Paradox Interactive Acquires Strategy Developer AGEOD

[Jarkko]

What about DRM? Paradox has started to use DRMs on the games they sell (not their own)...

Really? Which ones? I've never bought a game from Gamersgate with any DRM's, would be good to know which ones to avoid.

I don't use Steam because their policy regarding being hooked up to the net scares the poo out of me, and I've also decided to not touch any games with any intrusive DRM's. I don't mind DRMs such as seen in Dominions 3, where you can't play online at the same time in the same game with two games having the same code (genious idea btw, the game is nothing to call home about in SP (except to learn the ropes of how to play), but MP is where the game shines) or playing online games which check wether you have a valid account or not.

[Pocus]

For now there is no additional delay in the release of ROP and VGN. VGN is still in the making right now as I speak, and is scheduled for the second part of 2010. We can't give you a more precise time frame because the game is really HUUUUUGE !!

[caranorn]

For now there is no additional delay in the release of ROP and VGN. VGN is still in the making right now as I speak, and is scheduled for the second part of 2010. We can't give you a more precise time frame because the game is really HUUUUUGE !!

Great news :-D . In the past weeks I think I grew adicted to the sparse updates on both games here in the forum :-) ...

[Anguille]

Really? Which ones? I've never bought a game from Gamersgate with any DRM's, would be good to know which ones to avoid.

I don't use Steam because their policy regarding being hooked up to the net scares the poo out of me, and I've also decided to not touch any games with any intrusive DRM's. I don't mind DRMs such as seen in Dominions 3, where you can't play online at the same time in the same game with two games having the same code (genious idea btw, the game is nothing to call home about in SP (except to learn the ropes of how to play), but MP is where the game shines) or playing online games which check wether you have a valid account or not.

I am not 100% sure but i remember that i've read it. East India Company was one of them and this is why i didn't buy it. Don't know if this is valid for gamersgate though nor if it is still on the game after the patches. This has to be verified, i don't want to say something untrue about a specific game.

[Rafiki]

The only DRM I can remember when I installed EIC was that I had to enter a serial key.

[Anguille]

The only DRM I can remember when I installed EIC was that I had to enter a serial key.

Download or box version?

[Rafiki]

Download

[GlobalExplorer]

announced today that it has acquired full ownership of AGE Studio, parent company of renowned French development studio AGEOD

AGEOD will continue to operate as a self-run partner studio, with its own line of products based on the AGE-engine and its own development team while Paradox will assist with our publishing resources and networks

which if the 2 statements is correct?

Sure AGEOD had to make this deal, for I am sure with proper distribution they can sell 10x more copies. But in the long run a lot depends from the question if it's a mutual partnership, or if Paradox has now really acquired the developer of its greatest competitive product. We will have to wait and see, but my first reaction to this news was a nasty swear word.

[Rafiki]

I don't see how the two sentences contradict eachother? Simply put, the combined meaning is: Paradox owns it, the Phils run it

[Generalisimo]

I don't see how the two sentences contradict eachother? Simply put, the combined meaning is: Paradox owns it, the Phils run it

As simple as it can be.

[vonRocko]

Technically, the way we do our games and sell them should not change.

BTW, at the moment, it is no longer possible to buy boxed versions from the website, because of technical reasons with our network provider. You can always email me and I can find ways to help you in such a case.

The question of making boxed versions for future games will mostly depend on how many distribution agreements get signed, so this shall be decided later on, but IF there is a boxed version, then it can be available :

Oh boy,it starts already.Boxed versions in doubt.

[Generalisimo]

Oh boy,it starts already.Boxed versions in doubt.

That has nothing to do with paradox... as an example, I know A LOT of people that own the boxed version of HoI3...

[ancient seaman]

WHY WHY WHY

Really why did you had to do it?Was for the cash to continue developing games or only for the distribution?
I had been with Paradox games since HoI1 i can tell you that what they did to their games is exactly the opposite of what you should do.If you let fan-boy attitude out of it you will find out that the same excuses used for the HoI1 or Vic1(terrible and completely impossible to play with on release)are used now so many years later for HoI3 which you all know how many issues it had and still has.
Now considering that they should have learned from past mistakes i tend to believe that this is actually their policy of game making and game selling.
So what i did was to vote with my money and never buy a game from them again especially now that their bug and support forum is only visible by customers and thus if a hot headed moderator bans you(just for pointing the problems of a product you got)you cant improve or fix a game you paid for.
Anyway i usually don't write on such issues and of course not at this length but i have to say i feel bad-weird about this.
In any case the best of luck and will se how it plays.

