Massively

96 percent of EVE Online players are male

Jef Reahard — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Sandbox

CCP marketing bigwig David Reid recently told Destructoid that 96 percent of EVE Online players are male. The site also interviewed EVE senior producer Andie Nordgren, who opined that the numbers are a byproduct of genre.

"Part of it is due to the theme of the game. Science fiction is an extremely male-dominated domain," she explained. Whatever the reasons, CCP is OK with EVE's current demographics. "It's not a goal for us as a development team to specifically increase the number of female players," Nordgren said. It's "more an indicator than something [to] strive for."

96 percent of EVE Online players are male originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Does CCP's future depend on DUST 514?

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Interviews, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox

It's been a couple of weeks since DUST 514 launched as a free-to-play title on the PlayStation 3. While it may be too early to tell whether the MMOFPS will be a big success story, a big flop, or something in the middle, Chief Marketing Officer David Reid argues that DUST 514 is vital to the future of CCP Games.

"The second product is often the big product," he said. "Anybody can have a hit, but can you have two? It's very important for CCP right now to make DUST 514 a success. It has a lot to do with the long-term trajectory of the company. We're definitely thinking about that."

Reid says that CCP is not trying to directly compete with MMO industry titans, but is forging its own path with a sustained cult following. He sees DUST 514 as an important step to the growth of the EVE Online universe: "On some level, DUST is a bit of a tracer bullet. A very big tracer bullet, a big investment, but it's a test bed. This could be the beginning of a much more interesting strategy of lots and lots of things joining into Tranquillity, and all being part of that shared economy, those shared politics and that shared universe."

Does CCP's future depend on DUST 514? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Jun 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP talks about connecting DUST 514 with EVE Online

Elisabeth Cardy — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Business Models, Economy, Interviews, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, DUST 514

CCP is going into uncharted territory in its attempt to fuse its new console shooter, DUST 514, to its long-running MMO, EVE Online. When breaking new ground like that, it's sensible to take it slow, make sure you're not going to fall into an endless pit, trip over a sleeping cobra, or suddenly throw an incredibly advanced economy into total disarray. CCP's Chief Marketing Officer, David Reid, talked with Joystiq about the challenges the company faces in this endeavor.

"If there's anything about EVE that's particularly notorious, it's the fidelity of its virtual economy. You can equate the loss of a giant ship in EVE to some real world amount of money, just based on the time and effort it takes to build. It's really important that, when we do join the games, and we do allow ISK [an in-game currency that can be purchased with meatspace money] to flow between EVE and DUST that we don't accidentally institute some hyper-inflation in one game or the other."

Of course, interaction between the games won't be limited to trading. Reid says the grand vision includes space elevators and the ability for EVE characters to go planetside and DUST marines can visit a space station. Check out all the details over at Joystiq.

CCP talks about connecting DUST 514 with EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP's DUST 514 will stay in closed beta into 2013

Elisabeth Cardy — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, MMOFPS, DUST 514

CCP's DUST 514, the console shooter that connects to and extends the scope of EVE Online, is staying in closed beta at least through the end of the year. During a recent media and developer play session, Chief Marketing Officer David Reid mentioned that while the team doesn't yet have a start date for open beta, he's "confident that it won't be much longer after year end."

Reid stated that the team wants to take its time with the beta. Nobody has ever really attempted this sort of connection between a console game and long-standing PC MMO before, and Reid says that the testing process will take time to ensure the kind of quality that CCP and fans expect of the game.

This is, of course, terrible news for anyone who isn't a PlayStation Plus member (and is therefore unable to access the closed beta), since we all know that the world is going to end in late December. CCP's belief that the world will persist long enough for DUST 514 to go into open beta is noble, if ultimately foolish.

CCP's DUST 514 will stay in closed beta into 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Enter at Your Own Rift: Is the subscription justified?

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Opinion, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift

I wonder whether the folks at Trion Worlds feel as if they're on an ever-shrinking island, holding fast to the subscription-only model while the world erodes into the sea of free-to-play. It's got to be an unsettling feeling, particularly as the competition continues to press in from all sides.

Is clinging to RIFT's subscription worth it? When even Star Wars: The Old Republic flinched and buckled to F2P, what chance does RIFT have to stay its course? Is Trion hurting or helping this game by holding fast to the business model?

