[MUD-Dev] [NEWS] Lineage: The Blood Pledge Interview

[Dave Kennerly]

I apologize if this teased anyone.  The article was free when I
posted the link (http://pc.ign.com/news/40083.html).  Later that
night viewing required IGN Insider subscription.  Maybe that
requirement changed again at this posting time.  Anyway, I happily
bought an IGN Insider subscription to view it again.

J C Lawrence wrote:
> <EdNote: I'd appreciate it if some kind soul would summarise/review
> the interview on-list */

__________________
Information Highlights

NCSoft Business

  1. Lineage US will be bundled with ISP broadband installation
  software.  NCSoft did this in Korea and other parts of Asia.

  2. NCSoft opened Lineage in Korea with a content-incomplete world
  and adds new expansions at no charge.  

  3. NCSoft cannot find enough talented developers in Korea.

  4. Garriott hired everyone laid off from EA's UO?(and/or UO2?)[1]
  team.

  5. Garriott pitched Lineage at a higher monthly price point than
  $10, with a lower initial charge.  NCSoft did this in Korea and
  other parts of Asia.

  6. Garriott plans to make NCSoft public on NASDAQ.  NCSoft did
  this on KOSDAQ.

  7. Garriott plans to publicize his alter-ego "Lord British" in
  Lineage.

General Business

  1. Garriott estimated profit per revenue for UO and EQ, and
  speculated the same for Lineage US.

  2. Garriott said early UO development was naive.

  3. Garriott said Lineage outperfomed UO in Asia.

  4. Garriott said EA had betted on a different business model than
  box + subscription.

NCSoft Game Design

  1. Garriott said Lineage is "Diablo-style".

  2. Garriott said Lineage uses a taxation system.

  3. Garriott said Lineage uses political struggle system.

  4. The volume of games Garriott plays and their names.

[1] Pimps and Dragons by Elizabeth Kolbert. How an online world
survived a social breakdown. Issue of 2001-05-28. Posted 2001-05-21
http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/2001Q2/msg00949.php
"Electronic Arts had laid off U.O.2's development staff, of more
than fifty people, and most of them, it seemed, were at the party.".

__________________

If interested in details, read the article.

I respect whatever IGN Insider decides to do with their content.

Since NCSoft is Nexon's #1 competitor, my NDA prohibits most of my
comments or review.  At Nexon, I localized and worked on dev team
for 3 Korean MMORPGs and one other Korean MMOG.

Dave


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