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Storybricks is done -- tried to buy SOE
d_20
Member RarePosts: 1,878
So I got this Last Storybricks Newsletter this morning.
Quoted partially below:
We fell in love with the EverQuest franchise and we wanted the best possible future for it. We knew Sony Online (300+ employees IIRC) was for sale so Storybricks (barely 10 people) tried to actually buy out the whole division.
We retained an investment banking firm as a proxy and they went directly to Sony Corporate bypassing the local executives. We would have been able to raise the necessary capital, and had interviewed new and existing management ready for a turnover.
Alas, it was not meant to be as the terms offered by Sony Japan were unacceptable to us and to our investors. It is my understanding that other buyers had the same reaction and, in the end, Columbus Nova got a completely different deal that the one we were offered, but by then our investor group had moved on.
Make no mistake the company needed cuts badly, and we would have cut and cut deeply. Possibly as deep as Columbus Nova did but maybe we would have cut more senior management and less game developers instead. It was our intention to try to acquire the 38 Studios assets and made them available to players in EQN. Moreover we would have probably changed the server infrastructure allowing people to run their own servers. It would not have been a very canonical EverQuest but we would have done the best to service our customers with the limited budget of an independent studio who wanted to punch above its weight.
We really did try our best. And our best was not enough.
What does this mean for EQN?
Here is a link to the full newsletter: http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7e1844ab69e151021701614fa&id=6eb42c3b11&e=73e6117074
Comments
It was already announced before that DGS parted their way with Storybricks.
EQN is only using Storybrick technology but DGS does not own it, thus EQN is likely stuck with the technology as it is, with no prospect to improve it further.
On a personal note, I am glad this didn't happen at least.
But my personal preferences for MMORPGs aside, that was a neat company with a very interesting mission statement. Sad to see them go.
"Majority of the work we have done is about EverQuest Next and is co-owned by Daybreak."
Guess it can go either way, but from what the EQN devs said about their future plans, seems likely they'll continue to develop or build upon whatever is in place. We don't know how far along or not it was, so could be "good enough" as is, with anything they do making it better. Or they could of all been hanging out at the water cooler for the last couple years and got nothing to show for it.
Good to see a some what unbiased opinion from those directly related to the project. Especially who they chose to recognize from the team (unsurprisingly not the ones cut that everyone has been crying over) and that they thought it should of been even more upper management (Smed?). Sorry Dave/Jeff fans...
Glad to see they all have future plans in the works, and at the same time, EQN could still be utilizing whatever crazy tech they had cooking.
Somewhere in a parallel universe...
So they used the expertise at Storybricks to assist in the development of their own code, then ditched the company and Storybrick name when they had what they needed. Wow, that's awesome. By awesome, I mean incredibly shady and full of douchebaggery.
How is that different then any contractor? SB signed over what they owned to DGC as DGC still hold ownership of the work done. If it was so bad a deal the SB team should have never signed the deal. Like I said I feel bad SB studios has gone out of business but DGC was their only customer.
Could be but till then I will take DGC word on the subject as law till I see other wise. DGC has said very clear they retained everything they worked on with SB devs till now. Only question remains is if DGC has the chops to finish from here. I want to see proof of that myself =-)
I'm sure DGC did it all legally. Sounds like a startup didn't have the proper legal representation and agreed to a contract that didn't provide them with adequate protection or they didn't charge enough for what they were giving up. I'm sure that technically the fault resides within SB. I know business isn't forgiving, but it's still unfortunate to see the little guy get screwed over.
DBG owns what they contracted for, but it's at best an alpha product state. Does DBG have the expertise and skill sets to continue to work on this product? I doubt it. Most likely, as they advance their product and run into issues related to Storybricks, they'll probably just gut.
As always could be, may happen we dont know. All we know for now is that DGC devs have said they will pick up from here forward with the emergent AI project. Their words, the plan is still the plan. We are still building the same game and if we change that, we will let you know. So its really all in DGC hands for better or worse.
What DBG devs have said? Even when what they say doesn't sound possible? SOE contracted for a proprietary component to be developed for their game from an outside source. Now all the sudden, even after major cuts, they have the skill sets to "pick up from here"?
As I said before, CN probably want's to make EQN a "Safe" MMORPG. I bet they are looking to go with the traditional model.
The key words should be "until you see".
The point being missed is that there currently isn't anything to be seen about if and or how storybricks is being used.
Daybreak saying ambiguous comments about taking the AI in house and still having all the work they did is fairly meaningless, because there is nothing to show for it. Daybreak could say they want to make the game on one server that will house infinite number of players, but that doesn't make it "law" just because they said it.
