Faker looked directly at his shadow in the MV, clenched his fist, and knew what he was going to do next. And when he defeated his own past, the phoenix was reborn.
This song was performed by two female singers Cailin Russo & Chrissy Costanza. The title of the 2019 Worlds song is Phoenix. Legendary birds are associated with images of rebirth.
According to Western beliefs, when the life of the Phoenix is about to end, it will burn itself. From the ashes, a new Phoenix will be reborn, and continue to maintain the life cycle of immortality.
First, I don't want CoH3 to be a total failure.
I do however want to do my part and criticize bad/evil marketing as the Emperor has no clothes.
For better or worse, Sega/Relic marketing is everything.
CoH3 could be the best game in the history of RTS and Sega/Relic marketing clowns are still going to mess it up.
After failing with CoH2/DoW3 MTX business model (CHASING THE GOLDEN GOOSE) and a half-baked progression-based economy, we now have vague Sega promises of more "fair" CoH3 MTX.
Store – We want to support CoH3 for years to come while also providing players cool things to earn and unlock. An in-game Store is a critical part of that. This will be rolling out shortly after launch and it will offer players fun ways to customize their experience with cosmetics and more. Players can unlock Store items in two ways – with either a paid currency (War Bonds) or an earned currency (Merit) which is gained through Challenges. Certain cosmetics will not be available with Merit, but we will keep an eye on things and ensure the Store feels fair when players choose to engage with it.
"Cool things" = cosmetics only or corporate doublespeak for Battlegroups MTX?
For future reference and Sega bait and switch marketing. Make sure to remember this fact;
There is no mention of any Battlegroups being sold in the store.
This is very important. Remember this FACT.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bait-switch.asp
What Is Bait and Switch?
Bait and switch is a morally suspect sales tactic that lures customers in with specific claims about the quality or low prices on items that turn out to be unavailable in order to upsell them on a similar, pricier item.
It is considered a form of retail sales fraud, though it takes place in other contexts. While many countries have laws against using bait and switch tactics, not all occurrences constitute fraud.
If Sega marketing planned to make money from Battlegroups MTX then this should have been advertised before launch.
If this bait and switch happen, then it's retail sales fraud.
Whatever can be proven in court or not, if Sega does this then they are no better than EA (criminal enterprise).
With suspected retail sales fraud, to put the money where my mouth is I'll pledge at least 500$ to a legal fund.
If enough gamers supported such efforts, then we could bring Sega to court.
Sure, CoH fans might not win the case.
Why is this important?
Because transparency is the best disinfectant.
A Bug's Life - 'Then they ALL might stand up to us';
*SNIP*
The “little guys” learned how to use the rigged stock market system to beat the big boys at their own game. By January 30, short-sellers had lost an estimated $19 billion on GameStop alone, and other heavily shorted stocks were hit as well. Hedge funds lost over $70 billion in January 2021, with GameStop jumping 1,000 per cent the last week of the month.
Are CoH fans, so naive thinking Sega marketing is not planning to monetize Battlegroups as they did with CoH2 commanders MTX (bait and switch marketing)?
CoH3 launch in less than a month so where are the Battlegroups showcase?
Funny how Sega wants to showcase all the faction trees but does not compare that with all the Battlegroups.
Battlegroup monetization schemes alone could easily decide the future of this game.
Yes, maybe there is a way to monetize Battlegroups.
I won't lift a finger to save Sega marketing, but fans deserve to know about the Sega train wreck that is coming your way.
Hardcore fans might know this info, but the average joe/newcomers don't necessarily know much about Battlegroups & CoH3 monetization schemes.
Similar to the CoH2 progression-based economy (War Spoils), Sega will use a half-baked progression to justify Battlegroups monetization.
Merit/Challenges progression-based economy = CoH3 free printing press.
But this MTX business model is flawed (for multiple reasons) so it's not a game-changer for either fans or Sega.
It's just an annoyance and Sega is the expert in shooting themselves in the foot.
A free printing press with merit/Challenges could also inflate/devalue the cosmetics MTX. If so, this could put more pressure on CoH3 Battlegroups MTX with deeper monetization schemes.
