@zebular: I completely disagree, but I'll PM you instead.
Not sure what there is to disagree about in my statement you quoted. You even quoted the actual statement, where it doesn't even specify any specific title. That's my point. People seem to think that its all on Neverwinter when PWE has 17 PC games alone, not including the mobile and console markets. The loss could be from any one of them, multiples, or even all of them. All I see is speculation that the fault is on Neverwinter.
Just like to point out that Neverwinter was never mentioned in relation to loss of revenue.
Wait, what?
According to the article...
"It was mentioned that the sluggish North American result is due to the falling number of Neverwinter players. However, Perfect World is still confident in the long-term prospects of the US subsidiary given its strong R&D and operational capabilities as well as promising pipeline.
According to the article...
"It was mentioned that the sluggish North American result is due to the falling number of Neverwinter players. However, Perfect World is still confident in the long-term prospects of the US subsidiary given its strong R&D and operational capabilities as well as promising pipeline.
What were you reading?
Which is a gross misrepresentation. No where did the fiscal reports, which that linked article gross misleads about, even mentions Neverwinter as being the cause of revenue loss. I included what he actually reported below, which clearly shows Cryptic was not their only acquisition, which off the top of my head I can also remember Runic Games and Simplygon technology.
My suggestion: Stop reading those grossly biased articles and read the actual reports. No where in the entire report, even beyond what I quoted below, does it ever say anything about the population of Neverwinter, or any game for that matter.
Mr. Robert Xiao, CEO of Perfect World commented, “We are pleased to announce our third
quarter results. Total revenues rose by 5% quarter-over-quarter, which came in line with our
expectations. The sequential revenue growth was mainly attributed to our newly launched
mobile games ‘CrossGate Mobile’ and ‘Forsaken World.’ ‘DOTA2,’ a world-class title for
which we have obtained exclusive rights to operate in mainland China, also continued to perform
well.”
“During the third quarter, we continued to expand our portfolio by launching new games and
releasing expansion packs for our existing games. In addition to launching ‘CrossGate Mobile’
early in the quarter, we launched ‘Legend of the Condor Heroes,’ a 3D MMORPG based on one
of Louis Cha’s classic martial arts novels, and the mobile game ‘Touch’ toward the end of the
quarter. We also launched the console version of ‘Neverwinter’ in mainland China through the
Xbox One platform，and we are working on localizing a PC version of the game for China.
Moreover, we have a variety of upcoming titles in our mobile game pipeline, such as ‘Forever
Mars,’ ‘Dawn after Dark,’ ‘Swordsman Mobile,’ and ‘Saint Seiya Mobile.’ ”
“Research and development continues to be our main competitive advantage. In order to further
bolster our competitive edge in this area, we recently restructured our R&D teams to form five
new subsidiaries. We believe this new structure will help better incentivize top talent, support
game design flexibility, allow faster reaction to changing market trends, and boost game
development productivity.”
“During the quarter, we continued to make progress in launching our games in various markets
through our overseas partners and subsidiaries. At the same time, we face fierce competition in
the global market. In view of U.S. subsidiary’s recent performance and near-term business
outlook that are below our expectations, we recognized acquisition-related impairments in this
quarter. However, we are still confident in the long-term prospects of our U.S. subsidiary given
its strong R&D and operational capabilities as well as promising pipeline. With our extensive
overseas network that covers more than 100 countries and regions around the world, we remain
committed to further expanding our overseas penetration and bolstering our global presence.”
“We are constantly on the lookout to identify new market trends as we endeavor to position
ourselves to capture growth opportunities in the global market. We believe our strategies will
bring long term value to our shareholders as we seek to create captivating entertainment
experiences for gamers worldwide.”
The problem isn't WotC. If it was, we'd be seeing the same problem over at DDO, and not be seeing the same problem with Champions.
The problem is two-fold.
1) PWE's decisions are made based on short-term profit and not long-term longevity
2) PWE focuses on zen-generating content almost exclusively, at the expense of actual content that encourages long-term play.
This is a great great post.
Its Not WotC. The only things holding Cryptic back is the game design itself and Perfect World. Neverwinter has been built twice, and it needs to, and will be rebuilt again.
Gary Gygax would be rolling his eyes in disgust if he were alive today and saw the state of the game in Neverwinter.
D&D is about endless replayability. PvE in the MMO world.
1st thing that needs to change is the mindset at the top floor of PW and Cryptic.
Which is a gross misrepresentation. No where did the fiscal reports, which that linked article gross misleads about, even mentions Neverwinter as being the cause of revenue loss. I included what he actually reported below, which clearly shows Cryptic was not their only acquisition, which off the top of my head I can also remember Runic Games and Simplygon technology.
My suggestion: Stop reading those grossly biased articles and read the actual reports. No where in the entire report, even beyond what I quoted below, does it ever say anything about the population of Neverwinter, or any game for that matter.
Is it really a "gross misrepresentation" Zeb? Until MMO developers release the profit and loss statements per game, including the server population schematics, all an educated consumer can do is assume which game or games (some, all?) are causing the drain on the money train.
Revenue loss is revenue loss. Its not a good thing. Regardless which games are the reason, it should provide as a wake-up call to the powers that be in EACH GAME, as well as those big corporate suit wearers with the smelly cologne....
With the explosion of the mobile gaming market, as well as solid nature of console gaming... I'm certainly interested in seeing PW/Cryptics real numbers and plans for the MMO PC gaming market, including Neverwinter's role in it.
I thought about the problem and want to suggest some ideas to increase the income for PWE/Cryptic with Neverwinter.
