Day: March 30, 2010

The Future of Everquest II Looks Very Good


Sony Online Entertainment

Here at MMO Fallout, a game doesn’t have to be doing great, or doing poorly in order to make the news. In fact, you’ll frequently find that most of my articles tend to cover MMOs in the lower indie section (Mortal Online, Cryptic Studios, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, CCP, and Fallen Earth LLC), for a reason I can only explain is that they take more chances and have larger turn of events, whereas bigger titles are more like an all-terrain SUV: The hydraulics cover for the twists, and the high class cushioned seats make the bumps practically unnoticeable. In fact, World of Warcraft, for the most popular MMO ever, really only appears when the story turns to the issue in China.

As I’ve said before, I am not particularly fond of giving bad news when it comes to MMOs, and I don’t get my jollies by announcing games or companies shutting down, so I always enjoy giving good news. This time, Everquest 2! Senior Producer Alan Crosby (no relation) posted on the Everquest 2 forums to announce big events in store for the game’s future. Due to players returning for the battlegrounds, the servers have been taking quite a beating. Crosby would like players to rest assured that the team is working to boost server stability.

Among the upcoming outlined changes are the oft-delayed shader 3.0 system, a revamped Halas zone, a more streamlined travel system, a storyteller system, a revamped UI, and of course new content (quests, dungeons, etc). To top it off, Crosby announced that the team is looking into alternative rule servers, and you know what new servers means…

“If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.”
-Mark Jacobs, former Mythic VP

Thank you Mark Jacobs. The team is throwing up several ideas, including permadeath (oh my) and alternative PvP rules.

Always good to hear from an MMO that doesn’t make the news that often, considering it is part of the behemoth that is Sony Online Entertainment. More news on Everquest 2 as it appears.

Stargate Worlds Unofficially Officially Defunct


Just like Yoko and the Beatles

If MMO Fallout was alive back in 2008, I would likely reference back to an article detailing the death of Star Trek Online in the hands of Perpetual Entertainment, and what ultimately lead to the falling out of the title, into the hands of Cryptic Entertainment. The most important part of this story is to note that both of Perpetual Entertainment’s titles are in the hands of completely different entities, with Star Trek Online being released this past February by Cryptic Studios and Gods and Heroes to be released by Heatwave Interactive at some unknown point. The point being is that, despite the company going under, there is still the possibility of the game being picked up and released.

I say “unofficially officially” because, if Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment had an employee left, and you were to ask him if Stargate Worlds is canceled, he would probably say no. There’s no one working on it, no funds to work on it, and the company sold off its assets, but we don’t want to paint a dismal look at the future. Will the game be coming out this year? No. Will CME be developing it? No. Is there any hope? Well, you could look at Star Trek Online’s over-hundred-thousand subscribers and make up your own mind.

At this juncture, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is selling off all of their assets, which will include their license to Stargate Worlds, assuming this sale hasn’t already taken place. As was the case with Perpetual Entertainment, Cheyenne will likely last until the duration of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy is finished, and then dissolve into the abyss of nonfunctional developers. Since Cheyenne has already fulfilled my first set of engagements for Stargate Worlds, I have a new set of possibilities:

  1. Stargate Worlds goes the way of Star Trek Online and Gods & Heroes and is picked up by another studio (Cryptic Studios?), who either collect what Cheyenne had or start anew. It is likely that this studio will be Fresh Start Studios, which is a new developer made up of ex-Cheyenne employees. How well the game does is irrelevant at this point, as we are simply dealing with post-closure events.
  2. The title is not picked up by anyone, and sits in limbo forever.

If the part about Fresh Start Studios picking up Stargate Worlds doesn’t happen, expect option #2. At this juncture, I find it difficult to believe that many studios would pick up the Stargate IP for an MMO.

More on Stargate Worlds if it ever appears, but it seems as if this saga is finally coming to an end.

Someone Had To Ride The Twilight Coattails: Moonlight Online


Last year news broke at the rumored confirmation of an MMO based on the Twilight books, leading to shock, horror, and utter bedazzling of many MMO websites until it was revealed that the project was a student project by a couple of people who didn’t even have the license for the IP. It was only a matter of time before a company picked up on the coattails of a vampire MMO, and that company is IGG. IGG has decided to dust off their cookie cutter and bake up MoonLight Online.

IGG is the publishing portal of 2029 Online, Angels Online, Galaxy Online, Tales of Pirates Online, Wonderland Online, Freesky Online, Godswar Online, Myth War II Online, Tales of Pirates II, Voyage Century Online, and Zu Online, with Dreamland Online, Lords Online, Tales of Fantasy, and Altis Online on the way. Take a breather before you continue. IGG is a (surprise!) Hong Kong based publisher with a line of games that pushes a new definition on the phrase “cookie cutter Asian MMO.”

MoonLight Online is advertised as players taking part in a vampire vs werewolf war, and being able to build and take down empires across the world. If IGG’s past games are any indication of the quality of MoonLight, I’ll be packing my bags and camping outside of the student dorm waiting for their Twilight MMO to launch, because in the fight between vampires that sparkle and Asian MMOs, throwing on that extra glitter may end up being the smaller step down in dignity.

MoonLight Online will no doubt be sprinting its way to the lowest rung of the MMO market, as soon as the developers finish re-skinning 2029 Online.

Global Agenda: Free Trial Now Available


Hopefully we will see much more of this.

Searching “free” on MMO Fallout will net you 97 hits, 98 after this article publishes. Now, MMO Fallout is not just about making sarcastic comments towards developers, talking about Bill Roper, or nagging on Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. I like to think I do my job well of confusing people by one minute talking down a company, while at the next minute advocating for everyone to try out their MMO.

Free trials are the best trials (I’m looking at you, EA Games), and Global Agenda is now offering up the best of the best trials, unlimited free trials. Now, the restrictions for the Global Agenda trial will not do much to deter you if you are truly interested in trying the game out. They are as follows:

  • Level cap of 15
  • Unable to filter match types.
  • Barred from auction house, craft, mail.
  • Cannot join an Agency.
  • Cannot use voice chat.
  • Cannot participate in AvA

The restrictions are pretty standard methods to keep bots from taking the trial system for a ride, and most MMOs, although the lack of AvA, even in a small dose, is disappointing, and is likely one of the big reasons someone would be interested in such a trial. Even a simple segregated AvA system that only includes trial users, but has no effect on the character or account, would be nice.

But, if you’ve been holding out on buying Global Agenda, this demo is the perfect reason to pick up the client, restrictions or not, and give it a go. Even better, your character will be kept, which is more than an anonymous MMO by the name of Alganon can say.

More on Global Agenda as it appears.