To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
It's as good decision as amputating someone's leg to save his life: Doing what must be done when it's the only hope left.
I hope no amputees come around here. “Last ditch effort I see, might as well kick the bucket”
Where are the white knights ? The game is awesome, with thousand of players blah blah blah.. Guys.. the turd is going to be flushed , really soon. I wonder what Chris is going to become.
Well lets be fair here. Steamcharts isn't exactly anything to go by for a game that has long been released outside of steam plus steamcharts and steamspy are only accurate insofar as people that have made the game lists public to everyone (they default to private). So we don't really have an accurate representation of how many players the game has.
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
It's as good decision as amputating someone's leg to save his life: Doing what must be done when it's the only hope left.
I hope no amputees come around here. “Last ditch effort I see, might as well kick the bucket”
Pretty much. At this point there are three alternatives: 1. Go bankrupt and shutdown. 2. Make significant charges to the game that bring in much more revenue. 3. Get funding to allow development of a new game.
The second alternative seems very unlikely. As for the third, without formal business premises who is going to take them seriously?
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
It's as good decision as amputating someone's leg to save his life: Doing what must be done when it's the only hope left.
I hope no amputees come around here. “Last ditch effort I see, might as well kick the bucket”
Pretty much. At this point there are three alternatives: 1. Go bankrupt and shutdown. 2. Make significant charges to the game that bring in much more revenue. 3. Get funding to allow development of a new game.
The second alternative seems very unlikely. As for the third, without formal business premises who is going to take them seriously?
So pretty much looming bankruptcy.
Stage for this was set when RG moved back to NYC a few months ago.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Where are the white knights ? The game is awesome, with thousand of players blah blah blah.. Guys.. the turd is going to be flushed , really soon. I wonder what Chris is going to become.
Well lets be fair here. Steamcharts isn't exactly anything to go by for a game that has long been released outside of steam plus steamcharts and steamspy are only accurate insofar as people that have made the game lists public to everyone (they default to private). So we don't really have an accurate representation of how many players the game has.
We can predict with reasonable accuracy the number of players is quite low, we just can't determine precisely how low that figure is.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
It's as good decision as amputating someone's leg to save his life: Doing what must be done when it's the only hope left.
I hope no amputees come around here. “Last ditch effort I see, might as well kick the bucket”
I didn't realize amputees usually go into the surgery describing losing a leg as a way to boost productivity and run faster, for example.
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
Yes, a good move for a sinking boat. Dude, you need money to runs the servers, you also need money to pay your employees and to keep your employees, you need an office. When you're at a point where you're going to work from home to keep the game running..You're done. To all the naysayer...You can forget episode 2 -3-4 and 5. That won't happen and am I the only one to wonder where is the famous Lord british ?
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
It's as good decision as amputating someone's leg to save his life: Doing what must be done when it's the only hope left.
I hope no amputees come around here. “Last ditch effort I see, might as well kick the bucket”
I didn't realize amputees usually go into the surgery describing losing a leg as a way to boost productivity and run faster, for example.
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
Yes, a good move for a sinking boat. Dude, you need money to runs the servers, you also need money to pay your employees and to keep your employees, you need an office. When you're at a point where you're going to work from home to keep the game running..You're done. To all the naysayer...You can forget episode 2 -3-4 and 5. That won't happen and am I the only one to wonder where is the famous Lord british ?
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
It is clearly a cost cutting move, if they had just said that it would be respected. They still hold the accolade of being an indie MMO that actually launched, which as time passes is becoming increasingly pertinent.
Well, I did some budget restructuring and cutting back and I realized I'm wasting an absurd amount of my income on my home- Coupled with electricity, insurance, maintenance and other miscellaneous costs , I could more than double my cash in hand by becoming homeless.
I'm living under a bridge now and not only benefiting from the reduced cost in housing- I'm saving a fortune on fuel costs and commuting time since I carry my belongings in a grocery cart and can just toss a blanket down next to any dumpster and call it 'home'- No need to waste time driving to a stupid and costly destination.
Some people might call me homeless but I just laugh at such absurd notions- Home is where I lay my head. I'm saving a fortune while you wage slaves are just throwing your money away with such extravagance.
I agree with all of those saying this is not a good sign. It is not. Not at all a good sign or signal.
