If it’s any consolation, Black Mage generally lasts about a week into launch before getting banned for bug exploitation.
New episodes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Category: Editorials
TERA: Not Wiping After Open Beta
There’s a phrase I once heard that goes along the lines of “in MMOs, the betas are like the infantile stage of release. They need to be wiped, regularly.” The folks at En Masse Entertainment, however, feel differently and will not be wiping characters when open beta transitions to head start. Rather, their mantra is:
The feeling of playing a character you know will be wiped — it sucks.
In fact, if you take the Frequently Asked Questions thread by its word, En Masse might have considered keeping characters over from the closed beta, except the developer is implementing a brand new starting experience between closed and open beta. The FAQ continues to state that En Masse wants players to enjoy the open beta enough to pre-order (if they hadn’t) and be able to continue on with their characters.
This is hardly a big deal, all things considered. Open beta lasts for three days (April 19-22) with almost a week following before the game heads into a three day head start, so seeing this as a fractured six day (estimated, figuring in the inevitable server queues and down time) just brings it in line with most other MMO’s launch schedules.
(Source: En Masse Forums)
Preview: 8Realms
Jagex has come a long way from being known solely for RuneScape. Over the past few years, the British developer has released their own mini-game portal, bought up a few iOS and browser properties, and published their first microtransaction based game, War of Legends. In the coming future, they have plans to release two fully fledged MMOs (Stellar Dawn and Transformers) and the topic of this article: 8Realms.
8Realms is an MMORTS that strives for accessibility. Developed on HTML5, the thought of finding a computer that doesn’t meet the minimum requirements might require installing the game on your toaster, but only if you have a model earlier than 2005. I did have stability issues attempting to play on my iPad, which Jagex has promised will be improved at some point in the future.
Players start out in ancient times with little more than a few burning buildings, a handful of workers, and enough provisions to just about prolong your citizen’s starvation. The multi-hour long tutorial covers anything and everything you might need to know about 8Realms, so by the time you make it to the Classical age, the world doesn’t seem that frightening. Over the course of leveling up, players will take their kingdom through eight ages, taking advantage of new technology and expanding their kingdom into the surrounding areas and beyond.
8Realms is somewhat simplified compared to other MMORTS titles you may have played. Rather than overwhelming the player with a labyrinth of menus and buttons, the most important information is easily accessible either directly on the HUD or one or two clicks away. Resources are easy to keep track of, having only four to manage (three for a good few hours entering the game) and indicators of stock, production rate, and maximum storage clearly visible on the HUD. The difficulty ramps up in an elegant curve as you learn new concepts and mechanics, progressing at a speed where the game doesn’t suddenly shower you with new difficulties, but never slows down as to become insultingly simple.
Combat is a numbers game of building up a massive force and raiding/capturing other territories for their delicious resource-filled centers. Inevitably you will compete against other players for resource positions, leading to rivalries and even the potential for alliances. Alas, an action game 8Realms is not.
The cash shop system in 8Realms is one of the more balanced and less invasive I’ve seen in the genre, and Jagex has committed to ensuring that the game doesn’t devolve into a pay-to-compete system. Most of the items available through the cash shop have negative aspects to consider alongside any benefits they may provide. None of the items last more than a few hours, and virtually any item that speeds up efficiency in one area will reduce efficiency in another, a balance that starts to take a toll when your timers start hitting the 10+ hour range.
Jagex states that 8Realms is best played in short spurts and casually, and I completely expected to play in such a fashion. What I did not expect heading into 8Realms was to actually enjoy the game. In my tenure writing on MMOs, I have played every Evony clone to stumble out of the internet drunk and fumbling for my wallet, and not only is 8Realms not that drunk, it might just be the first game in the genre I came out of thinking “you know, I actually enjoyed myself.”
8Realms doesn’t take itself too seriously as a game with its goofy and immature advertising and animated images. I find myself continuing to log in each day because I want to, rather than a feeling of obligation that has pushed me away from other similar titles. I’m also rather impressed that the total lack of any sound effects in 8Realms had no bearing on my enjoyment of the game once the initial awkwardness wore off.
Oh and Mod Thor is a jerk.
TERA Weekend Event Postponed
“The sneak peek event planned for this weekend unfortunately has had to be cancelled. As we currently cannot foresee when we will be able to guarantee a smooth running of the event, there is no new date as of yet. We’re working closely with the TERA developers at Bluehole to fix the remaining issues.
The cancellation was not due to load problems caused by the large number of potential players. Player numbers would have given us a look into possible issues within the scope of a stress test. Due to unforeseen reasons, problems arose already during the entry into the game world.
As soon as we have new information regarding a rescheduled event planning and once all technical issues have been resolved we will inform you on our website, in the forum and via the usual social media channels.