It's a tricky question that's made trickier by the scarcity of facts. Trion's expressed strong confidence in the way it's steered RIFT so far, and I wonder whether that's a genuine confidence based on numbers that I don't see or a brave front for a duck that's paddling furiously under the calm pond surface.

So is RIFT really so good that it justifies a monthly subscription, and if so, what makes it OK to stay above the F2P waters on that tiny island?

Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Is the subscription justified?

Enter at Your Own Rift: Is the subscription justified? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP secures $20 million in funding for DUST 514

MJ Guthrie — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox

With DUST 514's closed beta just around the corner and an anticipated 2012 release, folks are sure to be hearing more about the shooter that's a ground companion to EVE Online's space game. And to help get the word out, CCP has secured $20 million in funding in the form of convertible bonds raised from Icelandic institutional investors.

Chief Marketing Officer David Reid noted funding will go toward marketing the game's launch. That doesn't mean players will see a one-time blitz of promotional advertising; Reid pointed out CCP is able to focus on a more long-term marketing campaign. The funds will also go toward preparing for an IPO. Although the company does not have immediate plans to go public, Reid states that the money allows the company to lay some of the preparatory groundwork so it would be ready if and when the time was right to actually go public.

CCP secures $20 million in funding for DUST 514 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP shows off seven years of DUST 514 skill training

Jef Reahard — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, DUST 514, Sandbox

CCP recently said that it would take seven years to max out every skill in its DUST 514 MMOFPS. If you want to see what that improbable feat looks like on a DUST character screen, head to fansite DUST514.org (or check out the video clip behind the cut).

"Much like in real life, and in EVE Online, we don't expect that a player will master all of these skills," explains CCP marketing guru David Reid. Specialization is the name of DUST 514's skill game, and Reid says that most players will probably choose a few skills and "get really, really good at them."

DUST isn't just about skills, though. It's an MMO, and an MMO means gear, so the game will launch with upwards of a thousand items (the vast majority of which can be lost in battle). How do you manage and equip these items? Through the fitting screen, of course, and today's video gives us a good look at the system in action.

Continue reading CCP shows off seven years of DUST 514 skill training

CCP shows off seven years of DUST 514 skill training originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services

Jef Reahard — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Casual, Sandbox

You'd think the hardest of the hardcore MMORPGs would be exempt from the casual-fueled cloud-gaming craze, but you'd be wrong. Eurogamer reports that CCP's EVE Online sci-fi sandbox is in talks with both OnLive and Gaikai to expand New Eden's audience.

"We are in dialogue with both companies and others," CCP marketing guru David Reid says. "We think it's a really important way to not just play the core Eve Online gameplay -- that you do play today principally on the PC and on the Mac -- but also to add new sorts of experiences."

What sorts of new experiences? Well, Reid mentioned EVE's planetary interaction mechanics, and he said that CCP could see PI finding its way "to tablets and mobile devices." It's still very early in the process, though, and Reid clarified that CCP has nothing to announce as of yet.

CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC 2012: The Firing Line's PlanetSide 2 and DUST 514 redux

Jef Reahard — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (Real-World), Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, PlanetSide 2, Sandbox, The Firing Line

This week I was fortunate enough to chat up the developers on the two biggest MMOFPS titles of the year. Exactly what year that is remains to be seen, and after hearing Sony Online Entertainment use the word "alpha" quite a lot, I suspect that PlanetSide 2 may slip into 2013. And that's not a bad thing at all, by the way.

CCP's DUST 514, on the other hand, is surely coming in 2012. The devs will be doling out some long-awaited hands-on time with EVE's precocious little brother at Fanfest in a couple of weeks, and while DUST and PS2 share similar core gameplay, their target audiences (and the general feeling I get from each game) are completely different.

Continue reading GDC 2012: The Firing Line's PlanetSide 2 and DUST 514 redux

GDC 2012: The Firing Line's PlanetSide 2 and DUST 514 redux originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC 2012: CCP talks DUST 514 PC possibilities and World of Darkness development

Matt Daniel — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Interviews, News Items, World of Darkness, DUST 514, Sandbox

GDC 2012 is now in full swing, and today we had the chance to sit down with CCP's Hilmar Petursson, Halldor Fannar, and David Reid to chat about the studio's upcoming FPS title, DUST 514. When asked about the studio's primary goal with DUST 514, the team had a simple reply: Make the best AAA free-to-play shooter possible. But is it coming to the PC?

