Author: Admin

Squeal of Fortune Isn’t Pay To Win, But It Is A Waste Of Money


Back in April, Jagex started selling spins for Squeal of Fortune, igniting a heavy discussion on the company’s changing position on microtransactions and real world trading. After all, Jagex has lead us to believe for years that buying an advantage is the most evil thing a person could do, next to punching an orphan with one hand while drowning his puppy with the other. How much does Jagex hate real world trading? Enough to neuter the game for years at the expense of their subscriber numbers and the good will of their community. So far Jagex’s response to criticism has been to change the rules to allow Squeal of Fortune.

Now that Squeal of Fortune has been out for a few months and players have so graciously invested their own money for the sake of science, we can finally get a consensus on whether or not the mini-game does indeed offer an advantage. And the answer is absolutely not. Through many thousands thrown at Jagex, the general consensus that I have seen is that Squeal of Fortune does indeed offer a good amount of gold and experience, at incredibly expensive prices. Compared to gold farmer prices, the equivalent at $200 in spins offering just a couple million gold and a few hundred thousand experience is worth maybe $10.

It would be unfair to compare Squeal of Fortune to a pay to win model. A pay to win model would offer an advantage, like flying a plane because it is faster and often more cost effective than driving. Using Squeal of Fortune to replace playing the game is more like making the same trip by hand-pulled cart. A longer, less comfortable trip that will take far more time and cost more than any sane person should pay.

You’re going to need deep pockets if you want Squeal of Fortune to take you anywhere, to the point where your money could be better spent on upgrading your computer several times a month. Or at the casino.

FFXI Still Expanding, Seekers of Adoulin


Final Fantasy XI is ten years old this year, and remains one of the few MMOs on the market that can maintain a subscription and still sell expansion packs every few years. Announced at Square Enix’s Vanafest, FFXI’s fifth expansion, Seekers of Adoulin, launches in 2013. With it, the expansion brings two new jobs (only one of which has been revealed), as well as new lands to explore.

Oddly enough, the trailer above and the promotional website (linked below) only mention the expansion coming to Xbox360 and PC, with no mention of the Playstation 2. According to a few FFX-related websites, this likely means that Seekers of Adoulin will be download-only on the PS2.

(Source: Seekers of Adoulin)

Korean TERA Major Server Mergers Coming, Free To Play Possible


Since TERA launched in Korea well before North America and Europe, players have come to see it as sort of a litmus test for the game’s overall performance. Back in June 2011, we reported that TERA was not meeting financial expectations, and the game was forced into a merger bringing the number of servers from 35 down to 15.

Fast forward to today and once again TERA is apparently still hemorrhaging players. In a post on the game’s Korean website, a planned server consolidation will go into effect on June 28th which will target all thirteen remaining servers. When the dust settles, KTERA will only have four servers remaining of the original 37 it launched with.

On July 4th, TERA will launch a test server to gauge the possibility of free to play for the title. The server will be open for four weeks with a level cap of 50, and is quite the indicator that TERA plans on heading free to play (at least in Korea) as a final saving measure. There is so far no word or indication as to TERA’s performance in the west, and whether or not other territories will follow with a similar model.

(Source: KTERA Website)

(Source: Free to Play Announcement)

Video of the ____: RuneScape Fingers, Dual Wielding


RuneScape’s beta goes live in just a few days, and the last of the Behind the Scenes videos has been released. In addition to the numerous changes to the way players fight, Jagex has revealed that players will also be able to dual wield weapons. Check out the video to see it in action.

Even at eleven years old, RuneScape is committed to keeping the game fresh and new, with massive upgrades including the combat system, the high definition graphics upgrade just a couple years ago, and the continued addition of new skills, new areas, and new mini-games. Dual wielding is a feature that has been long requested by the RuneScape community.

Note: Don’t go spending your RS gold on extra weapons to stock up. According to reports, you will need special versions that won’t be released until the update.

Win A Physical Copy Of Alganon and Line of Defense Comics


Boy do I have a prize for all of you. Well, one of you. Last year Derek Smart partnered with DC Entertainment to create two comic books. The first, based on Alganon, was only distributed at Comic Con. The second, based in the upcoming MMO Line of Defense, was distributed only at E3 convention this month. The former was released in a digital form, the latter will not be released digitally to the best of my knowledge.

But you have an opportunity to get your hands on both. In that strange paper format, no less.

The rules are pretty simple. Rather than the old boring “make a comment and I’ll pick someone at random” giveaway that MMO Fallout normally does, I’m going to give you all a psychological examination. All you have to do is look at the photo below, and tell me what you see at contact[at]mmofallout.com. The best answer will win both comics.

Now due to the nature of the prize, I must limit the contest to North America only, and if you are picked you will need to provide a mailing address. Otherwise, go nuts! The contest will run for two weeks, until July 5th.

