Author: Admin

Gigantic To Shut Down Following Motiga Layoffs


Following their statement in November that Perfect World Entertainment had laid off a number of staff at Motiga, we have learned this week that MOBA title Gigantic will shut down. As of today, purchasing of rubies and hero packs have been disabled, and all heroes will be free until the servers shut down at the end of July.

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the January Update is the final content update for Gigantic, and the game servers will be discontinued on July 31, 2018. The journey over these last few years was met with outstanding support from our players and we are all very proud of the incredible experience Gigantic is today.

Motiga and Perfect World had been seeking ways to keep the game sustainable, unfortunately Gigantic did not resonate with a base large enough to keep the game going. Gigantic follows in the steps of Paragon which recently announced its own sunsetting for just the same reason.

(Source: Gigantic)

Epic Settles Lawsuit Against Minor Fortnite Cheater


Epic Games has agreed to voluntary dismissal and settlement in its lawsuit against a minor filed last year in the eastern district of North Carolina court. As part of the lawsuit and due to the defendant being a minor, certain documents have been sealed on order of the court and the defendant has since been simply named by his initials M.F. Epic had instigated the lawsuit after filing a DMCA takedown notice against the defendant’s video allegedly advertising cheats in their game Fortnite. When the defendant counter-claimed the video, Epic issued its complaint to the court.

Plaintiff Epic Games, Inc., by and through its attorneys, hereby gives notice of the settlement and dismissal of this action. Each party shall bear its or his own attorneys’ fees and costs.

The terms of the settlement are not being made public. Epic’s other lawsuit against another minor is still being pursued, with a recent court document submitted detailing issues that the prosecution had with finding and serving the defendants.

(Source: Court Dockets)

Early Access: Tower Of Time Hands On Impressions


Tower of Time is hoping to continue the legacy of games like Baldur’s Gate and so far my time with the early access version has proven it a worthy successor. It strikes me as exactly the kind of title that hardcore RPG enthusiasts would be happy to get their hands on, the combination of strategic gameplay, stat building, and a so far compelling story that’ll have you up until two in the morning trying to figure out the best builds for your characters.

In short, this game is pretty fun, and it’s also tough as hell.

Rather than trying to go over every aspect of the game in this preview, I want to discuss the meat and potatoes of Tower of Time, that being its combat encounters. I find myself rather impressed by the fact that a game where you’re not directly controlling your characters requires as much attention to be paid as this game does. While you don’t control your character’s standard attacks, you do direct them around the field of combat and activate their special abilities when necessary.

Combat in Tower of Time is very heavily reliant on line of sight mechanics, with battles easily won and lost based on how you position your characters and keep them working with each other. Kane is the party tank, able to raise walls and absorb damage while your other party members pepper the enemy with attacks. Maeve is a marksman, high on damage but low on defense abilities. Aeric is a druid, able to summon an ent and more adept at party healing than Kane.

There are also plenty of ways to customize your characters, and you’ll need to be paying attention to the deficits in your team in order to properly build in response to them. For instance, I upgraded Maeve’s arrows with the ability to inflict blindness, making Tower of Time one of the few games in which casting blindness on NPCs is useful. Blind is great in this game because combat encounters at least early on have a habit of throwing wraiths at you which cast an ongoing life drain as long as they have line of sight. Now Kane’s wall can break this line of sight, but it can easily just push some enemies into attacking the more vulnerable characters. By giving Maeve the ability to blind them, I could very quickly put a stop to multiple life drains.

In a sense, you can think of each match like its own tower defense mini-game, like a puzzle of sorts where you need to carefully move your pieces around the board to handle each threat as it appears. For me this has basically come down to getting my ass handed to me on a silver platter in some matches a couple of times before I figure out the best way to maneuver my characters around. Arrow Time, Tower of Time’s branded bullet time effect, is both helpful and necessary to keep the action from getting overwhelming, not to mention handy in keeping track of who is targeting who (seen above).

You’ll have the opportunity to bring on more companions, up to seven from the looks of the roster, but the few hours I’ve spent in the game so far have only given me access to three. Presumably if I play the game as intended and put more time into crafting/enchanting gear using the available facilities in town.

I look forward to diving further into Tower of Time.

