MMORPG Merger Announced

I received this press release last night. I figured I would just post it here in it's entirety and let you digest it. -------------- SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT, SQUARE-ENIX AND BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE CROSS-OVER GAMING DEAL - In an unprecedented merger of gaming assets, online gamers will be able to take their existing characters into new and exciting adventures in other gaming worlds. SAN DIEGO, CA - March 31, 2005 - Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), Square-Enix (S-E) and Blizzard Entertainment (Blizzard), the worldwide leaders in Massive Online gaming, have announced a joint venture where players of any of their games, including the enormously successful World of Warcraft, the granddaddy of online gaming Everquest, S-E's hugely successful online version of the Final Fantasy franchise, and the popular titles Everquest 2 and Star Wars Galaxies, can take their existing characters and move seamlessly into new gaming worlds. Through new technology developed jointly by all three companies, your character will be converted over to the rule set and graphical look of each new game as you transfer back and forth, opening up literally tens of thousands of new gaming possibilities for every player. Players of all these games will suddenly be confronted with not just new zones to play in, but entire new universes. "We have been looking for ways to add more end game content to World of Warcraft, and this just seemed a natural fit" said Mike Morhaime, President of Blizzard Entertainment. "This gives our players instant access to a range and depth of content that would otherwise take us years to develop through our current schedule. Now you can simply pick up and walk into another universe and open up an entire set of new and unique content" "The enormous success of World of Warcraft proves that there is a large market for online gaming" said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. "We decided that the best way to tap this market is to combine all of our assets into what is in effect one massive, massive-multiplayer game. By opening up more content and variety like this, our player base can only benefit and thrive." The details of the agreement will be released in more details later. The current timeline calls for the merger to be completed by May 16th, in time for a complete demonstration at the Electronic Entertainment Expo held annually in Los Angeles. The companies have put together a transition team lead by venerable programmer Raph Koster of SOE that will finalize the details of the changes that will be needed in each game to make the transitions from game to game smooth and consistent. "Some things are going to have to change in each game to make this work" said Mr. Koster. "Expect each class in each game to get altered somewhat to allow them to fit into the new rule sets. We are excited about the possibilities of how this can improve the gaming structure of all our franchises." Each company plans on releasing more detailed statements on their respective websites over the next few weeks explaining to the players the impact of this agreement on their specific games. About Blizzard Entertainment Best known for their series Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo®, Blizzard Entertainment (www.blizzard.com, a division of Vivendi Universal Games) is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating many of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. The company's free Internet gaming service Battle.net® provides a forum in which owners of Blizzard's games can play in a multiplayer mode remotely across the Internet and against other gamers from around the world. About Sony Online Entertainment Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Digital Inc., is a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with a subscriber base of over 800,000 active accounts around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises, EverQuest®, EverQuest II, Champions of Norrath and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies(TM): An Empire Divided(TM), SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with an additional development studio in Austin, TX, SOE has an array of cutting-edge online games in development. About Square Enix Co., Ltd. and Square Enix, Inc. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix) develops, publishes and distributes entertainment content including interactive entertainment software and publications in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. Square Enix brings two of Japan’s best-selling franchises – FINAL FANTASY®, which has sold over 60 million units worldwide, and DRAGON QUEST™, which has sold over 35 million units worldwide—under one roof. Square Enix is one of the most influential providers of digital entertainment content in the world and continues to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation. ------ Updated 4/3/05 - Just wanted to say "April Fools"

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bah!
# Apr 02 2005 at 10:35 AM Rating: Decent
curses on you! told my g/f that i'd be playing MMORPGs for the rest of my life because of this.....she was so mad! now i get to tell her it was a joke
omg....
# Apr 02 2005 at 10:21 AM Rating: Decent
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129 posts
I feel retarded now. I just now read this (Apr. 2nd) and thought nothing of it. I'm at work and play with 7 other ppl here. I was freaking out running around telling everyone that played. Then once they went to read they were like "Dude...it's and April Fools joke" Now I'm going to get picked on all day at work and I'm here from 10am - 10:30pm. It's going to be a looong day! ><
April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 02 2005 at 9:33 AM Rating: Decent
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1,978 posts
April Fools it is,

The Blizzard guys would never subject to this, only cause they are the newcomers, and they are getting a large number of players into their games already.

But, SE and Sony might consider this a good idea, though. EQ2 hasn't really "taken off", and FFXI is almost 3 years old now.

So, definitely, this can't be possible.

Oh, by the way, did you know that Burger Mc King is a merger of McD's and BK? It's true, they'll change their fast food chains name, lol.
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:33 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:32 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
RE: April Fools, for sure!
# Apr 03 2005 at 5:32 PM Rating: Decent
lmao I cant believe I actually believed that. I just woke up and read it just not and got geeked up for this to happen. lol i ******* hate April Fools day (was a good joke tho:)
:(
# Apr 02 2005 at 9:05 AM Rating: Decent
This notice would be great if it wasnt posted in 1st April ;P
idiot
# Apr 02 2005 at 5:56 PM Rating: Default


Edited, Sat Apr 2 17:57:37 2005
RE: idiot
# Apr 02 2005 at 6:18 PM Rating: Default
kiss my *** :)
-_-
# Apr 02 2005 at 6:46 AM Rating: Decent
I got as far as "Players of all these games will suddenly be confronted with not just new zones to play in, but entire new universes. "

And realized... April 1.. lol..

