NCsoft Q3 2017 Earnings

[Dethh.4620]

> @"Rush is Right.9723" said:

> POF expansion did not offer much and cash shop has same old stuff year after year. I used to buy stuff regularly, now I have not purchased anything in two years. I also have not bought POF because reviews are horrible and it sounds very boring and not challenging. HOT is replayable and challenging and makes you a better player. I don't want mounts and I don't care how great it looks. I want exciting gameplay and group open world content.

 

A lot of what you said here makes me think you haven't even looked into the expansion lol. First of all there are pretty much no negative reviews online of PoF, so I'm guessing when you say "review" you're talking about kids flaming on the forums/reddit about the expansion because it didn't give them what they wanted exactly. PoF is a solid expansion, the only thing missing is proper rewards for metas reducing the replayability of it, but now ofc istan makes up for that.

 

[Aeolus.3615]

lineage 1 and 2 still conditnue to impress me :\... wonder how will be the results of project TL, after ncsoft releases it on eu and usa.

[TheRandomGuy.7246]

> @"Dethh.4620" said:

> First of all there are pretty much no negative reviews online of PoF

 

There are mostly press releases with a random score at the end. Not a single big personality or a website made a review.

[ProtoGunner.4953]

> @"TheRandomGuy.7246" said:

> > @"Dethh.4620" said:

> > First of all there are pretty much no negative reviews online of PoF

>

> There are mostly press releases with a random score at the end. Not a single big personality or a website made a review.

 

I noticed that too, it's a shame. GW2 is off the radar of popular sites. This is pretty much a first, as GW1 continued to get reviews from all major sites. That said, GW1 had expansions/campaigns for only two years.

[ZhouX.8742]

> @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

>

> Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

>

> On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

>

> I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

 

"everyone"

 

4 people

 

Ok, interesting analysis there.

 

--

 

This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

 

1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same shit for 4-5 years. It gets old.

 

People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

[Henry.5713]

The fact that Guildwars 2 can actually keep up with games such as Aion (a top 20 game in Korea) shows that it is doing well enough.

Many don't seem to know that most of these asian games, even if already dead or rather unspectacular in Europe and the States, are simply huge in Korea and especially China. The two biggest MMORPG markets. Guild Wars 2 has very little presence on the asian market in comparison. It basically flopped in China and never even released in Korea.

 

*US/Europe sales increased 13% qoq on the back of GW2 performance. Guild Wars 2 recorded an increase of 49% qoq.*

They specifically mentioned the game as the main driving force behind their increase of sales on the western market. Doesn't exactly sound like a game they are going to shut down soon.

 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> >

> > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> >

> > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> >

> > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

>

> "everyone"

>

> 4 people

>

> Ok, interesting analysis there.

>

> --

>

> This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

>

> 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

>

> People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

 

I keep seeing forum-posters claiming ArenaNet moved away from their own (NCSoft) servers to Amazon servers to save costs. I've yet to see an official statement confirming this cost-savings. I also wonder why or how ArenaNet would be saving costs by paying a 3rd party rather than using their own (parent company's) servers. Truly a head-scratcher.

[ZhouX.8742]

> @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> > >

> > > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> > >

> > > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> > >

> > > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

> >

> > "everyone"

> >

> > 4 people

> >

> > Ok, interesting analysis there.

> >

> > --

> >

> > This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

> >

> > 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> > 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> > 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

> >

> > People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

>

> I keep seeing forum-posters claiming ArenaNet moved away from their own (NCSoft) servers to Amazon servers to save costs. I've yet to see an official statement confirming this cost-savings. I also wonder why or how ArenaNet would be saving costs by paying a 3rd party rather than using their own (parent company's) servers. Truly a head-scratcher.

 

It doesn't really need an official statement from them to confirm, you can essentially confirm it yourself by doing an ip log and tracing it off of the new locations vs the old locations.

 

It's very clear they did this. It's not just going by ping numbers, it's been pretty consistently confirmed that they did this. Whether it was to save costs or not is rather irrelevant that is just the general assumption but it could be related more to security or even easier management.

 

The fact is they did it without even making a single statement on it and it has hurt a lot of people in terms of lag , skill usage in general in PvP / WvW especially.