Is Paragon Unsustainable? Yes, Also Shutting Down


It’s barely been ten days since we reported that Paragon was likely unsustainable and that Epic would be giving it another look in the coming weeks.

“Over the next few weeks, we’ll be figuring out if and how we can evolve Paragon to achieve growth and success, and trying some things internally. In the meantime, Paragon’s release cadence will be slower.”

Evidently the decision was much easier than originally thought, because a week after this announcement Epic has announced the imminent closure of Paragon. In a rare statement, Epic took full responsibility for Paragon’s inability to draw in players, and apologized for failing the community despite the team’s hard work.

We didn’t execute well enough to deliver on the promise of Paragon. We have failed you — despite the team’s incredibly hard work — and we’re sorry.

Servers will shut down on April 26, however Epic warns that the quality of matchmaking will degrade naturally as players leave. Epic is offering full refunds for every purchase on any platform.

Instructions for a refund are as follows:

  1. If you’re not playing on PC, link your Epic account (create one if necessary).
  2. If you play on PC, or have already linked your Epic account, you can request your refund here.

(Source: Epic)

Early Access Title Tower of Time To Launch This April


Fledgling developer Event Horizon is getting ready to release their CRPG Tower of Time early this year on PC, and players are meeting the title with open arms and positive reviews. Boasting 30 hours of story gameplay on launch, Tower of Time promises to harken back to the days of Baldur’s Gate and the Might and Magic series. Starting with two adventurers and adding on to the party as they progress, players will travel through the Tower of Time, collecting randomized loot, customizing your adventurers, and taking down the game’s more than 100 enemies.

Tower of Time’s focal feature is the Arrow-Time combat system, which players may recognize as similar to Bioware RPGs of old. Arrow-Time allows you to slow down or completely pause a battle, survey the field, and plan your strategy.

Currently in early access, Tower of Time is enjoying a very positive 96% overall rating.

(Source: Press Release)

Destiny 2 Is Not In A Good Place, Says Analyst, Following Microtransaction Controversies


It feels like we can’t go more than a week or so without Bungie being forced to apologize to its community for another dumpster fire of a PR decision, with the promise that they will listen closer moving forward. With each apology centered around either a hard-to-overlook bout of poor design or perceptibly underhanded attempt to cripple game progression to bring player attention to the real money Eververse, it may not be surprising that players starting to turn away from Destiny 2 and Bungie’s investors are taking notice.

In a note to investors titled “Destiny is Not in a Good Place,” Doug Creutz of analyst firm Cowen points to Destiny 2 appearing to have a problem keeping its players engaged, with issues surrounding microtransactions and Bungie’s poor communication and response to criticism being at the forefront of his concerns. Creutz also focuses on Destiny 2 Twitch viewership when discussing player engagement, stating that franchise view counts are at an all time low. Destiny 2 is apparently bringing in 4,000-7,000 views on a Friday afternoon compared to 14,000-17,000 from Destiny 1 a year ago.

Cruetz also believes that Destiny 2 may have a much harder time turning itself around than Destiny 1 did, owing to a more competitive market.

“We do think Bungie still has some opportunity to fix the game’s problems over the next year and recapture engagement, but we’re not sure they have the ability to pull it off at this point. We also note that Destiny currently has more serious competition in its genre from a refurbished Division (Ubisoft) and the indie title Warframe than it did three years ago, when D1 had its own share of player dissatisfaction.”

(Source: CNBC)

MMOments: RuneScape and Aura Quality of Life


My first reaction to this week’s RuneScape update was “this may be the thing that gets me playing regularly again.”

If you asked me what my biggest gripe with RuneScape has been over the past four years, it’s the aura system. Auras are RuneScape’s temporary boons, they give bonuses to various parts of gameplay, and by golly are they a pain in the rear to keep track of. There are several dozen of them, and when they’re all given crazy names like “jack of all trades” or “Supremic Runic Accuracy,” managing a bank full of them, figuring out which you need to upgrade using loyalty points, and the best points to take them out is a nightmare.

Cue this week’s update, removing all of the auras from the bank and placing them in an easy to use, simple to manage interface. This system is about as close to perfect as you’re going to get, especially considering it can be accessed during combat and the interface allows you to easily extend and renew auras with vis wax. Functionally it lets people like me remember which auras we have, and keeps us engaged via a daily regimen of in-game tasks.

