Relic Update COH Online Domain

Interesting, something is brewing.

Maybe they'll pull another AoE4/DoW3 and just announce CoH3 with a teaser trailer and not release any other details or gameplay on purpose and go silent for months on end and expect people to just be hyped which is obviously not going to work but it is Relic...

At least that's what me thinks due to past experience.

I doubt that it's an entirely new game (CoH3-Online-F2P, or something like that), but I could see a CoH2 re-skin, similar to the original CoH-Online.

Investing all that time and money into new art assets, an update engine, etc. seems excessive, when all of those things already exist, and when F2P titles are exceedingly risky (unpredictable if it's a success or failure). In addition, CoH2 is already setup really well to transition into an F2P-type game: You've got skins, commanders, room for at least one additional faction, and the possibility to either continue with bulletins, or possibly replace them with a re-worked version of COH-Online's "Hero" units (less insane fatherland MG?).

That said, I think they're going to go the opposite direction that A. Soldier suggested: I think they're just going to release it with zero (or very little) buildup, similar to how Apex Legends did it. RTS games just don't hold mass-attention for very long (even massive titles, like SC2), so the vast majority would simply forget about the game if they showed a teaser and then went silent for months.

Either way, looking forward to whatever this turns out to be.

I hope that CoH2 does not turn free to play. The player base won't grow. There were already two free giveaways, so everybody that is at least partially interested probably has the game, and basically none of them stayed for long. A FTP won't bring in new players, just more cheaters.

Also I hope that CoH3 does not go down the route of the same business model as CoH2. This game's additions, be it commanders or new factions, were plain broken at release to make people buy them. And now, years later, balance team still has to fix units because of it. It's okay to pay money for real expansions, but then I want them to be implemented correctly and not damage basically the rest of the game. Otherwise I can't play the game I paid for for several months until relic patched it back into a somewhat balanced state.
I know the strategy market is not the most profitable anymore. I'm willing to pay a bit extra if I know that the dev team handles their stuff adequately, but I won't buy something that I lnow is going to be broken later down the line.
And also the supply system, where you can earn stuff for 'free', so you would not have to pay, is a bad joke and only there to give an illusion that you couls earn the game's whole content by just playing it.

If I see something like this implemented in AoE4 or CoH3, I'm not gonna buy it until I get the whole bundle 5 years later for 10 Euros.

I hope that CoH2 does not turn free to play. The player base won't grow. There were already two free giveaways, so everybody that is at least partially interested probably has the game, and basically none of them stayed for long. A FTP won't bring in new players, just more cheaters.

Also I hope that CoH3 does not go down the route of the same business model as CoH2. This game's additions, be it commanders or new factions, were plain broken at release to make people buy them. And now, years later, balance team still has to fix units because of it. It's okay to pay money for real expansions, but then I want them to be implemented correctly and not damage basically the rest of the game. Otherwise I can't play the game I paid for for several months until relic patched it back into a somewhat balanced state.
I know the strategy market is not the most profitable anymore. I'm willing to pay a bit extra if I know that the dev team handles their stuff adequately, but I won't buy something that I lnow is going to be broken later down the line.
And also the supply system, where you can earn stuff for 'free', so you would not have to pay, is a bad joke and only there to give an illusion that you couls earn the game's whole content by just playing it.

If I see something like this implemented in AoE4 or CoH3, I'm not gonna buy it until I get the whole bundle 5 years later for 10 Euros.

The only dev teams that handle their stuff adequately (as possible) from what I've noticed recently is only the Indie ones. So don't expect any triple A devs be on the same level of communication and listening as them.

They cannot hide behind corporate shenanigans and are directly accountable for their stuff, no Publisher bullshittery is possible there.

That's why I'm hoping that Iron Harvest will succeed and show Relic how a proper game is really done today but sadly seeing as they're also aiming for consoles and have chosen the Unity engine, I'm not so sure about it anymore.

The only dev teams that handle their stuff adequately (as possible) from what I've noticed recently is only the Indie ones. So don't expect any triple A devs be on the same level of communication and listening as them.

They cannot hide behind corporate shenanigans and are directly accountable for their stuff, no Publisher bullshittery is possible there.

That's why I'm hoping that Iron Harvest will succeed and show Relic how a proper game is really done today but sadly seeing as they're also aiming for consoles and have chosen the Unity engine, I'm not so sure about it anymore.

The main reason in my eyes is that the 'games as a service' bullshit that is running wild in the industry at the momentonly works if you build up enough hype by either a big marketing machinery or using an already established IP. Indie developers don't have any of that. There are also scammers in the Indie community, but in the triple A business there's next to no decent developer left

The main reason in my eyes is that the 'games as a service' bullshit that is running wild in the industry at the momentonly works if you build up enough hype by either a big marketing machinery or using an already established IP. Indie developers don't have any of that. There are also scammers in the Indie community, but in the triple A business there's next to no decent developer left

Agreed.