[Zaklex.6308]

I suggest waiting to see what Q4 numbers are like instead of using Q3...that should be more telling(of absolutely nothing...stop worrying about ArenaNets/NCSofts income statements...those are mostly for investors, as are all quarterly earnings reports).

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > @"Inculpatus cedo.9234" said:

> > > @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > > > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > > > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> > > >

> > > > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> > > >

> > > > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> > > >

> > > > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

> > >

> > > "everyone"

> > >

> > > 4 people

> > >

> > > Ok, interesting analysis there.

> > >

> > > --

> > >

> > > This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

> > >

> > > 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> > > 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> > > 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

> > >

> > > People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

> >

> > I keep seeing forum-posters claiming ArenaNet moved away from their own (NCSoft) servers to Amazon servers to save costs. I've yet to see an official statement confirming this cost-savings. I also wonder why or how ArenaNet would be saving costs by paying a 3rd party rather than using their own (parent company's) servers. Truly a head-scratcher.

>

> It doesn't really need an official statement from them to confirm, you can essentially confirm it yourself by doing an ip log and tracing it off of the new locations vs the old locations.

>

> It's very clear they did this. It's not just going by ping numbers, it's been pretty consistently confirmed that they did this. Whether it was to save costs or not is rather irrelevant that is just the general assumption but it could be related more to security or even easier management.

>

> The fact is they did it without even making a single statement on it and it has hurt a lot of people in terms of lag , skill usage in general in PvP / WvW especially.

 

Actually, they've made a few statements about it. Perhaps, you missed the statements made in the Daybreak AMA (and/or elsewhere). Never anything about moving the servers to 'save costs'. The Studio Technical Director was quite explicit about why the servers were moved.

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Henry.5713" said:

> The fact that Guildwars 2 can actually keep up with games such as Aion (a top 20 game in Korea) shows that it is doing well enough.

> Many don't seem to know that most of these asian games, even if already dead or rather unspectacular in Europe and the States, are simply huge in Korea and especially China. The two biggest MMORPG markets. Guild Wars 2 has very little presence on the asian market in comparison. It basically flopped in China and never even released in Korea.

>

> *US/Europe sales increased 13% qoq on the back of GW2 performance. Guild Wars 2 recorded an increase of 49% qoq.*

> They specifically mentioned the game as the main driving force behind their increase of sales on the western market. Doesn't exactly sound like a game they are going to shut down soon.

>

 

Yep, people shouldn't compare the results of GW2 with the results of games that are doing super well in Korea (but terrible everywhere else)

We can see that out of 727265 total sales, 630696 are from Korea and only 32343 from US/Europe (where GW2 is selling)

So basically 20145 from GW2 and 32343 total in US/Europe for NCsoft

There is also 43606 in Royalties, no idea how those are split between regions

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> >

> > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> >

> > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> >

> > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

>

> "everyone"

>

> 4 people

>

> Ok, interesting analysis there.

>

> --

>

> This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

>

> 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

>

> People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

 

First off, if you decide to add to an almost 1 month old thread, you might want to consider the context in which a quote you take was made (on November 9th non the less). 1 month ago when I made this post the forums were a way different place with way different topics. Small FYI: every 3rd thread was about mounts, the gem store or how arenanet might be dying or gouging their players (with EA and their SW Bf2 getting their very own thread). So I'd say my "analysis" was more spot on than your sarcastic addition 30 days later.

 

It also doesn't change the fact that the monetization as a whole has changed.

 

The games servers moving was addressed in the last AMA for Daybreak, here I'll be as nice to link it for you: http://dulfy.net/2017/11/29/gw2-living-world-season-4-daybreak-ama-summary/

 

On servers specifically:

> We’ve been migrating services to Amazon over a period of months. Amazon has better peering relationships for its datacenters than we could hope to have individually. We’re also using newer, faster servers at Amazon than the ones we were using previously. In general we’ve seen a better play experience, lower latency, and fewer network outages to Amazon servers.

 

At current and latest years server costs, I doubt cost was in any way a deciding factor for the migration. Many MMO companies don't even put server costs as a stand alone point in their financial details due to their insignificance.

[Cobrakon.3108]

No the apocalypse is not happening but if your concerned then get out there are tell your friends to try out Guild Wars 2!!