While many EVE Online players aren't thrilled with DUST 514's PlayStation 3 exclusivity, there may be hope for a PC release yet. And while the devs weren't ready to make any official statements on the spot, a bit of wink-nudging indicates that a PC release may still be in the cards. As the devs note, mouse and keyboard controls are already supported in the PS3 version of the title. "I wonder why we did that," Hilmar joked during the interview.

Continue reading GDC 2012: CCP talks DUST 514 PC possibilities and World of Darkness development

GDC 2012: CCP talks DUST 514 PC possibilities and World of Darkness development originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP: DUST will offer a 'more intuitive' EVE experience

Jef Reahard — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox

Rock, Paper Shotgun has a new interview with CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson and CMO David Reid. The pair have a few interesting nuggets to share about DUST 514 and EVE Online, as well as how the two games are related.

Petursson says that initially, DUST mercenaries will not be riding the proverbial space elevator into orbit to parlay with their capsuleer counterparts in EVE. As in the eight-year-old spaceship MMO, though, the design will evolve and change, and "the two experiences are going to be more and more crafted over time."

The interview also also posits that DUST's accessible shooter design may lead new players into the world of New Eden in spite of EVE Online's legendary learning curve. "EVE is a very particular type of experience, made for people who want to commit a lot of energy to have a game experience like that," Petursson explains. "Over the years we've seen a lot of people interested in the EVE universe, the single shard and the political drama, but [they] might not be particularly looking for an experience like the game itself. We see DUST as a way to allow people to participate in this universe by offering them a more intuitive, familiar, speedier, quicker, shorter time-commitment type of experience."

CCP: DUST will offer a 'more intuitive' EVE experience originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Interview confirms World of Darkness dev team, predicts DUST 514 sales

Brendan Drain — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: EVE Online, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, World of Darkness, DUST 514

When CCP Games laid off 20% of its worldwide staff back in October of last year, the World of Darkness dev team bore the brunt of the cuts while DUST 514 continued on course for its launch later this year. In an interview over at TenTonHammer today, CCP's new Chief Marketing Officer, David Reid, joined CEO Hilmar Petursson to discuss the development of both games. Hilmar reveals that a team of 60 developers are currently working on WoD, and that DUST 514 will be playable at this year's EVE Online fanfest event in March.

Despite acknowledging that the entire PlayStation Network comprises a total of 60 million users, Reid asserts that DUST will bring "tens of millions of people that play shooters on PSN into the New Eden universe," going on to make the bold statement that "EVE could be the biggest game in the world at the end of 2012" as a result. Reid also claims that "EVE Online is the only game in the West that has shown consecutive growth year after year," a statement that's sure to upset RuneScape developer Jagex and others. The statement also comes with a slightly bitter note as this year EVE may have lost its record of continual subscription growth during the summer drama.

Interview confirms World of Darkness dev team, predicts DUST 514 sales originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ex-Trion SVP David Reid joins CCP for DUST 514

Jef Reahard — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, MMOFPS, DUST 514

CCP's newest hire is none other than David Reid, formerly of Trion Worlds and NCsoft. Reid steps into the role of chief marketing officer for DUST 514, and Gamasutra reports that he'll also shape the publicity strategy for CCP's upcoming World of Darkness title.

Reid helped launch Trion's RIFT MMO in 2011, and was instrumental in the development of its "we're not in Azeroth anymore" campaign. "We had a great launch with RIFT and I have nothing bad to say about it," Reid explains. "But I have kept my eye on CCP for a very long time."

Ex-Trion SVP David Reid joins CCP for DUST 514 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tiny Speck and Trion Worlds make gaming headlines in 2011

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Browser, RIFT

Trion Worlds and Tiny Speck are two MMO studios that have made waves in 2011 with their ambitious plans and potential profit margins, according to the Wall Street Journal. The publication's article examines how these companies are running contrary to Zynga's model by producing top-tier content without trying to nickle-and-dime customers.