Neverwinter needs more customers!
One way to increase the customers/playerbase is to set on one of the strongest features of Neverwinter: The Gateway.
It is a feature which is appreciate by a vast majority of players and it let the player connect to Neverwinter everywhere he has a connection with his smartphone but the website is pretty laggy on smartphones. To enhance the experience of this feature it needs an optimized App.
The next step is to improve the Swordcoast Adventure game. It should be accessible through the Gateway-App that new players can register a new account through the gateway (some kind of dummy character) and participate in the Swordcoast Adventure game. This means that Neverwinter opens itself to a big market of potential customers. The improved mingame could have as addition a small campaign for itself (like 5-10 hours playtime), an arena to fight against other companion teams and some additional companion which can be earned through the minigame. The Dungeons could have a drop chance of companion tokens to upgrade them via game and a micro transaction system to buy some cheap companion tokens and companions.
*
Another improvement of the income of PWE/Cryptic would be an optional monthly subscription fee:
Patron of Neverwinter (8-12 Bucks)
The Patron of Neverwinter Packages includes following features:
Title granted: Patron of Neverwinter (only granted while subscription is running)
Access to Neverembers Stable – As Patron of Neverwinter the Lord Protector grants you access to his Stable. Every character on your account can choose one of the 80% mounts from the Zen-Market.
Master Craftsman – As Patron of Neverwinter you get access to one of the Master Craftsman of Neverember. He grants 40% speed and quality to any profession task he is slotted.
Double amount of refined Astral Diamonds – Instead of 24.000 you can refine 48.000 Astral Diamonds per day while granted with the title Patron of Neverwinter.
Dual Spec – While granted the title of a Patron you can have two different Feat+Power-Builds per character and switch them while you are out of combat.
Or would you say a subscription fee with some nice extras is a no-go?
Platypus wielding a giant hammer, your argument is invalild!
Comments
Sekhmet@kvetchus_
Guilds: Greycloaks, Blackcloaks, Whitecloaks, Goldcloaks, Browncloaks, Spiritcloaks, Bluecloaks, Silvercloaks, Black Dawn
Tredecim: The Cloak Alliance
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
Wait, what?
According to the article...
"It was mentioned that the sluggish North American result is due to the falling number of Neverwinter players. However, Perfect World is still confident in the long-term prospects of the US subsidiary given its strong R&D and operational capabilities as well as promising pipeline.
What were you reading?
Encounter Matrix | Advanced Foundry Topics
My suggestion: Stop reading those grossly biased articles and read the actual reports. No where in the entire report, even beyond what I quoted below, does it ever say anything about the population of Neverwinter, or any game for that matter.
[ Support Center • Rules & Policies and Guidelines • ARC ToS • Guild Recruitment Guidelines | FR DM Since 1993 ]
This is a great great post.
Its Not WotC. The only things holding Cryptic back is the game design itself and Perfect World. Neverwinter has been built twice, and it needs to, and will be rebuilt again.
Gary Gygax would be rolling his eyes in disgust if he were alive today and saw the state of the game in Neverwinter.
D&D is about endless replayability. PvE in the MMO world.
1st thing that needs to change is the mindset at the top floor of PW and Cryptic.
Is it really a "gross misrepresentation" Zeb? Until MMO developers release the profit and loss statements per game, including the server population schematics, all an educated consumer can do is assume which game or games (some, all?) are causing the drain on the money train.
Revenue loss is revenue loss. Its not a good thing. Regardless which games are the reason, it should provide as a wake-up call to the powers that be in EACH GAME, as well as those big corporate suit wearers with the smelly cologne....
With the explosion of the mobile gaming market, as well as solid nature of console gaming... I'm certainly interested in seeing PW/Cryptics real numbers and plans for the MMO PC gaming market, including Neverwinter's role in it.
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Neverwinter needs more customers!
One way to increase the customers/playerbase is to set on one of the strongest features of Neverwinter: The Gateway.
It is a feature which is appreciate by a vast majority of players and it let the player connect to Neverwinter everywhere he has a connection with his smartphone but the website is pretty laggy on smartphones. To enhance the experience of this feature it needs an optimized App.
The next step is to improve the Swordcoast Adventure game. It should be accessible through the Gateway-App that new players can register a new account through the gateway (some kind of dummy character) and participate in the Swordcoast Adventure game. This means that Neverwinter opens itself to a big market of potential customers. The improved mingame could have as addition a small campaign for itself (like 5-10 hours playtime), an arena to fight against other companion teams and some additional companion which can be earned through the minigame. The Dungeons could have a drop chance of companion tokens to upgrade them via game and a micro transaction system to buy some cheap companion tokens and companions.
*
Another improvement of the income of PWE/Cryptic would be an optional monthly subscription fee:
Patron of Neverwinter (8-12 Bucks)
The Patron of Neverwinter Packages includes following features:
Title granted: Patron of Neverwinter (only granted while subscription is running)
Access to Neverembers Stable – As Patron of Neverwinter the Lord Protector grants you access to his Stable. Every character on your account can choose one of the 80% mounts from the Zen-Market.
Master Craftsman – As Patron of Neverwinter you get access to one of the Master Craftsman of Neverember. He grants 40% speed and quality to any profession task he is slotted.
Double amount of refined Astral Diamonds – Instead of 24.000 you can refine 48.000 Astral Diamonds per day while granted with the title Patron of Neverwinter.
Dual Spec – While granted the title of a Patron you can have two different Feat+Power-Builds per character and switch them while you are out of combat.
Or would you say a subscription fee with some nice extras is a no-go?