Sony Online Denies Firm For Sale Report

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Sony is denying the latest round of rumors claiming that its gaming unit is up for sale. Normally a denial by Sony means that the rumor is true but, in this case, I think they might be telling the truth.

"Sony Online Entertainment is not for sale and the report that Zapak is purchasing Sony Online Entertainment is completely erroneous and false," a company spokesperson for San Diego-based Sony Online told Reuters over telephone.
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Steve said:
Sony is denying the latest round of rumors claiming that its gaming unit is up for sale. Normally a denial by Sony means that the rumor is true but, in this case, I think they might be telling the truth.
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Thats too damn bad. But the very least they ought to do is replace Smedley.
 
SOE is owned by Sony Pictures...and it's been a money sink since a year after they bought Verant.

EQ made serious money, but all that money and then some went back into developing SWG, Planetside, EQ2, EQOA, and about 10 cancelled projects, plus the casual games. SWG made money for Lucasarts, but lost money for SOE. Planetside was a wash at best, EQOA never took off, EQ2 had a 5 year burn that's just now getting into the black, AC2, TMO and VG just pad the Station Pass, and they no longer have the crutch of EQ and its expansions for cashflow.

Yes, there's some quality people there, but there's also serious management issues that start at the top and trickles all the way down, and there's just too much employee bloat and overhead in general.

I left there about this time of the year in 2001 and never had any regrets because the reasons for my leaving are still there. The only way to fix SOE is to flush it, reset and start over. And the only way that is likely to happen is by selling it. Or SPE getting a lot more draconian than they've been in the last 8 years.
 
there are a lot of companies that could use a purge of pretty much anyone not paid hourly.
 
Man, I hope to God this is true and if someone buys them out, that they fire that stupid idiotic moron named John Smedley (Smelly) and some of the other top dumb...es over at SOE.

I mean they promote the moron when they business is going downhill bad and people are leaving the games left and right because of stupidity. They do things intentionally it seems to run people off, and it works of course. They ruined what was going to be a decent game, Vanguard.

SOE has done more to ruin people's gameplay than any other company out there, regardless of how much people try and tell them what is needed. Their #1 problem is their attitude of so what, if you don't like it, leave and so, most people end up doing just that. They build nice games that have so much potential but, then they do stupid crap to ruin the game.

I finally swore off all SOE games and have never looked back. I just hope someone does buy them out and fires all those morons.
 
Cinge said:
Man, I hope to God this is true and if someone buys them out, that they fire that stupid idiotic moron named John Smedley (Smelly) and some of the other top dumb...es over at SOE.

I mean they promote the moron when they business is going downhill bad and people are leaving the games left and right because of stupidity. They do things intentionally it seems to run people off, and it works of course. They ruined what was going to be a decent game, Vanguard.

SOE has done more to ruin people's gameplay than any other company out there, regardless of how much people try and tell them what is needed. Their #1 problem is their attitude of so what, if you don't like it, leave and so, most people end up doing just that. They build nice games that have so much potential but, then they do stupid crap to ruin the game.

I finally swore off all SOE games and have never looked back. I just hope someone does buy them out and fires all those morons.
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VANGUARD IS GOING TO KILL WOW!!1!11!!1 1LOLOLOL

ya...

Vanguard was possibly the worst major-production MMO ever made. Anyone actually have fun hitting the same predictable series of buttons 20 times per craft, hundreds of times in a row to level it up? Awful awful game.

The ONLY thing that game did right was the group-gathering skills.
 
SOE is not being sold, they were working with a company to bring their games to India much like they have done in the EU and Japan markets they are in.

I've played EQ since release, then played WoW beta (was ok) then played EQ2 Beta and have currently been playing EQ2 since (EQ2 fits me perfect, can do something for 20 30min in my now limited gaming time unlike EQ1). I think the team they have working on EQ2 is something they need to copy and implant into their other MMO's as they have done a great job with that game.