Trion's story is seen as one of high risk and higher rewards, especially considering that it was bringing in no revenue before last March while developing three titles. "RIFT has had tremendous success -- the commercial results are just astounding -- but we've got two more big games coming... There is no joy in Mudville," said Trion's David Reid. The article notes that once a MMO breaks even, the profit margin can be as high as 70%.

Trion is reportedly adding 100 new people to the team in the first part of 2012, which will put this studio in giant-sized territory: 520 employees in total.

Tiny Speck may not be as large, with just 41 employees, but the team is growing due to Glitch's success. Even though the potential to make money is there, co-founder Eric Costello says that the team puts in long hours as primarily a labor of love: "The game industry is famous for running their employees into the ground, and we definitely don't want to do that, but we've also found that building a game is a lot harder than we thought it would be."

Tiny Speck and Trion Worlds make gaming headlines in 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Trion's David Reid: 'New era' of premium games inevitable

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, Events (Massively's Coverage), RIFT, Miscellaneous

It's a brutal, cutthroat world in the MMO industry, Trion Worlds' David Reid admits, and he thinks that companies that can't adapt to the rapidly changing scene need to get out of the pool so others can swim.

Talking to a crowd at GDC Europe, Reid spoke on an inevitable "new era" of premium games that are being fashioned in the forges of increased competition, challenging business models, higher development costs, and lower social interaction. "It's a lot harder to make your money back in the premium games space than it used to be," he said.

Reid used Trion's approach as an example of how MMO studios need to be at the top of their game when developing games, including "AAA ambition and polish, massive scale, persistence, and customization."

RIFT, which he cites as having over a million customers and holding the number two spot in the West, made sure that high-quality visuals were a key part of the experience, but also that the team was willing to listen to player feedback when preparing future content. He also pointed to End of Nation's free-to-play model and Defiance's synergy with the Syfy TV show as ways to captivate player interest and stay on top of the game.

Trion's David Reid: 'New era' of premium games inevitable originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

RIFT approaching the one million sell-through mark

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Interviews, MMO Industry, RIFT

For some, success is measured in how fun a game is and how much it accomplishes that which it promised. For others, success is all about the cold, hard numbers -- subscribers, units sold, accounts created, concurrent players. Today, Trion Worlds considers RIFT a success on the latter front as well as the former, as it announced that the company is nearing the million sell-through mark for the game.

A unit sold-through means that a copy of RIFT -- physical or digital -- has been sold to a customer, not merely shipped to retail. In an interview with Gamasutra, Trion's David Reid says that the company's $50 million title is doing well with direct competition against established fantasy MMOs like World of Warcraft.

"We're really pleased with what we're seeing. And beyond that, it was a pleasure to see in the latest Activision Blizzard earnings call that RIFT was inquired about when Blizzard announced their subscriber numbers went from 12 million to 11.4 million," Reid said. "You can do some math... we know very well where those 600,000 people are."

Trion is becoming well-known for its aggressive marketing push behind RIFT, which Reid thinks is paying off handsomely: "We know we have a very stick game, we know we are getting a lot of success right now... If in fact the 600,000 players [Blizzard] lost came to RIFT, I don't think they'll be getting those 600,000 people back as quick as they did from Aion, Conan, Warhammer and the like."

RIFT approaching the one million sell-through mark originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Former Atari VP moves to Trion Worlds

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, RIFT, Miscellaneous

Trion Worlds has a new star quarterback for its European branch today, as former Atari general manager John Burns joined the team. Burns is now senior vice president and general manager of Trion's European branch.

Trion's David Reid feels that Burns is a major catch for the company: "John joins Trion with almost two decades of gaming experience with him, and will be essential in our continued success throughout Europe. With the launch of RIFT earlier this year, we began laying the groundwork for a strong presence in Europe, which will grow as we bring premium, connected games to gamers around the world."

Burns has a lengthy track record in the industry, boasting over 20 years of experience at various companies. Prior to Atari, John Burns worked at Electronic Arts, Bandai, Acclaim and Sega.

Former Atari VP moves to Trion Worlds originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Trion answers Ubisoft-related questions about Rift

Jef Reahard — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, New Titles, News Items, RIFT

With Rift's closed beta starting this Friday, an early 2011 launch date is looking likely. In service of that, Trion Worlds is busily getting its house in order and gearing up to push the fantasy epic live around the world. Earlier today Massively reported on Trion's announcement that gaming megalith Ubisoft would be publishing the upcoming MMORPG in Europe. The Ubisoft name-drop brought to light some reader concerns about the draconian DRM schemes the publisher is (in)famous for, so we decided to go straight to the source to clear things up.

