Day: February 4, 2010

Red 5 Marketing to China? The9 To The Rescue!


He says he's not dead...

Who would have thought I would be following up on a Blizzard story and a Red 5 story at the same time? The9 is a spurned lover. After losing the rights to World of Warcraft Asia-Edition earlier this year to NetEase (granted, who promptly got the game banned just as quickly) and taking a massive loss in revenue, assuming that the company was in some financial difficulty would not be too illogical. Of course, you would be wrong. Not only does The9 have some moolah saved up, likely from the time World of Warcraft was feeding them seven or eight million players in the Asian region, they have enough to financially back two companies: Fire Rain and Red 5.

“Wait a minute, Omali,” you say. “I know that name, Red 5!” I would certainly hope so, I mentioned them just about a week ago. Red 5 has been in the news several times, not only because their MMOFPS is so tightly under wraps that the company actually suffocated (and will likely cancel) it, but because of the substantial number of employees who have been laid off over the past few years. A company of over one hundred has been reduced to approximately 35, and according to my last report, is currently focusing on an MMO for the Chinese Market.

Red 5 has been to death’s door and back, but will it be enough to sustain the company to completion of its Chinese MMO, let alone to spark a re-interest in that MMOFPS they were working on so many ages ago?

More on Red 5 Studios, and the obligatory Star Wars references, as it appears.

Help Doctor Aeon: Get City of Heroes Graphics Update Early


Fight against television.

Dr. Aeon needs your help, presumably apart from constant wrong numbers trying to reach Aion’s customer support. In his war on television, and the “facts” they use to slander him, Aeon is calling on the best and brightest heroes and villains alike to help him spread his propaganda. Help him, and he may have something of far more value for you: A jump start on the upcoming City of X graphics upgrade, for all players.

Hopefully this news straight from the mouth of an insane roleplaying GM is more of an indication that the much needed graphics upgrade will be coming sooner rather than later (later still being sometime before Going Rogue goes…rogue). City of Heroes will be celebrating six years running this April, and six years has taken much of a toll on the title.

Next to Aion, City of Heroes still stands as one of NCsoft’s more profitable titles after all of these years, and the graphics upgrade is just icing on the cake at this point. Whether or not the fan reaction to the “event” will actually have a toll on release is unknown, but it is likely Dr. Aeon just knows something that we don’t.

More on City of Heroes as it appears.

Darkfall: Newbie Protection Program


Kill the newbie!

Last month I talked about Aventurine’s plans for Darkfall this year, more specifically the focus on making the new player experience much more of a soft palm and not a bronze-knuckled fist. I also raised concern that this is creating speculation in the Darkfall community that this will bring updates along the lines of the New Game Enhancements, Ultima Online’s Trammel, and Runescape’s trade restrictions. The fact that those updates went through with as cryptic a notice, and Star Wars Galaxies did a lot of damage to developer-customer trust, doesn’t help the situation. I noted that more information would be coming in the near future.

I can say what I want, but with a recent announcement by Aventurine, the usual group just got another reason to call care-bear on the title. In a message to the community earlier today, Tasos announced the specifics of the previously mentioned new player experience. With it brings a very limited protection program, where new accounts have what is called newbie protection, that protects them from other players. Lasting for only a few hours, newbie protection will only allow for combat against monsters, inside of the new player zone. You can not damage other players, nor can you use structures that cause damage to other players. Teleports, Runestones, portals, clans, mounts, and skilling up on other players is also disabled while Newbie Mode is active.

The NPE is optional, and can be turned off at any point. Luckily the Darkfall community as a whole is backing up this protection, and Tasos’ confirmation that it was implemented specifically “without softening the game.” Despite the outcry of the normal vocal minority, who still believe this to be a ‘slippery slop’ towards a Trammel-esque update, Aventurine is showing that they know who they are advertising to, but that those players should be helped as they get used to the game, not punished.

More on Darkfall 2010 as it appears.

Warhammer 40k MMO: Little Information, High Hopes


Warhammer 40k Online is one of those titles you don’t read too much about, except for plenty of speculation on the part of the public. Announced three years ago, we know now that the MMO will be slated for release in 2012 (Competing year with the Fallout MMO Beta). I’ve wanted to do an article on the Warhammer MMO because, as far as titles go, I feel Warhammer 40k’s hype may end up killing it before it comes out of the womb.

As it stands, Warhammer has a following of what I refer to as the disgruntled Ex. Players who left Warhammer Online, who are now looking towards the 40k MMO for everything they expected from Warhammer Online. Such conditions can only lead to even higher disappointment than what the players may have experienced had Warhammer Online never entered the picture. The 40k MMO will also have to pass the hurdle of being the “spiritual successor,” despite absolutely no links to the original game aside from lore, where the two face a level of comparison down to the microscopic level.

In the absence of information, people will fill in the void with their own speculation, and the end result is never good. THQ hopes to fill this void this summer at the Electronics Entertainment Expo where Warhammer 40k Online will be fully revealed in all of its splendor and glory. Until then, more on Warhammer 40k Online as it appears.

Dungeons and Dragons Online: Good Stuff Free


I Need a New DDO Image

Dungeons and Dragons went free to play earlier this year, and ever since then Turbine has been on the hot streak with the title. Apart from opening up a new server, Turbine noted a 40% increase in paying subscribers as a result of this program. Players are enjoying the game, paying for content, and the game has turned into an even bigger cash cow for Turbine. So I know what you’re thinking, prospective Dungeons and Dragons Online Players: Omali, how can this deal get sweeter? Does Turbine have an update, let’s call it Update 3, coming out that will make Dungeons and Dragons Online even better, even if I don’t want to pay?

That is an extremely specific question, and good enough that I have an extremely specific answer! The answer of course is yes. Turbine has raised the bar once again, offering more to free players while at the same time not detracting from the subscriber experience.

  1. Leveling sigils are no more, removing the limit on levels on free players.
  2. New high level dungeons for all players.
  3. Solo difficulty has been removed and replaced with “casual” difficulty. Essentially it is solo difficulty, but able to be used by groups.
  4. And new items in the item mall.

While you’re at it, take part in two new events in celebration of the game’s upcoming 4 year anniversary (February 26th).

Dungeons and Dragons remains among the best free to play games on the market, and if you have not checked the title out, now is as good of a time as any. Dungeons and Dragons Online still receives regular major content updates every two to three months.