Vanguard is the fault of Brad McQuaid and Sigil and the story on that is an interesting one if your willing to search. I'll just say if SOE wouldn't have bought them out the servers would have been shut down and no hope for any fixing. Not like there is much hope now as the amount of fixing out weighs what would really need to be invested into it to do it right.

I do agree with the complaints about EverQuest 1 (expansion factory) and very early EverQuest 2 however they have been turning things around. I just dont understand how Blizzard can do some of the same things SOE has and yet they keep smelling like roses. /shrug
 
Their EQ2 team is full of idiotic morons that don't have a clue as to what they are doing. They lost over 175,000 accounts in 7 months because of their idiotic stupidity and they have lost even more when Vanguard and other games have come out.

They have copied the EQ2 team and is the reason they are such crap. Then you get morons like Rich Vogal that goes over to EA and starts ruining the games they have there. These people do not need to be in positions of power or position that requires them to think.

You may like EQ and the team but, you are a very small minority. They have lost so many players over the years. It's no wonder WoW is so large. Blizzard knows how to do gameplay at least.

EQ2 doing crap like you get disconnected from the servers and you happen to be in a dungeon with your guild that opens up only once a week, then you are screwed as it won't let you back in, regardless of the fact that you just got in and getting started.

WoW doesn't do that. They allow you to go in and out of the zone and it remembers what mobs you have killed. Stuff like that is what makes Blizzard so much better. All the little stuff they did right.

SOE got involved with Vanguard and then talked Brad into releasing it WAY too early, as SOE always does with all their games and expansions. Vanguard had a lot to still be done before it was ready and thus a really bad launch.

They totally riuned SWG. Their first mistake was hiring the idiot Raph Koster. They got rid of him but, it was too late. They continued to keep making things worst.

They need a total wipe of management, starting with Smelly. It's too bad if they are not getting bought out. I so wish I was in the position to do so.

That's not the half of it though. I got to know quite a few people there and the horror stories they told of what it was like to work there.

SOE has quite a few games that are nicely built (to a point), they just need someone that knows wtf they are doing as far as gameplay and working with the players. They are ok programmers I guess but they suck at making the games work otherwise.
 
why so much eq2 hate?

i've played every north american released mmo's retail release and i have to say eq2 is by far the most enjoyable. ok let me reiterate, the fixed eq2 is by far the most enjoyable, from a few months before faydwer through now i think that game really is one of the best things you have, not to say its not without faults, but i think its the most enjoyable...

I WISH vanguard was enjoyable, i had such high hopes for that game.


but yeah, too much wow fanboyism.... i have an active account on wow, eq2, and lotro, they each have a different appeal to me...but i don't see how wow is any better, its roughly as fun as eq2 for different reasons.
 
Manaknight said:
why so much eq2 hate?

i've played every north american released mmo's retail release and i have to say eq2 is by far the most enjoyable. ok let me reiterate, the fixed eq2 is by far the most enjoyable, from a few months before faydwer through now i think that game really is one of the best things you have, not to say its not without faults, but i think its the most enjoyable...

I WISH vanguard was enjoyable, i had such high hopes for that game.


but yeah, too much wow fanboyism.... i have an active account on wow, eq2, and lotro, they each have a different appeal to me...but i don't see how wow is any better, its roughly as fun as eq2 for different reasons.
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Stating a fact doesn't make someone a fanboy. WoW's stability and reliabilty far supercedes EverQuest 2's. I know. I played both. I also played SWG from beta 2 all the way up to the launch of the NGE and that was the last straw with SOE and Smedley.

I was very interested in Vanguard when it was being made. I was in beta for a short while too and it looked gorgeous. But at the end when Sigil announced they were going to let SOE run it, fuck it. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Sony Online Entertainment needs a new president and Smedley knows it, but he doesn't give a shit because he's making a lot of money.

Look it up. He makes apologies for every fucking games that was made under his stint as president, always following it with "but it's too late to roll it back" or "it's too late to fix it".

