Author: Admin

NCSoft Tried Selling City Of Heroes, No Buyers


It’s been over a month since NCSoft announced that City of Heroes would be shutting down, and since then the community has thrown virtually every theory out there as to why there hasn’t been any news from the talks with Paragon Studios.  The question that lays on everyone’s mind is: If NCSoft isn’t willing to keep the game running, why didn’t they try selling the studio/game? As it turns out, they did try. In an announcement on the City of Heroes website, NCSoft offers a small bit of detail on what went down.

We’ve exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful. City of Heroes has a special place in all of our hearts, and we want to ensure its reputation and the memories we share for the game end on a high note.

So there is some kind of reassurance that NCSoft at least made an attempt to save City of Heroes. It may not be the answer that they want to hear, but it is an answer nonetheless.

(Source: City of Heroes)

Funcom Reverses Layoffs, Anarchy Online Engine Update, Steam


You were paying attention when Funcom stated that the layoffs back at the end of August were temporary, weren’t you? In the latest Flash Point podcast, Joel Bylos went on to explain that the rehiring process has already begun, with three of the ex-Funcom employees brought back to the team. On the end of The Secret World, Funcom will continue its tactic of monthly issue updates, adding in a wide range of new content to the MMO.

In other Funcom news, Anarchy Online is coming to Steam. In the monthly update post over at the Anarchy Online forums, Producer Ilaliya explains that the Steam-compatible version of Anarchy will be available as soon as a few kinks are worked out, some to do with in-game bugs dealing with the Steam overlay, the other to do with internal scheduling over at Valve. Additionally, the long awaited upgrade to the Dreamworld Engine for Anarchy Online is coming along, with public beta testing to start hopefully early next year. This upgrade will bring with it a multitude of changes to Anarchy Online on a graphical and functional level, including the ability to add armor as additions to a character rather than the old painted on look.

(Source: Flash Point Podcast)

(Source: Monthly Development Update)

The Future of RuneScape: Jagex Talks RuneScape 3


In a recently released live Q&A, Jagex talks about RuneScape 3, the next iteration in the RuneScape development line. Noting that the Evolution of Combat update coming later this year is not the same as RuneScape 3. Instead, Jagex views a set of benchmarks as what would constitute RuneScape 3, being an overhaul in the overall experience. Over the next couple of years, the aim is to improve the experience in audio, graphics, the interface and world map, among other features. With the introduction of HTML5 support, coming soon, is that the game will look and sound better, as well as run smoother than the current Java platform.

Unlike when Jagex introduced RuneScape 2, and allowed players to continue playing RuneScape Classic, RuneScape 3 will not leave behind RuneScape 2 servers. The reason is that RuneScape Classic to RuneScape 2 was such a massive update to the game that Jagex could not seamlessly bring players over, where as RuneScape 3 is seen as a natural progression of the game. There are no plans to release classic versions of RuneScape 2 servers. Additionally, Jagex is actively working on getting RuneScape working on additional devices, aiming at possibly next year.

A lot of what Jagex talks about is still rather cryptic. Among the features teased are the ability to gather items during normal game play to offer up to a player’s chosen god. The details are scarce but it seems to imply that some form of factional system is coming to RuneScape, allowing players to choose which gods they want to support. Another goal is to make player vs player combat more enticing, especially to players who normally would not bother with the activity. Additionally, there are two skills as well as player owned shipping ports coming next year.

There is plenty more to find out in the video, which is well over an hour long.

(Source: RuneScape Q&A)

Working Out A Bounty System


A bounty system is to sandbox MMOs like peanut butter to fluff on a sandwich perhaps with a glass of cold milk on the side (soy or almond if you prefer). While the sandbox purists will say that developers should just allow players to run their own bounty system, because risk is just part of the experience, having some infrastructure in-game can be very helpful without restricting freedoms. Ensuring the person claiming the bounty actually made the kill, and that the bounty holder must pay up.

But it feels like the developers are just setting themselves up for abuse with current bounty systems, so I’d like to offer a few of my own thoughts on a bounty system. They are just my thoughts, they could be wrong.

1. Money In, Money Out.

I think most players will agree that a bounty system is specifically a player to player affair. I hate you because you kill me a lot, you talk crap in chat, or perhaps you just crossed an angry person with a lot of expendable cash. So I’m not entirely sure why some MMOs don’t have a 1:1 input to output ratio on bounty levels.

As a gamer, I take issue with government subsidized murder to deal with personal squabbles. If xXx Leg0la$ xXx wants me dead because I stuck my sword in his head and stole all forty of his apple pies, he can do so without asking companies like Aventurine to help him buy a bounty hunter, ie: my friend who kills me and splits the reward. Even more importantly, removing the glut will prevent people from using the bounty system to get rich, with the money coming from nowhere.

