The Oculus hate train is strong

[digitalnav]

http://www.maximumpc.com/oculus_should_refund_kickstarter_money_2014

 

Seriously, whoever backed Oculus got what they paid for, a DK 1 or 2. Just because they sold the company and received $2B, doesn't mean they should be forced to repay backers and essentially give them free kits.

[Guest GRRigger]

i hope this is the last wagon of old oculus news too

[digitalnav]

i hope this is the last wagon of old oculus news too

I don't care much about the acquisition, but everyone crying about them selling out is ridiculous. Just my 2c.

[qwertywarrior]

why do people think that the ONLY reason people are angry at

 

im angry that Facebook is one really creepy company bought one of the friendliest open companies out there

its has no competition it WILL shape the land scape of VR and if it ever takes control we will be at its mercy

people use instagram as example but facebook only owned it for 2 years this is not a proper example

 

we NEED competition from a big open company that hopefully wont force us to use its "launcher" and only play "its" games with intrusive data mining

[Dragonzeanse]

Well, when he puts it that way with that kind of spin...

[Freaky_spider]

why do people think that the ONLY reason people are angry at

 

im angry that Facebook is one really creepy company bought one of the friendliest open companies out there

its has no competition it WILL shape the land scape of VR and if it ever takes control we will be at its mercy

 

we NEED competition from a big open company that hopefully wont force us to use its "launcher" and only play "its" games with intrusive data mining

lets hope sony and microsoft give em some competition (and preferably some other less know company like oculus was)

[Vitalius]

While I agree that the ones who got their rewards shouldn't get their money back, I believe the Oculus hate train is a deserved one. 

From this Slashdot post:
 

And color me surprised that the guy who just got a $2B cash infusion thinks this is a good idea. Gaming is barely a blip on the radar? Yeah, that's the problem, you asshole. Gamers bankrolled it; developers kept the momentum going; anticipated titles created the buzz.... but all of that barely registers against Facebook's piles and piles of money, right?

Can I rip the FB crap out of it? That's pretty much the question that will determine whether I want to have it. I don't really mind having FB as the manufacturer of the thing, for all I care it could be made by FB, MS or CommieNaziIncorporated, as long as it's affordable, working and free of any baggage that tries to push me towards it manufacturer.
 
If it's used as some kind of vehicle to push FB onto the few who don't have it and don't loathe it on principle, then I can very well do without and am retroactively glad I decided against funding the kickstarter.

Carmack screwed the analysis quite thoroughly, and now its too late for them. One of two scenarios is in play here:
 
1) Facebook bought OR because they wanted to diversify their holdings to make themselves more resilient to changes in their core market. In this case, Facebook will likely leave OR mostly alone and except for adding some money to the pot, but when it becomes clear that OR can not or will not scale at the growth that Facebook wants/needs, then it will get the axe.

2) Facebook bought OR because of some overriding strategy that involves OR's technology. In this case, Facebook will not be allowing OR to keep going the way they have been going, which more than likely means very little if any emphasis on VR gaming, and instead is intended as a social platform for virtual interaction. In this scenario, the best that OR can manage will be to get some games developed and released, but to that end there will likely be no support from Facebook.

Carmack was correct when he stated that OR needed two things: first, they would need cash infusions at several points to be able to scale at the rate that flash-in-the-pan games require in order to meet their sales goals. Without that cash, developers would be reticent to make any games that truly took advantage of the platform because then they would be locked to it with no guarantee that OR could manufacture enough units to *not* severely limit sales of the game developers product. Facebook solves the cash problem, but only by reintroducing another reason for developers not to get involved: Facebook itself. Facebook has burned many developers before, and consequently developers are less likely to become involved with them than they would have been with any other company (possibly excepting Microsoft).

The second thing that OR needs is developer support, which, for the reasons described above, the Facebook deal makes far more difficult than it would have been if OR had been bought by almost any other company.

All things considered, OR might fare better having been bought by Facebook than going it alone, but that is by no means clear.

Was this FB deal Carmack's play all along? [slashdot.org]
 
3. by moonboy asks: I once read, in Wired, an article that said you have an incredible headstart on everyone else for making "virtual worlds" on the Internet using your engine from the Quake games. Do you have any intention of doing this? Has anyone approached you about it? It would seem like a fantastic use of the technology with online gaming being so popular. Entire worlds online could be created virtually and very life-like with many different purposes.
 