[Greyraven.4258]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"Knuckle Joe.7408" said:

> > Huh, I thought Arenanet wasn't part of NCSoft anymore, GW franchise doesn't appear in NCSoft's page anymore.

>

> Ncsoft gave anet more freedom about gw2 and the game is now published by arenanet but the company and the money still belong to ncsoft

 

Pretty much sorta.....NCsoft provides investment capitol and has a say, but the don't flat out own Arenanet as they once did, meaning NCsoft says this is no longer working out Arenanet can seek other funding and break ties as long as they are paid up.

 

That means we are not going to see a CoH type closure by NCsoft.

[ZhouX.8742]

> @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> > >

> > > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> > >

> > > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> > >

> > > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

> >

> > "everyone"

> >

> > 4 people

> >

> > Ok, interesting analysis there.

> >

> > --

> >

> > This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

> >

> > 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> > 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> > 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

> >

> > People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

>

> First off, if you decide to add to an almost 1 month old thread, you might want to consider the context in which a quote you take was made (on November 9th non the less). 1 month ago when I made this post the forums were a way different place with way different topics. Small FYI: every 3rd thread was about mounts, the gem store or how arenanet might be dying or gouging their players (with EA and their SW Bf2 getting their very own thread). So I'd say my "analysis" was more spot on than your sarcastic addition 30 days later.

>

> It also doesn't change the fact that the monetization as a whole has changed.

>

> The games servers moving was addressed in the last AMA for Daybreak, here I'll be as nice to link it for you: http://dulfy.net/2017/11/29/gw2-living-world-season-4-daybreak-ama-summary/

>

> On servers specifically:

> > We’ve been migrating services to Amazon over a period of months. Amazon has better peering relationships for its datacenters than we could hope to have individually. We’re also using newer, faster servers at Amazon than the ones we were using previously. In general we’ve seen a better play experience, lower latency, and fewer network outages to Amazon servers.

>

> At current and latest years server costs, I doubt cost was in any way a deciding factor for the migration. Many MMO companies don't even put server costs as a stand alone point in their financial details due to their insignificance.

 

My reply to you wasn't so much about the origin of the thread which I could understand your point if it was, it was more so about the exaggeration that you said the entire community is concerned about Gw2 based on maybe 5-10 people in a thread, this doesn't constitute a general public consensus of "everybody".

 

--

 

Server lag from the move continues to exist though, still the same increase in ping over what we had originally.

 

I can see the change from a business perspective, but from an end user perspective you only hurt your player base but again, it's not only that, it's also not being vocal initially about it and ONLY until you're called out on it with roughly 5-10 forum threads of people realizing it themselves and then further have to be asked in an AMA to get the answer why , it doesn't make you look good.

 

It's all about simply being honest with your player base. This would be one of those times you would want to be transparent with them. I think they did good in at least answering why after being asked, but we shouldn't need to ask because a decision like that affects the value at which people play the game drastically especially in PvP / WvW.

 

 

[GrubySzymek.1362]

> @"Greyraven.4258" said:

> > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > @"Knuckle Joe.7408" said:

> > > Huh, I thought Arenanet wasn't part of NCSoft anymore, GW franchise doesn't appear in NCSoft's page anymore.

> >

> > Ncsoft gave anet more freedom about gw2 and the game is now published by arenanet but the company and the money still belong to ncsoft

>

> Pretty much sorta.....NCsoft provides investment capitol and has a say, but the don't flat out own Arenanet as they once did, meaning NCsoft says this is no longer working out Arenanet can seek other funding and break ties as long as they are paid up.

>

> That means we are not going to see a CoH type closure by NCsoft.

 

yes, they still own anet, literally

[Cyninja.2954]

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > > @"ZhouX.8742" said:

> > > > @"Cyninja.2954" said:

> > > > And yet we get all these threads about how more stuff should be free, how people deserve more for their purchase price of vanilla GW2 over 5 years ago, how convenience items and cosmetics should be cheaper or free.

> > > >

> > > > Suddenly an earnigs report comes out and every one is concerned the game might die. Hilarious.

> > > >

> > > > On topic, I do believe Q4 will be important to lool at. Longterm revenue is of importance and arenanet has been selling more and more items via the gemstore as well as people being reluctant to purchase PoF an release (as well as its lower price tag compared to HoT). If the revenue remains stable, spikes become less important.

