Rumor: NCsoft Austin, Dungeon Runners to be shut down
Filed under: Dungeon Runners, MMO industry, Tabula Rasa, Rumors
A well-placed source with the company reported the studio's position to Joystiq, confirming similar information provided to Massively by a trustworthy third party. According to our sources, any or all of the following may be in the works:
- NCsoft Austin will be closed, with work on Tabula Rasa to be moved to the West coast. Dungeon Runners is apparently to be closed. Los Angeles is home to the development-in-the-dark Carbine Studios effort, while the San Francisco area is home to the City of Heroes development team. Seattle, of course, plays host to Arena.net and Joystiq reports that's where TR will be headed.
- This shakeup is only affecting Austin; the City of Heroes and Guild Wars teams are unaffected, as are the teams based out of the Korean offices.
- Future collaborations between NCsoft and the Garriott brothers will be very limited in scope, a sign of the frustrations between the Korean executives and the sibling-lead NCsoft North American office.
- Tabula Rasa may see closure by this time next year, if the team fails to turn the tide of subscribers and expectations.
_thumbnail.jpg "Aion Beta: Asmodian Ascension Quest")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Arnie said on 5:30PM 8-12-2008
I dont believe NCSoft owns Arenanet does it? I just thought they were the publishers for Guild Wars and that ArenaNet was its own master.
Of course, I could be totally wrong.
Anyway I am glad that Guild Wars is not affected cause it's for sure one of the better MMO out there(I frankly dont care whether the purists call it an MMO or not I do cause I can play with my friends).
Here's hoping the guys who this is affecting do alright.
Reply
Arnie said on 5:31PM 8-12-2008
Well I just checked Wiki & I was wrong, it is owned completely by NCSoft.
Reply
wraith808 said on 5:46PM 8-12-2008
From the horse's mouth...
http://www.planettr.com/forums/showpost.php?p=105990&postcount=5
Reply
Quinn said on 5:52PM 8-12-2008
Sloppy reporting, seems to be becoming a staple here at massively.
http://www.planettr.com/forums/showpost.php?p=105990&postcount=5
Reply
wraith808 said on 5:53PM 8-12-2008
And you couldn't wait a day or so for a response... why? And then have a substantiated story or something of substance?
Reply
Quinn said on 6:02PM 8-12-2008
.... and further commentary by the dev staff at austin... which begs the question just how "hard" the attempt to reach a NcSoft representative was before going to press with a byline based completely on vapor? Way to play at being "journalist".
http://www.planettr.com/forums/showpost.php?p=106005&postcount=16
Reply
Quinn said on 6:53PM 8-12-2008
Out of curiosity, how does Massively vet its sources? This article in particular begs the question given that at least one of the (very few) cited sources is that of a korean newspaper article which was subsequently long since proven at best false and misleading.
In that Massively lacks a masthead it begs the question as to whether it employs a ombudsman or even a editor whom would presumably vet sources and articles' (like the above's) veracity before going to press.
Poor, poor reporting, little better than (and in this case quite on par with) tabloid journalism.
Reply
Quinn said on 7:02PM 8-12-2008
Way to alter the title of the article after the fact in a attempt to mitigate your "journalist" efforts.
Still doesn't make sense in light of DR just releasing a retail package. Rather than change the title of this article you'd be better off printing a retraction until you get some vetted real sources rather than rumour mongering tabloid journalism.
Reply
Jephir said on 7:20PM 8-12-2008
Massively just lost more credibility.
Reply
aurorallew said on 7:33PM 8-12-2008
Cut Massively some slack: As you'll recall, the folks at Flagship swore up and down that they weren't closing up until days before Hanbitsoft smacked them around.
I for one hope that it's not true, but if it is, I hope some company comes in and grabs these assets before they're ground into the ground by NCSoft. Dungeon Runners is an insanely fun, very polished game that deserves a higher profile than it's gotten to date.
Reply
Quinn said on 7:46PM 8-12-2008
Slack for what? Not waiting for a NcSoft representative to respond before going to press (thats assuming a response was even requested and given how fast and lose the "fact" and "vetting" in the article has been thats a huge freaking assumption)? Running with a story which said representative have said was flatly false? Utilizing as a source a nearly 6 month old Korean article which was subsequently disproven as a source while failing to provide a source for this subsequently disproven bit of rumour mongering?
