Annual report MA

Big gratz to MA!

A big gratz to MA for surviving the financial crisis!

They have maintained their business, increased their employees, and continued further development and re-implamentation of the old systems.
Overall we the players should keep supporting our great game, which we make possible by our deposits. The game will continue to grow and I can't wait to see what surprises they have for us next.
Again well done MA, many RL companies dealing in RL activities failed, sacked staff and collapsed and MA survived.

:clap::grouphug:
 
The sky isn't falling, the hills ingame just brought you closer to it :)

Things will recover in time.

MA overshot,
taking too bigger slow steps rather than smaller quicker progressive ones.

At least they acknowledge this in a round about way in the report.

Food for thought:

I wonder how fast things would recover if they went back to P.E style loot and distribution. Smaller fairer sharing & consistency with good items from small to average to high end mobs across the board rather than to a chosen few ?

Angel from feffoids & drones wow that would be nice with odds better than 100,000 kills.

A significant portion of the player base would lose a fair bit but many many more would come back to game making that significant portion insignificant. *hides*

Golden Ages or going back to those pre-L world loot ages would increase the player retention, no doubt, as it was the way the game grew up.

So TGA? :)
 
Overall we the players should keep supporting our great game, which we make possible by our deposits.

I keep depositing at the same exact rate as I have for the last year :D and I will keep doing that, and perhaps more, for as long as I can :eek:
 
As I understand it:

MindArk has signed a Letter of intent with another company to sell the platform Planet Calypso for 6 million USD.

Part of the deal is that even if Planet Calypso is sold, MindArk will still get 50% of any income Calypso generates.

MindArk expect that their income from Calypso will increase significally when the new owner start to implement new features and also start advertising for our beloved pedwast.. uhm, Planet.

So basically MA get 6 million USD from selling Calypso, and also 50% of any income, so the sky will (most likely) not fall just yet...

so this means no more Marco around????? :rolleyes:
 
The whole report is really intresting...

- Mindbank is dead (temporarily at least). Although they invested 11.9 Million SEK (edit: my bad, first thought it were €) into the banking project they weren't able to meet the necessary 5 Million € operating capital. :scratch2:

- CRD planet is officially dead now. [PR: 150 Million Chinese are not coming to EU]

- But luckily SEE will bring on 2 planets based on 2 Hollywood Intellectual Properties [Anyone wants to fly around in Batman costumes? :hammer:]

- They (almost) sold 50% of Planet Calypso's future revenues for shabby 6 Million $; 'in order to increase earning power' [MA logic :duh:]

- Net earnings have been dropping since 2006 and dived into negative numbers in 2009 [but just go ahead building the 3D internet thing...]

Well... it's dynamic, huh?

I just hope they will realize asap that 'RCE' is the only original thing they have (and of course it's heavily under attack) but in any other aspect (Mob AI anyone?) the competition is far ahead. And I hope they will act accordingly.


Reading it again, they are talking about a "international company" so it must be some external company. I wonder if Crytek could be intrested.. not totaly impossible considering that they already are providing the game engine.

Totally impossible since Crytek is focussed on AAA games.
 
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C'mon people.. this is so obvious..
Page 23.. they all been sick last year.. especialy the younger ones :D
 
The whole report is really intresting...

- Mindbank is dead (temporarily at least). Although they invested 11.9 Million € into the banking project they weren't able to meet the necessary 5 Million € operating capital. :scratch2:

Im pretty sure that number is in sek and not euro. the 5 million is euro though.
 
The whole report is really intresting...

- Mindbank is dead (temporarily at least). Although they invested 11.9 Million € into the banking project they weren't able to meet the necessary 5 Million € operating capital. :scratch2:
I dont think they are talking about 11.9 Million Euros there but Kroner.
Also as far as I understood, the bank license is on hold and not really lost.
But surely a too early decision.
Seeing how overoptimistic they were with the CE2 implemantation (anybody remember VU9.2 with textures for CE2 ?) and once more with the bank and possible shares, MA should maybe think about an adjustment in the management.
Neither users nor buisness partners like unkept promises or lies. They lost quite a few because of that and it will take a few years till that damage is repaired.
 
