October 4th Update

dope looking skins, just what we needed, can't wait to see what comes next!

I just realised that if i want to get this skins i need to pay 10$ and more. Soooo...no thanks

Time to start COH2Skins.org and get rich

The update may introduce only skins but isn't it what many people expected from relic some time ago? AFAIK the "relic should make money on skins instead of p2w commanders" threads were all over the place. This is what we have now - no new commanders, just some expensive skins.

Everyone complaining about this 'update' 'patch'. At least we get some free skins you guys... Oh wait

ummm... disappointed!!

Update with $10 skins, which come in pack with what you already have. That's the moment when you realize that previous "update" was not so bad terrible too.

all these people complaining but doing nothing to get a real patch.
What about bashing relic on their own forum, boycott dow 3 ?

Whining is easy but nothing else, 95% of you are not much better than LELIC.

fuck dow3

fuck relic

and dont buy this cheap saleout guys

And for a second I thought there was hope.

Nope a skin update. And not a full skin update where modders can take control and make coh3 modern warfare or anything, just these fucking reskins with flamboyant camo.

Can you news guys fix your titles from now on..."October 4th skin store update" is more appropriate. Title as it is comes off as click bait.

Sorry in advance for salt

It was a four skin update, which when said out loud is pathetically appropriate.

I feel the need to make a post.

563MB update...for skins? =/

They could have at least made the skins free. Relic is just taking the piss now

And for a second I thought there was hope.

Nope a skin update. And not a full skin update where modders can take control and make coh3 modern warfare or anything, just these fucking reskins with flamboyant camo.

Can you news guys fix your titles from now on..."October 4th skin store update" is more appropriate. Title as it is comes off as click bait.

Sorry in advance for salt

So let's talk about "hope". Without any Relic announced goals for COH that seems one of the best things we (as fans) can do now. Spreading slander is counter productive and will only hurt future collaboration with fans. There is no clear proof yet that Relic has abandoned the COH franchise.
Right now we have the COH Brand Manager excited about the future of Relic, so what does that tell you?

Relic COH Brand/marketing Manager (Alex Delamaire) just posted this 3. okt. 2016
on twitter;
https://twitter.com/alexdlmr/status/783091256909889536

Interested in making kick-ass strategy games (DOW3 & COH were just the beginning)? Relic will be ramping up soon: https://boards.greenhouse.io/relic

Patience is a virtue and I'm sure Kyle understand the importance of a roadmap/balance updates to preserve COHs longevity. But for whatever reasons, Kyle is not allowed yet to talk about anything. After the public humiliation of Braden Chan (former Relic "balance meatshield" that now work for Blackbird Interactive Game Studio with the Homeworld IP). Kyle is not that stupid to run into a burning building without an exit strategy.

Relic re-organisation and Kyle's response
https://www.coh2.org/topic/50643/relic-re-organisation-and-kyle-s-response

"There have been some rumors of late that the CoH2 team would like to address. Although there has indeed been some recent changes to the team, rest assured these changes have had no impact on the current plans for CoH2."

COH team = cross-functional teams (as Relic call it). So they have at least two major teams working on DoW3, not just one. I guess this COH team will eventual become similar to what Creative Assembly call "New Content Team" (DLC and Free-LC);
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/178892/what-are-the-total-war-teams-working-on-updated-24-06-16

1) Currently, Relic has 2 Executive Producers (Stephen MacDonald that was leading a team of 60 devs recently left but they are hiring a new one), 3 Game Directors (Adam Bullied, Quinn Duffy, Philippe Boulle), 4-5 Art Directors and a growing brand/marketing team. They don't need all these leadership positions for just DoW3.

Quinn Duffy: I do really like the way Sega approaches their development. They want Relic to be a craft-led studio, managing our own creative process and having more ownership of the game from beginning to end, including areas typically outside traditional development, like PR or marketing.

This means that Relic has to grow – we don’t have these positions internally. We’ve been building up the studio slowly hiring metrics analysts and our new GM who will lead a lot of the future efforts. But the independence is very interesting and challenging – Relic needs to make money, and we need to find the ways to do that while building our games, building relationships with the community, and making our games better all the time.

https://www.coh2.org/news/4977/quinn-duffy-post-launch-interview (2013 - Post-launch Interview)

2) Since 2014 Relic has been growing from 120 to now 160 and they are not slowing down with the recruitment at all (now confirmed by COH brand manager). From my POV they are building 2-3 AAA teams, a) DoW3, b) DoW/COH (Relic call this cross-functional teams which can make content for both core franchises) and c) a team experimenting with freemium MMOs which is their backup plan similar to Creative Assembly with TW:Arena+Kingdom.
https://boards.greenhouse.io/relic/jobs/455345

As our Designer, here’s what you’ll be doing:
Serving the emperor by contributing to Dawn Of War III or battling in the forces [COH] with our cross-functional teams supporting these & other exciting unannounced titles