We apologize for the cancellation of the event and assure you that we are doing our utmost to provide all players access to TERA as soon as possible. We thank all TERA fans for their patience and understanding and hope to have positive news for you very soon.
From the TERA Europe Facebook page.
Into the MMO Fallout Archives #1
While doing some spring cleaning, I couldn’t help but notice the massive amount of drafts that have accumulated over the past two and a half years. Over one hundred and fifty to be exact. Articles that, for some reason or another, never made it to release. So I started reading through these, and thought I’d give some commentary on why they never hit the table.
- No, MMOSITE, The Subscription Model Is Not Dying (2010)
Over in the east, releasing a subscription based MMO is about as useful as slathering yourself in the Colonel’s secret herbs and spices, and throwing yourself into a pool of dead, vegan piranha.
As a writer, one of the first lessons you learn is never write while angry. Given the timing, I would say this is just around the day my college stopped deferring my loan and the bill came in the mail. The point of the article was supposed to be that the subscription model is not dying (hence the title), but flat out turned into an attack on MMOSite.com.
- Arrevan Speaks Out Against Griefer Guilds (2010)
So, as I said, I love PvP’ers of all sorts, because when it comes to almost impossible to find nooks and crannies, they are the best players to find them. If there is a game mechanic to be found, this is the group that will find it, and use it to Helm’s Deep and back before it is changed. They remind me of the kids who, when they figure out that the television has different language settings, they change every television in the house so that the weatherman’s voice is dubbed over in German, subtitled in Portuguese, but the menu language settings have been set to Polish and only he knows the correct combination of buttons to press to set everything back to normal. If you hadn’t figured out, the kid with the television remote was me, and I sat through the entire two year ban on using the remote…and the family television, as a result.
This one was supposed to be about an MMO Arrevan and a comment made by an administrator that they would not tolerate guilds that form just for the sake of griefing new players, but somehow it turned into a profession of love for player killers.
- It Smells Like Troll In Here (2010)
MMO trolls are enlightening people. Before I started MMO Fallout and truly began interacting with various groups, I had no idea that Bill Roper was part of a crime syndicate funded through lifetime subscriptions. I was also unaware that Sony had purchased Vanguard with the sole purpose of releasing the game in a poor state just so it couldn’t compete with Everquest II. Oh and Derek Smart eats babies…true story.
Again, never write while angry. A fair number of my disposed drafts are furiously punched out rants about how much time some people have to sit on the computer and endlessly trash a game that they don’t even play. Since 2010, I’ve found more productive ways to channel my anger, Team Fortress 2.
- Participating in Betas Makes Me Feel Guilty (2010)
When a beta lasts months at a time, long enough to take one or two characters to end-game, I can’t help but feel guilty that I’ve essentially played the game for free. In a way, it’s like getting a full sample pizza for free, wolfing that down, and then by the time the actual paid pizza comes to fruition and is ready for sale, I’m too full for another slice. I can always wait for the fervor around the pizza to subside and take advantage when the price comes down, but for now I’ve had my fill.
Now this I still feel guilty about. Believe it or not, but the MMO Fallout name has net me into a number of betas, and even a few alphas I can never legally speak of. I wrote this after about the second week of playing the [redacted] alpha, when I came to the realization that while this was probably one of the best MMOs I had played at the time, by the time the game launched I would likely have exhausted the content.
- Why MMOs Can Never Be Immersive (2011)
Imagine this, gentlemen: You’re walking through the streets, and at the corner you come across a beautiful woman, clad in nothing but a frilly bra and underwear. As she looks at you seductively, using the hottest /dance emote available, she says “4g 4 l4p d4nc3.” All of a sudden, you notice something about her is wrong. The chin, the hairy arms, the Adam’s Apple. IT’S A MAN, BABY!
That isn’t the real title of the article, somehow I never wrote one in. I’ve written a few articles over the years on my lack of faith that an MMO will ever truly immerse me, and my number one piece of evidence has generally been the community. I love the community, I wouldn’t be writing MMO Fallout if I didn’t, but I have to admit Amnesia: The Dark Descent would not have made me afraid to leave my bathroom door cracked open at night if there was a chat window, a quest hub, and some guy bunny hopping around screaming about much sex he has.
So I don’t expect immersion in my MMOs, and frankly I enjoy them more without that complaint holding me back. I would say that the only time an MMO has made me care about the characters is RuneScape, but I don’t count the quest series in my MMO evaluation because they are a single player story.
The archives will probably be a weekly editorial for Sundays, so I look forward to diving deeper into my draft folder and finding all of the thoughts that sounded great at the time but never made it past the cutting board.
