Category: Editorials

NCSoft Q2 2013 Finances


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NCSoft has released their second quarter results for 2013, and the news as always is a combination of the good and the bad. Revenues grew thanks to a major spike in sales in Lineage. Sales in Lineage II and Blade & Soul remained mostly stable, while Guild Wars 2 sales dropped by 20%. Sales are up 4% over last quarter, with operating profit up 12%. Pre-tax income dropped 10% compared to last quarter, while net income is down by more than a third (35%). Aion is reportedly running strong in China, and Lineage is enjoying its highest sales ever thanks to a healthy population of players and strong in-game item promotions.

Korea increased its share of NCSoft’s resources and currently carries 67% of NCSoft’s sales per region, with sales in Japan (8%) and via royalties (7%) raising slightly. North America and Europe have continued their downward trend after the spike following the launch of Guild Wars 2, and now stand at approximately 10% and 7% respectively. Taiwan remains flat at slightly more than 1% of NCSoft’s market share.

MMOrning Shots: Bless(less) Screens


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Holy cow elephant! Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from the “not available in your region” pile. Bless, an upcoming MMO built using the Unreal 3 Engine, and it looks amazing. Bless will feature ten races, two factions, and eight classes. When will Bless come to the West? That’s for you to find out. In the meantime, check out a video of the gameplay below.

RaiderZ Shutting Down In Korea


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It feels like just a month ago that were were discussing RaiderZ shutting down in Europe. Because it was. Just under a month, actually, since Gameforge announced that RaiderZ would be shutting down. Further to the east, Neowiz has announced rather unexpectedly that RaiderZ will also be shutting down its services in Korea. The servers will remain online until September 24th, when they will go offline for the final time. The company has revealed that there will be some form of reimbursement.

As MMO Culture points out, and I said in our review of RaiderZ, the game is something of a poor man’s TERA. With TERA going free to play, the odds are likely that the game just isn’t holding up in the market. The good news is that the game continues to run in North America under Perfect World Entertainment.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Blizzard Trademarks Likely World of Warcraft Addition


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MMO Champion is reporting that Blizzard has put a trademark down on “The Down Below,” speculating that it may be an expansion to either World of Warcraft or Diablo III. Although nothing is known other than the name of the trademark, and the fact that it refers to computer game software, players have already begun to speculate. One user on the Massively.com comments section speculated that the name might have something to do with Dark Below, which is the area in World of Warcraft where demons come from.

This very well may be World of Warcraft’s next expansion. After all, we know that Blizzard is working on getting expansions out faster, and the past couple of expansions have been leaked in similar fashion.

(Source: MMO Champion)

Defiance's First DLC Coming August 20th


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Trion is finally ready to release the first content pack for Defiance. Officially launching on August 20th, Catithan Charge Pack is Defiance’s first paid content update, available for individual purchase or via the season pass. Players who buy the pack will have access to the Castithan race, either by creating a new character or changing their existing character. The content pack will also unlock a horde-mode single player mini-game which in turn will unlock a story mission line, the Castithan charge blade weapon, and more. Players on the 360 and PS3 will also have access to additional trophies and achievements.

Regardless of purchasing the pack, however, all players will have access to new charge weapons, a siege mode where creatures invade major mission locations, a new arkfall event, dueling, a capture and hold PvP map, and updates to improve the game’s in-game map, chat window, and more. If you haven’t picked up Defiance yet, you can find it at the all time low price of $9.99 on Steam.

(Source: Trion press release)

Defiance’s First DLC Coming August 20th


Defiance 2013-04-10 22-06-47-55

Trion is finally ready to release the first content pack for Defiance. Officially launching on August 20th, Catithan Charge Pack is Defiance’s first paid content update, available for individual purchase or via the season pass. Players who buy the pack will have access to the Castithan race, either by creating a new character or changing their existing character. The content pack will also unlock a horde-mode single player mini-game which in turn will unlock a story mission line, the Castithan charge blade weapon, and more. Players on the 360 and PS3 will also have access to additional trophies and achievements.

