I'm spamming F5 until I see you post again. If I die it's your fault :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Gifted
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I'm spamming F5 until I see you post again. If I die it's your fault :(Quote:
Originally Posted by Gifted
Then why was the last sales call used to tell us that the beta was delayed? Why is it so much more likely that they would only use it to give bad news regarding beta and not to give good news? Since they've already established the precedent, I see no other reason to significantly doubt this possibility other than to caution your optimism.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
(Which I completely understand, by the way.)
Then why is it public? Surely they would have some other way of keeping it private but yet get it to everyone interested. After all, these things have always been private until now.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
Damn straight! That's why they made it PUBLIC. For all of us StarCraft fans to see. They made it public for a reason. They wanted us to see it so that the hype would not be wasted on these disinterested stock holders who probably know nothing about StarCraft. Furthermore, they would not give us this to get unnecessarily excited if it didn't mean something. Blizzard doesn't want any more backlash from things like this.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
They would definitely announce this at the next BlizzCon. It would be infinitely more effective that way. Still, I don't think they're going to announce an MMO that would detract from Cataclysm that is so maaaaannny years off from now.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
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F5'ing.
Hmmm, does that piece of paper in the bottom left hand corner say "Sorry" or "Worry"?...
http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/9526/worry1.png
Zoomed in and the colors inverted
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/5061/worry2.png
The second one appears to look more like "Worry"
Million dollar investors normally don't invest in gaming companies or even entertainment companies for that matter. Their markets are too unpredictable and there are several other places they can put their money with out as big of a risk. Although this could be an attempt by ACTVI to encourage other investors to look into their stocks.
At the same token though I don't believe blizzard would announce beta here. I'm not saying they would never do so, but it would probably make investors feel the company doesn't take their stocks very seriously. Considering how new blizzard is to the stock market I don't think they want to develop a reputation for treating their investors like this. Although considering they've failed to meet their goals from the previous meetings I guess it could be an attempt to also reclaim a good name in the stock market. This is very unlikely though, and what would make more sense to me. Is if they released beta before hand and showed the amount of participants as proof of the games coming success. I think this would be far more likely.
@Tychus (response to each quote)
For an earnings call, announcing an official delay is different from announcing a beta.
The fact that the conference is streamed could just be for accessibility. It ends up public no matter what by the way. The last conference call had the full audio public a few hours after it was over.
I don't think earnings reports are for Starcraft fans :(:(:(
@Coldasblues, very well said!
Personally, I think they both look like sorry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Adam_Ant
The beta is coming! The beta is cominghttp://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:5...onal_horse.jpg
ummm...where did Gifted go...
I thought it was Beta threat level 'red'...?Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcherofAiur
Wait.....Gifted is gonna write sumthin....
GIFTEDS BEEN SHOT!!!!!!!
Oh god oh god oh god! Did anyone see where that came from?
Gifted left..........
*peers through binoculars*Quote:
Originally Posted by ArcherofAiur
No, he's still there... on the front porch with the family and dog!
Gifted must have actually been the real JD. He's been trying to alert us to something important for the last week, but must have gone to far in the post he was writing.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/5/23/
Def/Betacon goes towards 1, not away. You guys are bad.
Oh god were at Betacon 1!Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaosSmurf
And Gifteds been shot!
Oh shi-
The mission's been compromised. Agent down!
WWWWHHHHHAAAAATTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*faints *Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaosSmurf
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaosSmurf
Sorry. I had to shoot you mid-sentence. I don't like the idea of Gifted being alone in Blizzard Heaven.
Plus, I don't want you to tell me not to dream big anymore :D I BELIEVE IN BETA!!!
Honestly, now that he's gone... I don't miss him.
wow so Gifted say's hes typing something and then he leaves?.... shows alot ahout him.
Okay....so iz it 'Betacon' or 'Threat level color'? - There can only be one..!!
I choose def/betacon, then.
I lol'dQuote:
Quote:
Originally Posted by trace wm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TychusFindlay
In short, this is the information that we can expect that the INVESTORS are interested in. The investors, if intelligent, will want to follow their investment. Their goal is to invest money into a company to produce products. The more products they produce, the more profitable they have the potential to make. Ultimately, good products mean good reliability and therefore ensure good sales. There are 3 products that will go on sale with the release of Starcraft 2.Quote:
-Insert about 5-6 posts regarding this subject-Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
Now, with all that said, I allow you to forget all this and simply realize one thing. Investors may care about whatever facets they want, but in phonecalls like this, they are interested about schedules. They know that beta is going to be 4-6 months. Knowing about a beta coming out soon would help alleviate any concerns regarding the timeline. It would support a 4 month timeline.
- First is StarCraft II itself, setting the standard of expectations for the next two expansions. For this reason, this title is VERY much something to be aware of. In light of WoW's slight reduction lately due to their issues in China and the potential that this game can easily pull forward in specifically the American/Chinese markets (which are MAJOR gaming facets) it's very important to recognize this as not only an investment now, but one that will reoccur two times in the future.
- Second, and potentially more important, is Battle.net. While it may not be a viable and workable option, I am sure that many investors are interested about anything regarding the future of a micro-transation system integrated solidly across all future games, and not just within the current money making system known as World of Warcraft
- Thirdly, is the StarCraft marketplace. Dustin Browder hits it on the head that the thing they learned with Warcraft III (and to a lesser degree, WoW lua based addons) is that a game can easily stay alive and profitable based on the user created content. This is the kicker that will extend the profitability of the game to extend it's full lifetime. Many people view Galaxy as a map maker, and future UMS maps to be mere "maps". In reality, it's a data editor. Think Unreal 3 engine... think Source Engine... now think Galaxy engine. It's not FULLY accurate, but over time, people will be able to understand the difference between a "Map Making Software package" and a "Data editor". I can guarantee that investors weren't interested as much in "source" before half-life 2 came out, but they cared an awful lot about it afterwards.
