Quote:
Originally posted by whoop
Open Source would make the code fast, stable, and reliable/bug free.
PA is not dying because of code defects - it is dying because of two things.
One: A total and utter lack of customer service other than credit card processing.
Two: A "community" that is filled with immature twats that try to win at any cost, including the total alienation and destruction of new players which leads to...
Well, all we know that it leads to.
-whoop
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Actually I can show you several mistakes that were made. Non were down to the cde, but all contributed to the downfall.
Being an accountant I can tell you that some of the financial decisions that have been made were totally lacking in any judgement. I personally think these are more perinent to the reasons why PA failed.
If you go back to the end of round 3, due to the dodgy ad banners 5th Season decided to go pay to play. By that time I think that they were already severely cash strapped.
However instead of using it as a revenue top up for ad banner ppl who had gone bankrupt they decided that was the way forward. Ay to play is a difficult decisions, one with many ramifications, but the simple fact is people will not pay for extended periods - its just not worth it. Also most individuals involved rely on parents for income. Any strategic decisions based on pay to play is a severe mistake.
Next was the inability to acquire strategic agreements. The onesa that were put together simply were risky strategies. Strategic agreements for use of in game ad's and portal advertising and maybe even mass marketing could have maximised the revenue or saved costs on infrastructure.
The final error was one many small/new businesses fall into - a lack of a coherent strategy. Unfortunately all this lead to the current position.
My boss (the group projects Director) said if I remembered 1 thing I should remember this when evaluating projects "Cash is king".
PA is a game which requires a free environment. There is no compromise since ppl will always have better things to spend there cash on. Ad banners will never work since any company will be hard pushed to get the "true" revenue because of the amount of hits the game receives.
There are revenue streams for them to exploit, but they simply didn't have the skills or knowledge to do it. If there was ever a case study for a poorly organised internet company with a strong product this would be it.
Btw if anyon was interested I am a analyst for a utilities company at the moment and I was a management accountant for a internet security / portal management solution company, so unfortunately I very much understand what should / needs to be done :-)
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