Today’s MMOrning Shot comes from RuneScape’s concept art division. It appears to be related to upcoming content Jagex has said will be related to the gods returning to RuneScape after the death of Guthix and the destruction of his non-intervention edicts.
MMOrning Shots is a (mostly) daily line of screenshots from various MMOs. Most are taken in-house or come to us in press releases, but if you would like your screenshot featured, send it over to contact[at]mmofallout[dot]com with the subject “MMorning Shots.”
When I first discussed ROBLOX, I referred to it as a virtual toy box, as if someone took a box full of Lego bricks and made them sentient and programmable. It isn’t an MMORPG along the lines of World of Warcraft, but it can be if the right person is doing the building. It isn’t specifically designed to be a first person shooter, but that hasn’t stopped its players from turning it into one. Just about anything you can think of to build, someone has probably already done it, and yet the community still comes up with new stuff to do. You can play paintball, survive Slenderman, take charge of a fishing ship, fight back a zombie outbreak, or enjoy a fun obstacle course.
Usually when I write about ROBLOX I get responses pointing to the fact that there are a lot of outside properties on display in ROBLOX creations, to which I have to say I’m not surprised. ROBLOX is a game that brings to life the child-like wonder and imagination of its players, so it only stands to reason that in the same way that kids play out their favorite video games or television shows, that the creations in ROBLOX will also draw heavily from areas like Minecraft, Naruto, Spongebob Squarepants, DragonballZ, Skyrim, etc.
ROBLOX has seen a massive push over the past year or so to optimize the engine and allow for a smoother experience for creators and players. Improvements allow for objects to interact with each other in a much more realistic fashion, without the kind of performance drain seen in previous builds of the engine. This has allowed for more optimized and realistic explosion effects, for objects to collide and interact with each other in the way you would expect them to, and more.
The most recent engine update brought in dynamic lighting, allowing players to add in some ambiance to their creations. It sounds like a minor change, but as you can see in the screenshot below, the effect is very noticeable. The update is still technically a work in progress, with more additions coming to better optimize the system and beef up its visual effects.
It is important to note that dynamic lighting is an optional addition, and must be programmed into the world by its creator, so only a small (but growing fast) number of creations are using it at this point and builders are still getting used to how the system works. Still, the recent changes to ROBLOX are all the proof that we need that the game still has a very long life ahead of it, with plenty of new toys on the horizon for its builders to play with.
I will also be working on a series of ROBLOX videos looking at various creations, starting with the first that should come out this week (I apologize for the lack of specificity, but my “real job” schedule has me working over fifty hours a week). You can check out ROBLOX for free over at the main website.
I love Side Quest, as many of you are fully aware. During the few months that the game was open to the public for early development testing, I can honestly say that I played it more than any other game in my library, much to my enjoyment and the dismay of whoever had to field my bug reports. For those of you out of the loop, I described Side Quest in one article as Patapon meets fantasy MMO. Your heroes move across the screen on their own volition, and it is up to you to manage special attacks, potions, and anything else that may be present on the battlefield. Where Side Quest strives to be make a name for itself is in the boss battles, each with a unique battle mechanic. One tasks the player with riding down a fast moving river on a log raft, maneuvering the log to avoid rocks while still paying attention to the giant squid attacking them. It also has a rather humorous story and a fine pvp battle system in both synchronous and asynchronous.
Now the first Side Quest asked for $10,000 on Kickstarter and fell rather short of their goal. The team has gone back to Kickstarter to fund the second half of this sports reference before the game can launch. The Fractal Entertainment crew is asking for five grand, offering a number of rewards including the ability to design your own weapon, armor, or even an NPC. There are the usual grab bag of rewards available, including cash shop coins and beta access, as well as a meet and greet at higher levels.
Rift’s conversion to free to play is turning out to be pretty awesome, if I do say so, and I do. Generally when other MMOs go free to play and decide to keep hold of their loyalty programs, they either award loyalty for all players or they do so only to those who subscribe to the premium membership. In the case of Rift, Trion is doing a little of both. Loyalty points no longer accrue simply from subscribing to the premium service, since a subscription is no longer necessary. Instead, players will fill their loyalty meter by subscribing, purchasing or spending credits, or via Rift’s new REX.
The Loyalty system is, at its core, the same philosophy – it’s our way of saying thanks for supporting RIFT. If you choose to spend real money in RIFT you’ll gain Loyalty (with one little loop hole discussed below *wink*). As you accrue Loyalty, your Loyalty meter will fill and unlock new rewards, like Special Costumes only available through Loyalty, the ability to change your target icon to Elite or Raid status, and unique dimensions.
REX is, as you may have guessed, Trion’s version of PLEX: Cash shop credits that can be bundled and sold to other players, effectively allowing the game to be fully accessed for free. Current and former subscribers will be happy to know that their previous months of service in Rift will count toward their starting set of loyalty currency, and you will be able to keep your already obtained loyalty items.