Or worse case;
When CoH2 and DoW3 post-launch MTX business models collapsed (CHASING THE GOLDEN GOOSE) and look how quickly Sega lost interest.
Company of Heroes 2: War Spoils Skydive Event;
Unfortunately, it's been 3 games in a row and Sega/Relic marketing still can't make a functional progression-based economy.
As confirmed below, there is no progression-based economy in Console Edition.
Will CoH3's Console Edition be the same as the PC Edition?
At launch, the two editions of CoH 3 will be identical with some minor exceptions:
CoH3 Console Edition will feature full controller support. CoH3 Console Edition will not have an in-game Store or Challenges.
CoH3 Console Edition will not feature modding support.
Select post-launch content, cosmetics, or gameplay additions will come to console after being released on PC. We plan to bundle standout content into more robust expansions for Console Edition owners.
Xbox AoE4 marketing teams have done a better job learning from CoH2/DoW3 marketing mistakes.
Just use some common sense and CoH fans can see which MTX plans Sega has for CoH3 PC post-launch content.
Ironically, I think CoH Console Edition monetization schemes with "robust expansions" along with Xbox Game Pass are superior to PC post-launch content (a mess).
It's better to have no in-game store (robust expansions) vs a flawed in-game store and half-baked progression.
This MTX/progression shitshow goes beyond Sega's corporate greed.
Sega is also being incompetent and/or lazy.
CoH3 is not like Total War: WARHAMMER where Sega can make money from 40+ DLC in less than 7 years.
More often than not, marketing is built upon a foundation of lies. Telling you comforting lies;
Bill Hicks (comedian) on EVIL Marketing;
Sega bait and switch marketing;
Using rigged arcade/gambling machines Sega marketing is also in the business of stealing money from kids.
This is not speculation as Sega has been sued for these highly immoral business practices.
@thesupernova1623
My grandma actually used to work on these machines. And the test run up takes the key through all the key holes. Yes it is riged to only allow win for each item that is paid for, for example. If you have a $200 watch in there, it won't let a win until that item is paid for.
Rest assured, Sega wants a piece of the MTX pie. Big gaming wants racketeering and for that, they need more naive gamers such as EA FIFA sheeple. This is because that makes them an easy target for MTX exploitation and abuse of neuroscience (rigged dopamine-hamster wheels).
To keep the exploitation going Sega will likely recycle fans, even if that means going mobile or attracting the younger generations.
The younger generations are giving plenty of fuel to a new wave of MTX monetization practices.
After playing all factions I am a bit more optimistic towards this game and the biggest improvement is that they almost took nothing from that disaster COH2.
No, fans should be more cautious as you don't fully understand how Sega's marketing works and the current slippery slope (racketeering) towards pure insanity. There is no honor among thieves.
It's not my job or someone else job to be a "white knight" babysitting you from immoral business ethics.
Except for minors who deserve more legal protection from abuse, adult gamers have to learn their lessons. If not, history will just repeat itself.
As a community, either assume some responsibility or learn the hard way. That is free will.
The Star Wars backlash and implementation of EA fifa business model (immoral business ethics) should have been a RED FLAG that no gaming IP is safe from highly immoral business ethics.
With few exceptions, CoH2/DoW3/CoH3 is being run by Sega marketing clowns.
As a protected corporate class, if you criticize them on LinkedIn say goodbye to your gaming career.
To give credit when it's due;
In comparison, Phil Spencer saved the Xbox Brand and this includes AoE IP.
Not only that, Phil Spencer convinced MS big tech overlords to postpone mobile gaming to favor Console/PC gaming.
Sega/Relic marketing did not save any Relic IP or preserved its legacy.
Not even Xbox marketing wanted to work with the former Relic Brand Director.
That should tell you something.
As when Xbox hires top marketing people for their best IPs the vetting process can take a long time as they check credentials.
This Xbox vetting process (sorting the wheat from the chaff) has been confirmed by former top marketing people.
Alex Price, Relic Studio Brand Director 2013-2018 (overrated marketing guy):
Leading the Sega/Relic charge "CHASING THE GOLDEN GOOSE"; https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-e-price/
Take note of Sega/Alex Price's corporate jargon "10-year portfolio plan" as no true gamer that cared about Relic's RTS legacy would use jargon like this.
