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38 Studios Being Investigated

It appears that dead horses just can’t go unbeaten. Not to anyone’s surprise, but 38 Studios (amidst layoffs and defaulting on payments) has formally declared bankruptcy and the story of Project Copernicus can finally come to an end, no? Wrong.

According to the Providence Journal, Col. Steve G. O’Donnell of the Rhode Island State Police made a statement that his agency, along with the FBI, US Attorney General, and the Rhode Island Attorney General are in the process of investigating 38 Studios due to activities that have recently come to light, according to the statement. The report doesn’t go into any more details.

O’Donnell was referencing the $75 million loan to 38 Studios as well as another $8 million loan from Bank RI from earlier this year.

So it seems the lid isn’t closed on 38 Studios just yet.

(Source: Providence Journal)

Kickstarter: The Repopulation

The Repopulation currently has 27 days to go (until July 2nd) and has reached nearly nine thousand of its twenty five thousand dollar goal. Sandbox MMO? You have my attention. Player-created cities ala Star Wars Galaxies? You have my money. Three faction PvP with territory conquest ala Dark Age of Camelot? You have my pledge.

The Repopulation displays itself as all about the players. Quests are generated, tailored specific to each player, with branching outcomes that alter how the world reacts to the player. Cities elect their own mayor, advancement is accomplished through a skill based system rather than overall levels, and the game has equal focus on crafting and combat.

The game will also feature engagements, similar to what you may have seen in Tabula Rasa, where (for example) enemy mobs may raze a village and burn it to the ground, resulting in the quest givers and merchants not being available.

There is a lot more to this MMO than I can explain here, and you can read up about it on the Kickstarter website.

(source: Kickstarter)

Darkfall Suspends Client Cost

Darkfall 2.0 may still be far off in the distance, but Aventurine is still working hard to bring new players into the community. In a few weeks, players will be able to get into Darkfall for the easy price of $14.99. Similar to Warhammer Online a couple years back, Aventurine is dropping the client cost in favor of simply paying for the subscription once the trial runs out.

This promotion comes with both purchasing and game play relayed changes and it will last until the launch of Darkfall 2.0. We will be removing the client purchase fee and to start playing Darkfall you will only need to pay the monthly fee. We are also preparing something that has to do with skill gains.

Preview Upcoming RuneScape Combat Update

The beta for RuneScape’s upcoming combat change is just a few weeks away, but you can get a short preview by watching the above video. The combat preview starts about one and a half minutes into the video, and does not show any of the new interfaces or the combat ability bar, but does showcase several moves players will be able to unleash once the update goes live.

Check it out above. If you haven’t had a chance, sign up for the RuneScape combat beta, set to begin later this month.

Sony Online Entertainment Picking Up Wizardry Online

Did you ever think you’d hear the words “hardcore,” “permadeath” and “Sony Online Entertainment” in the same sentence? Hold on to your boot straps, folks, you’re in for a wild ride. Gamepot is developing Wizardry Online, a hardcore MMO featuring no less than permadeath, non-instanced dungeons, friendly fire, and player killing. What more, Gamepot is being published by Sony Online Entertainment.

Hopefully Sony will include Wizardry Online in the all access pass. More to come.

Age of Empires Online: Servers Merging This Summer

As far as free to play goes, Age of Empires developer Gas Powered Games will not rest until their MMO is completely free. I have already discussed the Alliances update going live this month in part. Once Alliances goes live, Age of Empires Online will use Empire Points as its real-money currency, allowing players to earn said currency through the Alliances game.

Unfortunately, all silver linings surround a cloud (or however the saying goes), and the update isn’t all great news. The Alliance update will only be implemented on the most popular eight servers. Players on the remaining six servers will need to transfer over in order to enjoy the update, and several weeks after the Alliance update goes live, the six servers will be shut down with anyone remaining transferred off. What GPG would like you to know is that the server mergers are not due to population issues.

We are closing the servers not for financial reasons, but for game design and player experience reasons. In fact, the player base tripled after the Spring Update (Celts, Steam, and more). We are doing it because the game is more fun when more people are concentrated in fewer places. If we start running into performance issues, we will reopen servers as needed.

Check out the patch notes below:

(Source: Age of Empires Online)

PSA: Account Security And The RuneScape Beta

Hello, RuneScapers. If you check your calendars, you may already know that today is June 1st, or the day that beta signup begins for the major RuneScape combat upgrade set to begin later this month. For the safety of the community, I’ve decided to throw together a few helpful tips to safely getting yourself into the beta.

