Yea, like Wolcen did. /s
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So about as qualified as me.
I just typed a huge political rant but deleted it as theres no point, ill keep it short(er)
I already purchased the game but I wont be buying any future MTX or buying anything. I have not spent a dollar on PoE since the Tencent venture and wont ever again and I have played every league since, not a single dollar goes Tencent’s way from me if I can help it (most of the time I cant as Tencent have their claws in a lot of things im not aware of)
I am ignorant to EHG financial situation but I really dont see why you bothered if this has happened recently. This game will explode on release regardless due to lots of aRPG streamers/players are simply going to play it if released at the right time, then if there is ethical MTX a lot of money will be made there. Lots of players now will just not spend more money due to reasons above
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There is no way to prove / disprove such a statement, however there is evidence that just because tencents has funded a game it can still be VERY popular and profitable.
League of Legends… $1.75 Billion in 2020 (Tencent has a 40% Stake)
PoE… $51.8 Million in 2020 (Tencent has a 80% Stake)
Fortnite… $5.1 Billion in 2020 (Tencent has 40% Stake)
I am also unaware of EHG exact financial situation, but my guess is they want to release a Polished AAA game that blows people away and is in their full creative view. I assume for them to gather additional funding it was needed in order to do so. I dont know what there other options were, but if it was to give up rights for decisions made for design/creativity/mechanics/monetization or to release the game early unoptimized due to running out of funds (WOLCEN) I like the option they took.
Lets see what unravels!
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I agree on that. I usually try to buy a few things when I spend time on a game to support developpers, but Tencent doesn’t need my support. (Not for political reasons, just because they are big enough).
I will possibly buy expansions, and that’s it (I know, they say there wont be any, but my trust in what they say has dropped to absolute zero levels).
Most likely. But they have to be aware that they just placed themselves today in a completely different category.
A lot of things have been explained by being “a small independent studio”, and that made perfect sense. Now they are hiring people by the dozens, and getting cash from the biggest investors around, they really need to step up their game big time.
The spirit and all the mechanics are absolutely great, but the graphics and animations are below par, and the performances not good. That was fine for a small indie team, but this excuse is now gone.
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The “excuse” may be gone for “Future” patches, and they have already commented on this.
Sounds like your getting exactly what you are expecting, but don’t expect just because money suddenly injected that everything changes the next day. Dont expect yesterdays excuse to no longer work for yesterdays work. Games take time no matter how much money and how good you are.
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Oh, thank you! 
I overlooked that post!
I’ve put my trust, and faith in ehg this far, I’m certainly not going to be negative about it now. I trust their judgement, and I personally don’t see the issue at hand, when League of Legends, and POE are still popping off (several other games funded by them are also loved, by millions of people around the world). Ultimately, for me, the Game, and community is what is most important to me, and business funding, politics, and race does not matter to me here. People go to a video game to escape such real world topics, and I don’t think last epoch should be a focused hub for such talks. Humans, are humans. Not a single person, or company is perfect, and we all make mistakes, This is not a life or death, or negative situation, these are people who just want to make the best game they can, who are really passionate about achieving that, and I stand by their decision here, until I see actual evidence of something to be concerned about, and not just simply speculation. Everything the devs say is normal, and logical, with theirs, and our best interests at heart as a video game company.
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Hypocrisy.
We stand with Ukraine but let a dictatorship enter our company. Money has no smell.
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One simple question, would you take the money if Tencent is a Russian company tied to Putin with the same hands-off approach, big fans of the game, and offers more money? If not, why not?
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Why?
Or PoE 'cause that went totally “gacha cash grab” after Tencent bought a controlling stake in GGG rather than continue (in the west) in the direction it had been going for years.
It wasn’t for PoE though, are there many Tencent threads on their forums anymore compared to when they made the announcement?
USD42m in year ending Sep 21, USD55m in year ending Sep 20, USD45m in the year ending March 19, which is when the stat accounts stop being provided. They still have a metric ####ton of cash though & that’s after paying a mahoosive dividend.
I dont really see threads on it, but it does get posted whenever they do something people dont like you get the classic “ah tencent at it again” especially if it relates to mtx
I would say it after a while everyone who is mad because tencent will just leave, and then it will just be offhand remarks in this community too.