NCSoft representative (Community manger in point of fact)
http://www.planettr.com/forums/showpost.php?p=105990&postcount=5
Austin TR QA Lead Dev
http://www.planettr.com/forums/showpost.php?p=106005&postcount=16
Simply put, until vetted no real journalist would've let this tabloid assassination piece see the light of day. No slack needed, that'd be minimum expected journalistic standards.
Reply
Malachi Nekasrof said on 8:07PM 8-12-2008
This is horrible journalism. Whoever wrote this crap should be ashamed of themselves. You have NO facts, you have NO truth, all you have is a bunch of OLD rumors!
I now consider Massively to be a joke of an mmo news site and will not believe anything they report unless I see it somewhere else that's more reliable. I will also laugh at my friends when they link me articles from here.
Reply
Plukh said on 8:10PM 8-12-2008
Really, guys, what's up with journalism standards nowadays?
Tabula Rasa is going stronger then ever for the past few months. It was through some rough waters, but it survived, and, judging by the influx of new players (that can be seen by anyone who would play the game for just a few days), developer activity, and overall overwhelmingly positive feedback (both on fan sites and in-game), it will grow substantially in the coming days.
To all readers not currently playing Tabula Rasa: do yourself a favor and get a trial account, it's very easy to do now. Check this game out. It's amazing how the game had progressed since launch, and it'll gain even more soon. Join now - you don't wanna miss the ride!
Reply
greenclade said on 8:18PM 8-12-2008
Better connected sources like F13 are also reporting this. I'd tend to trust them.
Reply
Plukh said on 8:19PM 8-12-2008
Really, guys, what's up with journalism standards nowadays?
Tabula Rasa is going stronger then ever for the past few months. It was through some rough waters, but it survived, and, judging by the influx of new players (that can be seen by anyone who would play the game for just a few days), developer activity, and overall overwhelmingly positive feedback (both on fan sites and in-game), it will grow substantially in the coming days.
To all readers not currently playing Tabula Rasa: do yourself a favor and get a trial account, it's very easy to do now. Check this game out. It's amazing how the game had progressed since launch, and it'll gain even more soon. Join now - you don't wanna miss the ride!
Reply
Plukh said on 8:20PM 8-12-2008
Oh, before I forget. I have a Dungeon Runners account as well :-). Paid one at that, with Bling Gnome add-on. This game, while definitely not of the scope of Tabula Rasa, is immensely fun in its own way - not to mention that it runs decently on my 3-year-old work notebook (which my employer doesn't want to replace yet). Seeing all the recent marketing efforts (including a *major* retail pack release) I just fail to even remotely believe that DR will be shut down any time soon.
Reply
Plukh said on 8:25PM 8-12-2008
Oh, before I forget. I have a Dungeon Runners account as well :-). Paid one at that, with Bling Gnome add-on. This game, while definitely not of the scope of Tabula Rasa, is immensely fun in its own way - not to mention that it runs decently on my 3-year-old work notebook (which my employer doesn't want to replace yet). Seeing all the recent marketing efforts (including a *major* retail pack release) I just fail to even remotely believe that DR will be shut down any time soon.
Reply
PurityKnight said on 8:40PM 8-12-2008
So it appears this article was linked in some TR fan site and all the fanboys are defending? Sure sounds like it, with how some of you are getting worked up.
If it turns out true, linking these posts will be fun.
Reply
TheDeadEye said on 9:15PM 8-12-2008
I'd be willing to cut NCsoft a bit more slack in the "No, we have no intention of closing this MMO" department if it wasn't for Auto Assault. The fanbois above think otherwise, but I feel the rumor is plausible.
Reply
Quinn said on 9:26PM 8-12-2008
The linked posts aren't to fanbois they are to the TR developers themselves. The plausibility ends with the lack of vetting in this "article" and the stunning "coincidence" that the only citation at all apart from a 6 month old disproven korean hack piece is joystick citing massively and massively in turn citing joystick.
Shockingly poor tabloid-esque "journalism".
Reply