EA to acquire Mythic Entertainment (June 20, 2006)

[Esoteric]

Goodbye Warhammer and any possibility of re-taking up daoc. No matter how good I will avoid it like the plague, I will also spread the word like many people already have. My entire ventrillo community in unison today said "oh shit" when I broke this news to them.

Plenty of other games coming up, I want nothing to do with dwarven rugby or orc cage fighter 12 extreme addition that will be warhammer.

<holds a candle to bullfrog>

 

[Svartmetall]

I'm having flashbacks:

[ Scene: Cloud City ]

Vader: DAOC will be frozen in carbonite, then given to the bounty hunter.
Lando: That's not what we agreed!
Vader: Perhaps you think you are being treated unfairly...?
*Lando hangs his head*
Lando: No...no...
Vader: Good. It would be a shame if I had to leave a permanent dev team.
*Lando mutters to himself*
Lando: this deal is getting worse all the time...

-----

Vader: Take Warhammer and place it in my shuttle!
*Lando looks shocked*
Lando: That wasn't part of the deal!
Vader: I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further!

 

[Mabs]

I'm having flashbacks:

[ Scene: Cloud City ]

Vader: DAOC will be frozen in carbonite, then given to the bounty hunter.
Lando: That's not what we agreed!
Vader: Perhaps you think you are being treated unfairly...?
*Lando hangs his head*
Lando: No...no...
Vader: Good. It would be a shame if I had to leave a permanent dev team.
*Lando mutters to himself*
Lando: this deal is getting worse all the time...

-----

Vader: Take Warhammer and place it in my shuttle!
Lando looks shocked
Lando: That wasn't part of the deal!
Vader: I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further!

QTF

nail on the head etc

 

[Naffets]

Does this mean we get "Need for Steed Underground" for daoc? pimp your mount etc xDD

 

[Yeke]

Does this mean we get "Need for Steed Underground" for daoc? pimp your mount etc xDD

Thats the only thing I can find good that can come out of this deal plenty of oportunity for quality quips like that one

 

[Samaroon|Terracotta]

"EA's commitment to the online market as well as its focus on creating games of unsurpassed quality, scope and scale gives us opportunities and resources we could only dream about in the past."
xDDDDDDDD

 

[old.Whoodoo]

I'm having flashbacks:

[ Scene: Cloud City ]

Vader: DAOC will be frozen in carbonite, then given to the bounty hunter.
Lando: That's not what we agreed!
Vader: Perhaps you think you are being treated unfairly...?
*Lando hangs his head*
Lando: No...no...
Vader: Good. It would be a shame if I had to leave a permanent dev team.
*Lando mutters to himself*
Lando: this deal is getting worse all the time...

-----

Vader: Take Warhammer and place it in my shuttle!
*Lando looks shocked*
Lando: That wasn't part of the deal!
Vader: I am altering the deal, pray I don't alter it any further!

You must spread more....

Heres another:

EA games, never before will you have seen a more rechid hive of scum and villiany, we must be cautious!

or

Mythic....I am your father!

So it seems us Victor Meldrew miserable bastards wont be playing WHO because a) GOA host it and b) EA will do it their style and screw it up...

I guess all thats left is for Microsoft to design the interface, whereby creating more bugs than ever and the whole thing is doomed.

Depressing bunch aint we..

 

[rampant]

i think that this will be a bad thing for mythic / daoc / war and GOA

I cannot see the end product of WAR being developed as mythic wanted it to - EA will DEMAND and want an instant return on their $$$ they have spent - so mythic will have to cut costs to make it a more profitable company -

IMO mythic wil now start 'trimming' the staff to make the company more profitable over the next year - they will have to cut costs - so admin staff first then later programmers / designers. All this will have a detrimental effect on the DAOC game.

Also GOA need to look out - EA have a huge european operation, and i cannot see EA wanting to give revenue to another company if some bright 'EA executive' thinks 'hey we can do that!'

