McQuaid on SOE/Vanguard acquisiton: “More on this later”

The short version that should have been posted days ago to quell the stirrings about the inevitable:

SOE is in discussions with Sigil regarding the future of Vanguard and Sigil Games in Carlsbad. Talks are going well and first and foremost, our primary concern right now is what’s best for Vanguard and its community. We want to ensure that this game and its community have a healthy future. The specifics that we work out over the coming days will all be with that single goal in mind.

What does that mean? It means that right now Vanguard is doing decently but not as well as we hoped. If you havent read my last long post that outlined some of the things that went wrong during development, etc., please do. So the bottom line is that SOE is going to be getting more involved with Sigil and Vanguard our relationship is going to become even tighter much tighter. At this point I cant say much more than that.

Does this mean an acquisition? I cant say at this point.

Does this mean more or less people at Sigil? I cant say at this point.

Does this mean management changes at Sigil? I cant say at this point.

I *can* say that regardless of the turn out, SOE knows that Sigil has the experience and vision necessary to run Vanguard and therefore a major change in that area is extremely unlikely and would be foolish on their part.

No, it doesn’t end there, McQuaid blathers on, spinning his usual massive walls of text - Delusional highlights include:

Vanguard will be the bestest mmog ever so 500k subscriptions aren’t out of the question - I guess, McQuaid never studied up on the NGE. Nothing will save Vanguard - it already lost, there is no chance for the success McQuaid believes in. If more millions or thousands are invested in improving Vanguard they will be a huge waste of money and resources. Even if the client was free both online or box, free to play for several months, the game won’t see those numbers - the potential for that many subscribers is damaged beyond repair.

Players will try Vanguard after buying a new computer because they’ll be forced to upgrade for Vista for the amazing shiny new DirectX technology - Because we all know mmog gamers are rushing in droves to the promise land that is Vista. I’m sure one of those graphic cards that is mandatory to play Vanguard at desirable performance will slip under 200 dollars soon enough, not to mention all the other system components that need to be upgraded - Yep, that’s one hell of a magic 8 ball McQuaid has for a brain. Quick Brad, wobble your head! Let’s hear what it thinks next.

Players will become bored of playing WoW and LotRo and will try Vanguard because it will have some sort of appeal. They will tell their friends how great it is and then even more people will play Vanguard and it’ll rock your poop socks! - Cover your eyes and ears, otherwise you are going to be brainwashed into playing by a certain appeal that screams you like tasting flaming turds. There is no mention from McQuaid whether or not those players will try new mmogs like AoC and oWarhammer instead. I don’t see stores demanding more Vanguard stock - on the contrary, I see them trying to push it off the shelves by dropping the price. Go away, Vanguard - you clutter up the store, no one wants you! Argggggh.

Vanguard is “mind blowing” and all this crazy fun shit is planned - I know it blows, but not my mind. It involves blowing a variety of animal phallus. I also have a plan, watching Vanguard phase out into obscurity.

Expect more delusional McQuaid diatribes in the future - I still hold the opinion that Brad McQuaid hurts Vanguard more than helps when talking about it, but it’s good for a laugh.

Hat tip:Original Source