Star Vault has released their Q1 2013 reports and things are looking up, somewhat. The Swedish developer notes a combination of increased subscriptions since last quarter as well as the introduction of the ability to donate money for development, as contributing to the company’s revenue growth in 2013. Star Vault’s net sales for Q1 2013 amounted to slightly over $100 thousand USD, or a 45% rise since Q4 2012. Net profit has come closer to reaching profitability with a similar 47% rise to just over seventy grand in the red.
Henrik Nystrom commented on Star Vault’s outlook:
We are cautiously optimistic about 2013, and we may for the first time in a long time see that the increase in player activity begins to appear in our quarterly report. Revenues from our movement has grown and we have achieved a positive cash flow. I would add that the figure includes a bridge loan 394 000 SEK, which in turn is related to a private placement.
Star Vault is still aiming to get Mortal Online approved via Steam Greenlight.
As for game development in the first quarter of 2013, we have mainly focused on fixing bugs and polishing the Mortal Online since we are high listed on STEAM Greenlight, called the list for the U.S. distribution channel STEAM, which we plan to release our game in the near future. Before this game release is done, we need to prepare for increased traffic both game code-wise but probably also the size of the physical game area. We continue to make the first gameplay in Mortal Online as well and smooth as possible for the players can more easily get into the game and quickly start developing their characters.
Star Vault has released their Q1 2013 reports and things are looking up, somewhat. The Swedish developer notes a combination of increased subscriptions since last quarter as well as the introduction of the ability to donate money for development, as contributing to the company’s revenue growth in 2013. Star Vault’s net sales for Q1 2013 amounted to slightly over $100 thousand USD, or a 45% rise since Q4 2012. Net profit has come closer to reaching profitability with a similar 47% rise to just over seventy grand in the red.
Henrik Nystrom commented on Star Vault’s outlook:
We are cautiously optimistic about 2013, and we may for the first time in a long time see that the increase in player activity begins to appear in our quarterly report. Revenues from our movement has grown and we have achieved a positive cash flow. I would add that the figure includes a bridge loan 394 000 SEK, which in turn is related to a private placement.
Star Vault is still aiming to get Mortal Online approved via Steam Greenlight.
As for game development in the first quarter of 2013, we have mainly focused on fixing bugs and polishing the Mortal Online since we are high listed on STEAM Greenlight, called the list for the U.S. distribution channel STEAM, which we plan to release our game in the near future. Before this game release is done, we need to prepare for increased traffic both game code-wise but probably also the size of the physical game area. We continue to make the first gameplay in Mortal Online as well and smooth as possible for the players can more easily get into the game and quickly start developing their characters.
You remember Final Fantasy XIV, right? It’s that game that a few of our old website logos used to be based on. It’s been a while now since Final Fantasy XIV shut down to the public, with the promise of an upcoming relaunch in the form of A Realm Reborn. Well wait no longer! While the beta for Realm Reborn has been trucking along for a while now, with the third phase to come sometime this month, Square Enix has been rather quiet on the exact details. Now we know thanks to a press release from Square that FFXIV: A Realm Reborn will launch August 27th.
Players are able to pre-purchase the title on PC or PS3 and receive early access to the game, as well as other item perks. The collectors edition includes a number of extra perks including a FFXIV themed authenticator. You can check out the entire details of the pre-purchase packages at the link below.
One day someone will say “Omali, I saw this game on MMOrning Shots and now I am a happy customer,” and maybe, just maybe, those fine fellows who develop games at [redacted] will stop beating me up and stealing my lunch every day. Maybe, I can always dream.
MMOrning Shots is a daily line of screenshots from various MMOs. Most are taken in-house or come to us in press releases, but if you would like your screenshot featured, send it over to contact[at]mmofallout[dot]com with the subject “MMorning Shots.”
One day someone will say “Omali, I saw this game on MMOrning Shots and now I am a happy customer,” and maybe, just maybe, those fine fellows who develop games at [redacted] will stop beating me up and stealing my lunch every day. Maybe, I can always dream.
MMOrning Shots is a daily line of screenshots from various MMOs. Most are taken in-house or come to us in press releases, but if you would like your screenshot featured, send it over to contact[at]mmofallout[dot]com with the subject “MMorning Shots.”
As many of you are aware, Neverwinter suffered a fair bit of downtime this weekend thanks to the mass abuse of a bug allowing players to duplicate Astral Diamonds using the auction house. While originally stating that non-cheating characters would not be affected overall, Perfect World had decided to perform a rollback to early Saturday morning, taking action against accounts that had abused the bug and going into the game’s history to track down those who were abusing it prior to Saturday’s outbreak. As compensation for Saturday’s extended downtime, as well as for the inconvenience in the rollback, Perfect World has given all characters created prior to May 21st a Caturday pack.
All characters that have been created before 6:00 A.M. Tuesday, May 21, 2013, will receive the Caturday Survivor’s Pack, which will appear in your in-game mail as an attachment to the message, “You Survived!” The items within the Caturday Survivor’s Pack are bound to each character that receives it.
The pack includes a cosmetic cape, a dwarven mask, teleport scrolls, experience boosters, and a stone of health. The cutoff date was initially May 19th, however Perfect World has moved it to the 21st at 6am PST.
MMO Fallout 