ZOMG! White Wolf so sells out! WTF?

[adderslj]

And other exclamations used by the youth of today.

angusabranson has the big news: MMORPG company buys White Wolf.

Hmm.

Comments

[doctorcaligari.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Definitely things that make ya go hmmmmmm.

One will have to watch and see.

[digitalraven]

I fail to see how the two companies merging is "CCP buying WW", unless all the peopleusing those exclamations from the Youth of Today™ actually have knowledge that is not in the press release.

[adders.livejournal.com]

Oh, c'mon. I'm a business journalist by trade, remember. Look at the corporate structure outlined in the press release. A significant majority of take-overs are "sold" as mergers in the press announcements, but you can rapidly tell which the senior partner is in the deal by the structure that emerges. The press release makes it clear that WW is not the senior partner in this one.

[michael-b-lee.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I caught that, too. My take is that Tinney got somebody to absorb the company (and its debt) to keep it afloat. Not sure exactly what "independant subsidiary" means, but I can't help but wonder who got the better end of the deal.

[adders.livejournal.com]

"independent subsidiary" is what we like to call "Press release bullshit". You are independent, or you are a subsidiary. WW is now a subsidiary company. History shows that subsidaries tend to get absorbed into the parent company pretty quickly, if only because the people from the subsidairy who don't fit into the new corporate ethos tend to walk within the first 18 months.

[angusabranson.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The press release on the surface is 'merger' but when you actually read the words it's obvious that CCP has brought WW.

I think it's a good business move. In the short term it certainly benefits WW more as it gives them a longer term survival plan but CCP will make a killing from this purchase through the creation and operation of the Exalted and Vampire MMORPGs (not to mention any of the other IPs they decide to make use of).

The one thing I am curious to see though is what happens to the World of Warcraft RPG license that WW are currently publishing. I wonder if the WoW guys would be happy having the game published by the guys behind EVE?

[doctorcaligari.livejournal.com]

A MMORPG based on World of Darkness or Exalted, assuming that (a) it was doable and (b) it was done well, would actually be a lovely addition to the MMO universe. Supernatural/Horror is more or less missing from the MMO stable, and Exalted is really its own animal. Coming up with a coherent and interesting universe is something a lot of MMO's have stumbled on, even the good ones. (I'm thinking of D&D Stormreach -- utterly lackluster setting -- and not that great a game either; World of Warcraft -- fun lighthearted setting but certainly prey to typical fantasy stereotypes and not always internally consistent; and EQ I & II -- longstanding complex setting, but again it's a pretty typical rehash of standard fantasy elements.) It certainly helps to have a solid and well-loved IP to build on, and White Wolf's games are definitely that.

Will it be at all good for the offline RPG (or, God forbid, fiction) publishing? Hard to tell. I'm sure WW partially entered into this in the hope of having their print publications subsidized, but if CCP's only real interest is in getting the IP rights for WW-based MMO's, then the support they're hoping for won't be there for long.

[michael-b-lee.livejournal.com]

...but if CCP's only real interest is in getting the IP rights for WW-based MMO's, then the support they're hoping for won't be there for long.

Yeah, that was pretty much my take exactly.

[michael-b-lee.livejournal.com]

Okay, that's kind of what I figured. The term just didn't make any sense.

I can't help but think that Tinney's outsmarted himself this time. We shall see, I suppose.