John Carmack Answers: Making Snow Crash into a reality feels like a sort of moral imperative to a lot of programmers, but the efforts that have been made so far leave a lot to be desired. It is almost painful for me to watch some of the VRML initiatives. It just seems so obviously the wrong way to do something. All of this debating, committee forming, and spec writing, and in the end, there isn't anything to show for it. Make something really cool first, and worry about the spec after you are sure it's worth it! I do think it is finally the right time for this to start happening for real. While a lot of people could envision the possibilities after seeing DOOM or Quake, it is really only now that we have general purpose hardware acceleration that things are actually flexible enough to be used as a creative medium without constantly being conscious of the technical limitations. Two weeks ago, I pitched a proposal to develop some technology along these lines to the rest of the company. I may wind up working on some things like that in parallel with the next game project.

[Zeke]

why do people think that the ONLY reason people are angry at

 

im angry that Facebook is one really creepy company bought one of the friendliest open companies out there

its has no competition it WILL shape the land scape of VR and if it ever takes control we will be at its mercy

people use instagram as example but facebook only owned it for 2 years this is not a proper example

 

we NEED competition from a big open company that hopefully wont force us to use its "launcher" and only play "its" games with intrusive data mining

Give it a year or two, there will be competitors.

[qwertywarrior]

lets hope sony and microsoft give em some competition (and preferably some other less know company like oculus was)

i beleive developers wont be bother to code for VR

VR games need to abide to VR rules so it wont cause motion sickness)  which will be great to play if u have VR but will be lame to play on a 2D screen

[jbr]

People are angry the sold to Facebook.

[Dragonzeanse]

Here we go again with the Oculus Rift. Would any of you be angry if they sold to any other company? Short of Microsoft, Apple, Google, or whatever giant corporation you can think of, would you honest-to-god be mad if they sold to anyone other than Facebook? I somehow doubt this.

[qwertywarrior]

Give it a year or two, there will be competitors.

i believe two years is a bit much

there is a chance that the Rift might be the next iphone and any competitor will be called a copy cat

 

Steam has an open sourced api for ANY VR to use called " steamworks VR" check it out its an interesting project

 

if steam made VR i assure you many if not all will jump ship to them

 

but sadly like always Gabe's party is a neutral one

[Zeke]

Also, a sneak peek at Oculus' response to Kickstarter backers demanding their money back:

[Fred Castellum]

To be strictly honest here, the whole move was done for the monetary value of the tech. Investors see this as a potentially smart move by Facebook and may help the company in the long term. 

It's more of a profit gain move than a, we want to push VR move. It was a attempt to please their investors, and will most likely pay off in the long term. 

 

In a public relations standpoint Facebook and OR made a horrid move by not consulting with their investors and user/fan base. Facebook buying OR for 2 Billion is a scary move to investors who already hold the stock because they didn't see it coming and was not expecting Facebook to shell out so much of the company's monetary assets. 

 

Whats done is done though, there's no way you can go back on the deal know, OR's founders are basically millionaires now and Facebook has gained a potentially great platform for increasing revenue in the future. 

 

What I gathered out of it myself as a stock trader. 

 

i believe two years is a bit much

there is a chance that the Rift might be the next iphone and any competitor will be called a copy cat

 

Steam has an open sourced api for ANY VR to use called " steamworks VR" check it out its an interesting project

 

if steam made VR i assure you many if not all will jump ship to them

 

but sadly like always Gabe's party is a neutral one

GabeN is the god that observes and points and laughs. 

[qwertywarrior]

 

makes sense

he doesn't answer our prayers for HL3

if it ever comes we might see half life 4 in 2060

[qwertywarrior]

To be strictly honest here, the whole move was done for the monetary value of the tech. Investors see this as a potentially smart move by Facebook and may help the company in the long term. 

It's more of a profit gain move than a, we want to push VR move. It was a attempt to please their investors, and will most likely pay off in the long term. 

 

In a public relations standpoint Facebook and OR made a horrid move by not consulting with their investors and user/fan base. Facebook buying OR for 2 Billion is a scary move to investors who already hold the stock because they didn't see it coming and was not expecting Facebook to shell out so much of the company's monetary assets. 

 

Whats done is done though, there's no way you can go back on the deal know, OR's founders are basically millionaires now and Facebook has gained a potentially great platform for increasing revenue in the future. 

 

What I gathered out of it myself as a stock trader. 