...Well first off why aren’t you doing something to fix the game?...
...if you’re not going to help, then get out of the way, and let others do their job by sending in support cases....
...if People don’t send in support cases then how will the new owners know what to fix?...
...but if no one complains, do they really know how to fix it...
...Because folks are sitting around doing nothing about it, then nothing gets done...
....What are YOU, the Player going to do about it? Just sit around and do nothing and let it go at being sucky?...
...After all I see a lot of folks saying a lot, but doing nothing to fix it..
...but conversely the players haven’t helped FPC to know what to do...

”As for me? I’m wiring support cases.. After all it’s the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.

Never thought we are the ones to blame for MA's problems...:scratch2:
Beta testers for the last 10 years....? Its our fault!!!!
Game full of bugs...? Its our fault!!!!
No game content...? Its our fault!!!
MA losing money...? Its our fault!!!
MA cant handle CE2...? Its our fault!!!
MA deaf or blind...? Its our fault!!!
No/wrong PR or advertising...? Its our fault!!!
No new players...? Its our fault!!!
A new 101% economy...? Its our fault!!!
RT epic fail...? Its our fault!!!!

Very interesting theory Ben :D
Gratz mate :laugh:
I almost felt i had to apologize for something...(but i didnt :yay:)

Sil$
 
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Never thought we are the ones to blame for MA's problems...:scratch2:
Beta testers for the last 10 years....? Its our fault!!!!
Game full of bugs...? Its our fault!!!!
No game content...? Its our fault!!!
MA losing money...? Its our fault!!!
MA cant handle CE2...? Its our fault!!!
MA deaf or blind...? Its our fault!!!
No/wrong PR or advertising...? Its our fault!!!
No new players...? Its our fault!!!
A new 101% economy...? Its our fault!!!
RT epic fail...? Its our fault!!!!

Very interesting theory Ben :D
Gratz mate :laugh:
I almost felt i had to apologize for something...(but i didnt :yay:)

Sil$

Writing senseless support cases ist a bit our fault.
If you look at the costs for support and how it has risen, it is not that much of a good sign.
I am pretty sure most of those costs are of the type :
[YOUTUBE]gt9j80Jkc_A[/YOUTUBE]

A manual of a FAQ would not change a thing, because 99% would not read it anyway. And I think those writing most support cases are rather new players and thus produce most costs without bring much into the economy (because of a low retention rate). EU is a niche, I do not think there are more than 3 million on this planet right now to fit in it, only way of expansion would be to find new markets in other solar systems :D
 
A big gratz to MA for surviving the financial crisis!

The financial crisis is just getting started. Have you missed that whole Greek bailout thing that is happening? How about all the USA bailouts that have yet to be repaid and/or paid off? How about all the US banks still failing and being shut down? How about the projected $10trillion US deficite Obama is creating? The lack of decline in unemployment? The crisis is still very much in effect. The bailouts had a temporary positive boost but once the money that was spent on it runs out then what?

One big virtual world already collapsed, another large one just laid off 1/3 of its staff and cutting costs to stay alive and now this one is selling assets to pay their bills for 2010.

I wouldn't jump for joy just yet.

Virtual worlds are failing for a reason. Not nearly as many people are interested in playing them as developers anticipated. many of the one's that are interested and have been playing them are bored to death of them and moving on.
 
Unless the loss actually is because their expenses has gone up rather than that their income has gone down?


I still think that the biggest problem (for player retention) is that loot is so unbalanced (need fewer ATHs and HoFs, less big-loss hunts, more stable returns)

I would rather get 80% back 3 times in a row than getting 60% back once, 120% back next time, then 60% again... (as an example)

the reason they cant retain oplayers or grow the playerbase at all is because the game is 10 times the price of every other mmo on the market to play and has 1/1000 the content. you run the gamer like a casino, then you get a few thousand gamblers, if they ran it more like a game they might get more of the millions of gamers.
 
the reason they cant retain oplayers or grow the playerbase at all is because the game is 10 times the price of every other mmo on the market to play and has 1/1000 the content. you run the gamer like a casino, then you get a few thousand gamblers, if they ran it more like a game they might get more of the millions of gamers.