[Generalisimo]

Really why did you had to do it?Was for the cash to continue developing games or only for the distribution?
I had been with Paradox games since HoI1 i can tell you that what they did to their games is exactly the opposite of what you should do.If you let fan-boy attitude out of it you will find out that the same excuses used for the HoI1 or Vic1(terrible and completely impossible to play with on release)are used now so many years later for HoI3 which you all know how many issues it had and still has.

I think the major problem of HOI3 is performance. HOI1 or Vicky1 had other problems, like stability due to CTDs, that's not exactly the case of HOI3.
But that's a discussion for another forum...

Now considering that they should have learned from past mistakes i tend to believe that this is actually their policy of game making and game selling.
So what i did was to vote with my money and never buy a game from them again especially now that their bug and support forum is only visible by customers and thus if a hot headed moderator bans you(just for pointing the problems of a product you got)you cant improve or fix a game you paid for.

Well, I regret to tell you that what you have just said is not true.
You can update your product quite easilly using the updater that comes with the game.
Also, the official patches are usually available on different sites, so you can easilly get them from other sources, in case you do not like to use the updater...
The only drawback of being banned, is that you can't get to see the "secret support forum" for your product.
But you can actually send an email to their support address and get support through there.

Anyway i usually don't write on such issues and of course not at this length but i have to say i feel bad-weird about this.
In any case the best of luck and will se how it plays.

Really, read the announcement again... if you do not like how Paradox manages itself (you are completelly free to feel like that), the announcement is VERY CLEAR about that.
AGEOD will remain as an independent studio, with the Phils in charge.

[GlobalExplorer]

I don't see how the two sentences contradict eachother? Simply put, the combined meaning is: Paradox owns it, the Phils run it

That's silly. If Paradox has become AGEODs owner, you are not an independent partner any more. Of course, Paradox will be smart enough to let the company run as before, but they can change that any day.

I don't want to think about what this means for the future of VGN, which was just beginning to look like a serious competitive product to Victoria 2. Sure it will not be cancelled, but if it gets dovetailed with Paradox' future release, it puts an end to competition.

Before I will be understood wrong, of course I accept that Phil had to take this step to rescue the future of his company. That AGEOD may have a future now is good news, but they also lost their independence. Please don't tell me this is a day to celebrate!

[Generalisimo]

That's silly. If Paradox has become AGEODs owner, you are not an independent partner any more. Of course, Paradox will be smart enough to let the company run as before, but they can change that any day.

I don't want to think about what this means for the future of VGN, which was just beginning to look like a serious competitive product to Victoria 2. Sure it will not be cancelled, but if it gets dovetailed with Paradox' future release, it puts an end to competition.

Before I will be understood wrong, of course I accept that Phil had to take this step to rescue the future of his company. That AGEOD may have a future now is good news, but they also lost their independence. Please don't tell me this is a day to celebrate!

I really think you are going waaaay overboard... there are a lot of legal things that are not mentioned in the announcement, because as a customer, you do not need to know. Really, stop worrying in advance for something that hasn't happened yet...

[ancient seaman]

I think the major problem of HOI3 is performance. HOI1 or Vicky1 had other problems, like stability due to CTDs, that's not exactly the case of HOI3.
But that's a discussion for another forum...


Well, I regret to tell you that what you have just said is not true.
You can update your product quite easilly using the updater that comes with the game.
Also, the official patches are usually available on different sites, so you can easilly get them from other sources, in case you do not like to use the updater...
The only drawback of being banned, is that you can't get to see the "secret support forum" for your product.
But you can actually send an email to their support address and get support through there.


Really, read the announcement again... if you do not like how Paradox manages itself (you are completelly free to feel like that), the announcement is VERY CLEAR about that.
AGEOD will remain as an independent studio, with the Phils in charge.