Join us after the cut for an impromptu interview with Trion Worlds Senior VP of Publishing David Reid.

Continue reading Trion answers Ubisoft-related questions about Rift

Trion answers Ubisoft-related questions about Rift originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Your thoughts on Jeff Strain's NCsoft departure?

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind

As we've reported on for the past two days, ArenaNet co-founder Jeff Strain has left his position at NCsoft and is moving on to new pastures. While his former co-founding partner, Mike O'Brien, has said pretty affirmatively that his departure won't affect the development of Guild Wars 2, we're still interested in what you think of all of this.

It's certainly a very sudden and unexpected move, especially when you take into account the departure of David Reid as well, even if they both left for unrelated reasons. With Aion coming closer and closer to a launch in the United States, and NCsoft pushing to be #2 in the realm of subscription numbers, the timing for these departures seems to be odd.

But, we're not going to waste this space with our thoughts, we want yours! Drop what you think of all of this into the comment box below, and let your voices ring across the internet!

The Daily Grind: Your thoughts on Jeff Strain's NCsoft departure? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Breaking: ArenaNet co-founder leaves NCsoft

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Aion, Guild Wars, MMO Industry, Guild Wars 2

MMORPG.com is reporting that both Jeff Strain and David Reid have recently departed NCsoft West. Strain, the President of Product Development for the newly-restructured NCsoft West and Reid, the President of Publishing are both said to have left for "unrelated" reasons.

Jeff Strain has always been much more than just a co-founder of ArenaNet, as his visions have driven the company to spectacular feats with their blockbuster title Guild Wars. David Reid was brought on last year with the newly-announced NC West, which aimed to re-structure the company on the tails of Tabula Rasa's closing. Does this spell even more bad news for NCsoft, only a month before they launch Aion? According to a press release from NCsoft West Public Relations Director Ryan James, "These changes do not influence any other teams, development schedules or other launches." That may be true, but it's the reputation that seems to be in the most trouble now. We wish Mr. Strain and Mr. Reid the best of luck in their future endeavors.

Breaking: ArenaNet co-founder leaves NCsoft originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively talks with NCsoft about CoH changes, Austin studio shakeup

Michael Zenke — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta

Massively and NCsoft have had the chance to touch base several times in the last week or so, and we wanted to be sure to put it all together in one place. If you're a fan of NCsoft's games, or just a fan of the genre, you undoubtedly have heard about the trials and tribulations player and developer have been experiencing of late. We've got all the details you want about the NCsoft Austin shakeup, the future of Tabula Rasa, the City of Heroes Issue 13 changeup and the microtransaction initiative the NC NorCal team is ramping up. Check out this roundup of NCsoft posts for everything you need on one of the bigs MMO publishers around.

	City of Heroes Mission Architect moving to next year! So what is replacing Architect? How about an all new level syncing system that will ensure you can always keep up with your buddies? The "Day Jobs" system, with brand-new civilian costumes and a brand-new game mechanic? Rebalancing of powers for PvP? A new merit reward system?
	David Reid sets the record straight on NC West David Reid, appointed President of Publishing, was kind enough to give up considerable time yesterday for an interview. We discussed Guild Wars and Tabula Rasa, but the main focus was on the NC West announcement.
	Brian Clayton and Matt Miller on Power and Responsibility in City of Heroes Right now the news is breaking about a major change to the City of Heroes issue release schedule. The Mission Architect feature is being moved to Issue 14. Issue 13, now titled Power and Responsibility, will include a whole lot more cool content and reach the player base that much sooner.
	NCsoft 'very encouraged' by Guild Wars 2 Massively recently got to talk to David Reid, the newly appointed President of Publishing for NC West, about several key NCsoft matters. We took the opportunity to ask David about ArenaNet and Guild Wars, and in particular, what was happening with Guild Wars 2.

