How to get NCSoft to release the IP?

[pandora114]

Ok, NCSoft is a typical company.  I highly doubt they'll do anything to help what they view as "Competition"

Now, here's how we, as well as those in Paragon Studios, can help at least TRY to convince them otherwise?

We need to prove we are NOT INTERESTED In the type of game they offer.  That's right. no GW2, no Boobs and Shame err Blade and Soul...nothing NCSoft.  It isn't a boycott, it's a consumer response from City residents, to show that we are NOT interested in the kind of game they are offering, only in City of...

Our section of the MMO Demographic might be "Niche" But it's a niche that's growing by leaps and bounds.  I swear if NCsoft would have given half the amount of publicity to CoX as to Guild Wars...we would have more numbers (That look good to the bean pushers) than we do now. Heck if they managed to drop some cash on a theater ad to go before The Avengers,  We would be huge.  Anyway  feathers in the wind.  What I'm saying is, we need to make NCsoft realize that City of Heroes isn't competition and the market that's interested in Super Heroes isn't really interested in booby flying Kung Fu (Wow when I put it that way..I'm not doing us any favours)  If they want to concentrate on the Asian market, let them.  We're not living in Asia. (Well most of us anyway) 

So Tony, if you read this...and can feed it to the Paragon Party People,  try to get them to focus their negotiations on how we aren't competition.  That might help loosen their toddler grasp on the toy that they refuse to let go despite not playing with it.

[LightofthePhoenix]

The thing is... City of Heroes only has one thing that would make it competition with the rest of their games.  It's another MMORPG.  Everything else about it wouldn't create competition.  We're a modern day superhero themed MMO compared to their fantasy MMOs they love so much, totally different genres.  We're largely targeted towards North American and European (and Australian) audiences compared to NCSoft's focus on the Korean public.  Everyone who plays our game and not theirs is someone who wouldn't have played their games anyways.  Anyone who would play our game and their game is likely already feeling guilty about buying Guild Wars 2.

If anything, releasing CoH to another company would help them by giving them good press.  It would be seen as an act of good will to the game's community and show that NCSoft cares about its customers more than just their credit cards.

[eabrace]

In the area of "competition", NCsoft's apparently total lack of ability to understand the Western market works in our favor.  They've clearly indicated that they are placing priority on the Asian marketplace.   If they develop something for Asia and it just happens to sell over here, that's great.  But if it sells in Asia and doesn't do well here, they don't care.  And if it's something that sells well here, but doesn't sell well in Asia, they don't want anything to do with it.

In that regard, they really won't see a sale of City of Heroes to another developer as potential competition since the game has already been proven unpopular by its very short-lived release as City of Hero in Korea.

[Segev]

The trick is, as eabrace said, showing NCSoft that we're in tune with their company goals. They want to focus on their asian market. They may fear competition from a superhero game in the East if something happens and it gets popular all of a sudden in Japan. But they do not care about the WEST if they can't sell it in the East.

So that's the ground we must stake out when we form - or advise - a company that tries to bid for Paragon Studios and all associated properties. We understand they don't want anything to do with a Western-interest-only game. It's not part of their business model. So we will take it off their hands, cutting their losses significantly. But, we recognize they are interested in the Eastern market. So negotiations will include hooks to allow NCSoft to be the CoH (or similar) distributor in the East should that market ever form. This prevents them from seeing it as competition should they want back into that element of the market.

The other thing we may need to consider is what other properties they might be looking to dump. Whether we're interested in their continuation or not, it may be more attractive to NCSoft to be able to ditch the entire bundle (with similar "if it gets big in Japan" clauses to protect their interests in the East) than to piece out only the one(s) we want. This may require further market and business research to determine.

What other games are they running over here that are less than popular in Asia?

[Chaos Ex Machina]

What if the deal had a clause giving them exclusive rights to publish in the asian market if the game actually took off?

[Segev]

That would be something on the table to negotiate.

One possibility would be simply splitting the company into NCSoft (concentrating on the Asian markets) and NCSoftWest (a licensing agency for their "favored" products and new owner of the ones they wish to drop due to lack of Asian popularity). NCSoft might then be a licensing agency for those properties they left to NCSoftWest, in case they took off.

There are a lot of ways to structure a deal that basically lets NCSoft protect its interests in Asia should something unforeseen happen and a property they don't currently want becomes one they wish they'd kept. Negotiating this would be a crucial part of getting NCSoft to consider the deal.

[Victoria Victrix]

FIRST THING: SOMEONE IS ALREADY NEGOTIATING WITH NCSOFT

That entity is a group of former Paragon Studios employees.  These people have a known track record with NCSoft, YOU do not.  These people are already doing/have already done ALL the groundwork for beginning a serious business negotiation.  You have not.  These people know their former NCSoft bosses by first name.  You do not.  These people have a much better chance of attracting the interest of serious venture capitalists than an "unorganized rabble of fans" like you do.