The big difference between Xbox's and Relic/Sega's marketing;
As the Emperor has no clothes, marketing people such as Alex Price can only do scripted interviews and/or answer softball questions from gamers.
Phil Spencer can do long non-scripted interviews with real gamers and also answer tough questions.
In short, Phil Spencer as a true gaming professional can play two hats in marketing (pro-Xbox and pro-fans) whereas Alex Price can only play one marketing hat (pro-Sega gaming amateurs/portfolio management).
With DoW3 marketing. Relic/Sega said they cared about PC gamers.
The problem?
They were lying.
Since DoW3. Look at Relic's hiring practices increasing portability.
DoW3 had two Executive Producers who both were pro-mobile gaming.
1) Stephen MacDonald, former DoW3 executive producer now EA mobile gaming: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamstephenmac/
2) Mike Swanson, the Executive Producer behind Age of Empires Online (mobile game) was hired by Relic in 2013 and worked there for 8 months as DoW3 Executive Producer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeswanson/
The same year as DoW3 was released, Sega Europe got a new boss (Christopher Bergstresser) as President & Chief Operating Officer.
Top mobile gaming industry leader.
Christopher Bergstresser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherbergstresser/
About I am a Mobile and Video Game Executive transforming organizations with innovative growth, revenue streams, development methodologies and user acquisition strategies.
I align all ecosystems to drive sustained growth and product revenue.
From my early days leading the launch of ground-breaking entertainment with Sega and negotiating multimillion-dollar partnerships with Microsoft, Disney and ESPN for Konami, to recently uniting the mobile and web strategy for game developer / platform Miniclip, I have impacted almost every facet in the mobile, online and console gaming industry.
So as with DoW portable games, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree
"DoW4" = Mobile gaming. EPIC FAIL. Damage control>>>>CoH3:Toy Soldiers
DoW3/AoE4/CoH3= cartoonish artstyle & conflicting aesthetics.
Whether this is intentional or not, this is what happens when Relic's hiring practices are all over the place as jack-of-all-trades arts/RTS studio.
So do not expect marketing people on LinkedIn, to be honest about anything.
They are a protected Linkedin class.
On Linkedin, even EA Fifa marketing gets praised for being a great game.
Ofc, anyone with a logical thinking brain knows it's all marketing BS.
So to hire good marketing people, Relic/Sega hiring practices have to sort the corporate FRAUD/BS from the true gaming professionals.
I said this before and I'll say this again.
From 2013-2015 pro-EA marketing clowns were running CoH2. Then they moved on to greener pastures with DoW3. Then they ruined that. Oh well, poor sales.
Zero accountability and PROTECTED CLASS.
If consumers don't vote with their wallets?
Then this hostile marketing takeover will happen until the clowns have moved on to greener pastures;
Don't like fan abuse?
Then grow a backbone.
Don't be Sega's marketing lapdog/Mini Me.
Sooner or later the marketing clowns will run out of money.
Then who will be left to clean up their mess?
Knowledge is power.
With knowledge, fans tell the cockroaches to shovel their overrated marketing bs.
There is no honor among thieves.
There is honor among military vets;
Band of Brothers - The surrender of a German Colonel (a masterpiece in WW2 storytelling):
To CoH3 White Knights;
So Sega really cares about fans?
Perhabs never fully trust a big company that is deeply involved with GAMBLING and deceptive marketing!.
Sega sued for ‘rigged’ arcade machine
The Key Master game machine has been a target for years:
https://www.polygon.com/22573590/sega-key-master-arcade-game-class-action-lawsuit
*SNIP*
Key Master is no longer listed on the Sega Amusements website; instead, it’s been re-named Prize Locker. It’s the same design, but it’s 100% skill-based, Sega said on the website. In the lawsuit, Muto’s lawyers said Prize Locker and the conversion kit (which “allows an operator of a Key Master game to convert the game” to a skill-based one) are offered because Sega itself has realized that “many areas of the world aren’t able to benefit from this outstanding category [of arcade game] due to local or state regulations prohibiting their operation.” Lawyers alleged that this is Sega “tacitly conced[ing] that Key Master is rigged.