Continue reading Massively talks with NCsoft about CoH changes, Austin studio shakeup

Massively talks with NCsoft about CoH changes, Austin studio shakeup originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings responds to David Reid's NCsoft West comments

Michael Zenke — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Interviews (Massively's)

Earlier today we featured remarks from David Reid, Vice President for Publishing at the newly forming NCsoft West branch. During our discussion we talked about NCsoft's shift from a publisher of games big and small to one focused solely on AAA big-budget titles. One of the individuals impacted by that decision was well known MMO industry commentator and designer Scott Jennings. Sometimes known as "Lum the Mad", Jennings was part of a team that was dispersed as a result of the creation of NCsoft West, and is now working at John Galt Games (makers of Web Wars).

We asked Mr. Jennings to respond to Mr. Reid's comments, as an individual personally impacted by NCsoft's decision to move towards a AAA-only strategy. The designer had quite a few things to say about that decision. "It was my belief, and still is, that it is entirely possible to make smaller, less bloated titles that appeal less to the mass market and more to market niches that are underserved to date, which are easier to design and develop for when you aren't married to a $50 million+ budget."

Please click through to read Scott Jennings' full response to the NCsoft decision below the cut.

Continue reading Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings responds to David Reid's NCsoft West comments

Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings responds to David Reid's NCsoft West comments originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West: Part 3

Adrian Bott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeon Runners, Interviews, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Consoles

Dungeon Runners

Massively: Now when you're talking about stepping more in the direction of the triple-A titles, that sort of implies that you're getting away from some of the smaller games that you guys have been working on in the past. We know that the Dungeon Runners team is experiencing some changes - can you talk specifically about that game, and what's going to be happening with those folks?

David Reid: Even before the NC West announcement, the Dungeon Runners team went through some changes. You're probably referring to the announcement of the reduction we had of about 21 people, several weeks before the announcement of NC West, and Dungeon Runners was part of that. And that was about the fact that - yes, we like Dungeon Runners as a service, but there was a decision not to port that product on to other platforms but to keep the game intact as it is right now on the PC platform.

There were a number of other projects that had not been announced that were part of that, and they too were what we'll call lighter and smaller MMO fare, rather than triple-A types of products. Beyond that, Dungeon Runners is as healthy as it's ever been, and is still a vibrant part of the NCsoft portfolio. It's just that it's a different sort of business, and one that is a very successful kind of business overall, it's just not where NCsoft is going to continue investing its product development publishing resources, going forward.

Massively: So it would be fair to say that people who enjoy Dungeon Runners shouldn't expect it to go anywhere, but as far as a ton of new content in the future... that would probably not be the direction that the company would be going in for that product?

David Reid: I'd clarify that answer just a bit. We were thinking seriously about 'should we bring Dungeon Runners to other, alternative platforms?' And that's what a large amount of that team was working on, and other parts of NCsoft. That decision has been: no, we're not going to. I wouldn't read into that anything about the amount of content that the Dungeon Runners team is going to be making on a regular basis. That will continue to go forward.

Console Ports

Massively: You mentioned porting to other platforms a couple of times now. We think it's a little more than a year ago at this point that you announced you had that agreement with Sony to think about doing some stuff for the PS3. We haven't really seen that so far. Is that part of this announcement, sort of refocusing NC West on getting some of Ncsoft's more stable games over to the Playstation 3?

David Reid: Yeah... I can tell you that we do think console development is an incredibly important part of our future. We do think that, you know, you look at companies like... NCsoft today is a PC only company, and we've seen what's happened with some of these formerly PC only (or predominantly PC) companies who have successfully brought their properties to the console.

As a gamer myself, I take a lot of inspiration from what the Tom Clancy series did for UbiSoft, or what Morrowind as a shifted Xbox and PC title did for Bethesda. And we believe that there is a transition like that that NCsoft can have, by taking some of its triple-A properties, and making a great triple-A MMO that works on the console.

**"As a gamer myself, I take a lot of inspiration from what the Tom Clancy series did for UbiSoft, or what Morrowind as a shifted Xbox and PC title did for Bethesda."**

So yeah, it is true. You can't do everything all the time, and at some level we recognise that the best prize for NCsoft to be focused on is the triple-A space, and that's on the PC platform and on the console platform. But beyond that, I don't have an announcement that I can make for you at this time!

Massively: Not a problem. We just wanted to clarify, because it seems like a natural progression from where you guys are talking about with triple-A titles being your focus.

David Reid: We passionately agree. Absolutely.