MapleStory M Launches Globally This Year, Beta Available Now


MapleStory M is the mobile spinoff of the widely popular MMORPG MapleStory. The title has seen immense success since it launched in Korea back in 2016, the game quickly rose to the top of the charts with over two million downloads within the first two weeks. While the game doesn’t launch globally until later this year, players will be able to get their hands on the beta starting today.

Those who take part in the beta will have the opportunity to check out five original characters. The full launch will feature daily dungeons, private mini-dungeons, a challenge tower, raids, and more.

Based on the original side-scrolling MMORPG franchise, MapleStory M offers the same endless amount of customization, immersive storylines and epic boss raids that fans come to expect from the epic MapleStory franchise – now playable on the go.

The beta period for MapleStory M will be available for run until January 30 on Google Play. Beta access is available in all regions except for Korea, China, and Japan.

MapleStory M beta will be available to download until Jan. 30 through the Google Play Store in all regions excluding Korea, China and Japan. To download the game, please visit the storefront here. Interested gamers can follow MapleStory M on Facebook and Twitter.

(Source: Press Release)

Trion Worlds Announces Rift Prime: Subscription Server for Spring


As surprising as it may be, Trion Worlds was once very much against the idea of Rift going free to play. Yes, that Trion Worlds, the one with the $100 weapon pack in Defiance, the one that has more than once had to apologize for stepping over the line with its monetization strategy for Rift. In fact, it was Trion CEO Scott Hartsman who back in 2011 said that free to play would be a large net negative for Rift and its community.

“One of the assumptions people make is you can just take a game and throw a switch and change the model. For starters, you’d have to decide that that would be a good thing, and I do not think it would be – that would be a fairly large net negative for Rift and Rift community.”

Well all that is going to change, as Trion Worlds has announced the launch of Rift Prime, a subscription only server set to go public this spring. Rift Prime will, as stated, require a subscription and will remove loot boxes and drastically reduce the presence of the cash shop.

In the Spring of 2018, we will launch a new server, RIFT Prime. We’ve paid a lot of attention in discussions with all of you and within the broader gaming community regarding business models in the MMO and games industry as a whole.

We have the opportunity to experiment with this fresh RIFT server using an oft-requested subscription model and progressively unlocked content. Our goal for RIFT Prime is to provide the experience that many of you have requested: no lockboxes, a significantly reduced store with more of the current store-based items obtained through gameplay (or removed entirely) – plus the excitement of sequential progression through RIFT’s content with monthly milestones and achievements.

More details on the cash shop are on their way.

(Source: Rift)

In Plain English: Crytek V Cloud Imperium Games (and RSI)


1. Dismissal Sounds Unlikely

Let’s start off at the same station and make a few things clear: Despite what is being tossed around on the internet, this case is not a slam dunk for either side (at least not evident from the statements being thrown back and forth). It is very likely that this case is going to go to trial, as there are a ton of allegations being made and accusations that are going to require the backing of email communications and witness testimony. We are not at the point in the case where either side is trying to convince a judge/jury, that won’t come for months down the road.

What Cloud Imperium Games is doing with its response is attempting to have the case dismissed by convincing the judge that the accusations have no merit and including comments that there are no damages to be recovered regardless of Crytek’s claims of breach. Since this is a gigantic lawsuit, I wanted to go down the list of points that I found interesting so far. This is not comprehensive and will certainly be followed up with when more details are presented.

2. The Definition of Exclusive

With this lawsuit between Crytek and Cloud Imperium Games, it looks like we’re diving back into the Clinton era legal argument about what the definition of ‘is’ is. A major point of contention that Crytek is bringing forward in this lawsuit is the definition of exclusive, how it was applied when forming the agreement, and what exactly it means for both parties.

Section 2.1.2 of the Game License Agreement states that this contract gives CIG the rights (and I’m quoting) “to exclusively embed CryEngine in the Game and develop the Game which right shall be sublicensable pursuant to section 2.6.” Here’s where we get to the definition of “is” as Crytek is claiming that this passage means that CIG agreed to use the CryEngine and only the CryEngine in Star Citizen, as seen in this section of the original complaint:

“Crytek and Defendants subsequently formalized their relationship by entering into a Game License Agreement. In that Agreement, Defendants promised, among other things, (i) to use the CryEngine game development platform exclusively and to promote that platform within the video game...”

