I have to admit, I was expecting to wake up to some sort of post apocalyptic MMO world this morning. As I sat in work first thing (the joys of being the only one in the office at 7am) I hit a few websites and forums to see if there had been any response, any news, perhaps a sign of the end times or a pulse of life. Instead all I found was the world moving on, Destructions king had been killed again at silly AM, the odd website had made mention of the layoffs but things seemed to be moving along with no change.
It's only a day after the news broke, but I honestly feel that if we were at panic stations for WAR then it would have been noticeable by now, not just from the layoffs at Mythic but in general. I still see more and more people returning from Aion or from elsewhere to visit the old world.
A days thought about it makes me believe that EA might be putting Mythic on 'maintenance mode' but this doesn't mean a halt to production, simply that the game is focused on how it stands rather than adding more to it and at this point it's what WAR needs. A good solid focus on removing those pesky bugs and working out performance issues.
There's many games out there with less subscribers that are surviving fine, many are planning expansions and are staying afloat nicely. Yes, WAR has lost subs, but it is in no way a non profitable game, EA wants to make money. You don't get rid of something which is making money, no matter what the profit margins.
Personally, I'm looking at it as stage 2 of the Mythic/Bioware team. I can see Mythic being fully Incorporated into Bioware over the next few months with Ultima and DAoC also coming under the Biowa(aaagh)re banner.
The Waaaagh might be quieter right now, but the green tide is rising...
If you lay off development staff you slow down everything. If you rehire anyone else for those roles, then you have a learning curve to factor in. Even if Bioware try to pick up the slack, this will have a development hit.
ReplyDeleteGoing into maintenance is not good, in any shape or form for Warhammer. It should be taking advantage of the AION dropoff.
It seems there has been no marketing to people who left for Aion to come back to WAR. Right now is the time people are realizing they should of never left WAR, and Mythic could probably get alot of players back.
ReplyDeleteI know almost everyone in my guild on Aion is pretty unhappy. I officially announced my return a couple of days ago, and stirred up a good discussion last night on vent.
How many will actually come back to WAR is hard to tell because some want to stick out Aion to see how the game will be once everyone hits 50. The problem is most won't hit 50 for six months with the grind. I am not willing to wait, and canceled my sub to Aion.