 

 

ive been reading what palmer talked about for a long time since 2011

palmer's dream is better VR he ALWAYS talked about better VR  regardless of the control it will bring he would sell the company to Satan if it meant public acceptance of VR

[Almercenary]

I don't care much about the acquisition, but everyone crying about them selling out is ridiculous. Just my 2c.

My 2c as well.  It was hyped up for no reason. It was an acquisition, not a complete fucking rework of the entire company.  They do not only have no legal right to a refund, its just asking way to much because they became emotionally attached.  And, like many sharemarket greats......and TB, never get emotionally attached to products, because they will fall out and youll have a big cry, when its not a big deal.

[Jerakl]

How to solve problem: Assassinate zuckerberg(burg?).

Or kill Facebook, one of the two.

[techswede]

I got off the hate train at "I'll wait and see" Station. 

 

If it gets totally wrecked or riddled with adds i'll swear at Suckberg for a few hours and then get a competing product.

[Wauthar]

At first I was mad about the acquisition, and I don't know much about Oculus etc., but after the latest WAN show with all the research Luke has done, it makes almost sense. It was a smart move in my eyes, because they will be able to reach a massive potential user base.

People are just mad because it is Facebook, but I think it would have been way worse if a big tech giant (Microsoft, Google) would have been the one who bought Oculus.

Let's just see where this is going, but I don't see any reason to hate Oculus about it.

[DeViLzzz]

Oculus sold out to Facebook and there are consequences for that. I will not buy the product ever no matter how good it is and some people will be right there with me. I don't care how small the numbers will be in ripping Oculus continually forever but I will continue to do so forever. I hate the direction they went and that is that.

An example of me sticking to my guns ....

I never bought Rayman Legends for Wii U new at full price because they screwed over Wii U users.

[digitalnav]

AH man, if the Oculus Rift turns out to still be as good as it was hyped before the FB acquisition, I wonder what the reaction from the Internet will be. It'll probably range from "still not buying it despite the fact that Gaben Himself released HL3 exclusively to PC for Oculus Rift cus facebook is evilllll" to "see, I told you so, please don't go looking in my posting history because you'll find i threw a hissy fit". It will be glorious to behold. 

 

 

exhibit A of the first example: poster above me. apparently has his special "moral code" when it comes to games

 

 

I guarantee that about 98% of the people pissed at Facebook right now will end up buying the retail version.

[Victorious Secret]

I hate insulting people, but I will. The guys saying that they sold out have no goddamn idea how businesses like that work.

 

Oculus already 'sold out' to venture capital a long time ago. But VC is a poor way to create sustainable growth, cause your VC guys simply want massive returns and nothing else.

 

the only way Oculus could've gotten the capital it needed otherwise would've been an IPO. Who the hell is going to buy Oculus stock? Oculus is a no one. Sorry, was a no one. Gamers might think they are the bastions of the world, but we aren't. Gaming wasn't going to see Oculus through. 

 

So what else? Sell to a company that has the resources and the desire to make something happen. Valve? Please. They couldn't afford Oculus. Sony and MS? They would just as soon make their own and simply patent everything and let Oculus die. Apple? Has no interest in markets unless they know they can make something more user friendly. 

VR isn't just the future, its the now. And since FB shut up and threw 2 billion, its going to happen. It has no choice.

 

The only people getting upset are...who again exactly? 14 years olds on Reddit who feel betrayed? Indies? Sorry guys, learn the hard way that sooner or later everyone has to move on and if you want to make your vision THE vision for the ENTIRE marketplace, you have to play the corporate game and appeal to a demographic that isn't Notch. Who I found hypocritical as always. How much did he sell out for when Microsoft paid to have Minecraft on the Xbox? 

[Vitalius]

I guarantee that about 98% of the people pissed at Facebook right now will end up buying the retail version.

That's a strange guarantee to make. What happens if a good competitor comes up? There's no way that will happen.

 

the only way Oculus could've gotten the capital it needed otherwise would've been an IPO. Who the hell is going to buy Oculus stock? Oculus is a no one. Sorry, was a no one. Gamers might think they are the bastions of the world, but we aren't. Gaming wasn't going to see Oculus through. 

 

I guess you missed the news.

[Victorious Secret]

That's a strange guarantee to make. What happens if a good competitor comes up? There's no way that will happen.

 

 

I guess you missed the news.

 

That proves what? People capitalizing AFTER THE FACT. Oculus wouldn't have the media attention it did if not for the Facebook deal.