I'm tired of his imcompetance and I will literally throw a party and buy booze for anyone who comes to my house the day Smedley steps down.
 
Cinge said:
Their EQ2 team is full of idiotic morons that don't have a clue as to what they are doing. They lost over 175,000 accounts in 7 months because of their idiotic stupidity and they have lost even more when Vanguard and other games have come out.

They have copied the EQ2 team and is the reason they are such crap. Then you get morons like Rich Vogal that goes over to EA and starts ruining the games they have there. These people do not need to be in positions of power or position that requires them to think.

You may like EQ and the team but, you are a very small minority. They have lost so many players over the years. It's no wonder WoW is so large. Blizzard knows how to do gameplay at least.

EQ2 doing crap like you get disconnected from the servers and you happen to be in a dungeon with your guild that opens up only once a week, then you are screwed as it won't let you back in, regardless of the fact that you just got in and getting started.

WoW doesn't do that. They allow you to go in and out of the zone and it remembers what mobs you have killed. Stuff like that is what makes Blizzard so much better. All the little stuff they did right.

SOE got involved with Vanguard and then talked Brad into releasing it WAY too early, as SOE always does with all their games and expansions. Vanguard had a lot to still be done before it was ready and thus a really bad launch.

They totally riuned SWG. Their first mistake was hiring the idiot Raph Koster. They got rid of him but, it was too late. They continued to keep making things worst.

They need a total wipe of management, starting with Smelly. It's too bad if they are not getting bought out. I so wish I was in the position to do so.

That's not the half of it though. I got to know quite a few people there and the horror stories they told of what it was like to work there.

SOE has quite a few games that are nicely built (to a point), they just need someone that knows wtf they are doing as far as gameplay and working with the players. They are ok programmers I guess but they suck at making the games work otherwise.
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Just thought I'd clear some stuff up, as I have over 5,300 hours into EQ2 since launch.

Where to start: Oh your statement about EQ2 losing 175,000 subs in 7 months - I'm sorry but SOE doesn't release sub numbers, so unless you work on the EQ2 team you're just talking out of your ass.

Your statement about being in a dungeon and going LD and being locked out = false. With the release of RoK all instances in EQ2 are persistant and last between 5 and 9 days. If you go LD you simply zone back in. If you need to log for the night, you can finish the zone tomorrow, etc.

As far as blaming SOE for Vanguard, you're misinformed. Brad McQuaid misused his money and mismanaged Sigil and Vanguard into the ground. Without SOE, Vanguard would've never launched period as they were totally out of money. Brad made the choice to launch and try to recoup some of their lost money and fix the game as it was live, but obviously that didn't work out which forced him to give up Sigil to SOE because of his debt.

At any rate, you're bitching about the EQ2 of 3 years ago without having played the EQ2 of today. I'd suggest maybe not doing that as it makes you look ignorant.

I understand you hate SOE and all that, and its fine - but it doesn't excuse stating blatant lies about EQ2 and its gameplay.
 
Nemesis999 said:
VANGUARD IS GOING TO KILL WOW!!1!11!!1 1LOLOLOL

ya...

Vanguard was possibly the worst major-production MMO ever made. Anyone actually have fun hitting the same predictable series of buttons 20 times per craft, hundreds of times in a row to level it up? Awful awful game.

The ONLY thing that game did right was the group-gathering skills.
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Vanguard had serious potential to compete with WoW and still does. Unfortunately as long as SOE remains in charge it will continue to be a dud.
 
My post are far from blatant lies. I spent 2 years in that POS game and dealing with those stupid morons at SOE. I spent over 5 years in EQ and a year in SWG. I have every right to bash them and the games. I did my time.

EQ2 had the potential, unfortunately it was run by morons. Vanguard had potential, until SOE got a hold of it. SWG was just a bomb from the start. Constant problems. EQ was good for awhile, until SOE took over full time. Vanguard was still so buggy 6 months after release and release day, oh man. The world itself was nice and I did like a few things Brad did in there. Just not enough to make it worth dealing with all the problems in the game because of SOE.