Ultimately, a bounty system should be a transfer of wealth, not a generator of it. It should act as an arbiter, essentially, to prove the kill and distribute the reward.

2. The Bounty System Will Be Gamed, Regardless.

How do you keep someone like myself from gaming your bounty system? Simple: You can’t. And that is something that developers will need to understand going forward if you’re going to make this an enjoyable system and not a convoluted, overreaching and unenjoyable mess. A bounty system is a social system, and you’re up against geniuses in social engineering.

But even on a 1:1 ratio as mentioned above, you won’t stop the system from being gamed. When a player has a bounty on their heads, they will simply allow themselves to be killed by a clan member and split the profits. Prevent their clan from gathering the reward? They will set up a mule, outside of the clan, to get the kill. Allow only trusted/known people to gather the reward? Well then you’ve just negated the point in making the system official, if the person is known well enough that they could just as well be trusted on the honor system.

And enough on gaming the bounty poster, what about the bounty pursuant? Set up a clan member as a trap by throwing a massive bounty on his head, and when lone hunters show up to kill him, the group jumps out and just thrashes him. In RuneScape they do something like this by having everyone stand on one square, giving the illusion that there is only one person.

So your system is going to be gamed, one way or another, but at least in the world I’ve created it isn’t being abused to generate wealth out of nowhere.

3. Have Some Fun With It.

Here is my ideal bounty system for a game like Mortal Online or Darkfall. Players naturally drop something identifying when they die, let’s say their head or a finger. Whatever the object is, it decays and disappears after a short period of time, let’s say 24 hours from the time of death, to prevent players from gathering them in large quantities and simply hoarding them until the appropriate bounty is posted.

I, as the bounty poster, give my bounty notice and reward to the broker, we’ll call him that creepy guy in the back alley on the edge of town. You, as the hunter, go to him to see who is on the menu. When you kill your target, gather his head/finger as proof, and bring it to the creep, he pays you the reward. And naturally you are free to keep the loot from the person you killed as an extra reward.

Simple, minimalist. An NPC to act as an arbiter and nothing more.

Phantasy Star Universe Sunsets


For Western players, the Phantasy Star Universe has already been over. Originally launched in 2006, Sega first began the MMO’s eventual closure by shutting down the North American and European servers on the PC and Playstation 2 in March 2010. Following, PS2 support in Japan was discontinued in April 2011, and just this month we saw the closure of the Xbox360 servers. Well, yesterday the game has finally come to a close with the closure of Japan’s remaining Phantasy Star Universe servers.

Any remaining Guardian Cash for players will be refunded as Phantasy Star Online 2 credit or as Webmoney AC. The shut down was originally announced at the end of July, and for the last month of service, players were granted access to PSU’s premium course for free.

Guild Wars 2 Talks Bots, Gold Farmers, And Bans


As many players of Guild Wars 2 will tell you, a recent explosion in botting has blown into a serious problem for Arenanet and its community. In a post on the official forums, Security Coordinator Mike Lewis went on to discuss recent bans and action taken by Arenanet to curb the legion of bots currently taking up space in his game. Over the past week alone, Arenanet has banned over 1600 bots, and are currently tracking the most commonly used bots while gathering information on additional programs.

We are actively improving our means of detecting ‘bot’ activity in the game automatically. This includes tools for our customer support team to help them verify ‘botting’ reports and efficiently issue account terminations. Recently we have also hired a team of data specialists who will be helping us create more effective tools for analyzing reports of ‘botting.’

Sadly, many of the bots being used are likely through stolen accounts. Remember to practice safe surfing, kids. And if a bot approaches you on the street, don’t get into his van.

(Source: Guild Wars Forums)

RuneScape Reverses, Apologizes For Bans


Here on the internet, we go by a policy of stuff happens. Unless you are licensing your engine in which case the blame can be placed on the engine creator. And when it comes to big updates like Jagex’s latest bot buster, you could also go by the Texas rule of you can’t make an omelette without accidentally shooting a customer or two. So when Jagex implemented a recent update, the result was a number of players being falsely banned.

Unfortunately, whilst updating our systems, a human error occurred which resulted in the accidental banning of a selection of online accounts. These bans have now been reverted and we will be rebooting the servers shortly to ensure that all accounts can log in as normal.

Some players are still reporting that their accounts have yet to be unbanned due to this mistake.

(Source: Facebook)

A Quick Look At Ultimate Collector


I have to admit: When I saw that Richard Garriot’s new game was a Facebook social title, my heart sank. And then when I found out he was partnering with Zynga, the force of sudden massive compression caused my heart to tear itself inside out. Luckily, through the magic of modern science and a genetics laboratory hidden under my storage room, I have plenty of spares in case I need to set up another long winded joke that goes nowhere.

