respect. Whether it's successful as\r |
| 311 | an enjoyable game is something else entirely.\r |
| 312 | \r |
| 313 | ** Re: (Score:2)\r |
| 314 | (by Luckyo ( 1726890 ))\r |
| 315 | \r |
| 316 | \r |
| 317 | Not economic. Political. This is literally the core\r |
| 318 | tenets of concept of sovereignty. Economy is just a\r |
| 319 | part of the picture here.\r |
| 320 | \r |
| 321 | \r |
| 322 | \r |
| 323 | \r |
| 324 | ** Eve Online New addon will contain loot boxes (Score:2)\r |
| 325 | (by Cito ( 1725214 ))\r |
| 326 | \r |
| 327 | \r |
| 328 | No more expansion packs but eve online will offer season passes\r |
| 329 | at 4 different tier prices; standard, deluxe edition, legacy and\r |
| 330 | ultimate edition.\r |
| 331 | \r |
| 332 | ** Also known as (Score:2)\r |
| 333 | (by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ))\r |
| 334 | \r |
| 335 | \r |
| 336 | "Eve Online", also affectionately known as "Spreadsheet\r |
| 337 | Simulator".\r |
| 338 | \r |
| 339 | ** made me laugh (Score:2)\r |
| 340 | (by meglon ( 1001833 ))\r |
| 341 | \r |
| 342 | \r |
| 343 | > Eve Online isn't the biggest MMORPG on the market\r |
| 344 | In other news: water is wet, and the sky is blue.\r |
| 345 | \r |
| 346 | \r |