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Cryptic is becoming a Gearbox Studio!

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  • evilmark444evilmark444 Member Posts: 6,950 Arc User
    tasshena wrote: »
    The funny thing about Colonial Marines is that if you search online, there's like one thing in one file you can change and it runs fine :p A lot of the original mess was one mistake in one file. Too bad it took someone online to figure that out :p

    https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/15/17574248/aliens-colonial-marines-fixing-code-typo-ai-xenomorphs​​

    That's just one of many issues, almost every level lacks polish and the further you get into the story the more and more clear it becomes that things were quickly slapped together at the last minute to push the game out the door. If I remember correctly they outsourced the game to another development company, then found out shortly before the scheduled release that it wasn't anywhere close to being finished. At some point they also put out an amazing trailer that they advertised as real gameplay, but the final game wasn't anything like it.
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  • naabal421#0722 naabal421 Member Posts: 162 Arc User
    That's just one of many issues, almost every level lacks polish and the further you get into the story the more and more clear it becomes that things were quickly slapped together at the last minute to push the game out the door. If I remember correctly they outsourced the game to another development company, then found out shortly before the scheduled release that it wasn't anywhere close to being finished. At some point they also put out an amazing trailer that they advertised as real gameplay, but the final game wasn't anything like it.
    Wasn't it discovered at some point that Gearbox was siphoning money from Sega that should have gone to Aliens, and were using it on Borderlands 2 instead?
  • nommo#5819 nommo Member Posts: 1,105 Arc User
    bridgern wrote: »
    “The optimist says, ‘It can’t get any worse!’ And the pessimist replies, ‘Oh yes it can!”

    Not just with STO but that's usually my state of mind over the last few years.


    I hope this announcement can bring a change and a freshness of some sort to STO - although it might take some time to trickle down into the game...

    Still, I see this as a good thing and I look forward to what may come as a result of this change.

    I like the optimism so fingers crossed.



  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,354 Arc User
    tasshena wrote: »
    The funny thing about Colonial Marines is that if you search online, there's like one thing in one file you can change and it runs fine :p A lot of the original mess was one mistake in one file. Too bad it took someone online to figure that out :p

    https://www.polygon.com/2018/7/15/17574248/aliens-colonial-marines-fixing-code-typo-ai-xenomorphs​​

    That's just one of many issues, almost every level lacks polish and the further you get into the story the more and more clear it becomes that things were quickly slapped together at the last minute to push the game out the door. If I remember correctly they outsourced the game to another development company, then found out shortly before the scheduled release that it wasn't anywhere close to being finished.
    Huh. Sounds familiar. Was that what attracted them to Cryptic? :wink:
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  • joshmauljoshmaul Member Posts: 519 Arc User
    I'm on the fence too, to be honest. Gearbox does not really have a history with MMOs; most of what I see associated with them is either FPS or RTS. Though they do have an okay track record with previously established IPs, up to a point (they own the Homeworld franchise, did a GREAT job on the remaster for HW1 and 2, and teamed up with the former developers from Relic - now Blackbird Interactive - for Deserts of Kharak and the upcoming HW3).

    As for Pitchford being a scumbag, unfortunately this seems to be a trend with nearly every major developer and publisher in the world now. To be clear, I am NOT excusing this piggish behavior, but at the same time, if you're looking for CEOs as clean as the driven snow, you're not liable to find any.
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  • giliongilion Member Posts: 686 Arc User
    The one worrying part about this deal is that they didn't ONLY buy Cryptic but PWE too. I'm hopeful, but won't hold my breath.
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  • crypticarmsmancrypticarmsman Member Posts: 4,101 Arc User
    Anyone who thinks this is great news should look up what Gearbox does with acquired assets. Plus they don't have much experience in the MMO genre in general. It may not be as bad as the Atari days - but we'll see.
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  • giliongilion Member Posts: 686 Arc User
    edited December 2021
    I'm choosing to be hopeful, even if it's


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  • bnuts#2055 bnuts Member Posts: 35 Arc User
    I look at Kael's post and think "oh, then minimal changes."
    I look at the post about Gearbox's reputation, and I can hear Rhinox go "oh no."
    Hopefully all will be well (enough).
  • questeriusquesterius Member Posts: 8,301 Arc User
    I have to ask, but is there a goat simulator gamemode incoming?
    This program, though reasonably normal at times, seems to have a strong affinity to classes belonging to the Cat 2.0 program. Questerius 2.7 will break down on occasion, resulting in garbage and nonsense messages whenever it occurs. Usually a hard reboot or pulling the plug solves the problem when that happens.
  • fleetcaptain5#1134 fleetcaptain5 Member Posts: 4,754 Arc User
    Gearbox has been on an acquisition tear lately - that gives some fears of 'synergy' happening. Not like it can increase the monetization push at this point without adding a mobile games stamina mechanic.

