SWTOR fanbois are summed up perfectly in the comments on that blog.


The main reason (id say 95% of the reason) why I have no interest in playing the game. The SW community is more volatile then the Star Trek community...and that says a LOT.

 

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Wow, that was an interesting read. It's a real shame Dawn of Camelot was scrapped. At least I can continue enjoying DAoC, even with its flaws.

Regarding Mythic's ownership and finances (this is public information):
Mar-24-2003 - Venture Capital Agreement
Mythic Entertainment, Inc., announced that it has received $32 million in its second round of funding from TA Associates, Inc. on March 24, 2003. The company issued Series A preferred stock for the proceeds. TA Associates will get a stake of more than 20% in the company for the investment. As a result of the transaction, Jonathan W. Meeks, Vice President at TA Associates, Inc. will join the board of the company. The company recorded revenues of $25 million for 2002. Goodwin Procter LLP acted the legal counsel to TA Associates, Inc. on the deal.
Mythic Entertainment, Inc. will use the proceeds to expand business, develop new titles, and acquire smaller video game developers.

Jun-20-2006 - Acquisition
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) entered into an agreement to acquire Mythic Entertainment from TA Associates, Inc., AE Capital Partners, LLC and other shareholders on June 20, 2006. Upon completion of the acquisition, Mythic Entertainment will become EA Mythic. Mark Jacobs, the President, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Mythic, will become vice president, general manager of EA Mythic. Rob Denton, the vice president, chief operating officer and co-founder of Mythic will assume the role of vice president, chief operating officer of EA Mythic. Mythic's 175-person development team will remain in Fairfax, Virginia. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during EA's second quarter of fiscal 2007. Mark Stevens of Fenwick & West, LLP acted as legal advisor to Electronic Arts Inc.
Electronic Arts Inc. completed the acquisition of Mythic Entertainment on July 24, 2006 for an aggregate reported purchase price of $76 million, including transaction costs.

Transaction Breakdown (in $ millions)
Current assets: $15
Other long-term assets: $2
Acquired in-process technology: $2
Goodwill: $62
Finite-lived intangibles: $22
Liabilities: ($27)
Total consideration: $76

Part of those intangible assets equated to the game rights of Warhammer Online.

As you can see, Mythic from at least 2003 wanted to make more MMO titles (such as Imperator, Dawn of Camelot, and of course finally Warhammer). Mythic's owners needed additional resources to make these titles, and therefore eventually sold a majority of their ownership positions to EA to become a subsidiary. EA saw Mythic as an opportunity to get involved in the subscription-based MMO genre and to cheaply acquire the licensing rights to Warhammer Online, which they viewed as a potential World of Warcraft rival. Everything seems to have gone downhill after the transaction, as Mythic's existing DAoC team was cannibalized to help with the Warhammer project. Warhammer's development strategy seemed focused too much on being a WoW rival than on expanding upon the successes learned in DAoC. However, the job seemed to be rushed and the end product couldn't compete well with WoW as predicted. Furthermore, the release coincided with the financial crisis and economic recession that impacted sales. EA, like any for-profit organization, began to look at ways to trim losses and therefore has unfortunately had a series of layoffs and has had to scale back plans.

It's obvious that resources are tight, but I can't blame the current DAoC team for their situation. I'd blame the decision of putting all of Mythic's "eggs" into one "basket" (Warhammer) and not having a good development strategy for that game. The current DAoC team still loves the game and I feel is doing the best they can with the resources they have. Perhaps if the Star Wars: Old Republic MMO is successful EA will dedicate more resources to Mythic and they aren't allocated to Warhammer, which I view as a less successful title.

 

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"I can't blame the current DAoC team for their situation." Me neither. Also, I don't blame the team before the current one. Or the one before them, or the one before the one before them. Heck, I don't even blame Jacobs when he killed and ate my puppy (honestly, he was hungry as hell). I've even stopped stalking that ToA Dev. I blame WoW.

 

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Any money given will be going to WAR, or if they are making a new game itd go to that.


Longevity, success, history, acclaim, community support...all of these are trumped by "new" in EA's mind sadly.

 

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I don't like ToA either, but I could live with it. ToA didn't cause DAoC's decline, although it certainly didn't help. In fact, it made a lot of money for Mythic that they could have reinvested into the product. The lack of resources available to improve DAoC or make a DAoC2 is due to the focus on making Warhammer a rival with WoW and then when failing deciding to make additional cuts across the board.


I hope they make a DAoC2... but like I said, it would probably take a decision by EA to allocate more resources to MMOs on the basis of Star Wars: Old Republic's success and hopefully those resources don't get squandered by Warhammer. I'm not sure if Mythic's current management (not the DAoC team) would push for DAoC2 over "improving" Warhammer, which their reputation (at least with EA) has been riding on.