Overpromise, underdeliver.
And DMKano makes the accurate comment in regards to Storybricks closing and Daybreak doing it on their own. Daybreak is losing access to the ten people most familiar with the technology. That isn't something to be easily dismissed and pretend that nothing has changed and SOE is just going to do it in house as if they never needed Storybricks help.
RED:DGC devs were always working hand in hand with SB devs in house. Landmark has many of SB systems in play. Like chars emotional state and how it changes emotes. You make it sound like DGC devs have had no hands on experience with the systems lol. I think DGC is smarter then that. I know if I was building a game and hired someone to help build a key system, I would have my people working hand in hand with them to know every detail. But thats just my guess lol
PINK: On this I will take DGC word over your guess sorry. I have been gaming with them since 1999 and they have a solid track record. Sure they have made mistakes as they are a company made up of humans but they have always done good by their fans. Till I see them say their are changing things or I play it and it sucks, there word stands for now.
I really don't see why so many are so enthralled with Storybricks.. It was nothing more then tweaked code on steroids.. The whole thing about "likes/dislikes" is redressed faction standing.. There is nothing new with what SB was doing with NPC in this area.. It doesn't take being a rocket scientist to design a faction based formula.. You do this you earn "like" and if you do that you lose "like" status..
The only thing SB was bringing to the table in my opinion was the use of magnets on NPC as to where they go on the map and why.. This isn't much different then what GW2 and Rift were doing with dynamic events.. Most times mobs will run a defined "path" as instructed by code.. What SB was doing was using "attraction" points like a magnet so that mobs gravitated to that area.. What players could do was effect those attraction points, which then effected the NPC's that depend on those points.. Gnolls want gold, and players mine all the gold, then gnolls go look elsewhere for gold on the map.. Gold respawns, players don't mine it, and gnolls enter the area in numbers.. Eventually gnolls start attacking farms or citizens, or other mobs.. The scenario can go on and on, evolving all depending on how complex the code variables are..
However, keep in mind.. The more variables you add to a game, the more actions that have to be performed means the more "CALLS" that are generated and the more demand this places not just on the servers, but home computers as well.. There is a fine line where you go too far, and it's too much icing on the cake.. Personally, I think that was a very serious ISSUE EverQuest Next is facing, and one reason why SB went bye bye.. They couldn't overcome the problem that such a code demanded without nerfing the shit out of it..
Now as for the "in-house" developing of the AI.. well, this should be interesting to see what they actually can and will do, and what they will show or announce.. lol
You may have been with them since 1999, but CN hasn't.
My own interpretation of the DGC ownership of the existing SB code issue. Yes, DGC owns and may continue to use what they have, but it is most likely an interface layer built into the EQ:N code, essentially no more than another SDK (software development kit). The code they own is nothing more than a series of calls to routines in SB's external logic engine in places where the AI logic would be needed.
So, I expect DGC owns code that points to nothing, and are now undertaking the prospect of 'reverse-engineering' the functionality of Storybrick's proprietary code. I wouldn't be surprised if the links to SB's interface weren't being rapidly commented out of the existing EQ:N code, with intentions to replace/reactivate that code once their own AI product was operational.
This is a major red-flag for me. Reproducing the functionality of another product by reverse-engineering the details provided by an interface is both difficult to achieve and somewhat ethically dubious. I think we all recognize that SB's intellectual property is an AI determination engine/algorithm that SOE contracted to use in building EQ:N. Now that contract is terminated, and the former licensee is now attempting to build their own, possibly based off of proprietary exposure to SB's IP.
Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.
Well said, and I agree.. For those that may not follow, I"ll try to give a short example.. Storybricks designed a drivetrain, and together SOE and SB worked on making a frame for that drivetrain.. Now that they have parted ways, yes DGC/SOE still can use that frame, but now have to make their own drivetrain using "reverse engineering".. WITHOUT copying or remotely looking like they use SB proprietary code.. It would almost be better for DGC to just scrap the frame, design their own AI and start over.. But we'll see.. I suspected that is the direction they will truly go, but wanted to keep the hype alive amongst the fan base, so they reaffirmed they can still use the frame.. (what they will have next year I suspect will be a different frame to fit their in-house AI)..
To use your analogy, I would have interpreted it as, they got their drive train (Probably through legal wrangling) They will use it "As Is" but when they come across an issue with it where they'd have needed the technical expertise to fix the issue, they'll just remove it instead.
So, when all is said and done, a lot of SB's code in EQN will end up watered down.
I don't think DBG have the resources, time and/or talent to reverse engineer SB's code.
And as more of the Dev team is 'released into the wild' the less likely they are to ever be able to.