Will Daybreak games shut down in 2 months?

I'm not sad.
From the way they have been running the company, they should have been laid off a while ago, executives down to the <cough> "Developers", and probably even the custodial staff.

And I hope that their reputation follows them.

Forever.

 

And? You do realize, we aren't the ones running a headline a day about DBG, right?

 

If I was a SOE employee that then became a DBG employee, I wouldn't have gotten comfortable, especially if I was supporting older games like EQ1/EQ2. I would have been shopping my resume and making sure I was up-to-date in regards to my talents and coding skills.

Fast-forward to now, and all my resume would say is that I'd been a lead dev or a supporting dev to old games that have dwindling player bases. What top tier gaming company would want to hire an old dog who didn't bother to learn new tricks?

They got comfortable and stagnated instead of branching out and moving forward in their careers, skills, knowledge and being forward-thinking in regards to designing interesting and fun content. Their fate was in their own hands, and they did little to nothing to be head hunted away from DBG.

 

Same. Don't really care how killer an eq3 might be. I don't like how these people do business and how they treat their customers.

I would have to know there has been a dramatic change in company culture before I even consider buying from them again.

 

Yeah. A bunch of us in my raid alliance were talking about this crap, and it doesn't really matter to us how this goes--with all the other junk that's been going on, this fiasco will probably chase off enough of the player base the game will go under before long.

Oh well. ESO is ticking me off, may try FFXIV...

 

Well, to be fair, the upper halves of mermaids can still be pretty damn useful.

Just sayin.

 

Endymion called this one. Right on the money.

Last time they sat everyone down, told them they were great, and that it was business as usual.....they promptly laid off half the company.

Rinse and repeat yesterday.

I still don't believe it's over. Get everything in maintenace mode, sell the company or start selling off or closing titles over the next 6-8 months, or some combination of that.

 

Is there a list being compiled of the layoffs, like what was done in 2015?

Hope you're joking. EQ3 is doomed.

 

To be fair, both of these things can be true; the layoffs probably have more to do with H1Z1 and other games declining than they do any of the CN news. It's just really poor coincidental timing.

 

Yeah, what Endymion said. Having been on the IT/HR side of layoffs, I can tell you that these things take a while to pull together (especially at the numbers being reported). It's some really shite timing...I feel for the Daybreak employees who got hammered with the whole CN thing and the uncertainty from that, then got hit with company-wide layoffs right after.

 

Another article up on massively: http://massivelyop.com/2018/04/27/everquesting-columbus-nova-or-not-daybreak-is-tying-its-own-noose/

Damage has been done for me - I already had one foot out the door and wasn't anticipating continuing on at the end of this expac cycle, and now, I honestly don't even want to stay that long. But I will, because of the people I play with.

But I am not giving Daybreak another penny.

I have zero trust in their products now. Even if they were bought out, the damage has been done.

This specific section from the latest article really rings true with me.....

"However, it goes beyond just PR and interviews. Setting those aside, what about the terms of service that all players had to agree to? Am I being asked to believe that this ToS passed legal muster with an incorrect company name attached? Wouldn’t a lawyer have pounced on such a mistake and insisted it be corrected to save from possible future litigation? And what about misuse of logos? How on earth could all that get past everyone?"

Emphasis mine. How DID it get past everyone?

For THREE YEARS.

 

Whether it's caused by H1Z1 or the sanctions or a little of both, it's pure speculation at this point TBH.

 

Yep Landmark burned me from every putting money into anything (not just their products) that is not yet live and fully fleshed out. I wouldn't go back to one of their fully owned & supported games (I specify that because I am playing LOTRO) unless they get bought out by a reputable company with a good customer service track record.

 

Massively has put together a really entertaining podcast summarizing all these events and providing journalistic perspective:

http://massivelyop.com/2018/04/26/massively-op-podcast-episode-167-daybreaking-news/

Amusing to note, they seemed amazed that this is a company that seems to reflexively lie and cover up, even when it's not needed.

Well Massively, those of us who have done business with Daybreak understand that lying is just the way they do things over there.

Note: also a really entertaining discussion about what we know as Daybreak's resident bubble gnome population

 

http://massivelyop.com/2018/04/26/daybreak-has-now-been-hit-with-layoffs/

Update #8 (4/27)

A few more updates and tips came in overnight.

• A credible source familiar with the situation told us that the Player Studio program – that’s the program that pays players to design gear that goes into Daybreak’s games – may be in jeopardy as the one and only employee overseeing the project was among those let go yesterday. Apparently, Player Studio designers have not yet been informed as to the status of their assets, future paychecks, and participation going forward.

 

I just listened to the podcast and your point about lying and covering up really stuck out to me too. This culture of lying, denying and gaslighting clearly runs deep at DBG.

When lies are being told at senior levels, which actually demonstrate complete contempt for the customer, is it any surprise devs like Kander behave the way they do?

 

I find it interesting they deny being owned by CN then coincidentally when the sanctions kicked in staff are let go.

 

MJ (EQ1 & EQ2) staff writer was far less forgiving than Bree and Justin:

http://massivelyop.com/2018/04/27/everquesting-columbus-nova-or-not-daybreak-is-tying-its-own-noose/

Note: I'm not completely sure, but I seem to recall MJ getting banned from discord around the same time Feldon was.

I could easily be wrong about that though. Just a niggling memory.

 

That article was surprising. MJ was a huge EQ2 booster for a long time. Even when articles were getting 0-5 comments and livestreams with no viewers they kept boosting for it. I know because I would go by them from time to time to "booooo" EQ2

 

I'm relieved to see that Kaitheel responded to one of my posts today. ttobey seems to have posted today too. I'm not sure if there are still any other people there that I care about any more