Actually i stand for what i said for several reasons and here are some of them.
Both their games before and now had issues upon release,serious ones that could have been ironed before assuming they made a good beta testing.Some of these might have been of different nature from game to game but doesn't change really the way of company behavior.BTW the horrible AI in both HoI1 and 3 isn't a matter of performance nor the scripting mistakes in Vic1 that didn't allow the events(is that how they called them?)to fire after certain date something which could be fixed(to an extend)by certain word document editing.But as you said this is for a different forum.
About the updater yes you are correct but i never mentioned that.What i had in mind was the support forum which until you wait for the official patch has(or used to)a ton of information and hot fixes is not available(if they ban you or don't have the game yet)something which i find easier to check than having to send emails for every issue i encounter.Maybe a matter of taste but this is how i feel.
As about the rest i clearly said that i hope it wont create any issues not seen so far with ageod practice(:thumbsup but in business i have seen that sometimes things turn out different from what it was supposed to originally.
With that lets both accept that we might have a different opinion,respect each others right to have and end this here because i don't think that further discussion on that will do any good.
So with the hope that the Phils will continue the good and polite towards the customer job i wish you happy Christmas.

[Pocus]

GlobalExplorer:

Believe me, the goal of Fredrik Wester, Paradox CEO (a friendly and approachable man) is not to convert the AGEOD way of doing things into the Paradox mold, this would be very counterproductive for his company. First, because the best tools are the ones you know, and Philippe and I have developed some tools and skills which are not the ones used by Paradox (an example, Paradox code is in program C++, we are using Delphi). What would be the point of losing all this experience and restarting nearly from zero?
And second, because it is good to have games not made the same way, to appeal to more players. Turn based versus real time and all that...

That's why AGEOD remains AGEOD with his own way of doing things. Because, pragmatically, it is most efficient for everybody, including the purse of Paradox

I would even dare say that you have now much more chances to see VGN finished now that Paradox is in the party. It is no secret that VGN is in development since 'quite' some time, and this baby has been a bit tough on the shoulders of small AGEOD.

See, I have been very frank to you!

[Generalisimo]

Actually i stand for what i said for several reasons and here are some of them.
Both their games before and now had issues upon release,serious ones that could have been ironed before assuming they made a good beta testing.Some of these might have been of different nature from game to game but doesn't change really the way of company behavior.BTW the horrible AI in both HoI1 and 3 isn't a matter of performance nor the scripting mistakes in Vic1 that didn't allow the events(is that how they called them?)to fire after certain date something which could be fixed(to an extend)by certain word document editing.But as you said this is for a different forum.

There are a lot of assumptions that customers usually do about "what happens on a beta testing of a game"... I can tell you, I was a beta tester of Vicky and I was the author of the first AAR in spanish avilable to the public...
There are a lot of things that happens during the development process... that are covered by a NDA, so as a customer, you will never know about them.

About the updater yes you are correct but i never mentioned that.What i had in mind was the support forum which until you wait for the official patch has(or used to)a ton of information and hot fixes is not available(if they ban you or don't have the game yet)something which i find easier to check than having to send emails for every issue i encounter.Maybe a matter of taste but this is how i feel.

I can tell you that from my personal experience. I was banned on the Paradox forum when I bought the HoI3 game and I kept updating the game using the updater.
If I am not mistaken, you could visit the bugforum but you just can post or download things from there.
But usually, Paradox released the update when it was stable through the updater, even if it was not an official patch.
And if not, you always have a friend in there that has the game too and can forward you the file needed if you want it more quickly...
So, really, that was never an issue for me. When I was readmitted, I registered the game as any other customer and I finally got access to the "secret forums".

As about the rest i clearly said that i hope it wont create any issues not seen so far with ageod practice(:thumbsup but in business i have seen that sometimes things turn out different from what it was supposed to originally.

Well, but then, you are worrying in advance... as an AGEOD customer that I supose you are... you should expect the best out of this, because there is nothing you can do to prevent or change it.
What is done, is already done... now we should hope the best so we can keep playing the AGEOD games!

With that lets both accept that we might have a different opinion,respect each others right to have and end this here because i don't think that further discussion on that will do any good.
So with the hope that the Phils will continue the good and polite towards the customer job i wish you happy Christmas.

Sure, that's one of the best thing about this forum... that we can have a different opinion and there is nothing wrong on that.
Merry Christmas for you too.

