Whats going on Daybreak?

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Brunlin, Jul 12, 2019.

  1. Tucoh Augur

    Pretty much guaranteed they will.
    Nolrog and MasterMagnus like this.
  2. Derresh Augur

    Champions of Norrath 3 and EQ3 please, my body is ready.
    Miss_Jackie, potatoface and Andarriel like this.
  3. Angahran Augur


    You mean EQ might get to keep some of it's profits for the first time in 20 years ?

    /faint
    Caell likes this.
  4. Beimeith Lord of the Game

    I doubt it, but I can dream. More likely they'll piss it all off on EQ3 attempt 18.
  5. Allayna Augur

    Perhaps they’ll hire someone to figure out account to account transfers.
    Coagagin and tyrantula like this.
  6. Act of Valor The Newest Member

    Funny joke.
  7. Nolrog Augur

    Bronze Age Games, which refers to the bronze age of comics.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  8. Nolrog Augur


    According to Holly (refer to the Evercast Podcast of the 20th anniversary panel they did) she said that EQs revenues have been up every year for the last few years.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  9. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Anyone know how Planetside has been doing the last few years? I stopped playing it when Planetside 2 came out so I have no idea but it is another part to this change.
  10. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh


    It's very possible. Word is employees are always being pulled off to other projects, and revenue is funneled to other projects. They lack focus. I'm inclined to believe that too.

    Revenues were up when they looked all fine and dandy with a Landmark and Next Everquest on the horizon, looked all fine and dandy to be sold that is.

    The data point of 'revenue is up' is meaningless out of context.
  11. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh


    Glass half full:
    They are still having a fair run (after H1Z1 was more of a flash in the pan). Seem to have a fairly strong community for it's age.

    Glass half empty:
    DBG bought into the battle royale hype and built a Planetside Arena. Which they charged for initially, then decided to go free to play and refunded money (on steam). There have been three delays to the release as of now (if I count correctly).

    If you care about Player Studio:
    While PS2 still supports PlayerStudio they currently are having troubles with their submissions and getting them in-game. Have been for quite some time. Good thing I got my submissions in when it all worked. Player Studio is actually pretty good and a fairly popular part of the game. It's a shame the whole 'back-end'/dev/management organization was never given any attention, and terribly conceived from the beginning.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  12. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer

    Also please understand that (part of) Holly's job is to paint a rosy picture for stakeholders. Revenue is up? Awesome great. How about profits? Kind of an important value to put revenue in context. You might have revenue of $10BN, but if expenses and payroll are $11BN, you're talking net operating loss. Without a solid strategy to become profitable, net losses mean Closed For Business.

    I do not believe this is the case. But I do believe that DBG is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain profitability, retain talent, and continue improving their current stable of games. Let alone increase growth.

    I hear some people bemoaning the fact that profits from EQ are siphoned off to other projects and departments. This is totally normal. A business needs to grow to stay in business. DBG is positioning themselves to do this. I think it's likely that the investigations into certain board members have stymied growth and made Holly's job more difficult in recent months. Whenever leadership gets distracted, so follows the company.

    I think this restructuring is a very SMART move to not only foster growth, but also position the company's most important IP correctly within the organization.
    Brunlin and MasterMagnus like this.
  13. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    True though I think stakeholders have their own peeps review the financials unless you are including customers and employees as stakeholders.

    I guess what I am saying is that the people Holly "has to" impress aren't just taking her word on anything. But yeah for the general public you don't advertise your problems so what is said in public always has to be taken with a grain of salt.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  14. I_Love_My_Bandwidth Mercslayer


    We are absolutely stakeholders. We are just individually tiny parts of the overall picture, mostly insignificant.. This is something many paying customers misunderstand. Like those fast-food customer freakouts, an extremely vocal minority believe that their payment entitles them to special treatment however/whenever they see fit, lest they get 'triggered'. But, yes, we are stakeholders.

    Success breeds success. It's difficult to sell someone on something if they believe it's failing or is going to fail. Holly keeps the wheels on the bus as long as possible - hence the rosy outlook on EQ. This is in no way a guarantee of continued support of EQ. And just because the EQ team is committed to EQ doesn't mean the board is.

    I am not trying to spread doom and gloom. I think EQ is pretty healthy and will be around for a long while. I think Holly is a fantastic leader and has a stellar team of developers supporting her. Holly "gets it" from the gamer's point of view and I believe she will do her best to translate that into company growth.
    MasterMagnus likes this.
  15. Beimeith Lord of the Game


    No one is bemoaning the fact that some profits from EQ are used to fund development of new games. What we complain about is (nearly) ALL of EQ's profits being used to fund development of new games.

    You don't cannibalize your existing products while trying to make more.
  16. Kaenneth [You require Gold access to view this title]

    Well, part of my 'if I won the powerball' fantasy is to buy Everquest and run it for fun without worrying about maximum profit.

    Maybe someone did that. (probably not)
  17. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    And I will be surprised any corporate changes made let's EQ keep more of their profits. Happily surprised but still surprised.
  18. Israfel Elder

    May want to look up stakeholder or stakeholder theory and answer your own question, Corwyhn!
  19. Israfel Elder

    This isn’t actually what cannibalization is, at least in a business sense. What you are describing is actually just what corporations and businesses do all the time.
  20. Beimeith Lord of the Game

    That is, literally, what cannibalization is from a business sense.

    They have continuously diverted resources away from EQ development (staff, budget, etc.) to fund new games, most of which have failed miserably.

    That businesses do it all the time doesn't make it smart, or good business in the long run.
    Caell, Scornfire, Miss_Jackie and 3 others like this.