Question: Major staff loss during 2011 - what happened?

[orjand]

I have heard from a good source that MA has lost a lot of staff this year, both developers, testers, support and IT. Is this true, and why did so many decide to leave?

[Stave Petty]

Originally Posted by orjand

I have heard from a good source that MA has lost a lot of staff this year, both developers, testers, support and IT. Is this true, and why did so many decide to leave?

If this has any truth to it what so ever, what makes you think they left and wasnt laid off due to the financial climate?

[Leona]

Originally Posted by orjand

I have heard from a good source that MA has lost a lot of staff this year, both developers, testers, support and IT. Is this true, and why did so many decide to leave?

If your 'good source' doesn't know how should we, the general public, know?

Obviously a part of the staff got 'lost' with the FPC/SEE thingy, but that was 2010 already?

[orjand]

Originally Posted by Stave Petty

If this has any truth to it what so ever, what makes you think they left and wasnt laid off due to the financial climate?

My source said they quit, they were not laid off.

Originally Posted by Leona

If your 'good source' doesn't know how should we, the general public, know?

Obviously a part of the staff got 'lost' with the FPC/SEE thingy, but that was 2010 already?

The forum section is called "Ask MindArk", so the question was mainly aimed to them. From what I understand, the lost staff was pure MA and it was during 2011.

[Neil Stockton]

My guess is it was the entire Testing and QA department.

[Jennson]

Originally Posted by Neil Stockton

My guess is it was the entire Testing and QA department.

There were times they had one ?

[Stave Petty]

And who or what is your source?

[orjand]

Originally Posted by Stave Petty

And who or what is your source?

Obviously I will not give you a name. But my friend overheard MA staff talking at a lunch restaurant.

[Few Scars]

It would be very interesting to know what is going on, but at the end of the day even if MA downsizes, the planet partners have enough man power to keep the updates coming. Maybe MA is aiming to be just the umbrella company that oversees the planet partner content. The question would then be what happens to planet Calypso? They clearly havent sold the $6m of shares, and players are financially exhausted seen clearly in poor auction sales.

2012 will be the make or break year for MA. EU is the most expensive game in the world to play, they are competing with EVE, WoW and SWTOR all who cost bugger all to play.

[darth_bacon4]

Originally Posted by Few Scars

It would be very interesting to know what is going on, but at the end of the day even if MA downsizes, the planet partners have enough man power to keep the updates coming. Maybe MA is aiming to be just the umbrella company that oversees the planet partner content. The question would then be what happens to planet Calypso? They clearly havent sold the $6m of shares, and players are financially exhausted seen clearly in poor auction sales.

2012 will be the make or break year for MA. EU is the most expensive game in the world to play, they are competing with EVE, WoW and SWTOR all who cost bugger all to play.

Indeed, it should make one a little cautious to invest in a game when it is the worlds' most expensive game. I don't really see any sort of financial growth being possible in this game unless, A): you own a good percentage of the game, or B): you own a considerable amount of wealth within the game. Let's hope the planet calypso has something that is nothing short of miraculous planned for 2012.

Personally I would just love to see an addition to the Entropia Universe that would substantiate economic growth ingame and IRL that is not fueled by the "gaming community". Gambling is fun and all and a lot of people are addicted to it but the money is drying up so to say, all over the world. While the Entropia Universe is it's own World in a way it should have an economy that is not dependent on our physical worlds' resources. The problem is that hundreds of thousands of people are paying so that they can piss their money away when instead, they should be getting paid to Play this game.

A system should be introduced where, inside the Entropia Universe employment within structured organizations working together/ against each other to move some sort of export to the real world. But what could a video game ever export to the real world? :/