EVE Fiction

It would be awesome, but I think it would cost a lot of money to do that. Animated films aint cheap to make. Toy story 3 cost like 150 mil or something insane like that. Not saying that it would cost that much...as a matter of fact, it would only cost a fraction of that, but it would still be significant cost to CCP to hire actors, directors, animators etc.

Sure you can use the guys already on staff, but then you would loose them from developing the game.

it would be nice but do you want a new movie or more fis?

There was a comment by a developer during one of the character generation sessions that was more or less this, though done as part of the character generation tools than WiS (a feature which, frankly, I would prefer over a complete redoing of the ships, but hey).

...which completely broke EVE lore / cannon and had a deus ex machina in every episode - very poor story resolution. The final episode was utter disappointment, in which JR explains to the rest of the crew a scene (which we didn't see) with the Jovians and that he needed to fly off to never-never-land, for 'reasons-that-resolve-the-plot-neatly'.

This 'missing' scene was an opportunity for JR to stick to his character traits and save his crew by sacrificing himself. JR needed to die, and it would have been a great ending, especially for someone who throughout the series stuck to his guns and risked himself for the greater good.

I give kudos and respect to Ian for the effort, but do not believe he should be involved with an 'official' release of an animated story. Especially if the lead character looks like Barney from Half-Life 2.

The only reason CCP would release an animated story would be to increase subscribers levels, and the sheer cost of doing so runs into the millions, money which could be spent on existing marketing streams.

The other point I'd like to make, is that the creation of an animated story would have to appeal to the broader masses and CCP have a nasty habit when they create videos, in that they make them purely for existing subscribers, or gamers that have pre-existing knowledge of New Eden.

This is not the way to go.

They should be making promotional videos which appeal to gamers as a whole, not the miniscule numbers we have now.

Good example was the recent Dust video they made - none of it would make any sense to the average frat-boy demographic which (I believe) is the target audience for Dust. It barely had any shooting in it - and for a FPS game, that's pretty weak.

Awesome for us, as we understand the background, but the target demographic just got another shot fired over their heads.

If CCP make more money than Blizzard with regards to New Eden, then perhaps we might get something official - until then, they will support anyone who is willing to put in the effort to create something off their own back free of charge. It would be illogical for them not to continue to do this, as the cost to them is zero.

AK

1: That was a tongue-in-cheek comment, echoing comments made by others which were also tongue-in-cheek.

2: Sad that you disagree, frankly. A games company should only consider marketing with an ROI related to its IP. If they were a film company, then your opinion carries weight.

Films do cost millions; a single print is just north of $2k, and with 37 thousand+ screens in the united states alone, you're talking about $70+ millions purely to print enough reels so the opening weekend has enough prints to show the film to all screens.

Yes, that is a distribution cost - but seeing how CCP are not film distributors, someone would have to cut a deal with a major disty which would amount to leasing or profit sharing so someone could cover this real and tangible cost, that cannot be side-stepped.

Then you got the deal that would need to be made between the disty and the chains, this would be (again) a cost that would need to be covered. Deals like this amount to (figuratively) $100K for a week-long 'block' which the chains would have to pay for to get hold of the reels so they have the right to show the film, per theatre. This is a perpetual gamble, as they must make that money back. If they take in $125K, they have made $25k profit - if they take $75K, they have lost $25K.

If you've ever wondered why popcorn cost what it does - this is the reason why. Profit is made on these snacks to off-set the potential of having a film which doesn't draw the crowds.

And now, we come to the cost of production...

There are rules for everyone involved in the production of a movie. These rules pretty much amount to the wages you need to pay people who work in the industry. As everyone is a member of a guild or union, you cannot side-step this either. In other words, CCP would be in breach if they took exisiting staff and told them to produce a film, without adhering to these 'wrath of god' protocols. I'm deadly serious about this, CCP would be in international letigation for years if they attempted this - and no disty would go near them for risk of ancillary litigation as a result of not playing by the rules which govern this industry.

I can tell you that even a screenwriter will have an industry minimum for the option; meaning that even if the film doesn't get made, they still receive payment - and if the film does get made, there are then payments owed for a film that shall hit the BO - and even then, there are ancillary payments for merchandising, DVD/Online/Cable/Blu-ray...all the way down the line. Whether these are based on gross points or nett points depends on the agent that did the deal.

Then you got the cost of actors and actresses, which get more than writers (historically - unless you are Shane Black) and every other single person on set, or in the production office/studio.

Then you got post production, legal & administrative, language (watch the credits at the end of any film for more details)

If you do not have 'top billing' actors, the chances of getting a disty 'excited' enough to start doing deals, is really slim - as everyone he speaks with would be taking a gamble - including his/her $70 mill for simply printing reels (again, just for the USA).

Oh, and do not forget the marketing cost as well, which for something like 'Inception' was $200 mill globally - the reason it was so much was because it had a complex story, coupled with an expensive shooting budget north of $150 mill (I think) and they needed to recoup that cost by extensive promotion.

Even if it cost just $1 mill to make an eve-o film, the sheer volume of complexity about New Eden would require massive amounts of marketing to educate movie-goers about it, and to steer them away from other films, or simply to get people away from their home entertainment and down to the complex.

400k subscribers, you say...

Not sure that equates to 400K human beings, and more so 400k human beings willing to give money to a company, who have already used money they have been given by the same human beings to maintain New Eden, which CCP have then taken and used to create a film which will then be charged for.

Logic sense it does not make. Those 400K you're banking on, might turn around and say "I'll illegally download it, as I have already given CCP money - so why should I give them more? Click".

Not saying they will, not saying they won't, but it's a gamble nonetheless.

'Easily turn a profit' - no fuckin' way. You'd be several millions in the hole before you sold one ticket.

3: Yes they do - they all want a slice of the teen and pre-teen audience.

It's a choice CCP need to make.

(a) take sub money and make a film which might bury the company (goodbye New Eden)
(b) make new eden better and keep improving the marketing of new eden to create stability for future investments into games (they are a games company after all)

CCP have dissappointed their subscribers with (b), what makes you believe they would be successful with (a) ?

The sad truth is Hollywood would make more money if they left their money earning interest at a bank @ 4%.

AK