I'm not a WoW fanboy although I do like WoW, I just started playing it back in Jan full time. I had my fill of the crap in EQ2 that you had to deal with. There are just so many things that Blizzard did do right. The dungeon thing was just one little piece of the puzzle. I could go all day comparing how the companies did things and showing how Blizzard thought out each and every thing that went into the game. The little things add up in being able to enjoy a game.

Them loosing the 175,000 people in a short time is fact. It was reported by several people that knows and I knew several people at SOE that had access to that info also. I posted about it many times on the EQ2 forums and it was never disputed. It was not long after their KOS expansion.

Just because a company doesn't post numbers, does not mean people don't have access to them. Just because you disagree with someone, doesn't make them wrong, it just makes them wrong to you.

Has EQ2 changed for the better? I will admit I haven't played it or anything from SOE since Jan but, SOE is still full of idiots and as long as they are in charge of a game, it will never go anywhere because of their attitudes. I just don't see how it can change much with them still in charge.

I never hated EQ2 for the game itself. It had a lot of potential to be a great game. There were just way too many gameplay issues and bugs and bad attitudes from the developers to deal with.

Like I said, if they purged the company and started over with people that knows WTF they are doing, then they could have better games. It's a lot of people's worst nightmare to hear that people from SOE have come to work on a game. They have ruined so many.
 
and don't even get started about the amount of time you have in a game. 5300 hours is nothing. It's just a scratch on the surface of what people have spent in there, including me. I had at least 8 hours a day, 6 days a week for 2 years. I was in a top 5 of the world high end raiding guild. I got to see all the problems.

Also, just because someone says something nice about WoW, doesn't make them a fanboy. Blizzard has twice as many accounts in the U.S. alone than SOE does in ALL their games combined. Obviously they are doing something right. A LOT of little things right.
 
After EQ (had to deal with piss-poor support when I was a guild leader and had my entire guild stuck, while the GM trys to tell me that's by design...nice so the game is designed to not work, awesome), EQ2 (spent THOUSANDS to make a machine that could run it under high quality, it did....then they did something that cut performance by 60% and didn't help any with fixing it, then proceeded to do so many changes in a one month period that it was practically a whole new game, one I wanted nothing to do with).....then the Sony Music rootkit fiasco was the last straw.

That's why I have boycotted that entire company. Once Sony ditches their music and gaming depts, I might buy their hardware once again...I admit it's good stuff, but I won't throw any money at anything that has to do with those other two hellspawns.
 
Cinge said:
SOE got involved with Vanguard and then talked Brad into releasing it WAY too early, as SOE always does with all their games and expansions.
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This is completely incorrect. Ask yourself why Microsoft was eager to dump Sigil? Because they knew Vanguard was in deep trouble.

SOE assumed that they could buy it for pennies, send over some resources (Sigil is 20 minutes away from the SOE San Diego office) and still make money from its release.

Cinge said:
Vanguard had a lot to still be done before it was ready and thus a really bad launch.
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Absolutely but this is in no way SOE's fault. This is due to poor management at Sigil. Without SOE, Vanguard would have NEVER launched as Sigil was simply out of money.

BTW - you should try Vanguard again. I heard it's a lot better game now after a bunch of fixes went into it.
 
Tly said:
This is completely incorrect. Ask yourself why Microsoft was eager to dump Sigil? Because they knew Vanguard was in deep trouble.

SOE assumed that they could buy it for pennies, send over some resources (Sigil is 20 minutes away from the SOE San Diego office) and still make money from its release.



Absolutely but this is in no way SOE's fault. This is due to poor management at Sigil. Without SOE, Vanguard would have NEVER launched as Sigil was simply out of money.

