Board Thread:LOC General Discussion/@comment-5428123-20131012092358

I was originally replying to the Card Boxes thread, talking about how nice the Facebook version of LOC looked and how stable it was (in comparison to mobile versions). Despite it's shortcomings, their were a lot of positives about that version, and it made me wonder why the mobile versions couldn't look as nice, and why the different development teams of LOC don't just pool their know how together (separate servers shouldn't mean different games). This led me into a full blown rant which I think deserves to have it's own post.

I mean let's face it, Applibot needs to really get their act together. It seems like every other week, this company is constantly in damage control mode. At some point, you can't keep handing out freebies and expect people to be all merry about it afterward. I've heard people playing Rage of Bahamut commenting about how much smoother things are for them (the games are practically identical save for a few things), and it makes think that LOC's issues are a result of incompetency more than anything else. It's obvious they need more skilled staff members of every category, and there isn't any excuse why LOC is as issue prone as it is.

I mean, Cygames and Applibot have nearly identical profiles. Both companies are made up of and run by 20 something year college students, including their executive officers, and both have been around only recently. In fact, Cygames is technically one year younger than Applibot. Interestingly enough, both companies are also subsidiaries of CyberAgent, Inc. Yet, you can clearly see a deficiency in how Applibot is run compared to Cygames. And not surprisingly, Cygames has a higher operating capital and seems to be having more success in the same market.

Obviously, Applibot has serious company management issues if they're lagging behind a company with a similar background, who also happens to be one year younger. And interestingly enough, Cygames' recruitment page lists positions for everything a game company should have (planners, programmers, testers, etc.) with full information on benefits and such, while Applibot's recruitment page amounts to simply mentioning that they are looking for illustrators. Granted, they do mention that the page is still under construction (three years in the making), but really now they're main priority in recruitment is on illustrators?

Now I don't want to come across as bashing Applibot. But the fact is, what I've mentioned is legitimate criticism. And the more I think about it, the more I begin to sympathize with some of the LOC developers and staff. It's obvious they were brought in to do a job which they are clearly not qualified for (currently at least). If anything, we should all place the blame squarely on Applibot's top management crew (from the CEO downward). They obviously have no idea how to properly recruit talent.

I would compare this company with this year's Jacksonville Jaguars, or the 2008 Detroit Lions. Those teams were terrible, because their top staff had no concept of what talent is, or how to recruit talent to any of their positions. That is what Applibot is now. Granted, Applibot isn't necessarily falling by the waist side financially (as far as I know), but having to cancel like three of their mobile card games in the last year can't be a sign of company health at all.

So the next time you see another in-game error, or you lose your account from updating to the new iOS, or it takes you a month for support staff to respond to you, remember this: It's not their fault they can't do their jobs properly (well, maybe it is), they were hired and asked to maintain and operate a ship with a giant gaping hole in it. Wow is this post long. 