Log into the game. Starting today, every account has a special item that will take them directly to the beta signup page.
You need to be a member to sign up.
You do not however, need to be a member for one consecutive year to sign up. Just for guaranteed access.
Even if you are eligible for the longtime member benefit, you should still sign up for the beta to ensure everything goes through.

Reportedly Jagex has been sending out emails with details, but as no one here at MMO Fallout has received anything, we’ll play the safe side and just recommend you ignore any emails claiming to be from Jagex with details on signing up. With the item you receive in-game, there shouldn’t be any need to open said emails in the first place.

And finally, here are some juicy details about the upcoming combat changes to whet your whistle:

Special attacks will be removed, replaced with ability bar.
All 4 godswords will be getting the same stats (Hilts will be cosmetic).
Barrows/void sets won’t be changed.
The Enhanced excalibur special attack will be removed.
Two handed weapons will have different special actions than one handed weapons.
You “Unlock” abilities by leveling your skills.
Not all actions are F2P
Unlock abilities by completing Grandmaster Quests(?)
The new abilities are not prohibited in any way in PVP, however you will have lots of abilities you can also use in PVP to help mitigate incoming damage.
Things in the game that currently effect your special attack bar are being re-purposed to effect a new feature which we haven’t announced yet.
Full release date is unknown but planned in September (if everything goes smooth).
At release you will automatically unlock special abilities you have the stats for.
The currently common used “Spec weapons” will increase stat-wise.”

More to come!

Blizzard Being Investigated In Korea Over Diablo III Refund Refusals

Gaming return policies are a double edged sword. You can’t return games because, on one hand the policy stops people from burning the games to a disk and simply returning them. On the other hand, and this goes equally for digital downloads, if the game is broken or unplayable at a fundamental (the game on the disc, not the disc itself) level, the customer has no recourse other than to hope one day that the company patches out the problems. In other words, once the company has your money, they have your money. Unless, of course, you’re willing to go the chargeback route.

South Korea has taken issue with Blizzard’s policy of “no refunds,” raiding the Blizzard offices this afternoon to gather evidence in an investigation as to whether or not the company violated South Korean law by refusing refunds. Dissatisfied Diablo III players, unable to log in to the game, were denied refunds under Blizzard’s terms of service. South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission, who conducted the raid, did not comment on the matter further than admitting that there have been numerous complaints filed.

Blizzard apparently believes they are in the right, as the company has not changed its mind on refunds.

(Source: Korea Times)

Kickstarter Is Not The Last of Storybricks

I hate to be the pessimist, but with 65 hours left on the Kickstarter and about $225,000 left to go, I think there is a small chance Storybricks may not make its goal in time. Now, I’d hate to see Storybricks fade into the background after the Kickstarter falls through, so I got in touch with Brian “Psychochild” Green and asked if the developer has any plans moving forward.

“We’ve been considering alternatives and will start up another Kickstarter project focusing on more of a game if it seems appropriate.”

Here’s hoping development continues on Storybricks despite this setback. Although the team may not have reached their goal this time around, the increased media exposure through Kickstarter has hopefully helped the fledgling MMO receive the attention is very much deserves.

And hopefully the next time I update this story, it will be with good news.

Raptr Giving Away 10,000 Copies of Rift

It’s Corgi time. Do you use Raptr? If you aren’t familiar with the program, Raptr runs on your desktop and tracks your game usage over the PC, PS3 and Xbox360. In essence, Ratpr is quite similar to Xfire, except it also tracks your Xbox/Playstation achievements/trophies. As you play your games more and achieve not just time played but achievements in-game as well, you have the opportunity to unlock rewards (generally in the form of virtual items and coupons for tech gear).

If you achieve “experienced” in any of the games below, you will be able to claim a free copy of Rift. Claim your copy of Rift and rank up on that in Raptr to also claim a free digital upgrade to the collector’s edition and a free pair of Dwarven Smithy goggles. Sorry, folks, the rewards system is in beta and is only available in the US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany.

EVE Online (PC)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC)
Aion (PC)
EverQuest 2 (PC)
Diablo III (PC)
World of Tanks (PC)
Champions Online (PC)
World of Warcraft (PC)
The Witcher 2 (PC)
Diablo III Beta (PC)
League of Legends (PC)
Everquest (PC)
Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC)
The Lord Of The Rings Online (PC)

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