BTW - you should try Vanguard again. I heard it's a lot better game now after a bunch of fixes went into it.
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i tried vanguard, its getting better, but the rub is...only right at this point is it where it should have been when it was near release.. i think that makes sense. The character models are still very poor and lack options that the dev team kept promising, in fact some of the hair styles and templates are missing from the beta., the world looks pretty good, but honestly no better than eq2, and ironically the eq2 runs smoother. Obviously wow does the best job of all since its able to run on most systems pretty well, and they do use alot of little graphics tricks to give it some life (though eq2 still has the nicest trees hands down).

I really hope vanguard becomes the game it was supposed to be, because as of now its a clunkier eq1 with half of the promised features still not implemented or not working properly... However until (at the very least)clunky is removed from that statement, its just going to be a money sink.

i'll continue to play my niche of eq2, wow, and lotro and enjoy them all for different reasons
 
Yep, I play some WoW (not as much as I used to) and LOTRO now. I have totally sworn off SOE after 8+ years of dealing with the morons. I started in EQ beta in 1998 and went until Jan 2007 dealing with those people. MUCH longer than I should have. Like I said, the first couple years in EQ1 wasn't a problem. Sure, it had some major game play issues but, overall was fun, especially after McQuack left.

I could try Vanguard and it may be getting better, bug wise but, you still have those idiots in charge that make all the stupid decisions and ruin game play.

The day they do house cleaning and Sony wises up and gets rid of the top management and gets people in there that knows wtf fun is supposed to be like, then and only then will I return to anything SOE. That's why I would love to see them get bought out and all the top brass fired.

It's not so much the games themselves. It's just all about attitude and the way things are done. Well, in Vanguard's case, it was about the game too. EQ2's bugs and issues were a huge problem also but, it was more about the way SOE did things.

You may be right about Vanguard and SOE, etc. but, the fact remains, the day SOE got involved was a sad day for many. They were so hoping to get away from SOE and they didn't care for WoW.
 
Cinge said:
Their EQ2 team is full of idiotic morons that don't have a clue as to what they are doing. They lost over 175,000 accounts in 7 months because of their idiotic stupidity and they have lost even more when Vanguard and other games have come out.
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Can you show me where you got those numbers? If they lost 175k accounts on EQ2 then from the numbers I thought were correct would leave them with about five thousand players total. Since a server holds around 10k+ players and they have a healthy amount of servers I think your numbers may be off. Then again I have no idea of their numbers because they dont tell any one but their investors that info.

EQ2 doing crap like you get disconnected from the servers and you happen to be in a dungeon with your guild that opens up only once a week, then you are screwed as it won't let you back in, regardless of the fact that you just got in and getting started. WoW doesn't do that. They allow you to go in and out of the zone and it remembers what mobs you have killed. Stuff like that is what makes Blizzard so much better. All the little stuff they did right.
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EQ2 has persistent instances just like WoW, they've had them for awhile now. You cant compairs todays WoW to yesterdays EQ2, even though you stopped playing EQ2 has had healthy monthly and bi-monthly updates. Also you may want to use these forums and get advice on optimizing your system if you experiencing frequent crashes as that is not the norm. EQ2's engine isnt the most optimized engine so it does tax your hardware a little more then WoW so may be the reason you crash in EQ2 and not in WoW as often.

SOE got involved with Vanguard and then talked Brad into releasing it WAY too early, as SOE always does with all their games and expansions. Vanguard had a lot to still be done before it was ready and thus a really bad launch.
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It wasnt due to the fact their SEO Brad was missing for 6 months to a year??? Heck if you search fohguild.org forums you will see posts from employees posting how bad Sigil was. Again a simple search on google will bring up some really interesting info on this. It really is worth investigating for your self.

They totally riuned SWG. Their first mistake was hiring the idiot Raph Koster. They got rid of him but, it was too late. They continued to keep making things worst.
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I agree they messed up SWG, they shouldnt have listened to Lucas.

That's not the half of it though. I got to know quite a few people there and the horror stories they told of what it was like to work there.
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I know a few people there now and are still working there now and it may not be the best place to work for but its far from the worst. Heck they even have pet babysitters if you want to bring in your pets.
 