Nice one though ^_^
^^
# Apr 02 2005 at 6:13 AM Rating: Decent
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387 posts
Thumbs up for thinking of such a great idea. :)
Nice
# Apr 02 2005 at 1:56 AM Rating: Decent
Heh, I didn't realize it until I read the posts. Good thing I really didn't care too much about it.
=)
# Apr 02 2005 at 1:42 AM Rating: Decent
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361 posts
Wow i was thinkin' that would be so cool! Totally forgot it was April Fools Day. -_-
RE: =)
# Apr 02 2005 at 8:45 AM Rating: Decent
im in your boat. i have been wanting to try EQII but didnt want to start a new character. good one.
haha
# Apr 02 2005 at 1:00 AM Rating: Decent
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229 posts
first of april {can i have it}

that would be soooo ridiculous
hmm
# Apr 02 2005 at 12:58 AM Rating: Decent
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55 posts
haha, that would be pretty bad...

Seeing as my Orc Warlock (WoW) could take out a full group of level 75 FFXI players singlehandedly.
RE: hmm
# Apr 12 2005 at 4:04 PM Rating: Decent
Yeah right, FFXI>WoW To the max! Nyahhhh, (fun)(key) (Monk)(key) (Power)
heh
# Apr 02 2005 at 12:20 AM Rating: Decent
3 seconds into reading this i smiled and stoped. clever. :)
Wow. What a good April Fools Joke
# Apr 02 2005 at 12:14 AM Rating: Decent
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85 posts
To be absolutely honest, my brain forgot about April Fools Day. I honestly thought this was real, but when I thought about it further, I realized it was Aprils Fools day, and it was an April Fools joke.

Good one! :-)
job combination?
# Apr 01 2005 at 11:45 PM Rating: Decent
Can I be a RDM/JEDI?? :P
good joke btw ^^

Edited, Fri Apr 1 23:47:51 2005
RE: job combination?
# Apr 02 2005 at 10:07 AM Rating: Decent
here's better combo: Drk/Jedi ~.^

PS
Nice April Fools joke^.^
ha...
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:51 PM Rating: Decent
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2,180 posts
Not for a second... sorry, guys.
STOP!!!!
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:45 PM Rating: Decent
every were im going huge apirl fools jokes please stop im dumb and believe every thing i here i though manydrid found jesus and that ozzy left black sabit all in one day now this stop apirl fools plz
RE: STOP!!!!
# Apr 02 2005 at 1:41 AM Rating: Good
English please can I have it???
Grr
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:30 PM Rating: Decent
Dang them and there nerve. lol. They got me. sad to say but i was overly excited. =(
>.<
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:23 PM Rating: Decent
Sadly I feel for this aswell.. T.T but hey atleast I'm not the only one. I was like omg omg hey guys go to alla and check out there front page. It was a dream come true then... I got to thinking damn it's april fools day T.T and told my friends they thought about it a second and I've been being /slaped all day ; ;
RE: >.<
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:27 PM Rating: Default
you misunderstood. i caught on once i read the posts, i was trying to get others and some dill-hole on the LS ruined it

Edited, Fri Apr 1 22:26:41 2005
idiot
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:07 PM Rating: Default
So i say in LS chat (this was in caps but i will spare ya'll) "guys, guys, you need to log onto alla. there is huge news" "huge" "i mean huge" "you wouldn't beleave me, just go see" and then some brain donner says "you mean the april fools joke?"
</slap>

Edited, Fri Apr 1 22:06:40 2005
>.<
# Apr 01 2005 at 10:04 PM Rating: Decent
dam >.< i was fooled... oh well good April fool's joke.. the best i have ever seen!
lol.............
# Apr 01 2005 at 9:47 PM Rating: Decent
49 posts
LOL....thanks for makeing my heart skip...while pictures of tarus runing around EQOA flashed thru my mind...and darkelf necromacers terroriseing FFXI w/ their pets....
almost got me
# Apr 01 2005 at 9:07 PM Rating: Decent
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135 posts
hahaha good one you almost got me with this one, except that I know that the big game companies like that do not want their users going over to another game and giving their money to another company.
Got me&#65281;&#65281;&#65281;
# Apr 01 2005 at 8:51 PM Rating: Decent
Well, it's April 2nd here in China -_-
crazy thought
# Apr 01 2005 at 8:34 PM Rating: Decent
after reading most of the comments, i supose i should say this: first there are no "O"s after the blizard and SE name, its a O with a R in it meaning copyright. if someone uses that without the information being what the manufacturer said they could be sued. i know its april fools but think about it. btw this site kicks ***.
Woah
# Apr 01 2005 at 7:52 PM Rating: Decent
I was like holy **** wen i read this, but then i figured out it was april fools, that'd be funny if u see like han solo riding a choco sayin, this isn't the milenium falcon chewie, then he looks around and see's a galka named chewbacca.
nice one
# Apr 01 2005 at 7:26 PM Rating: Decent
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177 posts
lol. nice joke..
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