Did Euro Forces fail?

[bitvomit]

http://game-monitor.com/search.php?rulename=bf2_team2&ruleval=EU&game=bf2&pg=1

I just searched for servers running the euro forces maps and only found about 6 up right now with a decent amount of players. I know it's 6AM in the morning, but something tells me the numbers aren't gonna be any better at 8PM. Is AF going to fail just as badly? Could this signal doom for DICE if BF2142 doesn't become a blockbuster? We all know how scared EA is of losing money...

Another interesting point to bring up is the fact that Special Forces probably would have tanked just as badly were it not for the unlocks debacle. All of these failures plus the fact that lots of people are angry at DICE and EA for various reasons makes me wonder about DICEs future.

[imported_Rafterman]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

You need to really be looking at sales as opposed to how many maps are being played at any given moment. By that calculation I'm sure it was a success for EA/Dice. The same will hold true for AF and BF2142.

You also have to remember that for every person on this forum that's "mad" at EA/Dice for whatever reason, there's at least one person who thinks they are great and would buy anything with the BF name on it. Also, for every person that thinks BF is a buggy piece of crap, there is also a person who has had very few/if any problems with it (me for example).

My advice is to stop your worrying and hand wringing over EA/Dice's future and just enjoy playing one of the best games ever produced.

[bitvomit]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

You need to really be looking at sales as opposed to how many maps are being played at any given moment. By that calculation I'm sure it was a success for EA/Dice. The same will hold true for AF and BF2142.

You also have to remember that for every person on this forum that's "mad" at EA/Dice for whatever reason, there's at least one person who thinks they are great and would buy anything with the BF name on it. Also, for every person that thinks BF is a buggy piece of crap, there is also a person who has had very few/if any problems with it (me for example).

My advice is to stop your worrying and hand wringing over EA/Dice's future and just enjoy playing one of the best games ever produced.

So what if it sold a large amount of copies? Were the revenues from that enough to cover the cost of creating the booster pack in the first place? Did they even make a profit from it? I don't know about you, but if I were a DICE shareholder I would be very worried about the reception that the booster packs have gotten, even if they did sell well. There's just no way that EA or DICE use sales as their only measuring stick for a products performance. No company can get away selling products that no one likes even if they made plenty of sales from it. This is just tainting the companies image.

For a company whose only profits seem to come from the battlefield series, I'd really start to worry after seeing BFV, EF, and AF receiving lackluster receptions as well as seemingly lackluster sales. Not to mention people that are mad at DICE and EA for the buggy software that they release. So what if this forum is just a microcosm of the BF2 community? How do you really know that there aren't people out there who play BF2 yet do not post here about problems they are experiencing? All I can say is that DICE is making a huge bet with BF2142 considering the considerable competition they will have coming from Quake Wars. If 2142 fails or at the very least breaks even then we should all start worrying about our favorite game series.

[imported_Zach]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

You need to really be looking at sales as opposed to how many maps are being played at any given moment. By that calculation I'm sure it was a success for EA/Dice.

That's a pretty big assumption there, my friend. Have you seen anything official (i.e., third party source, not EA's marketing monkeys) citing how many sales there were? Of course, since it's 100% internal (because you could only get it through EA), I doubt any third party would have access to this info.

[LBC|Jester]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

I truely believe that it failed. I bought it, EA got my money, I feel scammed in a sense but hey, what can I do...sit back and watch them laugh at me with dollar signs in their eyes?

[Combined]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

So what if it sold a large amount of copies? Were the revenues from that enough to cover the cost of creating the booster pack in the first place?

Obviously yes. How much do you think it costs to create 3 maps, a bunch of new models and skins? Think for a second before you answer.

Did they even make a profit from it? I don't know about you, but if I were a DICE shareholder I would be very worried about the reception that the booster packs have gotten, even if they did sell well.

Dice works for EA iirc, so no you cannot be a "dice shareholder".

There's just no way that EA or DICE use sales as their only measuring stick for a products performance.

Why not? how else would they go about it?

No company can get away selling products that no one likes even if they made plenty of sales from it. This is just tainting the companies image.

You make no sense.

For a company whose only profits seem to come from the battlefield series, I'd really start to worry after seeing BFV, EF, and AF receiving lackluster receptions as well as seemingly lackluster sales. Not to mention people that are mad at DICE and EA for the buggy software that they release. So what if this forum is just a microcosm of the BF2 community? How do you really know that there aren't people out there who play BF2 yet do not post here about problems they are experiencing? All I can say is that DICE is making a huge bet with BF2142 considering the considerable competition they will have coming from Quake Wars. If 2142 fails or at the very least breaks even then we should all start worrying about our favorite game series.

Don't worry, they'll still have jobs after BF2142.

And by the way, yes, euro force did fail.

[bitvomit]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

That's a pretty big assumption there, my friend. Have you seen anything official (i.e., third party source, not EA's marketing monkeys) citing how many sales there were? Of course, since it's 100% internal (because you could only get it through EA), I doubt any third party would have access to this info.

You can get some basic financial info from DICE's website at http://global.dice.se/finance/. Admittingly, I don't have a degree in business administration to understand all of this information but I know enough to keep me reasonably informed. Also, if I'm not mistaken it's illegal in the states for a company to give false data about their finances.

[imported_Zach]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

Playing devil's advocate, though, if EF failed (I, for one, didn't buy it), why is everyone so darn excited about AF?

