Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Pirates of the Burning Seas will be Published by SOE

Pirates of the Burning Seas will now be published by SOE.
Here is the breakdown:

Flying Lab Software

• Game Development
• Community
• Customer Support
• Server Operations

Sony Online Entertainment
• Billing
• Launcher
• Retail Distribution
• Localization
• Marketing
Here is my problem. I have spoken strongly towards voting with my wallet for the games I choose to play and subscribe to. I have stated that I refuse to "vote" for any SOE sponsored game; from Vanguard to Star Wars: Galaxies.

Sadly, I was 100% set on playing Pirates of the Burning Seas. The game design looks solid. The graphics look great. The developers, Flying Lab Software, have been stellar through the entire process; ensuring the community is always up to date.

I don't know where I stand. I understand the need for a publisher and SOE is a valid choice. I will have to monitor this situation closely and hopefully I can be convinced that SOE will not try to dictate development; regardless of what the contract states.

I'm really pissed that I didn't see this coming. Flying Lab Software has been looking for a distribution solution for some time. SOE, in a mad push to gobble up as many MMOG projects as they can, was a perfect fit. While SOE is just the publishers at this time, it still worries me that they have their hand in the cookie jar.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous11:02 AM

    cry me a river
    build a bridge
    ...and get over it ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lol, I knew that was coming.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous6:43 PM

    publisher != developer

    swg got screwed up by lucasarts desires..
    vangaurd got screwed up by it's sigal and brad
    Most of SOE's in house games ala the EQ series have been really good.

    To me it's silly to hold a direct grudge against SOE simply because of some the turns their games have taken. Should we never buy another EA game because of BF2142 sucks?
    Should we never buy another microsoft game because shadowrun was overhyped and didn't deliver?
    Should never buy another NCSoft game because Lineage 2 fails for most of us in US?

    SOE has a proven they can deliver and maintain any MMO even when they didn't build it. They have the hardware and staff to support it so it only makes sense for a developer to concentrate on their game and not these back end things.

    ReplyDelete
  4. "Should we never buy another EA game because of BF2142 sucks?"

    No, you should never buy another EA game where they force feed you advertisements with no decrease in the box price or costs to host a server.

    This isn't about games being bad, or failing. This is about companies that have continuously made decisions with ill regard for their game's communities. This about companies that steal ideas, do it badly, and slap a big name IP on top of it. This is about companies that just need to shut up and make a damn game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous1:26 AM

    ok I agree about the EA BF2142 thing.. that was crap and it was directely controlled by EA and I never bought the game even though I really want to play it.

    BUT

    I'm still going to try and buy Warhammer Online when it comes out and it will be published EA.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous2:26 AM

    Dude, it's time to buy some new tinfoil... that hat of yours is starting to look a little shabby.

    You know we are buds behind it all, but let's just stop for a moment and think if this paranoia over a video games publisher is really worth that much suspicion?

    We aren't trying to cure cancer or anything... and I really can't think of a single game publisher who hasn't screwed something up at this point. Which means there is a lack of a countering example.

    That means it's much easier to hold on to an old anger blindly as compared to just giving things another go?

    ReplyDelete

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