New efforts!

[Tubbius]

The NDA could also prevent 'private' discussion of the negotiations.

I was involved in a claim with a previous employer, and one of the terms of the settlement was an NDA.
The only person I was allowed to discuss the reason for leaving my job, was my spouse - I think that is because it would be treated under the law as Spousal privilege, which is something that not even a court can compel you to testify about.

The main theme I am trying to drill home here is:
If you tell your sister the outcome of talks regarding the sale of CoH. They can sue you.
If you post on facebook, and share it only with one friend. They can sue you.
If you tell your spouse - you are probably safe, but your spouse would probably be subject to the NDA. (not sure on that)

If you breech the NDA even a little bit, the enforcing party can sue you to the fullest extent of the law totally at their discretion.
Of course they need to prove some sort of damage to reputation or monetary loss - sometimes the law suit can have damages added just to teach you a lesson, but generally the judge/ruling body would have to have an axe to grind to take it out on you like that.

Sounds like that Weird Al song, "I'll Sue Ya."  "I'll sue ya / I'll take ALL the money...."

[Goddangit]

I think it is more likely NCSoft follows the code of Sinanju than Bushido.

So we should offer gold to Chiun, the Glorious Master of Sinanju to pay a visit to NCSoft and persuade them to part with CoH?  Not sure we could get enough gold together.  In the words of Remo, "That's the biz, sweetheart."

I'm still holding out hope of winning Powerball and presenting NCSoft with a briefcase full of money.

[ivanhedgehog]

And that is just underhanded and BS. One could argue they only wanted the PR and were NEVER in good faith.

we dont actually know what is in the nda, just that there is one. it could have that clause. it might not

[Brigadine]

we dont actually know what is in the nda, just that there is one. it could have that clause. it might not

At this point I think it does. The longer time goes on the more likely that is.

[Brigadine]

http://my.mmosite.com/362300/blog/ritem/can_you_trust_ncsoft.html
interesting article... no mention of CoH tho...

[Tahquitz]

I'm personally imagining hearing nothing through 2022 and the conversations on here mutate to something akin to "nothing's going to come of this, it's been 10 years since the Shutdown, and almost 8 years since the talks began."  And we'd still hear silence, or the occasional "Nothing to report... keep writing" post from Downes or someone else with no explanation (I dunno, TonyV hands the reins over to his son?  Even if he doesn't have one yet, it's the future!  Fear and welcome our new 5 year old overlord!)

Then this thread goes down tangent alley again.  I imagine some of the conversations with people starting in about how Marvel is screwing up the end of the Cinematic Universe and just needs to stop before Kevin Feige dies of money poisoning, and Hugh Jackman's comeback has him looking like "bleak future" Wolverine from X-Men Days of Future Past WITHOUT makeup being applied.

Then, DC is impressing us all of the sudden with their progress on Justice League flicks, but at the price of selling out to the mainstream by retconning Kryptonians as shapeshifters.  Why? To have Superman transform from one actor as Clark Kent to another as Kal-El (to shut up the "eyeglasses isn't enough of a disguise" people and keep filling seats in theaters).

And NCSoft will shutter another game to make another high-risk title we'll all slam as having no shot in hell of making it in America.  All while Lineage II is still left online for some ungodly reason nearly 20 years after launching as Lineage Eternal takes that playerbase down to the double digits (Possibly to beat WoW as the oldest title in a deathmatch to the end).  Hell, Paragon Chat has more of a chance of a higher population at that point.

It's fun pretending about the future.

[Arcana]

And that is just underhanded and BS. One could argue they only wanted the PR and were NEVER in good faith.

Because that's working out so well for them.

[Baaleos]

It probably felt like a realistic achievable goal at the time when it was announced.
However, it was always going to be at the mercy of NCSoft.

It was unrealistic to expect NCSoft to hand over IP to a rival game studio/developer, which would be effectively helping competitors - regardless of how much money they could offer up.

[LateNights]

Futures are fun...

Hasn't it already been 10 years?

Reality is, NC could give a fuck about CoH, or any "negotiations" (yes, I use the term loosely - not as an insult to those working on the deal - but as an indication of NC's part in the deal), all of which means it really isn't unreasonable for this to drag out as long as it possibly could.

I have something you want, but I'm so uninterested in that thing that when you ask me to trade I hate myself for even thinking about it because it means so little to me...

We've all met a kid like that at some point growing up - they sucked fat cock then, and they suck fat cock now - truth be told, but we have very little to bargain with unless someone actually has the money to wildly overpay for a franchise that was mildly successful.

Tl:dr - there's no point pretending this is a big deal to NC, because it isn't, so it's not a solid business move for them.

P.s - Agge - you weren't kidding about that lax filter were you, I had to change words to get them filtered!!

 

[Ironwolf]

NCSoft never cared after the day it was closed.

If you missed that part of the story, you need to rethink things. They don't want to make it easy/hard/impossible for the buyers they want to make it easy for themselves.

