Category: Editorials

Curt Schilling Sued For $2.4 Million


Citizens Bank is not happy with Curt Schilling, because the company is suing the ex-Red Sox player personally for $2.4 million. Schilling is being sued under allegations that he promised to personally repay the money that had been borrowed from the bank. According to the lawsuit, Curt Schilling had personally guaranteed a $2 million line of credit as well as a $350,000 credit card, both of which 38 Studios and Schilling have refused to pay.

38 Studios is currently under investigation by the State of Rhode Island and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over the $75 million in loans that Rhode Island taxpayers are now on the line for.

“Schilling is liable to the bank in the total amount of $2,394,240.40, plus thereafter accruing interest and late fees, costs and costs of collecting, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees and expenses.”

Citizens Bank has requested that Schilling’s assets be frozen, claiming that the company would be unlikely to recover any money in bankruptcy court.

Undoubtedly far more into the 38 Studios story will be revealed as ongoing lawsuits and investigations continue.

(Source: WPRI.com)

Free To Play On The Horizon For The Old Republic


The Old Republic was one of the largest MMO releases in 2011, if not the largest. The game shattered EA’s preorder record boasted 1.7 million subscribers in February. However, shortly after launch it became evident that The Old Republic’s was not growing when EA reported a 24% loss in subscribers, down 400,000 in just a month after boasting their 1.7 million. Recently the discussion has turned to servers, with Bioware increasing server capacity and opening limited server transfers for what some believe to be preparation to perform server mergers.

GamesTM recently published an interview with Bioware’s Emmanuel Lusinchi, in which the developer notes that a free to play model is indeed possible.

“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well. Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”

More on The Old Republic as it appears.

(Source: GamesTM)

Sulake's Biggest Investor Returns Shares


If Sulake is looking to take care of the community problems present in Habbo Hotel, they are going to have to act fast. In just the short time since BBC4 ran their investigation into Habbo Hotel, revealing that the game was a breeding ground for child grooming, Sulake lost its second largest investor and both Tesco and WH Smith have taken Habbo cash cards off of shelves. In addition, Sulake dropped a bomb on the community by temporarily suspending all chat function in Habbo until the problem can be taken care of.

But it seems that suspending chat has not yet stemmed the outward flow of support for the company. In a report published today, the BBC has revealed that Sulake’s biggest investor 3i has withdrawn funding due to the accusations that Habbo harbors pedophiles. 3i owned a 16% share in Sulake. A spokeswoman for Sulake had the following to say:

“Since muting the community we have launched an internal review of the site and we will inform our users of outcomes just as soon as we are able,”

More on Habbo as it appears.

Sulake’s Biggest Investor Returns Shares


If Sulake is looking to take care of the community problems present in Habbo Hotel, they are going to have to act fast. In just the short time since BBC4 ran their investigation into Habbo Hotel, revealing that the game was a breeding ground for child grooming, Sulake lost its second largest investor and both Tesco and WH Smith have taken Habbo cash cards off of shelves. In addition, Sulake dropped a bomb on the community by temporarily suspending all chat function in Habbo until the problem can be taken care of.

But it seems that suspending chat has not yet stemmed the outward flow of support for the company. In a report published today, the BBC has revealed that Sulake’s biggest investor 3i has withdrawn funding due to the accusations that Habbo harbors pedophiles. 3i owned a 16% share in Sulake. A spokeswoman for Sulake had the following to say:

“Since muting the community we have launched an internal review of the site and we will inform our users of outcomes just as soon as we are able,”

More on Habbo as it appears.

Tribes Ascend: Now With More Experience


Tribes: Ascend, the free to play shooter, is great for the very idea that any weapon or upgrade that can be bought with cash can also be purchased by simply playing the game. Granted, by the time you play Tribes: Ascend long enough to unlock every weapon and upgrade, you might be cashing in your retirement check and playing on virtual reality machines.

As part of the June update, Hi-Rez Studios is greatly increasing the rate at which unlocks are obtained. The new system will operate in a manner familiar to sandbox MMO fans: Each piece of equipment has its own experience bar which increases as you use it. To speed up the process even more, you still obtain experience and GP that can be spent on unlocking further upgrades even faster.

Now that Tribes Ascend can (reasonably) be played for free, there is no reason not to jump in and start killing the deserving Sandrakers.

Bought Craft of Gods After It Shut Down? Read Me


Yesterday I mentioned that Craft of Gods mysteriously shut down with no notice from the outside world, apparently including Gamestop’s Impulse Driven download service. Complaints on the Craft of Gods Facebook page showed players who had purchased the game on Impulse only to find that the servers are down, the website does not work, and the keys have no use. Additionally, Kalicanthus Entertainment’s website shows a shut down notice that has been up since March.

 If anyone purchased too late email downloadsupport@gamestop.com

If you do need a refund for Craft of Gods, send an email to the above address. It may be a while before Craft of Gods is actually removed from sale, so I am posting this in case anyone is searching for a solution.

Craft of Gods Disappeared: No Idea Where It Went


Craft of Gods is gone. Dead. Kaput. Gamestop’s Impulse Driven digital distributor is still selling the software, but the website is offline, the servers are apparently not working, and Kalicanthus Entertainment’s website is gone with a shutdown notice. The Craft of Gods Twitter account has not been updated since December 20th, and the Craft of Gods Facebook page has users complaining that the service has been offline and keys nonredeemable since March.

I have reached out to Gamestop to see if the title will be pulled, but as of this publishing the game is still for sale even though there is nowhere to redeem the keys and the game is apparently unplayable as the servers are offline and the game has been abandoned.

Until then, I recommend that you do not purchase Craft of Gods, unless you really like wasting your money.

Activison Blizzard Up For Sale? For $13.2 Billion


Can someone loan me $13 billion? According to Bloomberg, executives from Vivendi SA will meet later this month to determine if the company will sell off its majority 61% share in Activision Blizzard. The report came from anonymous sources, noting that the meeting is secret and the details of what is discussed may or may not be shared with the public.

With Activision’s sales of $4.6 billion, and the launches of Diablo III and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria this year, I can see why Vivendi may not be interested in the company anymore. After all, there are only so many places to store the massive amounts of dough that Blizzard alone brings in on a yearly basis, let alone including Activision with the Call of Duty franchise.

Of course, I jest. Bloomberg notes that this would be another move to distance Vivendi from the spend-happy disaster that was CEO Jean-Marie Messier, who was booted out of the company in 2002 after a $77 billion spending spree that left the company nearly bankrupt. As for what Vivendi would do with the $13 billion that their share of Activision is worth, well I believe this picture provides one alternative:

(Source: Bloomberg)