Editorials – Page 116

Neverwinter Readying Server Mergers

Neverwinter’s upcoming server merger is no surprise, the company has been straightforward about the fact that the three servers were there to spread out launch traffic as much as possible, and that they would be combined as soon as possible. In an FAQ posted to the Neverwinter forums, Perfect World has noted that the merger is close to being ready and will be rolled out as soon as possible.

We have always been fans of the single-shard model, and like our previous games, we’ve always wanted to optimize Neverwinter’s infrastructure to be able to meet this goal. We are excited to be close to meeting this goal and are excited about allowing all players in our game world to be able to communicate and group with one another.

The good news is that thanks to Perfect World’s unique handle system, players do not need to worry about changing their character name or guild name even if there are duplicates. When the merger does go through, all auctions will automatically expire and either sell to the highest bidder or return to the seller if there are no bids. Astral Diamond exchange orders will be withdrawn as well, and all mail and currencies will be merged to the new server. There is no timeline on when the merger will take place other than “very soon.”

Check out the entire FAQ at the link below.

(Source: Neverwinter)

MMOrning Shots: Deep Thoughts

Today’s MMOrning Shot comes from Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I’m not sure if the guy staring off into space is deep in thought, contemplating the vast unexplored wilderness that is the universe. Either that, or he thinks I am a bot and is in the middle of reporting my character to customer service. I suppose that isn’t as deep.

ArcheAge Russia’s Free To Play Borders Pay To Win

ArcheAge in Russia is making its way down free to play lane, and according to an announcement by Mail.ru, plans to offer even more for free than its Korean counterpart. Russian players will be able to level all the way up to end-game without paying a single ruble, and will have access to building houses and farms. Players who want to pony up some cash will be able to buy premium access which, at $10, features faster labor points recovery, 20% experience and 50% drop rate increases, and a stipend of Arc, the ArcheAge currency used on a mostly cosmetic cash shop. Arcs can be obtained in-game without spending anything.

Where ArcheAge is dipping its toes into alleged pay to win is in the ability to purchase labor points. Labor points are most easily compared to the energy from social games. Gathering and crafting costs labor points from your finite pool, which regenerates over time. The announcement has drawn ire from players who believe that the presence of labor points in the cash shop will unbalance the game’s economy.

(Source: MMO Cast)

ArcheAge Russia's Free To Play Borders Pay To Win

(Source: MMO Cast)

Turbine’s Billing Server Explodes, Issuing Refunds

Turbine is in the process of issuing refunds after a major glitch caused a number of players to be charged multiple times for their subscriptions. The number of charges varies widely from player to player and bank to bank, with some reporting as little as a couple of extra charges and others reporting into the hundreds. The unfortunate collateral damage is that the multiple charges also seem to be setting off fraud alerts, resulting in the banks automatically freezing said accounts, while many customers whose banks did allow the charges were forced to watch their funds drop to zero or below. To make matters worse, this issue occurred on a Friday, meaning anyone whose bank account was drained/frozen will not have access to their money over the weekend and into midway through next week.

Turbine has posted a notice with a phone number, asking anyone who is hit by penalties or fees due to the charges to call them. The developer is in the middle of processing refunds for the erroneous charges.

If you do not see the refund on your statement after a few days, if you incurred any penalties due to the charges, or if you need further assistance with your account or billing, our Customer Service Agents will be happy to take care of you. You can get in touch with Account Support by going to support.turbine.com, then clicking on “Support Center” and “Submit a Ticket.” Players can also contact Account Support toll-free at 1-855-WBGAMES (Account Support Hours: 10am – 7pm Eastern Time 7 days a week (GMT -5).)

MMO Fallout recommends that any players who were affected immediately contact their banks, as well as any companies who will be expecting a payment from you over the next week to explain the situation and hopefully come to an agreement. Be proactive, it isn’t a guarantee but you’ll come out a lot better than if you just wait for them to contact you. Customers who feel that they have been severely damaged (and I emphasize severely) by this billing error, whether it be damage to your credit score, heavy late fees or interest rate hikes due to late payments, etc, should take a look at the following guides on filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, the Federal Reserve, the IC3, and check the following list on how to contact your state’s Attorney General.

