Has Chris Roberts ever been in this forum?

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Originally posted by Quarto

So why go with E&B in spite of this, rather than continue a successful, proven series? There probably was at least several factors behind this decision, but it would be naive indeed to think that the Movie's failure didn't do its part in finishing off POL.
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I think the #1 reason that EA is allowing E&B to continue is that Westwood is still able to remain a largely independent studio due to their financial success. Bad FMV or no, Westwood has managed to release a string of successful games with their Command and Conquer series, and the financial success of that series has prompted EA to let them alone for the time being.
Given time, and problems within the series (such as those that hit Origin's flagship single player Ultima games), and I think EA would nip off any such multi-player projects in the bud.
Even as things stand now, I wouldn't be completely surprised if, a few years from now (assuming E&B is still running then), EA decided to move E&B to Origin as part of a move to consolidate MMOG titles.
 
Originally posted by Quarto
We also know that WCP's sales had nothing to do with it - even though it didn't meet the 1 million sales goal, it was still a successful game.
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I've seen the term *successful* used many times regarding WCP. Is this really true? Some have claimed that "it sold well" but that doesn't necessarily mean it was profitable. The reviewers seemed to like it but I don't recall it being a huge success with the buying public.
 
Originally posted by Marcml30
I've seen the term *successful* used many times regarding WCP. Is this really true? Some have claimed that "it sold well" but that doesn't necessarily mean it was profitable. The reviewers seemed to like it but I don't recall it being a huge success with the buying public.
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The sales were somewhere around 700,000 units, according to LOAF. I'm not sure how much Origin gets per unit, but given that the retail prices are around $50, I guess $30 would be a fair guess, which amounts to $21,000,000. Indeed, even if the wholesale price was $20, they'd get around $14,000,000 for the 700,000 units sold. I don't remember what cost figures LOAF mentioned for WCP, but they were a lot lower than WC3's $3-4 million, so there's a reasonable profit in there somewhere.

Of course, it's nothing compared to the income they get from UO, which is around $2,250,000 per month, just from the subscription fees (if you add the 1 million copies sold, the number grows a lot...), but we can only hypothesize about the costs of running an on-line game, so it's difficult to say exactly how UO's profit margin would compare.
 
I think the number of units Prophecy sold was closer to 750000, but the point is moot, since it didn't reach the magical million mark.

Originally posted by Ghost
So you consider Rogue Squadron and Jedi Starfighter space sims? They look more like Space arcades.
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Well, they seem to be the only high profile space combat related games I've heard of.

Originally posted by Bobbo1701
...the movie had a comparable budget to that of WC4...
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I think estimates of the WC4 budget was about $8-12million, the WCM being around $20million. But my memory is pretty bad with monetary figures.
 
The movies budget was around 40 million... WCIV's was supposedly as high as 14 million.

Privateer Online was cancelled many times -- but the big one where they fired everybody who worked on WCP was several weeks before the movie came out. Easy to remember because Chris and I went to see the movie premiere with a bunch of people who'd just been layed off... <G>
 
$US40 million?! Considering that Star Wars Episode II was $100million, that's quite an exorbitant sum, isn't it?
 
Erm... they're both effects-heavy full-length feature films... the fact that WC cost less than half as much as episode 2 is probably reletively amazing <G>
 
Yes. Admittedly, I haven't seen Episode II yet, but visual effects was always something Star Wars was renowned for (even more so for the new trilogy) - I was thinking more along the lines that the WCM wasn't nearly as flashy as any Star Wars film (I'm being realistic here), yet still cost almost half as much as Episode II.
 
Agreed. Though the effects looked a little unrealistic when they were ported to VHS and DVD. I really liked the screwy American projector problem that made the print very dark. It made the Claw look really mysterious and made space look both wonderous and more realistic.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
Privateer Online was cancelled many times -- but the big one where they fired everybody who worked on WCP was several weeks before the movie came out. Easy to remember because Chris and I went to see the movie premiere with a bunch of people who'd just been layed off... <G>
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Ouch, must have spoiled the premiere for them :p. It's true then that that decision couldn't be based on the movie, unless Origin already expected it to be a flop (much like the way people expected the original Star Wars to be a disaster, only they were wrong). However, you frequently say that FS2, Tachyon, SL, and the like were responsible for the lack of interest in doing space sims (and EA's lack of interest in WC in particular). That's something that cannot be questioned, but in the same way, I think the movie has had a similar impact on WC-related decisions after March 1999.

What it comes down to ultimately is that Episode II had better be successful, and bring with it at least one or two successful space-sims. Then, maybe, there will be hope :p.
 
Again, consider the order of events:

- The team is laid off.
- The movie is released.
- The team is re-hired to try doing Privateer Online again.

If the *movie* were responsible for EA never wanting to do another WC game... why would they try to do one *after* it came out? There was no corresponding firing-of-people to go along with the movie failing in theaters...
 
yes the movie went down the drain, I think they should have put the actors that were in the game in the movie

I only regret that I have but one life to give confed,,Loozer>>Hells Kitchen, Vega Sector
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Reid to Media: "That Movie Sucked"
At a recent press conference called by Chris "Crid" Reid, he told the associated press: "I'm sorry about everything I've said -- the movie sucked. Freddie Prinze Jr. was awful in his role, they should have used Mark Hamill! He played a 20 year old in Star Wars, 20 years ago, so it makes sense to me that he can play a 20 year old today." Reid went on to rant about the low quality of the special effects, the cheap hole-ridden plot and the awful changes to the established universe. Reid himself summed it all up best: "In conclusion, I'm really, really sorry I ever suggested that anybody ever go see 'She's All That'."
[LOAF]
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
If the *movie* were responsible for EA never wanting to do another WC game... why would they try to do one *after* it came out? There was no corresponding firing-of-people to go along with the movie failing in theaters...
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I think though, had the movie been even moderately successful, there would have been a bigger incentive to see POL completed. It seems that almost every reasonably successful movie/TV show spawns a game these days. For example, I'd be surprised if an Episode II game isn't already being developed.
 
There's several Episode 2 games in the works. The Clones Wars, Bounty Hunter (staring Jango Fett) among others. Heck, Jedi Starfighter has already been released.
 
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