NCsoft fires one back across the bow

by Eli Shayotovich on Feb 21st 2008 11:30AM

Sci-fi, Business models, Forums, Interviews, News items, Tabula Rasa

A few days ago I wrote about an article in the Korea Times that took aim at NCsoft's 2007 fiscal report by calling Tabula Rasa a "financial disaster." The ensuing explosion both here at Massively (the comments section) and abroad (a direct reply from the Korea Times writer himself) was akin to the Bane dropping a mortar round smack dab into the middle of our little virtual compound.

Other sites reported on the Korea Times article in the same manner. And Amy "Critters" Crider, TR's official Community Coordinator, even issued a public warning about said reporter and said article. But NCsoft didn't stop there. David Swofford, head of NCsoft's North American PR department, fired off a response via a statement given to the gang at Crispy Gamer. It's a doosey! Swofford said, "The Korea Times English edition story is full of inaccuracies... No one at NCsoft said the product is a financial disaster." He comments on a great may things, including the cost of the sci-fi MMO: "The TR development did not cost $100 million... I don't know where that came from."

Ah... justice is served. If you've been following this situation here you owe it to yourself to click on over to the Crispy Gamer site and check out their full article. It's got more searing rebuttal from Swofford (kudos to them for scoring this by the way). Then come on back here 'cuz we so want to hear what you have to say about this!

Source

Tags: 2007-fiscal-report, Amy-Crider, Austin-Studio, breaking, breaking-news, Crispy-Gamer, Critters, Korean-Times, Lee-Jae-ho, ncsoft, PlanetTR, richard-garriott, tabula-rasa

Reader Comments (3)

Well, TBH Tabula Rasa is a complete failure...
People are leaving the game every now and then, some of the MOST diehard fans have now become haters...

Another year and TR is dead imo.

Swofford thinks he can bash a foreign reporter and shut the questions up. that's just the usual American arrogance that has gotten NcSoft US into the mess it's in.

The figure of $100 is not what it has cost to create the lastest version of Tabula Rasa--it includes the purchase of the Garriott name and brand in the first place.

Remember-- it's "Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa"--The Garriotts are walking around with this as personal assets to be spent on Space Tourism, if they please--it's not going into game developement.

It's this fact that they really don't want getting out--which is why David Swofford is behaving so imprudently by taking on a reporter personally. He's also demonstrating how NcSoft NA will behave against any bad publicity--will thy first to intimidate. Consdering the politics and political donations of the Garriotts, I'm not surprised at this thuggish turn of events.

Yahoo 2005--available to all reading to all here--show that the Garriotts owned 6% of Ncsoft Stock. Depending on the stock price,even when it's at it's lowest they have enjoyed an asset worth dozens of millions of dollars. This on top of the $30M in cash that they've been paid--probably over $80 million right there.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ic/117/117239.html

Now add the two failed games since 2001--maybe $20M a piece?

No wonder David Swoffard is running scared and losing his temper.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... anyone who actively cheers for the demise of a game or company makes me extremely leery. It usually means that the person either has an agenda, a personal bone to pick (making their POV tainted), works for a competing company, or needs to clamber out of the basement and get some help.

Whatever the reason - it stinks. I don't like World of Warcraft. But you don't see me traipsing around trying to bring down the juggernaut. If you hate a game, that's fine. Stop playing and move on. Badmouthing it endlessly... what's the point? Do you not have anything better to do?

It's ridiculous.