That being said, I can take him at his word that office costs in their preferred area have become untenable to the company. Replacement space was also not working out. So they made a call that until they locate a suitable space, they are doing without. Not ideal, not a good look but maybe not bad business.
It might be easy for the company to lease a much cheaper spot in Bumfluck Nebraska, just to say it has a brick and mortar presence, but then what about the the employees they already have? Do you force them to move? Or are they then just telecommuting anyway? Then how do you attract talent to Bumfluck? It is difficult.
And it's not like California or the East Coast are any cheaper as options. So it does seem like a rock and hard place problem to me.
I couldn't deal with my housing costs doubling, I personally have no budget for that.
( Note to self-Don't say anything bad about Drizzt.)
A business that doesn't have commercial premises is called a hobby! A smart business choice would be a smallish office with a conference room big enough for meetings, a receptionist and a couple of senior staff. With everyone else telecommuting.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
Where are the white knights ? The game is awesome, with thousand of players blah blah blah.. Guys.. the turd is going to be flushed , really soon. I wonder what Chris is going to become.
IDK, that Vladimir guy that was all over the place is no longer to be found.
A lack of business space may not be an indicator of whether or not a business is successful but in this particular case there are numerous other indicators that it is failing.
A business that doesn't have commercial premises is called a hobby! A smart business choice would be a smallish office with a conference room big enough for meetings, a receptionist and a couple of senior staff. With everyone else telecommuting.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
I agree with @craftseeker and I think having offices does make your business more successful. Honestly knowing this about your game/company makes me think you are more of a hobby/passion project than I did before.
Being able to afford offices is an indicator of a businesses success to me.
Edit: You even elude to it in your post by saying "until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space." Which let's face it you probably want to have offices in the future if your game/company becomes more successful.
"You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
To be fair he’s not lying even if it’s to cover paychecks. Paychecks do fall under “other things”.
He framed it like it was some smart business choice and not a move made out of budget pressures. If it was such a great move, methinks someone at Port might've had the right bulb go off before now.
If you're going to spoon-feed folks obvious bullshit with some sprinkles on it to make it look good, you can't expect to get away without receiving some disgusted looks.
That is a smart business choice lol. Truth is they didn’t have to say anything at all and probably would have been better off keeping it quiet.
It was merely a necessary one. I don't think anyone can look at that project and think, "Yea, they're making smart business moves." I think their business would be faring much better if they were.
No matter how much you try to spin it it’s a good business choice.
No matter how much you try to spin it, this is an act of total desperation, nothing more.
So keeping the office in their situation would be a bad move, right? That means dropping it, because they are not necessary, is a good move.
Everyone always wanting to jump on that hate wagon. Pathetic really.
Yes, a good move for a sinking boat. Dude, you need money to runs the servers, you also need money to pay your employees and to keep your employees, you need an office. When you're at a point where you're going to work from home to keep the game running..You're done. To all the naysayer...You can forget episode 2 -3-4 and 5. That won't happen and am I the only one to wonder where is the famous Lord british ?
A business that doesn't have commercial premises is called a hobby! A smart business choice would be a smallish office with a conference room big enough for meetings, a receptionist and a couple of senior staff. With everyone else telecommuting.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
I agree with @craftseeker and I think having offices does make your business more successful. Honestly knowing this about your game/company makes me think you are more of a hobby/passion project than I did before.
Being able to afford offices is an indicator of a businesses success to me.
Edit: You even elude to it in your post by saying "until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space." Which let's face it you probably want to have offices in the future if your game/company becomes more successful.
A business that doesn't have commercial premises is called a hobby! A smart business choice would be a smallish office with a conference room big enough for meetings, a receptionist and a couple of senior staff. With everyone else telecommuting.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
Nice post full of complete nonsense. I can tell you never had any experience in IT. I have been in some shops that outsourced part of the development and it always ended in major problems if not failure. Having the other developers nearby is a huge plus that no teleconferencing tool can make up for. It might work in some instances, but game development it is a definite minus. This issue will be a major thorn in their side going forward.
A business that doesn't have commercial premises is called a hobby! A smart business choice would be a smallish office with a conference room big enough for meetings, a receptionist and a couple of senior staff. With everyone else telecommuting.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
I agree with @craftseeker and I think having offices does make your business more successful. Honestly knowing this about your game/company makes me think you are more of a hobby/passion project than I did before.