    Unless they could find a way to get more people to pay, even if they're paying smaller amounts each.
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  • sunseahlsunseahl Member Posts: 827 Arc User
    I'm Done.

    FOMO won't keep me playing a subsidiary of

    Randy, Attacks Vice President of Business and CL4P-TP VA, Pitchford
    https://www.pcgamer.com/former-claptrap-voice-actor-details-randy-pitchford-assault-allegations/
    https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/05/11/landon-montgomery-randy-pitchford-allegations/

    Randy, conveniently lies about hiring voice actors, Pitchford
    https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/30/20892211/borderlands-3-troy-baker-rhys-gearbox-union-sag
    https://www.thegamer.com/troy-baker-didnt-turn-down-voicing-borderland-3s-rhys-gearbox-made-it-impossible/

    Randy, considers TRIBBLE magic, Pitchford
    https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/01/gearbox-ceo-allegedly-kept-underage-TRIBBLE-on-usb-stick-new-lawsuit-alleges/
    https://variety.com/2019/gaming/news/randy-pitchford-gearbox-lawsuit-1203106006/

    Randy, pawns off licensed IP creation duties to 4th party studios, Pitchford
    https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-12-aliens-colonial-marines-primary-development-outsourced-to-section-8-developer-timegate-studios-report
    https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a458450/aliens-colonial-marines-outsourcing-claims-denied/ (ohh look a cooperate non-denial, denial)

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    Randy, and by proxy Gearbox and its subsidiaries, deserves zero time and money from me.
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  • thegrandnagus1thegrandnagus1 Member Posts: 5,165 Arc User
    A couple of quick thoughts:

    1: this has nothing to do with Kael at all, but you can never trust PR statements when things like this happen. It is literally their job to try to put the best possible spin on any situation, so "don't worry, everything will be fine" statements mean nothing from PR releases.

    2: the number 1 biggest defender of this game has some really bad things to say about Gearbox. To me, that means something.

    But hey, we'll see what happens :p

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  • jonsillsjonsills Member Posts: 10,354 Arc User
    Huh. So, they bought Cryptic,which among other things owns the Champions IP, and Dark Horse Comics.

    Wonder if there might be some future synergy there...
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  • husanakxhusanakx Member Posts: 1,589 Arc User
    jonsills wrote: »
    Huh. So, they bought Cryptic,which among other things owns the Champions IP, and Dark Horse Comics.

    Wonder if there might be some future synergy there...

    Or a spat of Cryptic engine Dark horse small MMOs. One thing Cryptic has always been good at is turning out licensed games fast... I imagine if you owned 100s of comic properties and a game studio like Cryptic, you might start wondering if you could turn out a bunch of games with 1 year dev windows. Where you don't have to pay anyone license fees.
  • nitewingnycnitewingnyc Member Posts: 90 Arc User
    Hey, every time the studio gets involved the game writing gets better. If they straighten out the spaghetti code a bit even better for everyone. The game can not get worse and some concerns are personal and or economically based. An investor can only benefit the game hopefully bringing more content & more to the c-store instead of crazy priced packages and lockboxes. Well, That's my hope.
  • nitewingnycnitewingnyc Member Posts: 90 Arc User
    > @duddutcher#4834 said:

    > and i hope this game is not gonne be sunset. the fact its being mentiond (even as in: not gonna happen) is getting me worried. didnt even know something like that would be possible for sto, i got a lot of money invested in this game (have played for many many years ever sinds i was 13 years old and im now 21) and knowing it could potentialy be sun set keeps me from investing more.
    >
    > but can someone smarter than me explain if it is reasonable to fear this?

    Honestly, we were just trying to cover all bases of stuff folks might be worried about. There's no need to be concerned for STO, which is still very profitable.

    From what I know of the company it tends to use the games to promote one another. They have some old tiles that have been either dumped into unreal engine or lumberyard to keep the look fresh. They have been known to take a game down for a long period of time but return with a polished vertion. Also I do belive CBS has alot to say on how long and what is in STO now a days; Personally I don't think there is any reason to worry as of yet.
  • faelon#8433 faelon Member Posts: 358 Arc User
    reyan01 wrote: »
    I'd say lock boxes/infinity boxes are all but guaranteed to be one of the things they don't change.