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Yeah, they’ll bring out the old boogie man every once in a while when they want to be pissed off with GGG without being pissed off with GGG.
cough battle pass cough
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Yeah, almost four yeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrsssssssssssssss after they were purchased (May 2018). If Tencent were the ultimate Evil MegaCorp ™ that some appear to believe they are (as against just the normal evil MegaCorp that they likely are, along with every other massive company), you’d have thought they’d have corrupted GGG a bit quicker wouldn’t you? Or are Tencent just really bad at their “we’re-ebil-communists-and-we’re-going-to-steal-all-your-data-eat-your-babies-and-mind-control-you-into-ebil-communists-just-like-us-you-dirty-capitalist-pigs-have-no-powah!” gig?
Uhm no. I just don’t like them from other games I have played and had them involved in. They took other games I played and once they gained control of the company, ruined the games for me. Others may like cash shops that are required to buy stuff off of, but I don’t.
And please do not try and downplay the fact that they are being looked at for money laundering and other things. Politically wise, if you reallly want this to go there, partnering with China based corporations is just a bad look.
I’m ending this here. You’re coming off as some PR rep for EHG and it rubs me the wrong way.
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Are you really claiming that there is a difference between a Chinese company and the Chinese Communist Party. (CCP)? If so, I invite you to justify this claim. Meanwhile I’ll carry on with the more realistic assumption that the entire rest of the globe operates on - that the CCP has complete control over everything their citizens, companies and institutions do. Let’s instead address the risk to the things that are important to you: Your team, your efforts, your game and your IP:
-
Chinese companies (the CCP) steal IP regularly from foreign companies. This is not limited to those they have equity partnerships with. I recommend the book Internet Wars as a good start to the scope and scale of this operation.
If you prefer specific examples, the ARM theft is a good one to start with.
If you like lighthearted humourous stuff, try China Uncensored. - your team is at risk every time they visit China. The CCP’s genocide and slavery against the Uighur population includes foreign citizens. The CCP has ‘legalized’ and normalized disappearances, government threat, coercion and nationalization of assets, even amongst their most wealthy and powerful. This has been exacerbated a hundredfold by the Covid excuse. The CCP locks down entire provinces for long periods of time with no justification, warning or remorse.
- Chinese companies have a ‘wolf diplomacy’ approach to dispute resolution with international partners, meaning any dispute or flagrant violation of your contract will be very difficult to challenge.
- On a more personal note, many defectors from North Korea claim that the solution to the atrocities being committed there is simple: Stop CCP funding. Which would mean divesting from Chinese companies even if you believe they are completely separate from the CCP
With so many ethical investment options available, was it really worth all the risk to go with Tencent? Are you really satisfied that your choice does not perpetuate the human rights abuses in this world indirectly?
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Oh, don’t look for anything remotely rational in it. 
It feels fun to follow a small independent team’s progress in trying to build their game. Like being part of an adventure, of a family where you get to know the people.
Following a million-dollars company’s progress feels far less interesting. No more adventure, and the huge number of staff doesn’t feel family-like at all anymore.
Look at “making a game as a small independent studio” as an hardcore achievement: it doesn’t bring anything special, just the fun and suspense of seeing how far they can go.
EHG had a good run, but couldn’t quite get to endgame. No achievement for them. Of course, we can still play an HC character after death. But it doesn’t have the same flavour, it’s just a ghost.
GGG got the achievement, and sold soon after.
Wolcen got the achievement (with an extremely small team, too), but they tried to push too far in HC mode and ended up perma-dead.
So I guess EHG made the right choice for the final quality of their game. I will (probably) come back to check the game when the campaign is complete. Until then, following the progress step by step of a rich and massive team has lost all interest.
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Fair enough, but PR reps are way more competent than me at this.
I have confidence EHG can deal with our data, monetization and gameplay in a fair and balanced manner. And I’m sure Uighurs will have lovely time playing LE too… oh wait.
Somehow everyone is fine with sanctions on Russia, but slave money is ok.
World is not black and white ofc, and the decision is sound on many levels, but that does not mean we should not be trying. This leaves a bad taste for me.
I whish EHG and the game related people working at Tencent best of luck. But im way less excited about LE now… smh.
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I’m pretty sure it won’t be a “rich and massive” team. Onboarding people takes time and, in reality, the more people they hire, the more they delay the game. From a very small group they have become and probably will stay a small group. They will hire consultants for some activities. And they know they have a financial backup if they need it. That’s mainly the point. If they try to really big studio, they may fail and collapse.
I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure they’ll stay rather small and the development will, in reality, not change that much. They’ll just be freed from one preoccupation.
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