September 17, 2009 – MMO Fallout

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A couple days ago I talked about retention rate being more important than simply the number of people who preorder an MMO. The fact that Aion has brought over three hundred thousand preorders means nothing if you can’t keep those people playing after their initial month of free game time is up. Aion’s success will not be decided by the number of people who buy the boxed copies, but in the long run, where subscriber numbers mean everything.

I will admit I’ve taken a look at Aion with a little more skepticism than the title deserves, even though everything I have said is true. Success in the Eastern market means nothing when referring to how the West will respond to the game, and attempting to gauge the success of the game based off of forum hype will produce equally inaccurate results.

So here I notice that, in the past few days since Aion announced that three hundred thousand copies were preordered, today comes another announcement: The number has hit four hundred thousand, bringing the title to be the most preordered MMO of 2009. This news comes in conjunction with news that will directly please the company: Aion will not ship with Game Guard, the controversial anti-cheat software. While Game Guard may be used in the future, NCsoft has promised that should the software return, it will be tweaked in response to criticism.

In finding discussion-worthy topics for MMO Fallout, I do a lot of traversing over various forums, and I can say without a doubt that the lack of Game Guard will be well received within the community. If NCSoft can prove, using methods such as this, that they are indeed listening to the community, they will have a major edge over critics in the long run. For those who are unfamiliar, Game Guard is widely panned for inefficiency, and false positives.

Nothing but good news for Aion this week. Aion goes live on September 22nd, with preorders gaining early access.

Dungeonrunner

If Dungeon Runners could be compared to any game on the market, you could probably stick it as World of Warcraft with a mix of Diablo, where players actively click to make their characters attack. Players do their trading and grouping in public hubs, and then go off to raid various dungeons of varying level, with varying groups of varying mobs. Where Dungeon Runners truly shined was in the slapstick humor and parody nature of the title. New characters are greeted by the Noobosaur, PvP is done in a town called Pwnston, and weapons and armor have exaggerated and outlandish titles (If I remember, there are mentions of seal clubbing in several weapons). The game runs on a freemium model, where players can pay a membership for benefits such as better drops.

So in a move that surprises no one, the announcement came yesterday that the title will be shutting down on New Years Eve this year, at midnight. Dungeon Runners fell to the same hurdle that brought down The Matrix Online, Tabula Rasa, and more; The game was simply not profitable anymore. The team that currently runs Dungeon Runners numbers at three, and isn’t up to the task of taking on the ridiculously expensive and risky steps that may, or may not, have saved the title.

But, those of you who are familiar with NCsoft’s method of shutting down titles will know that subscribers will not be going away without some compensation packages. Current subscribers will receive free copies of City of Heroes and Guild Wars Prophecies, as well as 30 day time cards for each. It isn’t Dungeon Runners, but in the words of Producer Steve Nichols; “it’s still frigging nice!”

Dungeon Runners marks the second title NCsoft will be closing down as 2009 progresses. If you’d like to enjoy Dungeon Runners while it lasts, you have about three months, during which the exp has been raised, drops are heightened, and there will undoubtedly be players giving their last goodbyes.