No, this was when they had about 350,000 accounts. It left them with about half of what they had. It was like 6 months after KOS or so. It was the great exodus that left many servers empty and people finding it hard to get groups. All the big raiding guilds were leaving to go to other games and what was left was finding it hard to continue and get good members. They eventually had to combine servers to try and get enough people on so people could get groups. Everything was so barren. Most of it was because of the expansion and how SOE was doing (or rather not doing) things.

High end raid zones were a disaster. I remember watching the forums as high end guild after high end guild broke up as people left the game or they moved the entire guild to another game.

Anyone that had been there for any length of time before the first expansion saw it happen.

I can compare yesterdays WoW to yesterdays EQ2. WoW had always had persistent instances. That's what I am talking about them doing things right to start with and how the game play issues had been well thought out ahead of time in WoW and still do. EQ2 was forced to change because they were loosing a lot of people to that one ordeal. Unfortunately for them, a lot of their changes have come too little too late for a lot of people that had finally had enough and moved on. They waited too long and was too arrogant and just didn't care enough to hold onto those people before too many left.

People are simply tired of SOE and their ways and had been with them long enough to see them ruin game after game. How they would not listen to the players and continued to make changes and not fix problems that just ruined things for people and then basically come out and tell people to like it or leave. They really didn't care.
 
Where are you guys getting your numbers from? SOE dont tell anyone thier subscription numbers so are you making them up or going on someone elses guess?
 
Dolby said:
I know a few people there now and are still working there now and it may not be the best place to work for but its far from the worst. Heck they even have pet babysitters if you want to bring in your pets.
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Heh, I don't think there are pet babysitters BUT you can bring your pet in - at least for now. Facilities is, as we speak, debating on an official stance/policy since there have been a few minor incidents with dogs but for now, it's A-OK to bring them in.

Cinge said:
No, this was when they had about 350,000 accounts.
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EQ2 never had that many active subscribers - which I count as those players who have moved beyond their 30 day trial.

Cinge said:
People are simply tired of SOE and their ways and had been with them long enough to see them ruin game after game. How they would not listen to the players and continued to make changes and not fix problems that just ruined things for people and then basically come out and tell people to like it or leave. They really didn't care.
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I don't blame you at all for your opinion about SOE - so many promising products . Imagine how difficult it was/is for those that work there. Thankfully I can say that changes in attitude towards game development have occurred; now even the top management understands the negative impact of launching too soon.
 
Dolby said:
EQ2 has persistent instances just like WoW, they've had them for awhile now. You cant compairs todays WoW to yesterdays EQ2, even though you stopped playing EQ2 has had healthy monthly and bi-monthly updates.
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Yes you can, in fact, that's exactly what makes or breaks an MMO. Poor launch numbers and the game is toast, plain and simple. EQ2 was awful at launch. I suffered almost 2 months of it and left. LOTR online realized this, that's why they offered reduced monthly rates or a unlimited subscription for pre-orders. Without the launch numbers a MMO crashes and burns, just like EQ2.
 
Tly said:
Heh, I don't think there are pet babysitters BUT you can bring your pet in - at least for now. Facilities is, as we speak, debating on an official stance/policy since there have been a few minor incidents with dogs but for now, it's A-OK to bring them in.



EQ2 never had that many active subscribers - which I count as those players who have moved beyond their 30 day trial.



I don't blame you at all for your opinion about SOE - so many promising products . Imagine how difficult it was/is for those that work there. Thankfully I can say that changes in attitude towards game development have occurred; now even the top management understands the negative impact of launching too soon.
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Official statement released
 
Tly said:
Yes, those weren't active subscribers. Much of them were in their 30-day trial period and hadn't converted over.
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The price of the box includes one month subscription time. Those are subscriptions, not free trials. In fact, that's the most expensive month of all. So people payed $50+ for that month, and decided the next month wasn't even worth $15. That's definitely a lost subscription.
 
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