On a side note, for a little comparison, there where 46,000 separate accounts logged into that other virtual space game with the ships you can fly this last Saturday when I was logged in there and the game ran great, graphics are awesome, the CEO says hi on the forums, lots of cool stuff to do, incredible amount of support and documentation, costs 140 ped FOR A WHOLE MONTH, etc... :wtg:

MA... :laugh:
 
On a side note, for a little comparison, there where 46,000 separate accounts logged into that other virtual space game with the ships you can fly this last Saturday when I was logged in there and the game ran great, graphics are awesome, the CEO says hi on the forums, lots of cool stuff to do, incredible amount of support and documentation, costs 140 ped FOR A WHOLE MONTH, etc... :wtg:

MA... :laugh:

then why do you spam ef with your posts since this game suckzor so epically bad? :confused:
 
then why do you spam ef with your posts since this game suckzor so epically bad? :confused:

If you read all the "spam" you wouldn't have to ask. Now go do some homework and get back to me with your questions later when you have a clue :laugh:
 
If you read all the "spam" you wouldn't have to ask. Now go do some homework and get back to me with your questions later when you have a clue :laugh:

I have read it. If i disliked this place as much as you I would of moved on to something else by now.

Anyways back on topic (i don't think i ever was sorry).

Anual report is interesting. Some bad news a few bits of good news (planets?). I just wonder who is buying fpc. Guess we will know by aug 15th.
 
MA's model of adding Real Estate to the game and then selling them to some debt ridden player having only his house to put as security for another debt for buying a virtual property and hoping to make money of it is not working nicely with there loyal depositing players quieting and no income from decay.

And what more they have published the report in Swedish instead of English so that majority of players don't understand the report.
 
So MA's financial report leads us to believe that FPC is selling the rights to Planet Calypso to a group of international companies for somewhere around 6,000,000 USD? In return, FPC will get 50% of future profits?

It sounds like FPC is hurting for cash. So they're selling off the rights to Calypso in exchange for money for development and marketing. They will continue to run FPC and only get 50% of profits.

This means there will be outside investors influencing gameplay decisions based on not whether gameplay is improved but rather if its profitable.
 
This report doesnt mean jack shit.

Why? Because its MA + FPC = EU
So we have FPC which is unknown here.

And that report is there to fool the taxman :laugh: See how good accounting leads to less taxes. All you have to do is make another company and work some transactions to it :laugh:

Regards

I.
 
So basically MA get 6 million USD from selling Calypso, and also 50% of any income, so the sky will (most likely) not fall just yet...

True, but this wont be so beneficiary for players ;)

Selling something for 6M USD means someone will want to recoup that amount. At current EU state I would say in 3 years to compensate for the high risk involved.

Meaning ppl will have to pay 12M US$ in 3 years. Considering there is ~5000 active depositors, lets asume new owner brings in 50% increase - 7500 depositors. Price per depositor = 1600$ / 3 years, equals 44$ /mo only for FPC.

44$ doesnt sound much? Im not telling SOME but ALL would have to have this average monthly deposit only to maintain FPC!!! Then there are taxes, transportation costs, success stories etc. which basically tripple the cost ;)

I.

P.S.

Allways look at the bigger picture where someone has to pay to someone.
More mouth to feed = more you have to pay.
 
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The report doesn't look bad for these times.

For those preaching how nice is the game (Kosmos, Nighthawk to name just a few), I encourage them to also deposit to sustain it. Empty words don't pay bills.

For FPC not being accounted I think is inaccurate, MA being its owner. Is just the vehicle of selling planet Calypso.

For lower ATH, I would like them, but majority of players wouldn't. Maybe those dormant would become again active with a more steady tt return, but that's just a bet. It would be my biggest desire EU-related to see the loot back to 2005 variations, but then I guess the EF would be filled with moanings about why there's so few ATHs.
 
Since FPC will sell calypso, what will Hanne and the rest of the crew do? Will they still work with Calypso? cos they are doing a great job :)

Maybe they will also sell Simon and Emma :)))))))))))
 
the game is 10 times the price of every other mmo on the market to play and has 1/1000 the content.

I pay the same per month as I would pay to play most other pay-per-month games, I have a great time and do lots of varied things...

Funny how we get complaints about both:
1) Too little content
2) Too much new stuff

:scratch2:

then why do you spam ef with your posts since this game suckzor so epically bad? :confused:

If you read all the "spam" you wouldn't have to ask. Now go do some homework and get back to me with your questions later when you have a clue :laugh:

kosmos, the reason is quite clear: He has absolutely no life at all, nothing better to do.