    It's now under Swedish ownership. They may be required to change the lockboxes. It's been pretty clear that all of the high priced Mudd Bundles are in part to support a move away from Lockboxes should it become necessary.
  • faelon#8433 faelon Member Posts: 358 Arc User
    gilion wrote: »
    I'm choosing to be hopeful, even if it's


    giphy.gif

    Imagine how much worse this could have been. Yeah our Games been sold. But it's been sold to a thriving European owned Media company. I mean worst case it could have been Gamigo. Or Activision Blizzard.
  • sthe91sthe91 Member Posts: 5,406 Arc User
    edited December 2021
    At first when I read this in the Champions Online forum (which I do not play) I was surprised by this acquisition. I personally am not against lockboxes and just believe they need to be tweaked a little. For example: in ground and space content you can get lockboxes why not a rare chance to get a lockbox key? So you add another option to getting them besides the exchange and the C-Store. I play a Facebook game through a mini client called Star Trek: Alien Domain and you can get lockbox keys through credits in the shop as well as through random drops. Another idea is publishing the odds.

    Not sure why this is not a blog post though seems too noteworthy to not be especially with the new updated system requirements in 2022. I am not sure what to expect and was not in the game (I came in I think one year after it became free-to-play) when it was under Atari. So let's see what comes of this. I wish all the community managers, developers, etc. of Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and Champions Online success in this new endeavor and under a new umbrella which is Gearbox. May you live long and prosper in this new arrangement and may those blessings also be poured on the players as well!
    Post edited by sthe91 on
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  • seaofsorrowsseaofsorrows Member Posts: 10,918 Arc User
    First, I will just say I am glad that they are retaining the Cryptic staff. I wouldn't wish job insecurity right before Christmas on anyone, and the team doesn't deserve that type of stress. I am happy to hear that, for now at least, things are stable at Cryptic and people don't have to worry.

    As far as how much or how little Gearbox will invest into Cryptic and specifically STO.. I'll just wait and see. Speculating does little for anyone so I'll just see how it plays out. As for the people that don't like Randy Pitchford (I am right there with you) back in October, Pitchford stepped away from the Video Game operation to concentrate more on TV/Film media. Yes, he is still the CEO of Gearbox but is not involved in day to day operations of their Video Game media. His former job is now held by a man named Steve Jones who I have seen nothing negative on.. though I'll admit, I didn't look that hard.

    Thanks Kael for the news, I am glad you and your team can continue to do your jobs and hope that Gearbox realizes the value of your studio when considering how they should use their assets. I still feel you guys deserve some extra staff, and it would be nice for you to get it.

    I hope that this will be a boon for the game and it's player base. I do however like to keep my hope and my expectations separate, so we'll see how it pans out.
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  • truewarpertruewarper Member Posts: 928 Arc User
    edited December 2021
    Under new ownership

    Saw reference on YouTube today, track it down...and these guys just bought Dark Horse Comics and it's holdings a few days ago. The IP will be under the Gearbox umbrella...
    Post edited by truewarper on
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  • truewarpertruewarper Member Posts: 928 Arc User
    Drat, beaten by a day...on posting this news. :)
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  • thegrandnagus1thegrandnagus1 Member Posts: 5,165 Arc User
    truewarper wrote: »
    Drat, beaten by a day...on posting this news. :)

    Beaten by a day, and lots of other threads :p

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  • psymantispsymantis Member Posts: 329 Arc User
    At least it's not EA. Then I'd be expecting the worst.
  • naabal421#0722 naabal421 Member Posts: 162 Arc User
    psymantis wrote: »
    At least it's not EA. Then I'd be expecting the worst.
    Or Activision-Blizzard, or Ubisoft
  • aelfwin1aelfwin1 Member Posts: 2,896 Arc User
    Few thoughts :

    Deal finalizes in the month when Cryptic cuts support for Win 7 & looses a portion of the PC player base .
    Good omen .

    One of the first questions to be addressed by the CM was "will STO be sunset" ?
    Great omen .

    But what do I know -- Gearbox or whom ever (do we have an acronym for the new owners yet ?) will order cryptic to re-instate the old Borg STF's , glorious 3 hour grind and all !
    Best pipe dream .

    Crossing the fingers for all involved .
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