Though Key Master is no longer officially available on the Sega Amusements website, there are still machines in circulation. Key Master is still listed on the Komuse website.
“Defendants have refused to cease their deceptive conduct and continue to manufacture and advertise the Key Master Machines as games of skill, as opposed to the illicit gambling machines they truly are,” the lawyers wrote. “This refusal, and continued marketing of the Key Master Machines as games of skill, only serve the profit interests of Defendants.”
@thesupernova1623
My grandma actually used to work on these machines. And the test run up takes the key through all the key holes. Yes it is riged to only allow win for each item that is paid for, for example. If you have a $200 watch in there, it won't let a win until that item is paid for.
Just a heads up as too big-to-fail 2.0 is about to get real. This corporate shitshow is going to get worse before it gets better.
Big Tech + Big gaming companies bloated during covid. Calling it; expect some Relic layoffs/restructuring before the end of this year.
This week has been dominated by the news that 10,000 people are being laid off from Microsoft's workforce, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has responded to the news in an internal email that was shared by Kotaku earlier today.
In the email, Spencer acknowledged it had been a "difficult week" for Microsoft, calling it a "challenging moment in our business" and explaining that the actions of the past few days had been "painful choices".
"This is a challenging moment in our business, and this week’s actions were painful choices. The Gaming Leadership Team had to make decisions that we felt set us up for the long-term success of our products and business, but the individual results of those decisions are real. I know that hurts."
The Head of Xbox then went on to explain that there would be many opportunities over the coming weeks for Phil and the leadership team to answer questions from employees, stressing the desire to be "as transparent as we can".
"Moving forward with ambiguity is challenging, but I am confident that together, we will get through this difficult moment in time."
He finished off the email by thanking everyone for their "deeply appreciated" work:
"I am confident in our future and proud to be part of this team, but also conscious that this is a challenging time and I want to thank you for everything you do here."
We still don't know the full damage to the various Xbox divisions as of yet, although it's been suggested that Halo studio 343 Industries has been hit particularly hard by the job cuts over the past few days.
Nigo, no offense. You're not seeing the elephant in the room.
"New Relic" is facing a financial quagmire and a downward spiral that can't easily be fixed.
Relic did not grow to a 300+ devs studio only to make money from CoH IP.
Herein lies the quagmire as a jack-of-all-trades RTS studio and the ongoing talent bleed;
CoH3 might have great potential. But that doesn't change the fact that Relic as a jack-of-all-trades RTS studio is a financial quagmire/train wreck.
No matter what Sega does with Relic, it's likely they will lose a shit ton of money.
If Sega had any foresight they should have sold Relic to Microsoft. Well, too late for that
Read the email sent to Microsoft staff below:
*SNIP*
We're living through times of significant change, and as I meet with customers and partners, a few things are clear. First, as we saw customers accelerate their digital spend during the pandemic, we're now seeing them optimize their digital spend to do more with less.
We're also seeing organizations in every industry and geography exercise caution as some parts of the world are in a recession and other parts are anticipating one. At the same time, the next major wave of computing is being born with advances in AI, as we're turning the world's most advanced models into a new computing platform.
This is the context in which we as a company must strive to deliver results on an ongoing basis, while investing in our long-term opportunity. I'm confident that Microsoft will emerge from this stronger and more competitive, but it requires us to take actions grounded in three priorities.
First, we will align our cost structure with our revenue and where we see customer demand. Today, we are making changes that will result in the reduction of our overall workforce by 10,000 jobs through the end of FY23 Q3. This represents less than 5 percent of our total employee base, with some notifications happening today.
Perhabs there is a way to save Relic, but IMHO this will include Relic layoffs and giving up this idea of jack-of-all-trades RTS studio.
"New Relic" does not have the talent/backbone to become Blackbird Interactive (BBI is Relic 2.0) or Old Blizzard. Relic/Sega leadership needs to come off their high horse and quit their delusions of grandeur.
