GEMSTONE WILL BE SOLD??

[Rathgar]

Ok, who thinks that if HJ completely bombs, like couple thousand subscribers at most that Gemstone and DR will be sold to other gaming companies? In other words, CAN SIMU GO BANKRUPT FROM HJ FAILING? Is it possible?

[Trouble]

This has kinda been discussed in various topics, but the consensus is that since GS/DR are mainly run by volunteers, they're safe while people are still willing to play. Now if Whatley were to somehow incur a massive gambling (or whatever) debt or something and need to sell Simu to cover it, that would be a diff story.

[CrystalTears]

My God with the paranoia lately.

[Xaerve]

OUR ITAMS ARE GONNA BE GONE?!!!11

[Gan]

Gemstone is a closet product with little to no resources required compared to the revenue it produces. Gemstone wont be sold as long as the revenue outpaces the cost of the resources going into it.

[110StPetersStNY]

If Gemstone gets sold, I'll buy it for 3 million as long as it holds its subs around 2-3 thousand people at the time of sale.

I'll change the game around completely, even pay the GMs regularly although not much. It'll be fun.

[110StPetersStNY]

Gemstone is a closet product with little to no resources required compared to the revenue it produces. Gemstone wont be sold as long as the revenue outpaces the cost of the resources going into it.

Thats not what he means, the poll says will HJ failing bring Simu down so much that it forces the company as whole to go bankrupt regardless of any other revenue source.

[Gan]

I dont see HJ bankrupting Simu to the point where Gemstone will have to be liquidated to pay off debts. Ergo, Gemstone wont be sold in my opinion.

[Caede]

There's no "This is the most retarded, rehashed question around these boards" option.

--
Caede

[Stanley Burrell]

In all seriousness, what can the financial upkeep be for GS as a whole?

Customer sales, technical support, um, tremendous GM salaries..?

[Sylvan Dreams]

Why would GS be sold when they can at any time randomly announce a pay-per merchant like the Foehn's and know it will sell out? I think the last run genned them $19k in revenue from ticket sales.

PS - I think SIMU has balls for trying to compete against WoW by releasing HJ.

[Celephais]

There's no "This is the most retarded, rehashed question around these boards" option.

--
Caede

Yeah that.

[LazyBard]

Company Profile: Simutronics Corporation

Year Started:1987

State of Incorporation:VA

URL:www.play.net, www.simutronics.net

Location Type:Headquarters

Stock Symbol:N/A

Stock Exchange:N/A

Also Does Business As:N/A

NAICS:N/A

SIC #Code:7371

Est. Annual Sales:$3,700,000

Est. Employees:38

Est. Employees at Location:2

Contact Name: David Whatley

Contact Title:President

Even if their overhead is 25% of their estimated sales which I doubt its that high they are still clearing plenty they could still operate at 75% overhead tring to get HJ off the ground (or game engine sold whatever stand point you take on that discussion) and still have room to spare

[Trouble]

A couple of years ago, it was speculated that the Simucon registration fees were funding the development costs for HJ. There was a big stink about it on the officials and it's one of the reasons we didn't have one last year, IMO. If it was used to fund HJ, then Simu has nothing to lose other than reputation if HJ or its engine bombs.

[Deathravin]

The engine won't fail even if the game does.

[StrayRogue]

ANother dumb thread.

[Sean of the Thread]

The engine won't fail even if the game does.

I disagree .. my guess is it's quickly falling behind the market.

[Deathravin]

Your guess is wrong then.

[Sean of the Thread]

Your guess is wrong then.

Doubtful. My guess is also that you're delusional about HJ.

[Sean of the Thread]

*Personally I think Whatley is an idiot for even risking this venture.

He should have ventured to the gym.

[Tsa`ah]

I wonder how many times they have had to redesign the engine simply because they couldn't get the game to market and quickly fell behind. If the engine isn't outdated ... it won't be long until it is. Even if HJ were launched within this year, the engine will be on the ass end of progression and it would be nothing short of a miracle if they were able to make the next step in stride with the market.

While I doubt an HJ flop would have much, if any impact, on the other Simu text products ... I think GS would probably be better served being sold to an entity with better experience in running such entertainment and a marketing budget.

That would probably signal the end of items and characters for cash ... as well as many other things that go on in the game though, thus a shift in the market base.

[crazymage]

I wonder how many times they have had to redesign the engine simply because they couldn't get the game to market and quickly fell behind. If the engine isn't outdated ... it won't be long until it is. Even if HJ were launched within this year, the engine will be on the ass end of progression and it would be nothing short of a miracle if they were able to make the next step in stride with the market.

While I doubt an HJ flop would have much, if any impact, on the other Simu text products ... I think GS would probably be better served being sold to an entity with better experience in running such entertainment and a marketing budget.

That would probably signal the end of items and characters for cash ... as well as many other things that go on in the game though, thus a shift in the market base.

Cash sales exist in virtually every MMO out there, why would a simutronics sale change that?

[Tsa`ah]

Cash sales exist in virtually every MMO out there, why would a simutronics sale change that?

They occur to an extent and any change would depend on who purchased the product.

Sure, gold farmers and leveling services still somewhat thrive in games like WoW. Though it's likely one would find their account banned after shelling out a few hundred dollars for someone else to take their toon from 1-cap ... or for a few thousand gold.

Most gaming entities have figured out that rampant out of game, player based, marketing makes for a low population down the road. Simu is really the "semi" exception. It's pretty much the AOL of on-line gaming.