I bet also that EA will want to publish WAR on multiformats - being things like xbox360 / ps3 / Wiii - psp? (to a lesser extent 'singleplayer') - this is where they make market penetration - by thinning out the game

all-in-all a bad move from mythic they have sold out purely for money and nowt else - maybe mark jacob needed to speak to Peter Molyneux about why he left 'ea bullfrog!'

 

[Ingafgrinn Macabre]

i think that this will be a bad thing for mythic / daoc / war and GOA

I cannot see the end product of WAR being developed as mythic wanted it to - EA will DEMAND and want an instant return on their $$$ they have spent - so mythic will have to cut costs to make it a more profitable company -

IMO mythic wil now start 'trimming' the staff to make the company more profitable over the next year - they will have to cut costs - so admin staff first then later programmers / designers. All this will have a detrimental effect on the DAOC game.

Also GOA need to look out - EA have a huge european operation, and i cannot see EA wanting to give revenue to another company if some bright 'EA executive' thinks 'hey we can do that!'

I bet also that EA will want to publish WAR on multiformats - being things like xbox360 / ps3 / Wiii - psp? (to a lesser extent 'singleplayer') - this is where they make market penetration - by thinning out the game

all-in-all a bad move from mythic they have sold out purely for money and nowt else - maybe mark jacob needed to speak to Peter Molyneux about why he left 'ea bullfrog!'

I'm sorry to say but it sounds like you haven't read the articles at all...
Goa will host Warhammer here because that deal has already been made.
GW holds the rights to warhammer, so EA doesn't have _that_ much say in it's outcome
No staff will be trimmed as that was undoubtly a part of the takeover deal.

 

[Azathrim]

Goa will host Warhammer here because that deal has already been made.

Yeah, that is actually interesting. The negotiations between Mythic and EA must have happened during the time Mythic signed the WAR deal with GoA.

It seems peculiar to make suchs a huge contract with GoA while knowing there is a high chance of EA sitting at the end of the table one month down the line.

Perhaps it was Mythics's way of getting a few things through and limiting EA while they still were in charge?

No staff will be trimmed as that was undoubtly a part of the takeover deal.

That is... undoubtly.

Sure, there may be a grace period, but I cannot imagine there being anything more than that.

 

[Sharkith]

I'm sorry to say but it sounds like you haven't read the articles at all...
Goa will host Warhammer here because that deal has already been made.
GW holds the rights to warhammer, so EA doesn't have _that_ much say in it's outcome
No staff will be trimmed as that was undoubtly a part of the takeover deal.

I feel your way off mark on several points here. Any takeover = staff cuts. The key question is when.

GW holds the rights to warhammer EA holds the rights to what will be spent on the product development and marketing. I am no expert but I would imagine several major culture clashes between two styles of management and this will have an impact on the creative design of the game. How this will pan out is not very clear.

GW will of course have the final say on its IP but no-one can predict what will happen in the bureaucratic shakeup? Who knows for sure but if you look at past behaviour EA has actually been very very bad for the gaming industry.

All we can do is hope that all the worry is misplaced - given EA's record though I am not so sure. Most importantly I cannot see DaoC surviving in all of this WAR might be the only thing that is left.

 

[Ctuchik]

I feel your way off mark on several points here. Any takeover = staff cuts. The key question is when.

GW holds the rights to warhammer EA holds the rights to what will be spent on the product development and marketing. I am no expert but I would imagine several major culture clashes between two styles of management and this will have an impact on the creative design of the game. How this will pan out is not very clear.

GW will of course have the final say on its IP but no-one can predict what will happen in the bureaucratic shakeup? Who knows for sure but if you look at past behaviour EA has actually been very very bad for the gaming industry.

All we can do is hope that all the worry is misplaced - given EA's record though I am not so sure. Most importantly I cannot see DaoC surviving in all of this WAR might be the only thing that is left.

quite possibly EA will say "do it our way or this aint getting released" to GW if they protest to much about how EA want the game to be...

i have *no* faith what so ever in EA when it comes to most games outside the NFS serie....