Quote Friedrich Nietzsche;
'Madness is something rare in individuals — but in groups, parties, peoples, and ages, it is the rule.'
For those hardcore CoH fans and marketing people that are "soft balling" the launch of CoH3 with “unpolished” content"/work in progress.
I suggest you take a few moments and learn from the AoE4 mistakes/delusion of grandeur as it has failed to dethrone AoE2 as the king of the series.
As it stands,
AoE2 won vs AoE4's delusion of grandeur;
As thousands of "filthy" CoH casuals (the majority) get their hands on CoH3 beta Feb 23, 2023;
Glad the situation is finally solved. Too bad we had long months of drama, almost all pro players and some community members completely abandoning aoe2 for several weeks or months, often while making lots of audacious statements* only to come back in shame after their falsely beloved new title failed to meet any expectations... and bunch of shills/trolls on aoezone who kept attacking anyone who dared to not be hyped for aoe4.
*Nili saying he doesn't want to watch a match between players of BacT's level, Jordan saying he has no intention of preparing for Memb's tournament, all GL boys tricking their audiences by claiming aoe4 has so much potential and is sure to be a big hit and people should try the game out instead of complaining etc. etc. it didn't take long for them to do a 180 and start shitting on aoe4 at every occasion, despite praising it to heaven few weeks earlier (looking at you, DauT)
Well, most people are willing to forgive, me included. However it should also be remembered. All the shallow praises for new product, all the unjustified calls to turn blind eye to game's plethora of problems, all the shade thrown at true fans who saw through aoe4 since the start and knew it has no chance of competing with aoe2 in either game quality or fanbase retention...
Let's hope the future will be bright and we won't have to deal with such trainwreck again. Things are looking good. A lot of pro players active, a lot of upcoming talents (praise T90 for giving them opportunity to shine in TTL!). Bunch of tournaments and some are even properly announced more than a month beforehand! Experiments with format (DWL bringing 9 vill start to "mainstream consciousness" is so good), lots of variety. AoE 2 is well.
Lessons learned?
As a studio/publisher if you don’t have the money and/or talent to live up to the great legacy of DoW, AoE and CoH IP, don’t make it a sequel, make it a spin-off.
If so, rename CoH3 to;
CoH: Mediterranean Front
Or something like that.
interesting part of your talks about former coh1 developer posted comment on YouTube. it's pretty clear coh1 was way ahead for its time. and relic hasn't really replace their old talents for coh2/3
This talent bleed is obvious and it likely means Relic/Sega will have to cut corners and/or implement deeper CoH3 monetization/MTX.
Relic is a publicly traded company (Sega Sammy Holdings) in the business of providing goods and services. They are NOT our gaming friends. By LAW they have fiduciary duties.
Ironically the studio seems to live in an echo chamber/cognitive bias/hivemind mentality thinking they are still "cool kids".
Even with hard work replacing old talent, Relic may be “beyond the point of no return”.
IMHO; the only chance to save Relic is to downsize the studio and focus your remaining talent on a decent IP whether that be AoE or CoH.
The graphics in many instance just look bad. The desert maps are just empty looking and devoid of character. The units on desert maps are extremely bad at standing out from the background. Tanks covered in dirt are just bland. The whole desert enviroment just makes for very drab and boring battles. It just looks horrendous.
I want to elaborate on "New Relic's" never-ending mediocrity and why is this happening.
First, the question is this;
Will AoE + CoH mediocrity be enough to save "New Relic"?
Many studios, died making fewer mistakes than Relic/Sega.
By spreading focus + talent between AoE4, DoW3, and CoH IP, Relic excels at nothing.
Sega is partly responsible for this as they were not ready to invest in CoH3 developments after the CoH2 life cycle.
This can be confirmed using LinkedIn sources; so many CoH2 talent/leads either left or joined the AoE4 team.
Along with this fact;
According to LinkedIn, the turnover rate in the games is around 15.5 percent, higher than any other tech sector
For comparison (former Relic IP) to help demonstrate "New Relic" ongoing talent bleed;
Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak (low budget RTS from BBI)
These desert maps from BBI studio look aesthetically better than CoH3. Since a large portion of CoH3 marketing is focused on desert maps, mediocrity is not good enough.