They don't want to spend money on a closed project. To them it was a done deal and gone, Nate and the new Overlords got them to talk about it. They actually did a few things to prove they could run/maintain the game and NCSoft was happy.

I personally feel it was too many moving parts at once clogging the deal. I do think things are still happening but no where near what we would like speed wise. I have talked to Nate in the past on the phone and I think he is smart enough to word something to the community if it all failed.

[nicoliy]

Would have been cool if the deal was successful and they were just waiting for today to announce.

If nothing else I look forward to hopefully seeing some of you tonight in PC.

[ukaserex]

So we should offer gold to Chiun, the Glorious Master of Sinanju to pay a visit to NCSoft and persuade them to part with CoH?  Not sure we could get enough gold together.  In the words of Remo, "That's the biz, sweetheart."

I'm still holding out hope of winning Powerball and presenting NCSoft with a briefcase full of money.

I am sure our gold would be too slow for them; no matter, they are naught but the pale pieces of a pig's ear.

Mad props for Sinanju/Remo Williams references

[Brigadine]

NCSoft never cared after the day it was closed.

If you missed that part of the story, you need to rethink things. They don't want to make it easy/hard/impossible for the buyers they want to make it easy for themselves.

They don't want to spend money on a closed project. To them it was a done deal and gone, Nate and the new Overlords got them to talk about it. They actually did a few things to prove they could run/maintain the game and NCSoft was happy.

I personally feel it was too many moving parts at once clogging the deal. I do think things are still happening but no where near what we would like speed wise. I have talked to Nate in the past on the phone and I think he is smart enough to word something to the community if it all failed.

He could literally post 'hi' in the locked thread and we would know what it means. No details because the gag order is in place and the deal is over.

[Brigadine]

Because that's working out so well for them.

Are you being sarcastic?

[Ironwolf]

If this is still the internet - always assume - Yes, sarcasm font is on.

[Arcana]

Are you being sarcastic?

Usually, but I always have a point.  Suggesting that NCSoft only entertained negotiations for good press is insane, because no one could possibly believe they'd get any good press from dragging on secret negotiations no one could talk about and then stall indefinitely.  No one can even give them credit for trying because an inability to discuss the negotiations makes it impossible for anyone to know what they tried to do, even in bad faith.  If NCSoft was doing anything for PR purposes they would actually talk about it.  The P does not stand for "private."

One could argue that point, and some have, but it doesn't get any less silly with repetition.

[Balince]

He could literally post 'hi' in the locked thread and we would know what it means. No details because the gag order is in place and the deal is over.

Why couldn't he say the deal is dead? I don't understand that.

[Arcana]

Why couldn't he say the deal is dead? I don't understand that.

No one knows that the deal is dead (outside of directly involved parties) and no one knows what they could say or not say either way.  But some are speculating that if the deal was dead someone would definitely say something.  That's not necessarily true - nothing anyone has said about the deal outside of directly informed parties is necessarily true, particularly their logical deductions, except for the people saying nothing is certain.

In that context, there are at least three reasons that could explain how the deal could be technically dead at the moment (meaning there is no current open line of negotiations occurring) and yet we'd hear nothing: one: the negotiating team could be operating under a non-disclosure agreement that stipulates they are not allowed to discuss any element of the negotiations for a certain amount of (possibly lengthy, possibly indefinitely) time.  Two: the negotiations stalled and are not currently ongoing but the negotiating team feels it is possible talks could restart after some time has passed or the negotiating climate improves, and they do not want to poison the environment by talking openly about the discussions.  Three: they feel nothing they say would be helpful: those who have given up couldn't give up more, those that haven't given up would only have their hopes dashed, and those on the fence aren't likely to stay on the fence indefinitely either way.

Bottom line: there are lots of reasons why the negotiating team would continue to be silent: some imply talks are still on-going and some imply they are not ongoing.  Some involve legal limits, and some involve legal loopholes.  Some you might even disagree with strongly, but that doesn't mean other people wouldn't believe are reasonable.  Either way, how you choose to interpret silence says more about what you want to believe than on what can be logically deduced.

[Brigadine]

Usually, but I always have a point.  Suggesting that NCSoft only entertained negotiations for good press is insane, because no one could possibly believe they'd get any good press from dragging on secret negotiations no one could talk about and then stall indefinitely.  No one can even give them credit for trying because an inability to discuss the negotiations makes it impossible for anyone to know what they tried to do, even in bad faith.  If NCSoft was doing anything for PR purposes they would actually talk about it.  The P does not stand for "private."

One could argue that point, and some have, but it doesn't get any less silly with repetition.

idk the whole thing smells bad. If there is any shenanigans I know it isn't nate or whoever. Ncsoft is the only one who *could* gain from this somehow.

[LaughingAlex]

I'm seriously considering, they could have easily just put the NDA in place to ensure no one else will ever bring it up, ever again.  It's the anniversary of CoH this week, couldn't we get SOME word for gods sake?  For PR sake, even couldn't NcSoft make a damn statement?