CIG is naturally going to fight this claim, and understandably the wording in the license agreement is incredibly vague for the kind of contract where every line should be worded to remove any doubt or wiggle room for interpretation. To the layman, the wording of the agreement seems to indicate that the license does indeed require CIG to exclusively embed CryEngine and no other engine. As far as contracts like this go, however, such a definition of exclusive is not standard by a long shot. Exclusive in these sorts of agreements is generally understood to mean that Crytek would be granting the license to CIG alone and no other company in the agreement, rather than obligating CIG to use said engine.

CIG’s response:

The GLA further shows that CIG has an exclusive right, not a duty, to use the Engine in the Game. Through hiding the GLA, Crytek contorts the word “exclusively” to argue that the word means that CIG somehow is required to use the Engine in the Game. The plain language of the GLA where the grant of rights to CIG appears, plus the well-established concept of an exclusive license, instead establish that the word “exclusively” simply means that CIG’s right to use the Engine in the Game is exclusive to CIG and Crytek may not give that right to anyone else.

Right, except that this agreement seems to be anything but plain language, and the license agreement actually differentiates the two concepts. Where 2.1.2 allegedly requires CIG to exclusively use the Crytek engine, the question about sublicensing is taken care of in the previous step of the agreement.

2.6 of the agreement basically just says that CIG can sublicense the engine only to contractor developers, with prior written approval by Crytek, for the purpose of developing the Game. This is one of those lines that is likely going to require witness testimony on what exactly the companies negotiated, assuming the Judge/Jury doesn’t accept either definition of exclusive as a given fact.

3. Do You Understand Crytek’s GLA? Does Crytek?

Here’s an interesting note: You may notice in the passages from the lawsuit and license agreement that both parties say “the Game” (emphasis on the capital G in Game) regularly instead of Star Citizen when referring to terms that both parties agreed upon. There is a legal reason for this.

“The Game” is the legal definition given in the license agreement to, and I’m quoting the agreement here:

“the game currently entitled “Space Citizen” and its related space fighter game “Squadron 42, together hereafter the Game”

No that wasn’t a mistake on my end, yes the GLA actually gets the name of the game wrong and refers to Star Citizen as Space Citizen, but that’s not the key issue here.

This rolls into one of Crytek’s other claims, that the existence of Squadron 42 is a breach of the agreement because while it began as a mode for Star Citizen, it had since branched out into a separate purchase and, according to the license agreement, Cloud Imperium only has the rights to develop one game. Any time you see the word “Game” with the capital G, it is referring to “the game Star Citizen” and “the game Squadron 42,” combined together. Another section of the agreement goes further and states that the agreement does not include any game not accessed through the Star Citizen game client, or sold for a separate fee.

This is why clarity is necessary, and here is where we lead to another issue that the court is going to have to decide. Crytek’s contention with Squadron 42 is that CIG announced in December 2015 that Squadron 42 would be a standalone product. By December 2016, CIG announced that both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 would be moved over to the Amazon Lumberyard engine, and Crytek is going after the year that the game may or may not have been in development under their engine, claiming loss of royalties and upfront payments that would have been owed had CIG licensed a second copy of the engine.

The big question is whether or not the license agreement which appears to explicitly recognize Star Citizen and Squadron 42 as separate games, but licenses them both together, is at odds with Crytek’s claim that selling Squadron 42 as a standalone product is a breach of the terms against selling separate products, or whether any of this is even applicable since neither game is using the engine.

3. Crytek’s Negotiations: A Blank Check In A Used Car Dealership

Another thing you’ll see crop up more than once if you read Crytek’s complaint is how the company graciously negotiated a substantially lower sum than its usual licensing fee on the grounds that Cloud Imperium Games would exclusively use the license and also heavily promote the CryEngine to its base. Since CIG is no longer using the engine, thus depriving Crytek of further licensing fees, the company feels that it’s been substantially damaged by not receiving the full, usual license fee. Money that they willingly gave up in negotiation.

The licensing fee negotiated under the GLA reflected a substantial reduction from Crytek’s usual licensing fees in view of the promotional consideration and other consideration that Defendants promised to Crytek in Sections 2.8.1, 2.8.2,and 2.8.3 of that Agreement. In view of the fact that Crytek has been deprived of that promised consideration, Crytek has been substantially damaged, and has failed to receive the balance of its full, usual license fee.

Crytek is apparently so angry about the conclusion of this agreement that they’ve taken to potentially slandering some individuals involved in the negotiation process. They actually call out by name Crytek co-founder Ortwin Freyermuth, who was a former Crytek employee and negotiated the deal on behalf of CIG, for apparent conflicts of interest and never recused himself from the negotiations or resolved that conflict of interest, despite apparently knowing confidential information about Crytek.

“Notwithstanding that he had confidential information about Crytek’s licensing practices that would unfairly advantage Defendants, Freyermuth never recused himself from those negotiations and never resolved that conflict of interest with Crytek,”

Except that claim is allegedly a complete and outright lie. In the declaration presented to the court by CIG lawyer Jeremy Goldman in support of the motion to dismiss, who also kindly submitted a copy of the license agreement that Crytek for one reason or another had withheld, Freyermuth’s conflict of interest was never in question. In fact, Crytek not only didn’t have an issue with Freyermuth’s involvement at the time, they went as far as writing and signing a conflict waiver allowing him to take part. Goldman has this conflict waiver, apparently, and no doubt we will see it once this case goes to court.

It seems like a lot of this lawsuit is intended to force CIG to keep paying Crytek royalties, because the company made the arguably poor decision to substantially lower its licensing fees on what they may have seen as a huge long term earner, they negotiated a contract that may or may not say what they think it does, and now they’re angry that the money train has stopped so they’re also throwing the guys who did the negotiations under the bus.

4. Why Would Anyone Write No Damages Into a Contract?

One tactic that Cloud Imperium is using to quash this lawsuit before it ever goes to court is to point out that the license bars either party from seeking damages in the case of a breach of contract. If there are no damages that can be recovered, and in consideration of the fact that this lawsuit is popping up because CIG stopped using the engine and considers the contract scrapped, bringing this case to court would just be a massive waste of the court’s time, which when you’re trying to get a lawsuit dismissed this is a pretty logical avenue to go down.

Crytek’s claim for damages — an essential element of any breach of contract claim — is precluded by express language in the GLA barring either party from seeking any damages from the other. The FAC also seeks various forms of monetary damages and equitable relief that are unavailable under the GLA or as a matter of law, including statutory damages and attorney’s fees under the Copyright Act, punitive damages, and an injunction.

I read this response and honestly my first reaction was that CIG had grievously misread or is really reaching for something in the license. For the sake of clarity and the fact that it’s one of the few ALL CAPITAL LETTERS parts of the license, let’s look at that part of the agreement in its entirety.

So neither party can be held liable for damages incurred by either party or a third party, even if advised beforehand on the possibility of damages. In their response, it looks like CIG is going for a more in-your-face approach to their motion to dismiss.

House of cards pleading? Sham interpretation? Someone’s going for the jugular.

5.  Comments, Disclosure, and Public Access

In wrapping up this first bit of coverage, I’d like to share some disclosures. First, I am not a lawyer and nothing in this coverage or anything else on MMO Fallout should be interpreted as legal advice. As such, I try to refrain from making any judgement calls or act as armchair lawyer on how these lawsuits will proceed or which side has the more solid case, rather In Plain English has always been about presenting the allegations as-is and lining them up with publicly known facts and prior cases.

Another note that I didn’t mention is that Roberts Space Industries is a defendant in the lawsuit even though the company claims it isn’t part of the contract as it didn’t sign. Indeed, RSI didn’t sign the GLA and isn’t even mentioned in the list of sublicensed companies, however they did license Autodesk from Crytek who are claiming that that is enough to keep them involved in the lawsuit. RSI is a subsidiary of CIG.

I will be maintaining a publicly accessible Google Drive folder with the pertinent documents at this link here. Feel free to leave any thoughts or allegations of collusion/bias in the comments section below.