NCSoft won't sell the full game code. That means the entire thing with notes, developers tools, 25 - 8x10 color glossy photos and 4 part harmony. It is likely because the Cryptic or NCSoft code is used in multiple games and it may allow people to potentially do back things to other games - that NCSoft may or may not own.
This should be mentioned often. NCSoft does have a logical reason to not sell the engine.
So the way around that was to get a snapshot of the servers as they were at closing time. This disk image can then be used to restore the game to its last state. Character data is unlikely to be available - right now at the start - if it appears later, I can see real problems with it showing up 6 months later and having to overwrite someone else who may have that name in all innocence.
That could get interesting...
Then to handle the IP, NCSoft is setting up an Independent Holding Company - whose job is to lease the IP to other users for fees negotiated for such purposes.
Like others, this part immediately raised my eyebrows! Runs counter to Nate's statement "Buying the IP". I'm not one who necessarily sees NCSoft as evil...but it would make me nervous to have them in charge of the "Independent Holding Company".
You can see there are a LOT of moving parts in this deal. I am curious who is slated to run the Original game and what start up costs for players they had in mind and if the store will be in operation. If the store is in place with a let's say $29.99 buyer gets all badges and stuff, all AT's unlocked and maybe choice of 10 veteran rewards............I would think that is very reasonable.
That sounds reasonable to me. Any bets on the 10 vet rewards that would be most popular?
Then you can buy whatever else you need from the store and the game makes enough to stay running perpetually and that was always our goal - to keep it running as long as possible.
Another important one that should be mentioned a lot. A few people seem to not want to bother since they believe the game won't be around very long. The closing of the game was a very painful thing for a lot of people and I can't blame them for not wanting to stick their hands back into the fire.
The closing may have been a bit of a wakeup call to some as to what the "reality" of online gaming is....
....Don't get attached. You
will lose your game at some point.
I put "reality" into quotes because I believe that needs to change and I think it will. No other type of game comes with this built in "doom". It's almost immoral.