> > > >

> > > > I do expect more and more stuff on the gem store. Hopefully nothing pay to win.

> > >

> > > "everyone"

> > >

> > > 4 people

> > >

> > > Ok, interesting analysis there.

> > >

> > > --

> > >

> > > This game's servers were just moved to an east coast location (I believe it was Amazon servers) to save money at the cost of a smooth PvP / WvW and possibly even PvE raid experience.

> > >

> > > 1. They managed to destroy the PvP game mode.

> > > 2. Dwindle the WvW game mode down to a brain dead farm status without any emphasis on actual PPT where it's mostly manipulated now by the servers themselves to keep farming over and over.

> > > 3. PvE raids are basically just a re-farm status for years now - fun for the people that sell raid spots because they make massive gold, but for 95% of the player base outside of that small group it has gotten old and most have already got what they needed from it. Open World is just , yea , same kitten for 4-5 years. It gets old.

> > >

> > > People are growing up , other games, etc - time moves on and Gw2's team has not done well to cope with that change and keep the game progressing and keep players interested in each respective game mode, I think PvE is the only game mode where they've been successful to a degree at it.

> >

> > First off, if you decide to add to an almost 1 month old thread, you might want to consider the context in which a quote you take was made (on November 9th non the less). 1 month ago when I made this post the forums were a way different place with way different topics. Small FYI: every 3rd thread was about mounts, the gem store or how arenanet might be dying or gouging their players (with EA and their SW Bf2 getting their very own thread). So I'd say my "analysis" was more spot on than your sarcastic addition 30 days later.

> >

> > It also doesn't change the fact that the monetization as a whole has changed.

> >

> > The games servers moving was addressed in the last AMA for Daybreak, here I'll be as nice to link it for you: http://dulfy.net/2017/11/29/gw2-living-world-season-4-daybreak-ama-summary/

> >

> > On servers specifically:

> > > We’ve been migrating services to Amazon over a period of months. Amazon has better peering relationships for its datacenters than we could hope to have individually. We’re also using newer, faster servers at Amazon than the ones we were using previously. In general we’ve seen a better play experience, lower latency, and fewer network outages to Amazon servers.

> >

> > At current and latest years server costs, I doubt cost was in any way a deciding factor for the migration. Many MMO companies don't even put server costs as a stand alone point in their financial details due to their insignificance.

>

> My reply to you wasn't so much about the origin of the thread which I could understand your point if it was, it was more so about the exaggeration that you said the entire community is concerned about Gw2 based on maybe 5-10 people in a thread, this doesn't constitute a general public consensus of "everybody".

 

My exaggeration was a direct result of the environment on the forums back then and has little to do with only this thread and people active in this thread (most of which were active across multiple variations of this topic).

 

Did I use exaggeration by saying "everyone"? Sure I did, though the people who this was targeted at and people not targeted at knew which camp they belong to. When a vast majority of threads gets created by people who oppose paying even the minimum towards the game and their threads block out all meaningful conversation, putting an "everyone" was more than justified. Again, you are picking a topic from 1 month ago to argue and then decide to use mockery instead of meaningful contribution.

 

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

>

> Server lag from the move continues to exist though, still the same increase in ping over what we had originally.

 

So you complain that I exaggerate but use the term "we had" yourself? Were is your metrics besides a vocal minority which to no ones surprise will be vocal if the service worsens? Do you think people who's ping improved are going to write about it?

 

> @"ZhouX.8742" said:

>

> I can see the change from a business perspective, but from an end user perspective you only hurt your player base but again, it's not only that, it's also not being vocal initially about it and ONLY until you're called out on it with roughly 5-10 forum threads of people realizing it themselves and then further have to be asked in an AMA to get the answer why , it doesn't make you look good.

>

> It's all about simply being honest with your player base. This would be one of those times you would want to be transparent with them. I think they did good in at least answering why after being asked, but we shouldn't need to ask because a decision like that affects the value at which people play the game drastically especially in PvP / WvW.

>

>

 

Not every little detail needs or will get communicated. Server operations are nothing which is of direct concern to the player base UNLESS it becomes an issue. You don't hear the devs telling you when they brush their teeth do you? No type of information was needed to be given since obviously the team is working on any issues resulting from the move. If it was a truly apocalyptic problem, there would have been a PR release about it.