True, but this wont be so beneficiary for players ;)

*Rest of post*

Your post is only based on a long line of vague assumptions though :scratch2:


For those preaching how nice is the game (Kosmos, Nighthawk to name just a few), I encourage them to also deposit to sustain it. Empty words don't pay bills.

I do deposit as much as my current economical situation allows me already :coffee: (which aint really that much I must admit, since I am a student-to-be...)
 
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I do deposit as much as my current economical situation allows me already :coffee: (which aint really that much I must admit, since I am a student-to-be...)

That's reasonable, but then don't call left and right "anti-MA machines" some people who make the most conclusive sign of liking the game i.e. depositing.

I do agree there are some who are beyond understanding (like whoever might be that themz dude), but most of us are unhappy with variation of loot, which I find fair.

Maybe I just have a bad morning, coffee did taste bad :/
 
That's reasonable, but then don't call left and right "anti-MA machines" some people who make the most conclusive sign of liking the game i.e. depositing.

Please note - I did not mention any names ;) (and I did not think about you)

Besides, 1-2 of the people I meant have vanished from EF as well now...

Maybe I just have a bad morning, coffee did taste bad :/

*gives you a new, better, cup of coffee*
 
The whole business-model of this game is messed up from the beginning. Money doesn't circulate the way it should, as people are withdrawing, quitting the game, or just don't spend as much as they used to. The economy is on a constant, steady drop for over a year now. People are less motivated to hunt/mine due to the bad loots, Sweat is reaching a new rock-bottom every few weeks...

The first few years of this game went pretty smooth, but then they started adding 'equipping-decay' and other sorts of tricky little ways to gain the money they need for circulation. It was a bad sign back then, but people chose to ignore.

Suddenly MA had this urge to replace the graphic engine. Not only did it NOT attract thousands of new people, it actually made quite a few people quit due to the fact that this new engine requires some pretty new and rather pricey computer rig.

Then CND came along, there was a hype, and not six (thanks for the fix*) years later, Neverdie sells CND...

And New Oxford.. a complete, total, despicable failure.

Rocktropia got published, and it was a disaster. Enough arguing about that. I bet you less than 500 people are currently playing there right now, as you read this post.

Then, they started offering things like custom loot messages, placing Teleporters and other strange shady stuff.

There were so many signs but people simply chose to ignore them. Well, now that the fact-sheet is on display, you can't argue with the official numbers anymore.

Six million USDs aren't going to save MA, only buy them some time. As any proper economist knows, we're getting a world financial crisis once in every ten years or so, so how long is this game going to hold?..
 
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Well ... i think the game need's exhibitions also numer of stuf was growed with 29% salareys .50%++ There could be a litle adjustemen;) All world arround salaries goes down here +50% .. Does not look PATETHIC ????.
 
The worst thing about all of this is that none of it was announced. MA lives on the big PR splash and then forgets the reality - Big PR splash for Mind Bank then nothing when the FSA tell them to cough up the cash or get out.

A company and indeed as has been shown in the UK, nor a government cannot exist on spin alone.

Why does MA still refuse to communicate and what is the role of the MA communicators ?

Also remember these figures are 6 months out of date already
 
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Suddenly MA had this urge to replace the graphic engine. Not only did it NOT attract thousands of new people, it actually made quite a few people quit due to the fact that this new engine requires some pretty new and rather pricey computer rig.

As mentioned in the annual report: This was expected, as marketing hasn't started yet.

Also, there are more people playing now than pre-VU10 and I am 99% sure of that, having travelled around throughout Calypso, spoken to people, done some tests, etc.

Then CND came along, there was a hype, and not two years later, Neverdie sells CND...

He had it for 5 years, earned a profit from it, and sold it to get money for his studio to keep developing the planets.

Rocktropia got published, and it was a disaster. Enough arguing about that. I bet you less than 500 people are currently playing there right now, as you read this post.

The thing has barely been implemented yet! Neverdie stated that they are expecting to have more systems up and running soon, including new stuff that they have talked about earlier.

Again, expected to be low amount of players there now as they have not started the whole BIG marketing push.
 
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