Richard Garriot’s Ultimate Collector (currently in beta) was a difficult game for me to convince myself to start playing, let alone write a quick look of. If there is one faction of the gaming industry that manages to boil my blood, it is the thousands of Facebook ad-driven, nickel and dime, pay-now-or-annoy-your-friends, energy driven games, that pass themselves off as enjoyable to anyone other than the most casual of gamers, housewives, and people with a lot of expendable money and not a lot of sense in how to spend it. Unfortunately for Ultimate Collector, it is not not one of those games. But hear me out.

Ultimate Collector was quite possibly conceived by a hoarder, and as someone whose habits border somewhere between pack rat and hoarder, I can’t honestly comment. But what struck me once I got to playing after a while was that every item in this game is a real, living, object. Apart from the trinkets which serve as quick cash, every serious sale you make is a real, true to life, branded toy. It could be a Gameboy Color, a copy of Paula Dean’s 1000 Ways to Fry Butter cookbook, Beanie Babies, pull toys from the 50’s, and more. In fact, someone who enjoys nostalgia may find the sheer number of items available in Ultimate Collector to make the game worth playing.

You might even be able to find Richard Garriot’s Ultima games. Oh and Tabula Rasa (never heard of it, personally).

As you play, you’ll find that Ultimate Collector can be viewed in virtually brain dead mode, or you can play with a bit of strategy and foresight and really rake in the dough. When you buy an item, you lower the asking price by finding flaws, while raising your profit on resale by finding virtues. By recycling your less profitable goods rather than selling them, you retrieve parts that can be used to fix the more profitable items, making them even more profitable. So the game is about finding the balance in what is worth spending your energy in appraising, what is worth buying for spare parts, and what you should just leave in the bin.

But now we have to get to the part about the cash shop. Ultimate Collector is, after all, an energy based Facebook game, and that means every action has a cost. Each time you rummage through a bin, that’s an energy. Every time you appraise an item (five times per item), that’s an energy. Don’t want to wait for the auction to finish? That’s a Portcash (cash shop money). Don’t want to wait until tomorrow to gain your energy back? You can also spend Portcash on that. Although you gain an energy every few minutes, so the wait to refill your bar is just a few hours if not less.

And for what it’s worth, Ultimate Collector does try to throw a bone by increasing your maximum energy with leveling, and throwing Portcash at the player every now and then. Additionally, buying and selling goods raises your experience in that particular field, which in turn results in more free appraisals saving the user more energy. So there is the feeling that, while corporate won out in the end, the folks on the development side at least tried to give the user a break.

And if you are playing casually, you likely won’t spend a dime on Ultimate Collector anyway. With the way I play, I log in once or twice a day to salvage someone’s garage sale, bring the goods back to my house and see how much money I’ve made from the previous day’s sales, and then put the new stuff up for sale. For me, however, Ultimate Collector is more than just a Facebook game. It is a sign that Richard Garriot has gone back to the man I once knew and always anticipated his next announcement with held breath. The guy who made games that were basic yet filled with depth, were created with an obsessive amount of attention to detail, and occasionally make you wonder if the creator was insane from the start. Ultimate Collector has renewed the faith in Richard Garriot that I lost when Tabula Rasa went down in flames as its development team struggled to keep it alive.

I am really looking forward to seeing Ultimate RPG.

Video of the ___: Save City of Heroes


The hope for City of Heroes grows bleak, but that doesn’t mean the community has given up hope. Since NCSoft’s surprise announcement that City of Heroes would shut down later this year, players have rallied all over the web to keep the superhero MMO online and fighting crime. Or causing it, depending on your stature. City of Heroes player Tim The Enchanter has posted a video entitled “Save City of Heroes,” combining music, in-game footage, and an array of news headlines and podcast audio related to the movement.

Currently the change.org petition to save City of Heroes has gathered over nineteen thousand signatures. So far NCSoft hasn’t said much at all apart from detailing reimbursement plans. But the fans will not go out without a fight.

Sign Up For Wizardry Online Beta


Wizardry Online marks a noted change in direction at Sony Online Entertainment. Produced by Gamepot and reportedly 30 years in the making, Wizardry Online bills itself as a hardcore MMO with little in the way of patience or sympathy for its players. As the website describes it:

With the risk of permadeath always looming, players group with trusted allies to survive. Using skill based combat, and a little bit of luck, players battle to defeat amazing anime creatures, cheat death, and live to tell the world!

And starting today, players are able to sign up for the Wizardry Online beta. If you’ve signed up for SOE betas in the past, you already know what you are doing. Otherwise, you will need a Sony Online Entertainment account. If selected, your account will be validated rather than a key being sent out. Wizardry Online is scheduled to go live in 2012, and will be free to play.

(Source: Wizardry Website)