[Blanche Neige.7241]

The numbers I would like to see are their net profits (or net losses).

 

But since the game's been running for 5 years, I have the feeling they are making more than enough money to keep it going.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

> @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > @"Greyraven.4258" said:

> > > @"Kheldorn.5123" said:

> > > > @"Knuckle Joe.7408" said:

> > > > Huh, I thought Arenanet wasn't part of NCSoft anymore, GW franchise doesn't appear in NCSoft's page anymore.

> > >

> > > Ncsoft gave anet more freedom about gw2 and the game is now published by arenanet but the company and the money still belong to ncsoft

> >

> > Pretty much sorta.....NCsoft provides investment capitol and has a say, but the don't flat out own Arenanet as they once did, meaning NCsoft says this is no longer working out Arenanet can seek other funding and break ties as long as they are paid up.

> >

> > That means we are not going to see a CoH type closure by NCsoft.

>

> yes, they still own anet, literally

 

We don't know the details of whatever arrangement was made when ANet took over publishing GW2. At a guess, it would mean that ANet is financing ongoing game development out of their own revenue, with no financial assistance from NCSoft. Meanwhile, as the owner, NCSoft is still reporting GW2 revenue as part of their overall financial picture. They may also be reporting GW2's expenses, but we don't know that for sure as they do not break expenses down by property as they do revenue. It's my guess that it would also mean that as long as ANet is making enough revenue to fund development, the game will go on. This guess is strengthened by the fact that GW2 still provides NCSoft with a toehold in the western market.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

We may not know details, but we _do_ know ArenaNet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of NCSoft, the parent company.

 

http://us.ncsoft.com/en/ (Use the left/right arrows, or scroll to the bottom.) Or look up ArenaNet or NCSoft on Wikipedia.

[Lastsecman.4352]

If EVERYTHING in the game is free, then who's going to pay wages to the game designers for them to keep on developing the game?

 

I understand their gemstore policies to want to make people purchase things more.

But I think that the RNG system for mount skins purchase in the game is a bad decision that will make customers unhappy. And if you make customers unhappy, then they might leave the game.

Because less-happy customers = less business for company.

[STIHL.2489]

They are still making massively more then what GW1 was making after 5 yeas on the market.. so.. I don't see any reason to worry about their future.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

> @"STIHL.2489" said:

> They are still making massively more then what GW1 was making after 5 yeas on the market.. so.. I don't see any reason to worry about their future.

 

To be fair, with (last time I heard) 350 employees versus the 50 or so they had when they made Prophecies, plus massive increases in real estate prices and other things, they are also spending a lot more than they did back then.

[STIHL.2489]

> @"IndigoSundown.5419" said:

> > @"STIHL.2489" said:

> > They are still making massively more then what GW1 was making after 5 yeas on the market.. so.. I don't see any reason to worry about their future.

>

> To be fair, with (last time I heard) 350 employees versus the 50 or so they had when they made Prophecies, plus massive increases in real estate prices and other things, they are also spending a lot more than they did back then.

 

Yah, but GW1s' 2 million to GW2's 13 million, it's very safe guess to say they are solidly in the green and their numbers have kinda plateaued for the most part for the last almost 2 years, with a predictable spike for the expansion, and while leveling out like that is often not a good sign as it signifies a lack of growth, they have at the very least managed to stop hemorrhaging in the sales department, which is great.

 

I mean going from anywhere between 17 to 30+ million, per quarter to 13, is a hefty blow, but at least they have managed to keep the ship sailing at that 13 range and did not drop further.

 

On that.. I'd safely bet things are at the very least stable and profitable.

 

If they were even remotely close to the red, we would hear about downsizing.

[Theocraft.6053]

whatever we say about the mountgate and mobile games being shit, this is the future. We - the complaining part - are the small reasonable part. Read how much people are willing to spend on those moronic mobile games. Amounts from single players can reach thousands dollars monthly. Check the income of clash of clans etc. check the gam spike after introducing the mountgame.

 

tl;dr - I don't want it, but IMO mmorpgs like GW2 will cease to exist because they need to adapt to the new kind of customers. I hope I'm wrong