[GlobalExplorer]

@Pocus

Yes, I think that was clear and precise.

[razorbackjac]

I really think you are going waaaay overboard... there are a lot of legal things that are not mentioned in the announcement, because as a customer, you do not need to know. Really, stop worrying in advance for something that hasn't happened yet...

I am sorry but paradox does not put out the quality that Agedo does. Thats a fact-period. Their games are based on history but they are not history-Ageod games are and thats a fact

[Nikel]

When I read it yesterday I had bad feelings, but in fact I do not know why

Well, if the alternative was to disappear and so this means that AGEod can continue developing games, good news

[veji1]

In a sense I am happy for AGEOD. I want them to make more games, and for that they need to survive, and maybe the economic conditions were starting to take their toll. Part of a bigger company they can get a bigger overdraft from the parent company and weather tougher times more easily. In that sense, happy for them.

But like many other I have my worries. I had bought EUII, joined the paradox forums, had a great time with that game (the one that game me the most enjoyment ever overall), than bought CK and Vicky. they disappointed me but hey, Still not that bad... but than seeing them just churn out expansion pack after expansion pack with no proper testing of the games before hand.. i mean come on, now we have VickyII and other which are just adaptations of the previous game with the EUIII 3D engine...

I hope everything goes well, and that AGEOD will be able to complete VGN and build a super duper NCPII covering campaigns from the empire and revolution period and then maybe even delve into complicated geopolitical/military conflicts such as the 30 years war and the 1740-1763 wars in Europe...

I will most likely buy VGN anyway, and I wish good luck to AGEOD and hope it will work out for the best.

[Jarkko]

I am not 100% sure but i remember that i've read it. East India Company was one of them and this is why i didn't buy it.

EIC doesn't have any DRM (in addition to typing in the code in the box (or the code for the digital version if you downloaded the game)), so I am not quite sure what you have been smoking


Btw, on Paradox forums moderators can't ban you (that is by the way standard on most forums, and I would assume it to be true here too), only the admins can. Moderators can stop you from posting in certain threads or sub-forums if you break the rules (ie you would still be quite capable of reading the forums, downloading any files etc, just not post in the thread or sub-forum in question), but they can't outright ban you on a whim.

[Anguille]

EIC doesn't have any DRM (in addition to typing in the code in the box (or the code for the digital version if you downloaded the game)), so I am not quite sure what you have been smoking

Probably something i shouldn't have!

I'll see if i can find this message again...

[Rafiki]

Repeating for emphasis:

I would even dare say that you have now much more chances to see VGN finished now that Paradox is in the party. It is no secret that VGN is in development since 'quite' some time, and this baby has been a bit tough on the shoulders of small AGEOD.

If you heed nothing else of our assurances that AGEOD's way designing and developing is not under threat, then make sure to use what Pocus says here to put a perspective on the whole thing

See, I have been very frank to you!

Well, you're certifiably nuts, anyway

[Rafiki]

(...) so I am not quite sure what you have been smoking .

There, there, Jarkko. It is possible for people to disagree with things you say without having to be under the influence of mind-altering drugs....

[RELee]

When I first heard the news. I was worse than skeptical. I hated the whole idea.

Why?

Because I'm old and I hate change.

But I'm better now. This could be a very good thing for everybody. Sure, it could become a disaster, but what the hey!

Whaddya gonna do?

When you buy downloadable AGEOD games, you do get the full installer. In fact, we recommend that people make a backup copy of their game(s) containing the installer(s), the serial key(s) and the latest patch(es), just to make sure they can continue to play the games they have bought should something happen to the original installer/installation

I suggest you continue this practice.

[tagwyn]

Longblade banned me from Matrix forums. Even Earl could not help me. t

[Gen.Montcalm]

Well if it's worth anything after everyone stating their opinions; I think this is a good news if AGEOD stay alive instead of closing in a year or two, I just hope that the games will stay different (meaning wargames, not sit and watch time goes by until something happens type of game). I know that it has been told several times that AGEOD will continue making games by itself, but who knows what the future will lead to. Anyway if it gives you guys more time to live your real life I suppose this can't be bad! So good luck, and I hope I'll be playing several awesome new games made by AGEOD in the future.