Falling Out #9: Get Out Your Lawyers


Friday’s Falling Out (8.5 as I have dubbed it) is probably the fastest MMO Fallout has been threatened after publishing a joke. Now that the legal team has let me out of the storage closet, I can return to writing.

RuneScape Employing The KISS System


One feature that sets sandbox games apart from themeparks is that, while the latter uses a singular experience system to determine the player’s base stats, the former relies on separate leveling and generally does not assign an overall level. RuneScape is the exception to the rule, basing its combat level off of a complicated formula involving eight different skills. The formula for determining combat level (and there are three of these) is:

left lfloor frac{text{def} + text{con} + lfloor frac{text{prayer}}{2}rfloor + 1.3 times (text{att} + text{str})}{4} right rfloor

With RuneScape’s upcoming combat update, currently in closed beta, Jagex will be employing the Keep It Simple, Stupid rule of engagement. Three of the skills are being taken out of the equation and the formula is a simple: X + defense +2, with X being the highest combat skill from the list of attack, strength, magic, and ranged. Another effect of this is that combat levels will rise, to a maximum of 200 (over the current 138). On one hand, this might be the first time an MMO has raised the level cap without increasing the experience limit.

Why is Jagex doing this after ten years? Well RuneScape’s code is over ten years old, and in that time much of the older equipment and spells has become completely useless. By rebuilding the combat system from the ground up, Jagex is able to employ a whole host of new systems without having to deal with legacy code and compatibility issues.

RuneScape’s combat upgrade goes into open beta in under a week, when MMO Fallout will be writing a preview.

Eve Online: Hulkageddon Will Go On Indefinitely


Hulkageddon is one of my favorite MMO-related holidays, but a friend of mine recently asked: Omali, don’t you wish Hulkageddon would last forever? And I said no, friend who asks conveniently timed questions. Because then I wouldn’t be able to fully enjoy Hulkageddon. If you don’t know, Hulkageddon is a celebration in Eve Online where players are encouraged, and paid, to kill miners in massive quantities. Normally, Hulkageddon only lasts for a limited time each year, but in a post by Mittani on the Eve Online forums, Goonswarm intends on continuing to pay users for dead miners.

For every ten miners you kill, Goonswarm will pay you ten million ISK and one hundred million per ten exhumer. So far Hulkageddon has claimed more than eleven thousand ships and over two trillion in damages and twenty seven billion in rewards paid out.

Now Hulkageddon is a perfect example of emergent gameplay and capitalism at work in Eve Online. Now, Goonswarm pays people millions to destroy hulks, meaning more people are buying hulks to replace those that were destroyed. Can you imagine who is manufacturing the hulks that are being destroyed? Do you see how this comes around full circle?

(Source: Eve Online forums)

[Video] Catching Up With Hellgate


Hellgate Global is free to play, but as users have pointed out lately, you’re going to have to do a lot of grinding to get the money to buy content off of the auction house.

Our Thoughts: TERA Gaikai


TERA is 50 gigabytes. That is as many as five tens and that is terrible. For some, fifty gigabytes may be too much of an investment in terms of bandwidth or time to give TERA’s seven day trial a go. Luckily this is where Gaikai comes in. Founded in 2008, Gaikai is an online cloud-based streaming service being employed by a growing selection of MMORPGs. The trials through Gaikai are currently very limited, both in time in and content. The benefit to this, however, is that the game can literally be booted up in seconds, playable directly through your browser.

You can’t beat Gaikai in terms of accessibility. You can play without ever having to sign up for an account, entering your email address or personal information, or linking your Facebook/Twitter/Bebo accounts. At the offset, you have three classes to choose from: Warrior, sorcerer, and lancer. The preview encompasses the introduction, starting the player off at level 20 with the associated class skills already unlocked.

As you can see, the graphics have been scaled back somewhat to function properly through the browser. Following a lengthy bit of running around talking to various NPCs, receiving equipment, and a lot of walking, the player is introduced to the combat mechanics and the demo ends with the player fighting one of the game’s big-ass monsters.

The demo is only disappointing in the sense that at least half of the demo is wasted on the most boring section: Tutorial. Once you get to the part where there is actual combat, the demo feels almost over and all you’ve accomplished is reading through quest text. For someone who has never played TERA, this is probably not the best presentation to make them transition on to the full seven day trial. All other systems except for combat are not mentioned at all.

I’m sure TERA will eventually support a better demo on Gaikai, but this feature feels rushed and ultimately is unsatisfying and poorly marketed as a result. Even with the scaling back of graphics, the game still looks great and handles just as well as it does in the full game, but overall it just feels half-baked.

En Masse Entertainment should create a Gaikai specific demo instead of simply plucking the first area and show off more of the game, including crafting, the political system, and broker.