Just laying out the facts, folks.  The very last thing you want to do right now is jiggle their elbow.  If THEY fail, then it's time for us to do something, but not until we hear from them that it all collapsed.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

In your letters to the new email address to NCSoft, urge them to sell the IP, Code and possibly the servers.  Rather than threaten, sweeten the deal by saying "I was not previously interested but if you work in good faith to see that City of Heroes gets up and running again, I will consider subscribing to another NCSoft game"--carrot and stick--"I wasn't gonna, but if you give us a shot, I might."  With the veiled threat of "and if you don't...." not actually spelled out.

[DrakeGrimm]

To answer the original question of the thread in my typical snarky fashion: "You offer them tons and tons of cash for it." :P

As VV says, though, someone is already at the negotiating table. We can help best by continuing support for the game. Positive energy, people! Stay positive! Stay heroic! Keep the emails and media attention going!

[Segev]

FIRST THING: SOMEONE IS ALREADY NEGOTIATING WITH NCSOFT

That entity is a group of former Paragon Studios employees.  These people have a known track record with NCSoft, YOU do not.  These people are already doing/have already done ALL the groundwork for beginning a serious business negotiation.  You have not.  These people know their former NCSoft bosses by first name.  You do not.  These people have a much better chance of attracting the interest of serious venture capitalists than an "unorganized rabble of fans" like you do.

Just laying out the facts, folks.  The very last thing you want to do right now is jiggle their elbow.  If THEY fail, then it's time for us to do something, but not until we hear from them that it all collapsed.

Just to add to this; it is that group that needs to be supported. Victoria's right; they have the best chance of negotiating something. If they need aid, we should be ready to hear what it is, but we can't really "take over" and we don't want to try unless they have to give up. And even if they do, it's better that we try to help them regroup than to try something wholly independent; any viable plan to buy the game would require as many of the old Paragon Studios people involved as possible. They know the game, the code, the processes in running and maintaining the servers.

[ShadowMokadara]

@OP: We're 50,000 people tops compared to the millions that play Guild Wars 2. They could care less about our opinion. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just saying simply not playing their games is as void as not having heard of it. It won't mean anything to them.

@Victoria Victrix/DrakeGrimm: Are these negotiations confirmed? Rumors have been spreading and a lot of them seem to be false hope or us forcing ourselves to believe something is being done. Again, not trying to be negative.

[pandora114]

*rolls over on back and whimpers from the verbal smackdown from Ms Lackey*

*crawls away*

[Victoria Victrix]

@Victoria Victrix: Are these negotiations confirmed? Rumors have been spreading and a lot of them seem to be false hope or us forcing ourselves to believe something is being done. Again, not trying to be negative.

Yes.  I can't say more than that.

[DrakeGrimm]

@OP: We're 50,000 people tops compared to the millions that play Guild Wars 2. They could care less about our opinion. I'm not trying to be negative, I'm just saying simply not playing their games is as void as not having heard of it. It won't mean anything to them.

@Victoria Victrix/DrakeGrimm: Are these negotiations confirmed? Rumors have been spreading and a lot of them seem to be false hope or us forcing ourselves to believe something is being done. Again, not trying to be negative.

VV has contacts with said group who are negotiating. She can't really say much more than that, as far as I know, and neither can the group in question.

[ShadowMokadara]

Ah. I won't ask anymore information on said negotiations, I was just wondering if they were actually happening. Good to hear.

[Manga]

I suspected this may be the case because of, for lack of a better description, cagey-ness of certain parties who I suspect may be involved.  :)

And I do agree with you about not doing anything that might cause those supposed negotiations to fail.  That's why I changed my plan of action emphasizing a licensing agreement instead of a buyout.  It seemed like a friendlier option to others negotiating, and also one that sounds more plausible.

The hardest part is figuring out the timing.  I'd like it sent out soon before the window of opportunity closes, but not so early that it screws up CoH's best chance.

FIRST THING: SOMEONE IS ALREADY NEGOTIATING WITH NCSOFT

That entity is a group of former Paragon Studios employees.  These people have a known track record with NCSoft, YOU do not.  These people are already doing/have already done ALL the groundwork for beginning a serious business negotiation.  You have not.  These people know their former NCSoft bosses by first name.  You do not.  These people have a much better chance of attracting the interest of serious venture capitalists than an "unorganized rabble of fans" like you do.

Just laying out the facts, folks.  The very last thing you want to do right now is jiggle their elbow.  If THEY fail, then it's time for us to do something, but not until we hear from them that it all collapsed.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

In your letters to the new email address to NCSoft, urge them to sell the IP, Code and possibly the servers.  Rather than threaten, sweeten the deal by saying "I was not previously interested but if you work in good faith to see that City of Heroes gets up and running again, I will consider subscribing to another NCSoft game"--carrot and stick--"I wasn't gonna, but if you give us a shot, I might."  With the veiled threat of "and if you don't...." not actually spelled out.