 

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I actually hope EA doesn't do a DAOC 2. I am not sure they have anyone left that would do it even half right. I hope Matt Firor's project is something that is DAOC like or some upstart figures out that 3 realm RvR is a good thing. I hope they also don't go with the typical norm of WoW caster mechanics. I like DAOCs caster mechanics much better.

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Cydoc, been lurking around mostly. Just messing around in all sorts of various games. Wishing I would find the next great game. I recently just resubbed my DAOC accounts, but really the biggest thing that kept me in DAOC for so long was the social part and now I don't know anyone. It is easy to really become part of a guild/community when everyone is starting out and the community is young. Quite a bit harder trying to break into a long established group. I will probably just mess around in Thid.

 

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I would hope so. Unfortunately EA is like a black-hole of Intellectual property. They are more likely to just sit on it.

On that blog, someone made a comment that I think a lot of my friends and myself have been feeling lately. EA Is going to ruin my gaming career. I always thought I would be on my deathbed with a keyboard and mouse. But every time EA dangles that carrot of a new game holding the title of a previous series I really like.. And I buy it.. *CAUGH* C&C4 I rage a little and want my money back.

EA has seriously killed my joy of video games. YOU HEAR THAT EA???? YOU HAVE KILLED MY JOY OF PLAYING VIDEO GAMES!

 

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If DAOC was released today like it is now, I don't even know how long I'd play it. The game has gone very far in the opposite direction from what I like in becoming tailored to loot farmers and gear grinders. If I didn't already have all my level 50, templated toons, I'd probably give up on it fairly quickly. DAOC 2 isn't happening anyway. I'm hoping Guild Wars 2 will become the replacement 3 realm MMO we've all been looking for. We shall see next year.

 

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Ahhh ok. And ya I hear that. Thats why i don't rly touch big boy rvr. All my boys have left


I am waiting for GW2. If it busts then I think I am going to call it quits on MMOs for a good while. I'll only be keeping an eye out of Firor's/Zenimax Online's project.


The MMO industry is in a sad and pathetic state. Oversaturated with MBAs who want a quick buck and don't understand the true reason behind why people play MMOs and what made the golden era (pre-wow) so golden.

 

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This article is the worst kind of troll bait and that's how it should be treated; like troll bait.

First off its just too pat. It hits all of the hot button issues with Mythic and EA. It appeals to those who want DAoC2 and tells them, "Guess what guys, you're worst fears are true! We wanted to do it, but evil people stopped us!" It appeals to those who tried Warhammer and hated it. It appeals to the Anti-WoW crowd. It appeals to the "good ol' days" crowd. Did I leave anyone out?

This article is webjunk. Its the worst kind of urban legend. It has nothing to back it up. Anyone with a computer could write this. There are no insider details. Its a 20 minute hate where they flash images on the screen and the trolls whip themselves into a frenzy hating the people they've hated for a while anyway. Only now the trolls feel their hatred is somehow justified because these are "bad people" who did "bad things" and, heavens, made a "bad game". It absolves the gamers of all responsibility. Yes Warhammer sucked but not because you all had such unreal expectations and the game failed to deliver; it sucked because of some nefarious money making scheme. <insert scary music here> Its become the Blair Mythic project and people at Mythic and EA have to sully themselves and stoop to defend against this unfounded and possibly libelous garbage, while all along the internet people run with this like its the Gospel.

People are simply believing it because they agree with it, but look at it critically. Why would anyone with any hope of making money set it up so the company that pays them FAILS? That's what this article accuses the people at Mythic of doing. They allegedly ran off Mark Jacobs so they could divide up his salary while allowing the company that pays them to put out a disastrous product. Wouldn't it make more sense to focus your energy on making a dynamite product that would cause your company to make more money and possibly pay you more, or enable you to go to the next company and say, "Check out my resume. You know that gigantic runaway smash of a game called Warhammer? Well I played a huge part in making it great. Wouldn't you love to have me on your team?"

Seriously how could anyone ever invest in a company that listens to gamers? Gamers are mercurial and notoriously fickle. They're never happy and ready to stampede away to the next big thing at the drop of a hat. And they can be manipulated so easily with a few clicks on a keyboard. Give them a few crumbs and they'll run over old ladies in crosswalks. Sounds like a recipe for financial disaster to me.

Don't fall for this charade. You're better than this "EA Louse" and the herd of llamas following him like the Pied Piper.

DON'T FEED THE TROLLS.

 

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