I'm going to look at this glass as being half-full. Yes, it sucks for those who got laid off and I don't want to take away from that. On the other hand, the MMO had been in limbo for so long that I didn't have any serious expectation at this point that it'd ever be worth the wait, and as mentioned upthread this might let Onyx Path off the leash a little.

If nothing else, if CCP genuinely do not want to do anything different with the IP then I can see them just straight-up selling it back to Onyx Path - I don't think they'd be able to get a better offer from other quarters for it and there's enough personal connections between the two remaining that I suspect CCP will be inclined to cut their former buds in OP a deal just to save themselves the costs of trying to scout around and negotiate a better deal elsewhere and to get themselves a little positive PR bump. (They might even release the White Wolf name, allowing Onyx Path to go from WW-in-all-but-name to actually-just-WW.)

I suspect CCP may look at licensing the IP out for single player computer games, though; VtM: Bloodlines has a decent critical reputation and I'm sure there'd be studios out there keen on the idea of making a followup.

It is kinda odd. CCP merger with White Wolf was more of a hostile take-over were everyone WW was canned and forced to start their own company. CCP didn't have any gameplay to show in eight years time and Onyx Path is now going stronger than ever with old WoD being resurrected and new WoD being revamped. While they don't own the games, but are getting the settings licenced by CCP.

It's a shame. The WoD MMO could be something fresh and different. An anti-grind, more socially oriented sandbox RPG. The trailers it had were very moody and really got me invested in it. I don't think any other game company would get the rights on it. They are either too small to pull it off or they are big enough, but don't want to try something that much of a niche. If I were a big software developer I would make an MMO based on Lord of the Rings or Star Wars or a generic fantasy or sf setting. Mass Effect maybe. WoD doesn't appeal to a mainstream audience.

You know we should really have a discussion about CCP and White Wolf.  I am not the only one that thinks that White Wolf got the raw end of the deal and no they are not partners.  A partner has to make 50% of the business decision.  A company that has no say what the company as a whole does is not a partner.  That is just simple truth.

Quote from: Snowman0147;745209You know we should really have a discussion about CCP and White Wolf.  I am not the only one that thinks that White Wolf got the raw end of the deal and no they are not partners.  A partner has to make 50% of the business decision.  A company that has no say what the company as a whole does is not a partner.  That is just simple truth.

CCP owns the rights. Onyx Path are licensee for WoD and Exalted and own the rights for Scion and Trinity. White Wolf is dead. That company is no more. Fun fact: Richard Thomas is the boss of Onyx Path and I know him as the artist of MtG card art like Water Elemental, Wall of Fire and Blue and Red Elemental Blast.

Back at the WW fora people were talking about a "new business model" when they started going for pdf's and making new old WoD games. To me this was always more than a new business model. They were making new books for a setting being canceled eight years ago (2004-2012). To me that's also acknowledging you slayed the goose with the golden eggs. Is that ever been done in the RPG world? Resurrecting a setting after almost a decade?

Don't know, but I thought that series was done with no room to grow.  Which is why it had the end of the world event.

They own half of Exalted.

Quote from: Snowman0147;745295Don't know, but I thought that series was done with no room to grow.  Which is why it had the end of the world event.

Incorrect. OWoD is alive and well and CCP is fine with the current relationship with Onyx Path. The anniversary editions basically updated the setting beyond the end of the world events to current times.

Yes there had been a update, but is there any thing new about it?  It is rehash job and from what people had told me they screwed the pooch on werewolf.

Quote from: Snowman0147;745305Yes there had been a update, but is there any thing new about it?  It is rehash job and from what people had told me they screwed the pooch on werewolf.

From what I know is there are a lot of oWoD still out there. There were flame wars on the WW and the Shadownessence forum about the old coke vs new coke till about 2011. Then WW went offline for about a year and came back in 2012 with the "classic" WoD and revamped the new WoD in a way it actually got some flavor. The flame wars were gone. Shadownessence went dead and is no more. I think it is because of the lack of flamewars. It was the only thing that kept that forum going.

Now I don't like metaplot either, but the background of the old games is in every way superior to the new ones. I do think the difference between those two settings will be smaller with the new editions coming out, which seems to settle somewhere in the middle of those two.

So, a playtest manual from March got leaked.

Game looks like it could have been okay, if a touch uninspired, but would have required a large and dedicated player base. EVE's had time to build that up organically over a decade; these days, with so much having been sunk into development, it doesn't look like a title that would have been able to pay back for itself.

Oh well.

Sad.
I would have given this a try, hoping for something to fill the hole left by COH (more social, less concerned with 'gear', less attractive to certain sorts of assholes).

Quote from: Simlasa;746472Sad.
I would have given this a try, hoping for something to fill the hole left by COH (more social, less concerned with 'gear', less attractive to certain sorts of assholes).

Not quite as social and still gear-centric, but IME the most casual-friendly MMO experience right now is Guild Wars 2. I love it and recommend it to every casual player; pity my wife still prefers WoW.