PSN Becomes SEN On Feb. 8th
The Playstation Network has been a brand name for Sony’s online service since 2006 and has been the subject of controversy, license agreement changes, and free online gaming. Starting February 8th, Sony will be dropping the PSN title and adopting a new name: Sony Entertainment Network. The new name essentially is to allow Sony to consolidate all of their services on one account.
(Source: Email sent out to PSN users)
Dear (username),
On February 8, 2012, your “PlayStation®Network account” will be renamed a “Sony Entertainment Network account” or a “SEN account” in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment’s PlayStation®3 system software and PlayStation®Vita system software updates. (Note, this change will not be applied to the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system at this time.)
For general purposes, this account change is a change in name only. Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them. In accordance with this transition, some necessary naming changes will be made to the TOS and Privacy Policy.
This transition is based on Sony’s goal to enhance its unique digital entertainment offering. As a series of these activities Sony started last September, PlayStation®Network will be aligned with “Sony Entertainment Network.” This helps us get closer to our goal of establishing a global comprehensive network platform of services across games, movies, music and more, all accessible from one convenient account.
Thank you for your continued loyalty and support during this transition.
Sincerely,
The Sony Entertainment Network Team
RuneScape: Members Trial Much More Likely
If you had asked me one year ago if RuneScape should have a members trial, I might have said no. Not that such a program wouldn’t be beneficial, but that the rampant amount of cheaters that plagued the game at the time would use the opportunity for free membership, no matter how short, to bot more valuable members items and upend the economy even more. Now that the bots are no longer an issue, there isn’t much of a reason not to allow free players to experience membership.
Not to say that RuneScape’s free version is low quality, but the skills accessible to free players are (for the most part) a far cry from the variety offered in membership. Of the twenty five skills, free players can access sixteen. Seven of those skills are combat related (Attack, strength, defense, constitution, magic, ranged, and prayer). Of the remaining nine, three (woodcutting, fishing, mining) are basic harvesting skills, five (runecrafting, crafting, firemaking, smithing, cooking) are processing skills that revolve around taking raw materials to a place and using them on a thing to create finished stuff, with Dungeoneering bringing up the rear as a combination of all of the above in a secluded area.
Members, on the other hand, is quite a different game to its free to play brother. Weapons and equipment sets with special effects add a whole new level of strategy to combat, as do potions, poisons, curses, new magic books. Skills like summoning can dramatically alter a person’s experience from combat to simple resource gathering. Farming requires time management and mobility while slayer introduces the player to combat that requires more strategy than fight, fight, eat food, kill.
In 2010, Jagex did attempt a membership trial for a week in July, but the program was bogged down by a few unfriendly details. Players were required to submit credit card details, which was charged for $5.95 and set the player up with an automatically recurring subscription. Only if the player unsubscribed during those seven days would the deposit be refunded.
To Jagex’s defense, and as I’ve already said, an unrestricted membership trial at the time would have upended the RuneScape economy table, riddling the members worlds with even more bots than were already present. With the bots absent, there isn’t much reason for Jagex to not offer a taste of membership to free players.
Other than that I have no opinion.
Who Should Publish Dark Millennium Online?
Although Dark Millennium Online was not cancelled, as per the false report circulated late last year, at the time we were given some rather uncertain news that the game was on uneven ground and that there was nothing set in stone. When THQ published its earnings report for the third quarter of 2011, they mentioned that Dark Millennium Online would be taking a more cautious approach.
Gamasutra reports that in an investor conference call, Brian Farrell (CEO) has revealed that THQ is seeking a partner for distribution, and that THQ cannot afford to publish the game by itself. Of course, a developer hiring a third party publish an MMO is hardly surprising, even more so for a company like THQ that has seen better financial times.
(Source: Gamasutra)
TERA Previews Coming Soon
Moving with MMO Fallout’s commitment for expanding our medium, I’ve committed to producing more video features. While I will not have access to the TERA sneak peek this weekend, reportedly neither the sneak peek or beta tests will be covered by a non disclosure agreement, meaning MMO Fallout will be publishing several TERA previews, both in video and text over the course of the closed beta period.
Stay tuned for more information.
MMO FALLOUT Has A New Home!
Dearest MMO Fallout fans,
It is with great pleasure that I bring you the last post that will ever appear on mmofallout.wordpress.com. As of today, MMO Fallout has moved to the exact same address. Yes, all you have to do is continue heading to mmofallout.com to get your daily fix. The difference? We are no longer hosted on wordpress.com, and have a far more open future than we had before. This news post is primarily for our email subscribers, you will have to desubscribe from mmofallout.wordpress.com and resubscribe on the new website. Sorry!
I’m looking forward to a great year on the new host, and hopefully you will all come along with me.
MMO Fallout 