 

[Sharkith]

quite possibly EA will say "do it our way or this aint getting released" to GW if they protest to much about how EA want the game to be...

i have *no* faith what so ever in EA when it comes to most games outside the NFS serie....

I know but on the plus side of things perhaps it might well be that the game design could be very far advanced and perhaps the deal was merely to secure distribution and major backing for a major game launch?

That for me is the one possible plus.

Like many here I detest EA and the negative influence they have had on the computer gaming industry.

 

[Blodtjuv]

This is the Death Knoll for DaoC i believe. EA suck, they seem to specialize in crap sports games, and even worse driving games. I cant think of one decent game they have ever done.

We will probably end up with stupid in-game adverts on neon signs for other crap EA games.

Damn this is the worst news since i started playing DaoC way back when it started in Europe.

I hope it all falls through. Else DaoC is gonna be doomed

 

[Ctuchik]

I know but on the plus side of things perhaps it might well be that the game design could be very far advanced and perhaps the deal was merely to secure distribution and major backing for a major game launch?

That for me is the one possible plus.

Like many here I detest EA and the negative influence they have had on the computer gaming industry.

just wish they would pour in some of that cash in marketting DAoC here in europe. THAT would raise my standings with EA LOTS

 

[Calaen]

I sense alot of melodramatics in this thread!!!!! omg im gonna tell my g/f not to play !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Azathrim]

just wish they would pour in some of that cash in marketting DAoC here in europe. THAT would raise my standings with EA LOTS

They could easily double the cash spend on marketing in Euro.

Like... give a euro to some poor kid so he spends an hour yelling about the game downtown.

 

[Garok]

Probably a good buisness deal for both parties.

EA get access to Mythics MMP background which no doupt is were a large chunk of the Games market is heading. Get the benifit of thier (mythics) background knowledge of what works and what does not.

Mythic get the cash from the takeover plus can carry on as per normal due to the Games Workshop haveing a final say. They also get the benifit of EA's marketing dept. If they can turn SIM's into a best seller think what they could do with a game thats actually good!


EA wont stick thier knoses into to much because they know they dont have the background knowledge (thats why they have perchased Mythic) for MMP.
Mythic are there to advise EA on the MMP parts of future games (large scale Battlefields games ala Planetside etc)

Plus in buisness you learn from your mistakes if you buy a company for millions and don't get a return (Bullfrog) you look at were you went wrong and don't repeat it. I doupt they will won't to repeat any previous mistakes.

 

[Manisch Depressiv]

Decent marketing from EA? You guys got to be kidding me.

EA works like this: They own at least one major publisher in each country with a significant market for video games. Those publishers force the stores to buy shit stuffed into boxes (synonym for EA games) in large quantities and they even enforce the price on them. Now millions of flies (customers) can't be mistaken, they get attracted by shit (EA games) that is stuffed nicely into boxes (marketing).

EA produces the games by owning the licenses and the studios developing them. EA owns the publishers in the countries delivering the games directly to the stores. EA owns the customers by creating strong brands they get attached to. Due to the short lifespan of shit, they have to release new shit each year, the shit gets a slightly changed box and a new smell and here you go: New Shit 2007.

EA got ahold of a strong brand called Warhammer, they got ahold of a semi-competent development team called Mythic and they got ahold of an EA-compatible european customer support called GoA (by signing a contract with them for Warhammer too).

EA embraces one thing at its best: Branding and a very short production timetable for games. It has been so since Trip Hawkins founded the company and it has been all the way so even after he left and owned himself with 3DO. EA is all about the money, if you think that Mythic or GW has anything to say there, then you are mistaken. Much bigger gaming industry idols left EA because they didn't have enough influence to make their creative products.

I loved the original Origin games, I loved the original Bullfrog games, I loved the original Westwood games but I never played a sequel that they released under the EA flag for long and I always played a better sports than sequel number 11 from EA that was developed by someone like Konami for example. Later on I stopped to play anything but MMORPGs and some FPS, so I can't comment on the newest developments, for me anything but MMORPGs is dead boring.