If the product were sold to an entity that really didn't care what occurred with their product ... it's not likely anything would change. That means anything all the way up to development, or lack there of.

If it were sold to an entity that wanted to take advantage of the niche market and proceed to develop the game and market it for growth, it's not likely they would allow for many of the things Simu does in it's current incarnation.

[Sylvester]

The engine won't fail even if the game does.

Dude, either you've been living under a rock or you work for Simutronics.

You can't compare this hack of a game compared to some 50 million dollar blockbuster games out there. For instance, Age of Conan, looks unbelievable, in fact , i wont believe the graphics on it until i play it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGcU2KT2aJs&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGyvHbV_UqE&mode=related&search=

[FinisWolf]

I would probably venture a guess between the two NO answers myself.

Finis

[Artha]

Dude, either you've been living under a rock or you work for Simutronics.

You can't compare this hack of a game compared to some 50 million dollar blockbuster games out there. For instance, Age of Conan, looks unbelievable, in fact , i wont believe the graphics on it until i play it.
You don't know what the engine does, do you? It's way deeper than just graphics.

[Sylvester]

You don't know what the engine does, do you? It's way deeper than just graphics.

Bingo! Ding ding ding! Finally someone gets it. YES, there is that differentiating, that single EDGE that it has over the generic corporate MMO, which is DEPTH of GAMEPLAY.

We're talking ULTRA character customization, hair, eyes, skin, nose, pimple. Skill trees that would take a super computer to map out and endless assortment of weapons/armor/items to ultra mundane...I want to tip over my chair? Or pick up a rock and toss it or sniff a tree or do backflips into a pool of water and collect the silt from the river...you get the idea.

Problem arises, that I think, after reading these boards and the officials is that people think that all of the above and more is going to come true. They believe it will be Gemstone the MUD reborn as a graphical MMO! WRONG!
At the end of the day, if they want to finish before our Sun goes nova they will have to churn out another point click WoW/LoTR/EQ clone. Very sad.:hug2:

[Gan]

Age of Conan looks pretty damn sweet from the two youtube links put up a few posts earlier.

[Artha]

HJ has realistic physics. The engine's extremely intense.

[Latrinsorm]

They believe it will be Gemstone the MUD reborn as a graphical MMO! WRONG! I'm a little curious where (precisely) you got that impression from on these boards.

[Sean of the Thread]

HJ has realistic physics. The engine's extremely intense.

I'm sure the volunteer base will keep it up to par for years to come.

[Daniel]

Bingo! Ding ding ding! Finally someone gets it. YES, there is that differentiating, that single EDGE that it has over the generic corporate MMO, which is DEPTH of GAMEPLAY.

We're talking ULTRA character customization, hair, eyes, skin, nose, pimple. Skill trees that would take a super computer to map out and endless assortment of weapons/armor/items to ultra mundane...I want to tip over my chair? Or pick up a rock and toss it or sniff a tree or do backflips into a pool of water and collect the silt from the river...you get the idea.

Problem arises, that I think, after reading these boards and the officials is that people think that all of the above and more is going to come true. They believe it will be Gemstone the MUD reborn as a graphical MMO! WRONG!
At the end of the day, if they want to finish before our Sun goes nova they will have to churn out another point click WoW/LoTR/EQ clone. Very sad.:hug2:

Yea, do I have to use the nintendo super glove to tip over the chair?

I'm curious

[Sean of the Thread]

No you need the glove to pick up ye flask.

[Necromancer]

Wow. the unofficials truly are haunted by the most bitter queens I have ever seen. And coming from a gay guy living in DC, that's saying a LOT.

[Artha]

I'm sure the volunteer base will keep it up to par for years to come.
I know you're mostly joking, but what do you think the OS GMs are working on?

[Ignot]

Dont you know? The engine can make clouds, dude....clouds.....how can it fail?

[Rainy Day]

Maybe some of you yahoos should read up on what game engines actually are and why some big game companies are buying the one from Simu. Most of you obviously have no clue what you're talking about.

RD

[StrayRogue]

And neither do you, most likely.

[Warriorbird]

I won't insult HJ's engine at all. I've heard from professionals that it is very nice. At the same time...I believe Whatley will just pimp it out to other companies. The likelihood of HJ's actual success is...small.

[Rainy Day]

I won't insult HJ's engine at all. I've heard from professionals that it is very nice. At the same time...I believe Whatley will just pimp it out to other companies. The likelihood of HJ's actual success is...small.

You don't have to believe that Watley will do that, he's already doing it. It's good they're doing it because it keeps the company afloat and GS going. My comment was directed to the people who obviously havent' even read anything about the engine and why it's innovative for game design.

I'm in a wait and see mode on HJ. I think Simu's ambitions and expectations are too high, when and if it gets released. But it will be interesting to see what happens.

RD

[thefarmer]

You don't have to believe that Watley will do that, he's already doing it. It's good they're doing it because it keeps the company afloat and GS going. My comment was directed to the people who obviously havent' even read anything about the engine and why it's innovative for game design.

RD

GS makes more than enough money to sustain itself without having to reply on a pimped out game engine. They already figured out how to survive in this age of graphical MMO's with big budgets.. it's called volunteers. It's a cheap business model with virtually no overhead.

Got some extra bills to pay? Whatley wants a new addition to his house? Bring out the WaveDancer. Problem solved.