https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/524046-Read-a-letter-from-Robin-to-the...!

a locked thread about a guy asking for feedback, priceless.  never change cordo.

here's the complete text of that post:

Read a letter from Robin to the Daybreak Community, and watch Robin's video over on the Enad Global 7 YouTube page.

https://www.daybreakgames.com/news/daybreak-games-eg7-message-from-robin-flodin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVMPmSdJz2A

its in the locked Announcements & Contests section. those are always locked.

Shunned wrote on Apr 30^th, 2021 at 8:58pm:


"Trying to balance making sure the developers are incentivized; that you really treat your community well, but also that you are a good vehicle for investors because otherwise, you know, it's not going to work out."
https://youtu.be/AVMPmSdJz2A?t=183

"... so I think that's a key thing to understand .. we think though that one of the things that one should be excited about around EG7 engaging with these companies is this philosophy that we also have one of our core drivers is also community ..."
https://youtu.be/AVMPmSdJz2A?t=280

He goes on to say that he believes over time that they will deliver for those who play the games.

Then he talks about letting the existing developers run the game how they want and EG7 are just there to help them.
https://youtu.be/AVMPmSdJz2A?t=630

That sets up a conflict in my mind because if he wants to "deliver" for us then SSG needs some staff rolled out the door.

"... so we engage with them when we think things aren't moving in the right direction or communities.  Maybe their feedback, their negativity, their, you know, status ... those are things that we talk to the management team over there about."
https://youtu.be/AVMPmSdJz2A?t=666

"... and I'd much rather tell you what's going on than sit here and make just a story that I think a lot of companies do to gamers."
https://youtu.be/AVMPmSdJz2A?t=697

BUT .. a lot of these comments were in the context of H1Z1.

Towards the end he states that communication should be between the "developers and people around the game".

So there's this sort of promise of sticking their nose into the business of each developer company but also happy to sit back and let the business carry on.

I doubt this EG7 will make any impact on DDO.  I assume DDO is turning a profit because it has survived this long and profit is king and gutting SSG in order to improve the game, realistically, would have too much of an impact on that profit.

I wonder if this for-the-people approach by the CEO is just a clever mask.  Building up this little empire just for that end game sale.

I call BS.  It's believable but in an acting kind of way.  I'm an old gamer and I love gaming and we built EG7 for gamers and we want to engage with gamers and ......  It's evangelistic.  He talks of H1Z1 having no team behind it so it's the perfect platform for putting energy into. Once it's been reborn they can say, look what we did! and gamers will feel like someone cares so they talk and promote throughout communities and the profit rises.

Shunned wrote on Apr 30^th, 2021 at 8:59pm:


You know they were.

A private equity investor is looking for profitable companies that are solid but missing something.  Something that needs capital to solve.  They don’t invest in companies that don’t need anything because there is nothing they can do to improve it enough to sell it in 3-5 years die a 3-5x multiple.  And they don’t invest in train wrecks because it is too much risk. 

If you thought they were going to do the house flipper thing and take it down to the studs you will probably be disappointed.   This wasn’t a distressed asset, at least based on the numbers that are published.

Asheras wrote on May 2^nd, 2021 at 9:29pm:



At PGI it was sidelining a really toxic producer/studio owner named Russ Bullock, really setting him back from the players and game direction. Bullock is notorious in the industry for near misses on fraud charges, and in MWO for promising features that he never intended to go live with to goose several fundraising phases and turning the Cynical whale farming formula up to 11.  He actually sold access to gold-plated Mech (giant robots you fight with) and alienated 95% of the paying player base.  EG7 also insisted on reframing the community manager position and undertaking a large to-do list of quality issues with regular updates to the players.... and they actually did it.

noamineo wrote on May 2^nd, 2021 at 10:20pm:


I wonder tho if they are long term gonna hold or just sell these games later.  They have racked up HUGE debt to purchase everything these last few years.

Dragonborn wrote on May 3^rd, 2021 at 5:10am:


I wonder when they will get to DDO and LOTRO.  They don't seem to be doing unilateral quick decisions which is a good thing, but it takes time to get the lay of the land and make correct decisions.  So far I've heard about mechwarrior and zome zombie game, and it seems like they are giving the players what they want and streamlining development to keep giving them what they want.  I thought it was interesting that the same day Cordo linked this hairclub president and member speech that Steelstar seemed to get a red lassie holy hair nicer on the forum.

Shunned wrote on May 3^rd, 2021 at 7:14am:


Pump-and-dump isn't a particularly good strategy when it comes to MMOs. The bulk of the profits are made within the first few years after initial release, when player population is at its highest. The simple fact is new players are less likely to join an old game, so every year the population shrinks. No matter what they do, at best EG7 can only ensure the game continues to remain profitable. A 15 year old game is never going to be worth 3x what they paid for it.

The strategy is more along the lines of consolidation. Think about my dry-cleaner analogy above: if you own all the dry cleaners in town, you can buy all your supplies at once and get a bulk discount. You can save on advertising. The list goes on.

EG7 has no plans to sell, they plan to buy and make back the money in the long run. Hopefully that means trying to keep the games alive indefinitely, or at least as long as they are profitable. And with proper management, that can very easily be for decades more.

Dragonborn wrote on May 3^rd, 2021 at 5:10am:


Yeah the mechcwarrior/piranha deal seemed like more of a distressed asset deal to me.