In comparison Relic sister studio, Creative Assembly has 6 teams(5 TW & 1 Halo Wars), around 50 devs on MMOs (TW:KINGDOM & TW:Arena) and 350+ on their core games (TW Historical, Total Warhammer, Halo Wars)
WHAT ARE THE TOTAL WAR TEAMS WORKING ON? UPDATED 18/03/16
https://forums.totalwar.com/discussion/168257/what-are-the-total-war-teams-working-on-updated-18-03-16

3) Last year they recruited a new brand manager for COH, Alexandre Delamaire
http://alex.delamaire.net/
https://twitter.com/alexdlmr

Linkin Profile
Involved in every stage of the product life cycle for the Company of Heroes franchise, from marketing campaigns and age rating to live operations, updates and in-game store management. Supervised Relic’s first foray into eSports and monetized UGC through partnerships with ESL and Polycount. Co-directed in-house trailers and key art photoshoot for the latest expansion (COH2: The British Forces), also sourcing props, actors, venue and negotiating contracts and image rights. Revamped brand identity. Secured exclusive visibility for Relic artists and assets with Sketchfab around the launch of their new animation feature, generating +120K views through their site. Work on a daily basis with in-house video artist and graphic designer to design all assets for all owned channels.

On Alexandre Delamaire twitter page he highlight at least 3 times this new role as Art Director;
https://boards.greenhouse.io/relic/jobs/237023

*SNIP*If so, having the responsibility to drive the vision for an exciting unannounced title by being our Art Director, might be the perfect fit for you!
*SNIP
It’s a bonus if you have…
Experience with RTS games either as a developer or as a player

4) There is a good chance they are going to expand War Paint as a "self-sustaining model". So that mean new modding tools for community created content.

“This is a unique opportunity to test a self-sustaining model where players can access top quality content, reward the content creators, and fund community-led events,” said Alex Price, brand director at Relic. “We’re excited to see how this might pave the way for more collaboration with players and designers across our portfolio of games.”

http://www.pcgamesn.com/company-of-heroes-2/company-of-heroes-2-pumping-50-of-skin-competition-purchases-back-into-community

5) After the launch of the British faction, Quinn Duffy (COH2 game director) started looking for a new Narrative Designer. They had this position open for almost a year.
https://twitter.com/QuinnDuffy/status/647091606865055744?lang=eng

Quinn Duffy
‏@QuinnDuffy
Snr Narrative Designer. Great position, regrettably(?) might mean working with me.
http://www.relic.com/#careers

Here is a recruitment link which was posted AFTER DoW3 was announced
https://ca.linkedin.com/jobs/view/178534813

*SNIP*
The Senior Narrative Designer will be responsible for delivering every aspect of the narrative for an exciting, unannounced title.

The role as "Narrative Designer" was first created by Relic for COH1.
Interviews with the former COH Narrative Designer, Stephen Dinehart
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/1530/narrative_design_for_company_of_.php?print=1

My title is “Narrative Designer.” It’s a position I worked with Relic and THQ to create on the initiative of Tarrnie Williams, General Manager, and Owen Hurley, Cinematics Director. The core of my job is to champion the story and narrative production pipeline for an entire product.

What is a Narrative Designer? by Stephen Dinehart
http://narrativedesign.org/2011/09/what-is-a-narrative-designer-3/

There is plenty of more info out there that suggest Relic are planning to work on more than just DoW3. Just because Relic is not transparent dont mean they have abandoned the COH franchise.

Patch hype!

You guys don't understand. If you equip a vehicle with one of these skins, all the balance issues will disappear! So BUY THE SKINS

Well,at least the mods thing is a big deal to whoever only has the standalone.

.

Wow great post with good information, thx
Tbh, this post gives actually gives me hope again . Especially the fact that relic indeed has been silent a lot lately. Something big incoming? ^^

I have read somewhere (don't remember where exactly) that we will get infos after the WPC final. But we will see what they call "infos"

However, this idea of humble bundle would be a great idea............. for new players. But generaly, these offer are destinated to old CoH players (where majority of them purchased the game from 2013).

I thought that these new skins will be dispatched to all players to celebrate the 10th anniversary (a kind of free dlc), or even put in the in-game store as new skins to buy.

But they prefer give it as an exclusive dlc (and only for 10$ purchasers minimum) in a heavy bundle which comprises the game and DLC that most of the old CoH players already have. Does it mean that if you want these skins, you need to buy the game a second time ?

Very odd ! Will they after put it in the in-game store ? No one knows...
Remember the time when you get for free the "happy valentine" skin if you played the day of valentine... If I remember well, they offer the possibility to buy them last year, instead of earning them by playing...

Would be great the time to recognize and reward old CoH players

I'm walking on a very thin line about getting DoW 3 see as hoe things are going with CoH 2