Regardless of purchasing the pack, however, all players will have access to new charge weapons, a siege mode where creatures invade major mission locations, a new arkfall event, dueling, a capture and hold PvP map, and updates to improve the game’s in-game map, chat window, and more. If you haven’t picked up Defiance yet, you can find it at the all time low price of $9.99 on Steam.

(Source: Trion press release)

Grand Theft Auto Online Reveal August 15th


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Rockstar Games has officially announced Grand Theft Auto Online. Expect more details August 15th.

(Source: Rockstar Games)

Nab Alpha Access To End of Nations


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Raptr has teamed up with Trion Worlds to give alpha access to End of Nations, the company’s upcoming MOBA title. If you aren’t already acquainted with the program, Raptr is a program that tracks achievements and playtime, not to mention serving as an instant messenger and a place to congregate and discuss your favorite games with other people who play them as well. As many of you have seen here before, Raptr often partners with developers to promote their games and throw up some free stuff for users, including in-game items, free copies of games, and more. There is no payment required (or even possible), and the giveaways generally entail obtaining a specific rank in related games.

The giveaway for the End of Nations is a little different than past promotions. Rather than requiring that users be above a certain rank, Trion has asked for the requirements to be below a certain rank. In this case, users must be the rank of dedicated or below in specific MOBA titles in order to qualify. If you have a MOBA of choice that you are already ranked Elite in, all you have to do is download another game from the list and boot it up once to reach amateur rank and qualify. Trion’s reasoning is that they want players newer to the MOBA genre to get in and get a feel before they open the doors to the professionals.

But don’t fret, players who are ranked Hardcore or Elite in their chosen MOBA will be able to retrieve a key starting August 15th, so just a few days from now. The list of qualifying MOBA titles is as follows:

  • Arena of Heroes
  • Dota 2
  • Heroes of Newerth
  • League of Legends
  • Smite

(Source: Raptr)

RuneScape Launches Death of Chivalry


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With the launch of RuneScape 3, Jagex has thrown the world of Gielinor into turmoil. The Gods are returning and they all want a piece of the dead god Guthix’s power. Today’s update introduces the quest Death of Chivalry, the first quest to be fully set in the new evolving story. Players will team up with the White Knights under orders from the god Saradomin himself to infiltrate the Black Knight’s headquarters and uncover a mysterious artefact to aid in the ongoing battle between the multiple gods and their followers.

According to a press release sent out by Jagex, players will need to be careful in the decisions made during the quest as their impact will be felt “far and wide.” The quest will be available for everyone, including non-subscribers, and while it is designed for players of all levels, those with higher combat skills will be happy to know that the quest scales its difficulty to the player. Death of Chivalry goes live later today.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

Who Needs Proper Forums? Hi-Rez Has Reddit


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I know what you’re thinking: “Omali, forums are for casuals. Hardcore developers prefer to use social networking sites who risk suddenly becoming irrelevant and unpopular.” I know this because that message is tied to a rock and thrown through my bedroom window once or twice a week (email is for casuals). Luckily, Hi-Rez has a close connection to the needs of their community, and not just because their software apparently watches everything you do. Giving twenty four hours notice, Hi-Rez deleted its official forums, directing players toward Hi-Rez’s multiple Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit pages in order to discuss everything from suggestions, show their videos, ask for tech support, shoot the breeze, and more.

And why? I don’t know, Hi-Rez is claiming that this will allow them to better connect with the community and listen to feedback on a level that is impossible with traditional forums. In one post, HiRezDuke states that there is more freedom on Reddit than the T-Rated official forums, begging the question as to why Hi-Rez didn’t simply alter their rules instead of burning the house down. You can check out the Reddit pages for Tribes, SMITE, and Global Agenda. Unless you are reporting bugs in which case you head here. Unless you need tech support in which case you need to contact Hi-Rez directly. Unless you’re reporting hackers on Tribes in which case you have to do it here. And you can find patch notes now hosted on Google Docs.

See? Neat and orderly. Who is to say that this will make Hi-Rez look unprofessional and disorganized, or that it makes the company unappealing to new players, or that it isn’t conducive to maintaining a long term community?