I know I'm preaching what we all know, but it's simple... beta news regards release news.
Why is it broadcast now? Because they have the future of 3 different franchises, and 6 different projects on this phonecall. The last time this happened, the world scoured for ways to get the phonecall out to the public... Instead of having to handle the PR of "what did we say?".. they now only have to say "We're broadcasting it" and let the world sort itself out. There is also a simple fact that the gaming industry took an INCREDIBLY HARD HIT this year. Over 1100 members of the industry, good solid workers, got laid off. Companies are doing as good as ever, that's just the economy. In the small slice of businesses who are above water, Blizzard is among them.. Activision is another. For this reason, the industry as a whole, not just the investors, are VERY interested in what they have to say.
For that reason, I view the need for public importance more a strike at the economy myself. The industry needs to know that the two of the leaders in both of their completely different styles are riding strong.. and that's the front I predict they'll face. I wouldn't be surprised to hear Blizzcon news as well, but that's pure speculation.
With all that in light, imagine Blizzard's shareholders.. they're significantly more curious as we are to this call.
He was either talking about that particular post or has gone off to write it somewhere else or, maybe, he's typing it now and his session expired.
-- SPEAK OF THE DEVIL!!
UPDATE: My wall of text was twice as long, I did a LOT of editing as some of it was just plain worthless *chuckles*
The warning was that I was expecting a LARGE wall of text.
EDIT: The reason it said I "left" is that I spent too much time typing it didn't realize I was still here.
Might make a betacon image.
Dammit, when you posted earlier I think we were expecting some new information :(
Just as I suspected. God, I'm brilliant. Who dares to doubt now?Quote:
Originally Posted by Gifted
That's true. Granted, I wasn't though.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
I still think blizzard would be more likely to release beta before the conference call. Investors knowing that the game will be out soon is good. Investors getting info showing the game has promise of producing a large amount of profit? Even better. Announcing beta just shows them that there is a final product on the way. If they show the results of beta they will see evidence suggesting that the final product will do very well.
Agreed, and I think it will happen before the call :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldasblues
Yeah, it would be pretty amazing if beta was released before the call. Not too far fetched either.
I could see that happening. Things like the Jace Hall show make this seem even more possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by rcp181
Also something to remember is that there are about 15 different products coming out this year most of them will produce more money then all of activision-blizzards games combined. Things that are going to be purchased in high quantities by companies, and regular people alike. If investors are given a choice to either invest in a product that replaces something like firewire, or investing in a gaming company that will produce a game that has a good chance of producing a lot of money. I'm willing to bet they are going to invest on the new technology.
People put their money where they can make money. If your statement were true small companies would not have stocks, but even penny stocks exist because people want to try and make money off them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldasblues
Also, in regards to your comment about products making more money. It doesn't work that way. You have to look at stocks by INDUSTRY. If you invest in a company thats going to corner an entire market and industry, how are you going to lose? People will invest. Modern Warfare 2 is 1 title. It made over a BILLION dollars. Out of THOUSANDS of videogame titles released last year, mw2 made up 6-7% of the entire videogame revenue generated in 2009. Thats pretty epic and will catch investor's eyes.
Thats great but at the same time you have a lot of software and hardware development companies that are putting out new products that will kill the competition. If you want an example Google the USB 3.0 and take a look at that. Its going to completely replace fire-wire. If investors have the choice between that a product that will be replacing the competition, and a product like starcraft being developed by a company who hasn't produced an RTS in 5-6 years. Which would they choose? In my opinion I'd rather go with the first option.
Compare activisions earnings from modern warfare 2 to that of a dozen other companies who are in stable markets. I promise your going to see that the billion dollar profit they made is a drop in the bucket in comparison.
Coldas has a solid point and further supports the need for Blizzard/Activision to show a solid face publically for the benefit of the gaming industry as a whole. While this may seem like a pessmistic reaction, in terms of investments... moves like this change stocks industry wide as it is a representation of two of the leaders of the industry.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldasblues
It's not only about people who are investing in them. It's about people who would consider the option of investing in them. (or others in the industry by their example)
People who invest in USB technology aren't usually the same people investing in video games. They may be the same market but they're not the same.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coldasblues
Do you even realize how much new technology Blizzard is inventing to create their video games? You sound pretty clueless to me.
Which is why I think its more likely for them to use the beta to produce numbers to present the investors. If they announce the beta to investors they will just look at it like. Okay... You announced something that you should of several months ago.. Why am I giving you my money again?
The technology blizzard is inventing is great, and it might be used by other companies in the video gaming industry. However it still pales in comparison to other industries and the products they produce. For example the same company putting out USB 3.0 this year is the same company also releasing fiber optic technology for SSD's which will start the down fall of the typical magnetic disk hard drive. They are also producing an 8 core processor.
Then another industry is producing a new piece of software that is going to be the industry standard in producing other software(including video games.) Then another company is producing a new form of ink thats going to replace circuit boards in every single product that has one. Get the point? While video games might be a big deal in the future. Right now they are nothing of interest to major investors. Even when comparing them to smaller industries like retail it still isn't anywhere near the same amount of profit.