:phasers self:
Noooo! Don't sweat it, there are bound to be a few typos here and there, especially when it gets busy like this. No big deal. Besides, at a time like this we need you out there asking questions! Forget the typos, full speed ahead! =)
I haven't been tracking the financial news on these companies, so I don't know how badly Cryptic needed money. As someone else pointed out, there are other ways to secure the money without selling the company. I can't help but wonder, why sell the company? Based on everything I've heard about Cryptic, I wouldn't have expected that. It wasn't all that long ago they seemed rather happy to be independent and on their way to accomplish great things in the industry. Even so, there are bound to be concerns when it comes to the publishing for Star Trek Online, especially since publishing is something Cryptic hasn't done before. I think it was wise to seek an established publisher for a title such as Star Trek Online, but I still wouldn't have expected them to sell the company. (This is assuming they aren't in financial difficulty. We rarely get a clear picture of the financial situation until after the fact. This should be obvious of course, not like they want to scare away investors. As a side note, did you notice how they word the news releases? Fairly standard of course, but not really aimed at the fans.)
I suppose I am less concerned about the impact this has on Star Trek Online and I am more concerned about what this means for the people working at Cryptic. I don't expect them to tell us this changes anything of course, so I suspect it would be pointless to ask. All I expect to hear is how this is great and everything is going to be much better for everyone and the game as a result . . . and so forth and so on. heh, I suppose the best way to spin this would be to announce they are so committed to bringing us the greatest Star Trek Online experience, they had no choice but to sell the company. Anything less would result in an inferior product and further delays, assuming they could stay in business long enough to get it to market. After all, regardless of the product Cryptic creates, they still wouldn't be able to be nearly as successful publishing it on their own. I suspect that both money and publishers are hard to come by right now, and Cryptic effectively solves both problems with this deal. Now they can focus on making the greatest game possible and release it in a timely fashion and leave the publishing to the people who do that best. (The fans go wild!)
While I doubt this is completely accurate, it would be pretty cool if a company was that committed to their product and customers. I think it would be difficult for most people to make a decision that would have such an impact on their own self interests and the plans they have for their products and their company. For a company to be sold because it is in the best interest of the product(s) and the customers isn't something I would normally expect. That would also be rather unusual.
A decision such as this doesn't happen quickly either. I wonder, how long they have been discussing this deal? Did it start with Cryptic looking for a publisher? How did it lead them to the sale of the company? Did what happened to Vanguard influence events? I wonder if they looked at what happened with Vanguard and decided the best chance to avoid that mess was to move quickly and aggressively to deal with it early. Maybe Cryptic skipped straight to searching for a buyer? I suspect there were many difficult decisions to be made.
Perhaps Cryptic did make the choices that were in the best interest of their games in the long run, but I don't expect to ever know the whole story. I'm willing to look at this optimistically and say Cryptic is trying to do what they think is best for everyone and the future of their games. In the end of course, from our point of view at least, all that really matters is whether or not they successfully deliver a game we will enjoy playing for many years.
Till then, the story continues . . .
heh, or at least the stories continue. :p
