Posted by SavageJ on 2009-01-26 02:23:45
I have no idea what GW and/or Cyanide intend. I can tell you from experience that the same concerns rippled through the Diplomacy online community from time to time as they debated what Hasbro would or wouldn't do to the online game. In the end, as far as I know, nothing was ever done. Alienating the online Diplomacy community is alienating a huge component of that game's fan base, and many of the potential purchasers for any new product. If Hasbro even bothered to think about it, that's apparently what they concluded. I think the same holds true for Blood Bowl and FUMBBL.
The questions are complex, but I have to believe (or at least hope) that people interested in selling and marketing both the board game and the PC/Console game will consider FUMBBL excellent free advertising for their products and leave this site alone. I would.
Posted by arw on 2009-01-26 07:25:04
Could be bad if people leave fumbbl: That's about it I guess. GW is a money-minded company anyway and always had another BB game ready- tabletop that is. Nevertheless they left fumbbl alone. If Cyanide creates a fancy game with impressive graphics it should aim on being more appealing than fumbbl in order to "tap potential" rather than being the bad guy stealing our toy...
As for the "one-year-perspective":
You can't be sure how they are planning but well made games cost time and money. They are not designed to be popular for a year only. Maybe it's true for console-players..? PC gamers however still play Warcraft3 (...and even Starcraft) after years. Blizzard might be exceptional- an exception other developers are looking up too though.
Cyanide should know that BB has the potential to be popular for decades- why creating a "one-hit-wonder"? Would be stupid.
Either it is well made and remains popular for several years or it's a failure and we don't have to bother from the start.
For me people leaving fumbbl in favor of a more anonymous community (a la warcraft3) is the only threat. That might include worse chat in game and "crippling4life-coaches".