Massively: We really appreciate you guys' time. We know that the readers have been... we guess the best word is confused, because as we said, it sort of came out of nowhere. And we're glad we had the chance to talk!

David Reid: You bet! Well, at the end of the day, I hope that for folks who are fans of these giant triple-A games, these big investments in the MMO space with high production quality, there should be no confusion: this is good news for that game. We are going to get back to doing this all day, every day, in a world class way. The lighter side of the business, the free-to-plays and things like that, those are great businesses, but there will be other companies who will be delivering that form. It won't be NCsoft so much, going forward.

Read what David Reid had to say on Tabula Rasa and Guild Wars.

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West: Part 3 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West: Part 2

Adrian Bott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews, MMO Industry

Massively: Great. So it's actually more towards NC West as sort of a general umbrella under which these specific studios can have their own names, and really carve out their own places within the company?

David Reid: Absolutely. Think about it this way: the reorganization and the establishment of NC West is more of an acknowledgement that we as a company can be doing better on the publishing side, in terms of taking these great products that these veteran leadership studios have been able to crank out, and turn them into much bigger phenomena. Right?

I mean, we've had great success with City of Heroes, we've had great success with Guild Wars, but we think it can be bigger. What we're not doing is changing the studio organization, other than the studios all now report in to Jeff Strain, who has moved on from the day to day management of ArenaNet - Michael O'Brien is now the studio head there, and is leading the Guild Wars 2 team and other projects there - but Jeff serves as a manager across the studio organization.

**"... we've had great success with City of Heroes, we've had great success with Guild Wars, but we think it can be bigger."**

And in parallel, what I get to do for Jeff and those studios is make sure that we do the best we can to deliver triple-A world class launches across our Western territories, and make sure that the marketing, the sales, the customer support - all the elements that great developers look to great publishers to do - are being done here. There's going to be some common platforms and things on the technology side, and a common team that helps serve the business, but nothing really changes on the product development side.

Massively: Okay. So you're saying nothing much is going to change on the product development side, but to that end it seems like as part of the NC West conglomeration, there are some folks moving around. There's a little more... we guess you could say refinement in what people are doing in a couple of these different studios. Could you talk generally about what we're seeing, as far as people moving on to new positions, people moving on from Austin to Seattle, those sorts of things?

David Reid: I should say one thing: that the decision about moving out NC West in the way we're doing it is, while there's no real change happening at the studio level, there is this ratification of 'NCsoft is going to be in the triple-A MMO space day in and day out', right?

We've done some interesting things and had some success with smaller titles, things like Dungeon Runners and Exteel are doing well for us, but the company by and large is the company that Lineage built, and this reorganization is a ratification of getting back to that business and going all-in on the Lineages, Guild Wars, Aions, City of Heroes, Tabula Rasas, Blade and Souls, those sorts of games are what NCsoft is going to be doing day in, day out here in the West.

Now, there's a specific question you asked there about how does this impact certain people. We are planning to - we're in the process of now porting the internal people that we would like to relocate to Seattle, and have offered a healthy number of folks a relocation up to Seattle to be part of what is principally a publishing headquarters. And so that's where the bulk of the North American and global leadership for marketing, for sales, for PR, aspects like that, we're thinking will be headquartered in Seattle.

Seattle for us was the logical place to go because of the relationship with Seoul, and Seattle just happens to be the place where you get the best number of non-stop flights to Seoul and to our West Coast studios, and to our UK office, out of Seattle versus any other city on the West Coast. And so we are also relocating what is now our Eastern games studio, the folks that are our North American and European producer team, for bringing games like Aion and Lineage and Blade and Soul into the Western market. Those folks are moving to Seattle, as well as the publishing headquarters.

Continue to Part 3

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West: Part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West

Adrian Bott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Interviews, MMO Industry

Nobody can have failed to notice the announcement of NC West, which broke recently amid rumors of staffing reshuffles in various NCsoft studios. Although some key concerns were addressed very swiftly, many of our readers had plenty of questions to ask, and so did we.

David Reid, appointed President of Publishing, was kind enough to give up considerable time yesterday for an interview. We discussed Guild Wars and Tabula Rasa, but the main focus was on the NC West announcement.