I hope that CoH2 does not turn free to play. The player base won't grow. There were already two free giveaways, so everybody that is at least partially interested probably has the game, and basically none of them stayed for long. A FTP won't bring in new players, just more cheaters.

I dont know about that. I have seen allot of Chinese players recently and probably due to those free giveaways. I remember around 2016 when average people on weekends was barely 4K and now we see somewhat 11k. I dont have the exact numbers but this is all from what I have seen playing the game over the years.

I dont know about that. I have seen allot of Chinese players recently and probably due to those free giveaways. I remember around 2016 when average people on weekends was barely 4K and now we see somewhat 11k. I dont have the exact numbers but this is all from what I have seen playing the game over the years.

Not sure what you mean.
At least according to steamdb.info, weekend peak player count today is similar to 2006, always between 7-8k.
I just saw that before the 2018 give away, we had about 1k less. So the some people stayed.

The main reason in my eyes is that the 'games as a service' bullshit that is running wild in the industry at the momentonly works if you build up enough hype by either a big marketing machinery or using an already established IP. Indie developers don't have any of that. There are also scammers in the Indie community, but in the triple A business there's next to no decent developer left

Indie devs means independent but I agree with the sentiments. Big indies includes Bungie who recently split from Activision and then ofc CD Projekt Red (CyberPunk 2077, The Witcher 3 & GOG digital distribution platform). GOG is the pro-consumer alternative to Steam.

Technically, indie devs are developers that do not depend on external sources to sustain themselves, funding their projects with their own resources.

In theory, this gives them much greater creative control over their projects, as they don't need to satisfy publishers, executives, marketing people and so on.

Generally speaking, people tend to consider "indie" studios that are relatively small, the expression applies to any studio that fund themselves their development and fulfil it without any agreements that interfere with the game being made.
https://www.quora.com/Whats-the-definition-of-indie-developer

Tweet from industry veteran Jason Schreier tells of Bungie staff cheering loudly at the announcement of split from Activision:

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1083474033033777152
@jasonschreier
At today's meeting announcing the news, Bungie staff cheered loudly. Can't over-emphasize how happy they are not just to get away from Activision, but to have a game that they now own completely. Imagine a Destiny free from Activision's restrictive annualized schedule!

Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/bxjcd1/destiny_2_is_moving_to_steam_on_september_17_free/

InquisitorAles
I love how Luke trolled and said "Someone said that we need an EPIC partner" when they announced it's coming to Steam - https://www.twitch.tv/bungie/clip/DignifiedInterestingMonkeyMcaT

At this point, it's obvious crony capitalism hijacked the AAA gaming industry which are taking advantage of people's brand attachment.

The sustainable future for AAA gaming?

https://gamasutra.com/blogs/author/KevinMurphy/1001884/
https://gamasutra.com/blogs/KevinMurphy/20171206/310930/What_Conscious_Capitalism_can_teach_AAA.php
What 'Conscious Capitalism' can teach AAA
*SNIP*
The book is filled with case studies on how profit-driven CEOs ran once-successful companies into the ground by striving solely to create shareholder value, and not caring about the other stakeholders (meaning anyone who has any interest in the business, including customers, employees, the government, and even the environment) of the business.

Reading it, I couldn't help but draw parallels with how EA, Activision, and Warner Bros. have been milking their once loyal and enthusiastic customers to the point of maximum frustration and past ethical boundaries. They’re burning bridges with former fans in the hopes of maximizing returns this fiscal year.
*SNIP*
Wait, isn’t this a games blog? Get to the point!
Okay! So clearly EA and other AAA publishers, judging by their actions of the last few months and years, still subscribe to the Friedman school of business ethics, and they’re losing their supporters in droves. Even those that stick around and pay are hardly becoming ardent fans of the companies.

Then take a company like CD Projekt Red, creators of The Witcher series, who, to date, have seemed perfectly happy to offer outstanding value to their customers and who truly invest in the intangible ‘Goodwill’ line of the Balance Sheet (yes, it’s a thing on the balance sheet, but how do you really calculate it? (rhetorical question)).

Their core $60 experience in The Witcher 3 was over 70 hours of gameplay with no microtransactions. Then along came two expansion packs (pay once, play forever model) of 10-20 hours each! Not a microtransaction or loot crate in sight!

They clearly care about customer satisfaction to a degree that the other major games publishers can’t claim. This gives them so many intangible benefits, including customer loyalty, more predictable sales numbers, and free marketing via positive word of mouth.

Note: CD Projekt aren't a perfect example because they're known to have some internal problems with crunch time, and employee welfare is a core part of the Conscious Capitalism approach. Still, they're still probably the best example, and nobody's perfect.