The reason why Mythic sold out is not the marketing issue and I am not commenting on DAoC here as it's a dead horse now (just see how Mythic representatives respond on some Warhammer boards but not on the DAoC boards about the merger), Warhammer's brand is strong enough to draw attention, EA has a bad reputation, but EA has money, Mythic doesn't or wants more. Simple as that.

Otherwise it would be really easy to develop a game that has a strong brand and raised interest already, that has the potential of taking over an existing MMORPG player base (DAoC), put a torrent of the client upon release, charge some one time fee for activation and a monthly subscription fee.

One could still buy shit stuffed into boxes instead.

I worked at a game store when EA became the giant it is now, shaked my head when they got ahold of all the brilliant studios and independant publishers and ruined them, developed software for some years then, have been also head of works council when the company was being taken over by some other due to lacking funds.

Sadly developing a MMORPG is about money only, it's very expensive and sadly companies like Microsoft, Sony, EA are allowed to dominate the market by using money from their other branches to put small competitors into the ground.

The day I'd get ahold of some private venture capital I'd develop some nice game based on a unique pen & paper RPG, make it 18+ only so I don't see naked Trolls with big swords only, trying to do a quest with me and never shard it and sell limited amount of copies. Since it would work out okay, one day an EA representative would come along and offer me to sell some of my shit in boxes for a good amount of money, the only thing I'd have to do would be to give away the resoponsibility for my baby and help to generate as much hype as possible.

I love MMORPGs, but I don't see the point of being one among millions split among hundreds of servers, I want a unique world (Warhammer could be it) with a good system (Mythic could actually do it) not watered down to everybody's and his mother's taste (EA will enforce the universal taste, shit smells all the same).

One more blow for MMORPG market imho, let's hope one of the newcomers will release something good soon.

 

[Manisch Depressiv]

EA wont stick thier knoses into to much because they know they dont have the background knowledge (thats why they have perchased Mythic) for MMP.
Mythic are there to advise EA on the MMP parts of future games (large scale Battlefields games ala Planetside etc)

Plus in buisness you learn from your mistakes if you buy a company for millions and don't get a return (Bullfrog) you look at were you went wrong and don't repeat it. I doupt they will won't to repeat any previous mistakes.

What kind of background knowledge would it be? Surely Mythic is not known for the development of a superb gfx or net code or super scable servers.

Also, buying studios like Origin and Bullfrog and Westwood wasn't a mistake. Nothing wrong in buying a studio after several good titles and releasing half a dozen more for shitloads of money even though they had a way lower quality. It doesn't count for them how you earn it, it's important to earn it.

 

[fettoken]

Any game developer that sells out to EA shouldn´t be allowed to make games whatsoever.

 

[popa]

ea is like soe uke:
u dont remember CnC ?

 

[Flimgoblin]

Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

 

[Shike]

cry @ these news is all I can say really..

I just hope Mythic is allowed to run it the way they want, without beeing forced to maximised profit only since that will make it shit, anyone who played MMO's knows this but it do seem thats what EA is all about.

I'm really worried :/

It's in the game... zzzz

 

[Thadius]

Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

Took words out of my mouth!

 

[Sharkith]

Doooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!

no Flim its "EA games challenges everything" in some shitty whiney voice at the start of DaoC when you load it up come patch whatsits name.....

 

[UndyingAngel]

We are EA. Lower your firewalls and power down your servers. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

 

[bottler]

update about the ea thing on herald

http://www.camelotherald.com/more/2442.shtml

 

[Morchaoron]

mmmm so Mythic becomes "EA Mythic" and focus on MMORPGS, the existing staff at Mythic all kepe their jobs, doesn't sound too bad, but what for EAGOA ?

http://thealguy.blogspot.com/2004/11/this-just-sucks.html

 

[rampant]

i dont know who sanya is trying to convince - either herself or the daoc community.....

she has seriously got her information wrong if she thinks that all the people emplyoyed by mythic are going to keep their jobs!