Massively: We really do appreciate you guys talking to us, because there are a lot of Massively readers who are concerned with this announcement. It was kind of sudden - the NCsoft West thing just kind of snuck up on them, and they're not entirely sure about what's going on. Although you guys have put out a couple of statements so far about it, I think people are still a little unclear on it.

David Reid: That's exactly why we are keen to talk with you. Let us be clear about whatever questions your readers have, and set things straight on that.

Massively: Great! As a broad question: NC West sounds like (to us, and we want to make sure we have this clear) a conglomeration of the game development assets for NCsoft in the US, into a smaller number of groups than it is right now. Is that the primary goal?

Continue reading David Reid sets the record straight on NC West

David Reid sets the record straight on NC West originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

NCsoft 'very encouraged' by Guild Wars 2

Adrian Bott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Guild Wars, Interviews, MMO Industry, Guild Wars 2

Massively recently got to talk to David Reid, the newly appointed President of Publishing for NC West, about several key NCsoft matters. We took the opportunity to ask David about ArenaNet and Guild Wars, and in particular, what was happening with Guild Wars 2.

Massively: Something we know the Guild Wars players are very interested in, is with Jeff Strain now moving into his new position within the company, what does that say for ArenaNet and Guild Wars 2, which is obviously a product that ArenaNet's been working on for some time? Guild Wars players are... well, they're dying for you to let them know what's going on with that game. Is this a good sign or a bad sign for the company, and what should this say to Guild Wars players who are looking forward to the sequel with more than bated breath?

David Reid: First thing: I'd be remiss if I didn't acknowledge that we, too, have an enormous amount of enthusiasm for Guild Wars 2! And we're very encouraged by what we're seeing.

Continue reading NCsoft 'very encouraged' by Guild Wars 2

NCsoft 'very encouraged' by Guild Wars 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tabula Rasa is triple-A and here to stay, says NC West President

Adrian Bott — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Interviews, MMO Industry, Tabula Rasa

Massively recently had the chance to speak with NC West's newly appointed President of Publishing, David Reid. The bulk of the interview concerned the formation of NC West and its implications for NCsoft as a whole, but David also took the time to answer our questions about several of NCsoft's existing triple-A titles, including Tabula Rasa.

Massively: Obviously, Tabula Rasa is one of the triple-A titles NCsoft has in its stable. We hope you'll disagree, but we've heard again and again these rumors from players who are talking to people and from people within the industry, that people within the company are looking at Tabula Rasa to perform better than it has in the past, and that if it doesn't, then there might be consequences to that business reality. Can you clarify that for us, or expand upon that?

Continue reading Tabula Rasa is triple-A and here to stay, says NC West President

Tabula Rasa is triple-A and here to stay, says NC West President originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Austin 'critically important' to NCsoft, says David Reid

Adrian Bott — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Aion, MMO Industry, Tabula Rasa

With the formation of NC West recently announced, industry professionals and interested gamers alike have been trading rumors concerning the NC Austin studio. Sanya Weathers has a lot to say on the subject, and DJ Jester of w00tradio.net devoted a large chunk of his recent podcast to the events and the gossip surrounding them.

Now the President of Publishing for NC West, David Reid, has given an interview with Edge Online. Dismissing speculation as erroneous, he states that 'Austin continues to be a critically important space for NCsoft. The Tabula Rasa team is still there, along with customer service and QA.'

Continue reading Austin 'critically important' to NCsoft, says David Reid

Austin 'critically important' to NCsoft, says David Reid originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dungeon Runners is safe, says NCsoft

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeon Runners, Business Models, MMO Industry, Rumors

Despite earlier reports that NCsoft's Dungeon Runners was on its way out, in line with the company's recent plans to concentrate on larger triple-A MMO titles, we now hear that the free-to-play cult favorite is not going anywhere just yet. David Reid, NCsoft's VP of Marketing explained that the company will continue to focus on the larger titles, but Dungeon Runners is indeed safe. He does point out though that it's unlikely that the smaller titles will receive the same support and attention they've always had.

Plus, as is the case with so many other MMO publishers and developers these days, NCsoft is expected to pursue its relationship with Sony to bring MMOs to the PS3. "We have a good relationship with Sony and we're excited about it, but there are a lot of good platforms out there," Reid explained.

Dungeon Runners is safe, says NCsoft originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments