Heroes & Generals developer Reto-Moto is celebrating eight million registered players today as the flagship WW2 MMO celebrates its second anniversary. Initially launched in 2014, Heroes & Generals has been updated countless times in its tenure of early access.
“Two years ago we were one of the first 10 games to be greenlit by the community on Steam – that was an important event for the company and the game,” says Martin Pollas. “Being on Steam has been instrumental in growing the player base and strengthening our very engaged community. We look forward to keep on improving the game and bringing more content to players.”
Over the past year, the game has been updated with new weapons, vehicles, tanks, uniforms, and more. In that time, Reto-Moto has implemented more than twelve thousand tweaks and squashed more than three thousand bugs.
It is July 22nd, and that means it is the anniversary of MMO Fallout’s establishment back in 2009. Yes, this website has been running for seven years. The first article didn’t go up for nearly a week later, as I was still figuring out how to run down my other website, but July 22nd was the day that I established the MMO Fallout name.
It’s time for stats.
Views in 2009: 9,000
Views in 2015: 100,000
Views so far in 2016: 120,000
All time views: 587,000
Spam blocked: 1,140,000 comments
Malicious logins blocked: 73,000
Articles: 3,741
Most frequent commenter: Wilhelm Arcturus
Most popular search term: Guild Wars 2
Biggest referrer: Search engines
In case you haven’t been able to tell, the past few months have been the result of an effort of mine to focus on improving the level of content available on this website. Remember those videos I promised way back in 2009? They’re becoming more regular. I won’t promise anything, but that podcast I talked about in 2010 might be in the works as well.
It goes without saying that sending death threats for any reason is generally a bad idea. You don’t accomplish anything, you waste everyone’s time, and as one Sacramento man found out, it can get you arrested.
Stephen Cebula, 28, is facing criminal charges over death threats that he allegedly sent to Blizzard’s offices, threatening to show up with an AK47 and “cause a disturbance.”
According to court documents, between July 2, 2016, and July 3, 2016, Cebula transmitted messages over the internet to Blizzard Entertainment, in which he stated that he “may or may not pay [Blizzard] a visit with an AK47 amongst some other ‘fun’ tools,” and “might be inclined to ‘cause a disturbance’ at [Blizzard’s] headquarters in California with an AK47 and a few other ‘opportunistic tools.’”
If convicted, Cebula faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000. The defendant is, naturally, presumed innocent until proven guilty.
I’ve been meaning to start this column for quite a while now, and finally got around to figuring out what I wanted to call it. Gems in the Greenlight Gutter is a series of pieces I have planned looking at games that pop up in the Steam Greenlight list, with a twist.
Rather than looking at the bad games, as has become easy content fodder from various websites (including my own), I’m going to focus on those that showed promise. This is specifically dedicated to games that have been removed from Greenlight, as in pulled by the developer or refused approval by Valve.
Before anyone asks, there are no links to these games because they have been removed from Greenlight. Their pages no longer exist.
1. Recession
I like Recession because the concept of the game is ridiculously unbelievable. The idea of the game is simple, it appears to be a cross between Evolve and Payday 2 where four players take on the role of robbers going around doing robber things while one player plays the heavily armed cop who gets sent out to stop them because the cops can only afford to send out one guy at a time.
Recession is an amazing concept and a reminder that the Unity engine is capable of more than just releasing asset flips. This is one of those games that I really hope sees its way to completion and finds its way back on Steam.
2. Stellar
Stellar could be the modern day reboot of Asteroids, bringing very simple gameplay to a more fast paced modern audience. The fact that you seemingly can’t slow down or stop your craft forces the player to constantly be thinking on their toes.
Forget Steam Greenlight, the developers of Stellar should be trying to put this on actual arcade machines to stick in bars.
3. Running Clones
It is far too easy to dismiss Running Clones as a Thomas Was Alone clone based on the similar graphical style, but after watching the trailer I have to say this looks like a very inventive game. The whole concept revolves around freezing clones of your character to use as stepping stones in completing puzzles. It is a pretty unique idea and, once again, the minimalist design works perfectly in context.
4. ReBound
ReBound is a minimalist puzzle game where the player places arrows to guide his piece and collect all of the things on each level. Judging by the levels shown in the trailer, the game gets pretty complicated and requires a lot of forethought and presumably trial and error in order to complete.
5. Staccato
I’d like to use Staccato as an example for the Digital Homicides of the world, just to show you the difference between uninspired Unity asset flips and a game that are made with creativity. Staccato is proof that critics have no issue with games using Unity assets, they are there for programmers who can’t hire artists.
But instead of making some lazy hack and slash, Staccato is a rhythm game that allows the player to insert their own music. An Audiosurf clone, yes, but one that has a unique feel to it. If this game popped up on Steam for $5, I’d buy it hands down.