[bitvomit]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

"Obviously yes. How much do you think it costs to create 3 maps, a bunch of new models and skins? Think for a second before you answer."

Yeah, it took them several months of paying high saleries to mappers, programmers, modelers, managers etc to get them to shove this lackluster product on the shelves. (or e-shelves in this case). You ought to be the one thinking.



"Dice works for EA iirc, so no you cannot be a "dice shareholder"."

Oh yea, then howcome DICE has shares for sale on the swedish stock exchange?

http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?ipage=qd&Symbol=SE%3ADICE%2DA

Owned?



"Don't worry, they'll still have jobs after BF2142."

Of course, but that has nothing to do with the possibility of DICE becoming defunct.

Go back to sleep idiot troll.

[imported_Zach]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

Also, if I'm not mistaken it's illegal in the states for a company to give false data about their finances.

But give info to who? That's my point. In quarterly reports, a breakdown of individual products is not part of the release. Only insiders would know that information, and to release such information to the public would a violation of the NDA they signed.

Anyway, this is getting a tad off-topic (not much, but a little), so I'll just shut up and go get ready for work. :)

[bitvomit]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

Playing devil's advocate, though, if EF failed (I, for one, didn't buy it), why is everyone so darn excited about AF?

I was actually very excited about AF when I first heard about. But I can't justify spending 10 bucks for something a mod team could have just as easily given to us for free. Not only that but if Euro Forces is any indication, I'd rather not spend 10 bucks on a few maps that only a small minority of servers will run.

But give info to who? That's my point. In quarterly reports, a breakdown of individual products is not part of the release. Only insiders would know that information, and to release such information to the public would a violation of the NDA they signed.

Anyway, this is getting a tad off-topic (not much, but a little), so I'll just shut up and go get ready for work. :)

Again, I don't know enough about the subject to give a definitive answer. However, imo if a company releases a statement to video game magazines saying that they made $500 mil off a game when in reality it was only $50 mil it would probably run afoul of SEC regulations. Or at the very least leave shareholders very unhappy and running for their money. You can't play with shareholders money; customers perhaps but not filthy rich investers :laugh:

[Combined]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

Yeah, it took them several months of paying high saleries to mappers, programmers, modelers, managers etc to get them to shove this lackluster product on the shelves. (or e-shelves in this case). You ought to be the one thinking.

If Euro Force didn't sell enough copies do you really think they would churn out another booster pack? It's basic logic, which you fail to understand.

Oh yea, then howcome DICE has shares for sale on the swedish stock exchange?

http://moneycentral.msn.com/detail/stock_quote?ipage=qd&Symbol=SE%3ADICE%2DA

Owned?

Oh so you knew they were on the stock market but you didn't bother to look at the numbers. As a dice shareholder you would be worried you said... well look at the fricking numbers you tool and you'd realize that there's nothing to be worried about. On the day of EF's release and the following weeks the numbers barely moved:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/charts/chartdl.asp?Symbol=SE%3ADICE-A&PT=8&CP=1&C5=3&C6=2006&C7=5&C8=2006&C9=1&CE=0&CompSyms=&D4=1&D5=0&D7=&D6=&D3=0&ShowChtBt=Refresh+Chart

Go back to sleep idiot troll.

Go **** yourself asshat, cordially Gunner.

[bitvomit]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

If Euro Force didn't sell enough copies do you really think they would churn out another booster pack? It's basic logic, which you fail to understand.



Oh so you knew they were on the stock market but you didn't bother to look at the numbers. As a dice shareholder you would be worried you said... well look at the fricking numbers you tool and you'd realize that there's nothing to be worried about. On the day of EF's release and the following weeks the numbers barely moved:


Go **** yourself asshat, cordially Gunner.

Look here you ****ing jackass troll; all I need from you is the fact that you were stupid enough to assume you cannot buy shares in DICE. That by itself just invalidates every thing you have said whether it had merit or not. Have a nice day idiot, I don't speak with trolls :)

[Lazza66]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

I think it's important to realise who is playing which role in this debacle.

DICE Sweden formed the game concept and Codename Eagle through to BF2142.

DICE Canada made BFV and handle the patches and expansions.

EA were only the marketer and after sales support, until they bought DICE before BF2's release.

It's DICE Canada whose arse will be in a sling, they're the ones who in combination with Gamespy are responsible for all the 1.3 server crashes. It's DICE Canada who nerfed the BH, gave us Cartillery, claymore spammers and crippled the squad changes. IMHO DICE Canada have failed time and time again.

And now that we mention Gamespy I wonder how much a role they played in server instability before the 1.3 patch? The crash process is remarkably similar, only now it's more frequent it's been narrowed down to the Gamespy protocol changes.

I've been playing EA games since the mid 80's, there is no way that a failure of the Battlefield franchise could take them down. The worst that could happen is that they bin and flame DICE Canada, and possibly dissolve DICE Sweden. But then those developers would continue their ideas under some new company anyway.

I guarantee that 2142 will follow this course. Heavy online gameplay will reveal necessary tweaks and the first patch will be released. Then BF 2142 will also slide into a buggy pile of crap at the hands of DICE Canada. I have not, and will not be buying any addons for BF2 or BF2142 until BF2 is bug free.

[imported_Boots]

Re: Did Euro Forces fail?

There's only one good map: Great Wall. Noone There are hardly any servers that play these maps either. It has failed.