(Source: Turbine)

PSA: FFXIV, Account Theft, And Ban Investigations

Today’s PSA is brought to you by the letter B and the number 7.

Here at MMO Fallout, I regularly receive emails from people asking me to unban their accounts, in complete ignorance to the fact that I am neither officially associated with nor work for any of the games that I report on. But that’s beside the point. The other email that I get rather often is in response to my articles about keeping your account safe, particularly from people who have the attitude of “who cares if my account is stolen? I just email support and they restore it within a day or so.” Hopefully none of these people are playing Final Fantasy XIV, because they are in for a surprise.

With the success of Square Enix’s latest title, the natural progression of events has lead to accounts being stolen in large quantities and used for botting materials or spamming chat. As I’ve said in previous articles, why would you waste your own money when there are so many unprotected accounts ripe for the picking? It’s like robbing a bank and leaving your neighbor’s wallet at the scene of the crime, and then testifying against him in court about how you never really trusted his attitude. Sure, a simple alibi will get him a not guilty verdict, but that is the end of a long and stressful path and may eventually fail.

In the case of Final Fantasy XIV, reversing a ban because your account was stolen and used to bot/spam isn’t as simple as calling up customer support and asking them to flip a switch. No, according to players who have been victims of account theft, Square Enix is performing full investigations on the affected accounts to make sure that the claims are legitimate, and boy is there quite a long line just to get in the door. What does this mean for you, the player? Imagine that everyone in your neighborhood’s driver’s license expired on the exact same day, and everyone had to go down to the DMV to get their paperwork in. The DMV opens at 9am and you get there a little past four when everyone is out of work and meeting the group who has been there all morning. Imagine that line, and double it, and you have a good idea as to how long you’ll be waiting for your account to be restored. One player in particular was apparently told that the line and subsequent investigation could take at least three weeks as the matter had to be dealt with by Square Enix’s Japan offices.

If that isn’t enough motivation to keep your account as secure as possible from your end, I’m not sure what is.

Dragonball MMO Isn't Coming To The West

Here at MMO Fallout, I have a list of foreign MMOs that fall into my Do Not Report file. This list is reserved for games that, in my untested and unscientific opinion, are likely to never hit western shores. The idea isn’t all that radical, when you consider that a majority of MMOs shut down within a couple of years after launch and how expensive localization is. In the case of Dragonball Online, my hunch was correct. According to MMO Culture, the game is set to shut down in all of its territories, after which the lights will be flipped off and everyone will go home. The Korean server has already been shut down and the server in Taiwan will be shuttering on October 31st.

If you were hoping to see the game release in English, you are sadly out of luck.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Dragonball MMO Isn’t Coming To The West

If you were hoping to see the game release in English, you are sadly out of luck.

(Source: MMO Culture)

MMOrning Shots: Here Sheepy

I’m in the middle of taking a look at Dragon’s Prophet, and I want to impart a lesson upon Runewaker: First impressions are everything, and that means making sure your opening quests actually work. There is a particularly annoying quest at level five where you have to let this woman spray you with a vanilla mist in order to entice the sheep into following you back to the pen. Problem: Only one of the sheep actually works. The others just ignore you no matter how much you run around them, there is no button to press that will force them to follow you, and you only have 60 seconds until the spray runs out and you have to go back and get another. So what should have been an easy quest turned into fifteen minutes of finding the one sheep that would respond, bringing it back to the pen, waiting for it to respawn, getting sprayed, and repeating.

On the plus side, I won’t need sleeping pills when I go to bed tonight, since I’ve been counting sheep.

Jagex Introduces PLEX, RuneScape Bonds

Jagex has introduced the idea of PLEX to RuneScape in the form of bonds. Bonds, like PLEX, are tradeable items that are purchased from Jagex and can be traded to other players through the in-game auction house or face to face, to then be exchanged for in-game goodies. As a measure to stop gold farming, which Jagex believes involves 40-50% of the active player base each month, the bonds can then be redeemed by the buyer for membership (14 days), spins (8), or RuneCoins (160) for the cash shop. Not a great deal at face value, but the goal is that the buyer does not pay real money, and the person who did initially buy the bond is receiving gold from the buyer.

Bonds cost $5 USD.

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