6. Pongara
Want to know the easiest way into any gamer’s heart? Nostalgia. Putting a new twist on an old concept is the new form of porting Doom to a calculator, and people (especially gamers) suck up nostalgia like it’s going out of style.
But to be completely serious, Pongara looks like an awesome concept. Seemingly not content with just creating Pong and adding a few gimmicks to it, the creator has gone as far as throwing all kinds of new game modes around what is a very simple premise.
Since we discussed The Rebel’s developer having a meltdown on Steam, I decided to take a look at the game and see just how it attained a 75% positive rating (at the time). Strap in and pull your seat belts tight, this is going to be a bumpy ride.
The developer is offering the rights to this game for $500 if anyone is interested.
Kakao Games has shown a glimpse of the exciting upcoming naval content that will be added to Black Desert Online in Q4 of this year. This free expansion will raise the bar of what is possible in current day MMORPGs.
The update will expand the already massive world of Black Desert and introduce new gameplay features. Players will venture out on the sea for exploration, establish trade routes, seek treasure, hunt monsters and experience full-scale naval warfare.
Blizzard recently introduced a new moderation system to World of Warcraft, one that promised to implement account-wide punishment for abusive chat once a player was reported by a sufficient number of people. The description of silencing, as shown below, states that punishment is inflicted “after investigation,” presumably by a live customer support staffer.
“Following the Legion pre-expansion, any player who is reported multiple times under the Spam or Abusive Chat categories will, after investigation, receive an account-wide silence penalty. While this penalty is active, the silenced player will find that their ability to chat with others is greatly limited.”
Twitch streamer Zach “Asmongold” recently decided to test Blizzard’s new silence system in World of Warcraft by typing one (emphasis on one) innocuous chat message (I love World of Warcraft) and having his raid group mass-report the comment as abusive. The account is muted within a minute. The accompanying email notes that the punishment will only be overturned if there is evidence that the account was compromised or for “other extenuating circumstances.”
A system where players can be muted (with each subsequent punishment lasting twice as long as the last) due to reports sounds ripe for brigading against unpopular opinions or merely mass trolling, leading to concern that the tool could wind up with players becoming victims of mob rule. Blizzard, in response, has assured that game masters will review each case:
This isn’t just an automated system, our Game Masters will review under the same rules they always have.
Only it is very clear that silences, at least in this case, are not being reviewed by a human. Asmongold’s email explicitly states that he has been punished with a full 24 hour silence. The account was not, as some people are stating, “squelched,” as the mute for squelching only lasts a few hours and Asmongold was silenced for the full 24 hours.
Blizzard has yet to make a statement either on their forums or otherwise.
Perfect World Entertainment has formally announced the release of Neverwinter’s next expansion: Storm King’s Thunder. Set for launch next month, Storm King’s Thunder introduces a new end-game campaign as well as a new dungeon tier and new stories based on the upcoming adventure from Wizards of the Coast.
Similar to the Storm King’s Thunder adventure coming to Dungeons & Dragons later this year, Neverwinter’s new expansion sees giants invade Neverwinter. Adventurers will travel north to Bryn Shander – the heart of the Ten Towns – to investigate the sudden presence of Frost Giants in the region. In order to fight off these colossal invaders, players must team up with popular characters from Dungeons & Dragons lore, including Catti-brie, Wulfgar and Harshnag.
In addition to the new Frost Giants story content, Storm King’s Thunder also introduces a brand new end-game campaign and new adventure zones for high-level players, including Bryn Shander, Cold Run and The Lonelywood. The expansion also marks the debut of a new dungeon tier with the addition of the new Tier 3 dungeon, Fangbreaker Island. With the release of Storm King’s Thunder,adventurers will also be able to score new high-level equipment to equip their characters with the latest gear.
Storm King’s Thunder hits PC on August 16 with console release coming at a later date.
(Editor’s note: Ubisoft’s Q1 fiscal year runs from April through June. Q2 begins July and ends at the end of September.)
Ubisoft has revealed record high player engagement during the first quarter of 2016, following the launch of The Division and Rainbow Six Siege. Sales for the period amounted to approximately $153 million USD, exceeding expectations by a fair margin (expected: $125 mil).
Sales show a trend toward consumers ditching physical media, as digital sales amounted to 75% of the overall take. This, compared to last year’s share of 56%, marks a major shift in consumer spending habits.
“Our solid figures for the first quarter of 2016-17 have confirmed the excellent digital trends and demonstrate we are successfully executing our strategic plan. Player engagement levels reached record highs during the period, fueled by the success of The Division, Rainbow Six Siege and Hungry Shark World.”
The French developer/publisher is gearing up for a busy release schedule including but not limited to South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Just Dance 2017, Ghost Recon Wildlands, Steep, and Watch Dogs 2. Ubisoft expects lower sales in the second quarter, likely due to a sparse release schedule (Grow Up and Champions of Anteria).
MMO Fallout 