Being able to afford offices is an indicator of a businesses success to me.
Edit: You even elude to it in your post by saying "until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space." Which let's face it you probably want to have offices in the future if your game/company becomes more successful.
Well that only makes you wrong.
Sure if you're running a hotdog cart or a indie game with a team of less than 10.
"You CAN'T buy ships for RL money." - MaxBacon
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Comments
At this point there are three alternatives:
1. Go bankrupt and shutdown.
2. Make significant charges to the game that bring in much more revenue.
3. Get funding to allow development of a new game.
The second alternative seems very unlikely. As for the third, without formal business premises who is going to take them seriously?
So pretty much looming bankruptcy.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
It's almost like: they don't.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Well, I did some budget restructuring and cutting back and I realized I'm wasting an absurd amount of my income on my home- Coupled with electricity, insurance, maintenance and other miscellaneous costs , I could more than double my cash in hand by becoming homeless.
I'm living under a bridge now and not only benefiting from the reduced cost in housing- I'm saving a fortune on fuel costs and commuting time since I carry my belongings in a grocery cart and can just toss a blanket down next to any dumpster and call it 'home'- No need to waste time driving to a stupid and costly destination.
Some people might call me homeless but I just laugh at such absurd notions- Home is where I lay my head. I'm saving a fortune while you wage slaves are just throwing your money away with such extravagance.
That being said, I can take him at his word that office costs in their preferred area have become untenable to the company. Replacement space was also not working out. So they made a call that until they locate a suitable space, they are doing without. Not ideal, not a good look but maybe not bad business.
It might be easy for the company to lease a much cheaper spot in Bumfluck Nebraska, just to say it has a brick and mortar presence, but then what about the the employees they already have? Do you force them to move? Or are they then just telecommuting anyway?
Then how do you attract talent to Bumfluck? It is difficult.
And it's not like California or the East Coast are any cheaper as options. So it does seem like a rock and hard place problem to me.
I couldn't deal with my housing costs doubling, I personally have no budget for that.
( Note to self-Don't say anything bad about Drizzt.)
An acerbic sense of humor is NOT allowed here.
Bullshit.
There are so many example of successful companies who work remotely and don't need a physical space.
Ours is one of them. We are also an Austin-based company. 14 team members presently. 8-figure evaluation. Expansion + round of investments going on presently. Expanding our team by 6 - 8 employees throughout 2019/2020.
100% remote, and we have been since day one. It was a choice we made at the very beginning based on my experience since 2008 working around the world as a digital nomad completing marketing/photography/videography contracts for some of the largest tourism brands and companies on the planet (Costa Brava, Failte Ireland, Nat Geo, Backroads, TBEX, and beyond).
My entire public speaking career has been based on educating folks on how to bootstrap their brands into existence using remote teams and digital marketing where you have a fraction of the spendature that brick-and-mortars burn through every year.
We specifically and strategically do not have commercial offices because it's a waste of money for a company like ours. When you look at rent in the Austin space costing 5k-ish per month with 3 - 4 year lease minimums, you start looking at 180k - 240k spent on rent.
A good engineer at 90k = we could spend that on rent (burning money) or we could spend it on engineers (game content).
Yes, there are pros to having a physical office. Coworking has a lot going for it in terms of brainstorming, communication, daily standups, and etc.
There are also a ton of pros to working remotely. Most of which have already been discussed in this thread, and beyond.
Also cons to both options.
When you are a company like Zenimax and you've got millions floating around to spend, it's easy enough to write off an office space.
When you are a lean indie company where every dollar - nay, every penny - counts, then working remote is not only a good idea, I would suggest it's the only smart move until you get to the point where you are generating enough excess income to cover the cost of a rental space.
And, if you can afford it, you're better off buying your own space to cut down on rent, and then you've got a commercial space that you can rent out if you ever hit lean years (i.e. the way the Rand brothers from Cyan Inc. did things with their property in Washington).
A lack of commercial space is by no means an indicator of whether or not a business is successful.
Yeah.. I don't know what happened. /shrugs
"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/"classification of games into MMOs is not by rational reasoning" - nariusseldon
Love Minecraft. And check out my Youtube channel OhCanadaGamer
Try a MUD today at http://www.mudconnect.com/