It sure would be nice if some people could Save COH without continually bashing GW2.
Well, a few things are going on here that make the issue complex.
I have no ill will towards Arena.Net, Carbine, or other studios that NCsoft acquired. As far as I'm concerned, they're a lot of like Paragon Studios. They have developers, artists, writers, managers, marketers, etc. that all work hard, and as far as I know, they have their dedicated communities just like we have ours.
To be honest, I fear for Arena.Net. If what I think is happening is actually happening--NCsoft looking to shed all third-party studios and do all development basically run out of Seoul--then anyone that works there (or Carbine) should either 1) be in imminent fear for their job, or 2) be prepared for a
massive change in (micro)management that will not bode well for their happiness and artistic integrity.
Which brings me to my first important point: If we are successful, there's a pretty good chance that we might actually be
helping Arena.Net. How's that? Because if we are able to get NCsoft to free up the IP to City of Heroes, it is a template for how companies like NCsoft should ideally operate: When they're done with a game and want to move on to something else, instead of just kicking communities to the side, they can open up the possibility for other companies to acquire it. I have no idea who runs Arena.Net, but whoever it is, wouldn't it be nice if when they get to the point where we are, instead of having to go through all of this heartache and strife and layoffs and such, their management can negotiate with NCsoft and, once NCsoft sees that it won't destroy their company, acquire the rights to Guild Wars so that that community can continue on? Wouldn't it have been nice if Richard Garriott had been able to get the rights to Tabula Rasa so that the Paragon Studios management team and investors could have had a
much easier time in negotiations to keep City of Heroes from shutting down?
There is also the issue that people are angry at NCsoft, and that anger is naturally going to seep out into all aspects of the company. The sad fact is that if I go buy Guild Wars 2, that's going to put money into NCsoft's pocket, and I don't want that to happen. Too many people in my humble opinion are seeing this as some sort of deliberate lash-out against Arena.Net, but it's not--not any more than buying a nice steak dinner (or whatever food you happen to like) at your favorite restaurant is deliberately spiting poor people because you could have eaten rice and beans instead and given the difference in cost to a feed the homeless.
There is also the matter of trying to do a greater good. NCsoft shut down Paragon Studios and City of Heroes with virtually no warning and for no reason that's discernible to most people. If we pitch such a fit that it hurts NCsoft--
really hurts them financially and PR-wise--then isn't it plausible that other movers and shakers in the industry, many of them larger than NCsoft, will take notice? If Sony, Blizzard, Perfect World, CCP or whoever sees NCsoft take a major hit because of this, how eager will they be to simply shut down a game like NCsoft did? Not very, I'm wagering. Someone had mentioned how mean we're being to Beastyle, who still (as far as I know) works at NCsoft in Seattle. Look, I like the guy. But as long as we're talking about hypothetical damage to his career, why aren't we taking into account the hypothetical damage to, say, Sean McCann's career if we
don't do all we can to send the industry a message? Or to Black Pebble? Or to Zwillinger? Or anyone else who is at another company now?
Also, one thing that you have to consider is that a lot of people--myself included--are really sore because they are convinced that money that was earned on City of Heroes was funneled into at least the development of Blade and Soul, and quite possibly Guild Wars 2 as well. I know that some people dispute this, but I have my reasons (more than just "I feel this way...") for believing that in spite of their reasons, it's true. Now don't get me wrong, I don't begrudge Guild Wars 2 players their game, and really, I don't even care very much one way or the other about Blade and Soul. But to turn around and shut down our game and our studio after we played a role in helping to build NCsoft is
extremely betraying, and I certainly understand why some people might have ill will towards those game even not necessarily through any fault of their own.
My point is, you're going to have to learn to accept that most people here are going to be anti-NCsoft and, by extension, some (not all) are going to take some of that anger out on other NCsoft titles. You also need to recognize the difference between bashing NCsoft and bashing Guild Wars 2. The two are
not the same, any more than if I said, "NCsoft was incompetent" (which they were) by extension means, "Paragon Studios was incompetent" (which is DEFINITELY not true).
You don't have to like it, you don't have to agree with it, you're not going to get banned or anything for being the oddball out, and a small minority of people might even agree with you. And there are plenty of topics and discussions that have little or nothing to do with NCsoft if you don't want to get into it. But I'm going to warn you up front that if you post messages that are pro-Guild Wars or pro-NCsoft or pro-Blade and Soul, there's a
really good chance that you're going to get a moderate to strong negative response. You can go there if you want, but I suggest that you have a thick skin and stay far away from anything that could be considered trollish.