Homeworld: Deserts Of Kharak is made by Blackbird Interactive and run by Relic vets such as the CEO.
At release, BBI was only 50 devs and on a small RTS budget. Most of their budget went into single-player content. But for a Relic indie RTS its quality was good compared to the money invested.
"New Relic" studio leadership also took a big gamble by growing the studio too quickly.
By attracting new investments, it's easy to spend more money and hire more devs.
But it's not easy to do layoffs because Sega/Relic leaders made catastrophic mistakes.
With the CoH2 release, Relic was only 110 devs and growing a brand new team for DoW3.
Now with CoH3, the studio has over 300 devs and too many mouths to feed.
In its current state, this studio is financially doomed to fail.
Old Relic and old Blizzard mindset were focused on excellence. Relic had this mindset up to CoH1 at least. In comparison to Blizzard Starcraft IP, old Relic was on a tight RTS budget with games such as Homeworld 1 and Homeworld 2.
With THQ/Relic, they took a big budget gamble with CoH1 and won.
My advice from a fan perspective?
At the very least make Relic work to get your money. Don't blindly buy CoH3 at full price and expect that money will go into making great games. That's not how consumers get better value for their money.
As a consumer, our wallet is our only real voting power within these big corporations.
Keep bailing out the losers that make bad investments/decisions and this cycle will continue.
Many corporations have died because they grew too quickly.
These are economic realities Relic can’t escape from.
For recent proof of this, former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey who openly admits to this financial suicide;
I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that," he tweeted.
Perhabs some competitive players will hate me for saying this out loud.
First and foremost, for CoH3 to be successful it needs a key focus on return on investments (ROI) and this is also relevant for all balance debates as knowing your target audiences.
Without this key focus, CoH3 is building a house on quicksand.
Some people whether that was intentional or not are turning corporations into glorified daycare.
At a bare minimum, corporate executives/board of directors that do this intentionally is arguably in breach of fiduciary duty as publicly traded companies can't do whatever the fuck they want with other people's money/investments.
Yes, some countries will likely learn the hard way by ignoring basic economic realities.
For context;
Forum balance debates will be skewed toward the vocal minority and competitive mindset.
From EvE Online which is highly competitive, I do talk from 10 years of experience with inside intel on major alliances. For these competitive alliances, it was an ongoing struggle to balance/harmonize different groups of people with highly conflicted ways of how they wanted to play the game.
If Relic mainly adjusts its balance on CoH3/CoH2 forum activity and competitive mindset then it'll unwittingly alienate a large fanbase ("Joe's" friendly) that doesn't consider your "balance" fun.
Even if we assume the best intentions, this will happen. We all have biases that's why it's important to listen more and talk less.
The golden days of 1vs1 RTS are over and won't come back within the foreseeable future.
One of the core strengths of CoH is "fun to watch" community content which doesn't necessarily mean "fun to play" content.
As a general rule, the competitive community makes the player content while the silent majority makes the money.
Not understanding your key audience means less CoH money for everyone.
How to improve CoH3 + CoH2 return on investment (ROI)?;
CoH3 competitive mod for 1vs1 tournament players and reserve CoH3 balance for 4vs4 players.
If not, at the bare minimum CoH2 should become more "Joe's" friendly.
Also, CoH2 + CoH3 progression-based economy is still flawed and should have been fixed long ago.
If Relic/Sega can't make a functional progression-based economy why even bother?
Better to remove War Spoils + Merit and stick to War Bonds + luxury/rare items (whale content) rather than some half-baked system.
To balance 4vs4 Relic have to be proactive and engage the silent majority that is not active on forums. That means in-game surveys, in-game data collection, emails, social activity etc.
CoH3 and CoH2 have the untapped potential to become more "Joe's" friendly compared to AoE4 and Starcraft.
For further balance context, watch the video below as this AoE4 discussion has relevance to CoH3 + CoH2;
Denmark
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SturmTigerCobra
DonnieChan
Inane EliteVideoGameMasturbater
SturmTigerCobra
Relic Entertainment
