Category: Editorials

RuneScape Raising Prices: Grandfathering In Current Subscribers


RuneScape is one of the cheapest subscription MMOs currently on the market. Due to increased costs of production and maintenance, in 2008 Jagex increased the price of RuneScape’s membership from $5 USD to $5.95 USD. Just today, the developer announced another price hike, and it is a rather notable increase (based on the previous price). Monthly subscriptions will be increasing from $5.95 to $7.95 monthly starting February 1st.

In appreciation of our existing members, there will be no change whatsoever to anyone who is a member before the 1st February. The price you pay now will be locked in for as long as you stay a loyal member and we will even allow a seven day grace period should you forget to renew.

Jagex notes this increase in price as due to increased investment into RuneScape over 2011 and planned in 2012. This could be related to the facelift talked about by Kotaku for this year.

Kingdom of Amalur Preview


Why preview Kingdom of Amalur? It’s the first game by 38 Studios, who you may know are working on an MMO to come out at some point in the future. I wanted to get an idea what to expect in terms of quality and aside from some technical issues, I was rather impressed.

Check out my other videos on Youtube at the video link above.

[Humor] Bioware Permaban Over Meme Misunderstanding


Memes somehow end up being far funnier when the people who perpetuate them end up in trouble by people who don’t “get it.” Take, for instance, the user who was banned from The Old Republic (including the game) for using the meme on the forums “I’m 12 and what is this.” Like any other company operating under the Child Online Privacy Protection Act, Bioware is required to actively monitor their player base and weed out any players who may be under 13.

Still, the humor in Bioware mistaking a meme for an actual confession of age has not eluded internet users. Infuriating, this is not. At least not as frustrating as the users who were warned for posting links to how to cancel your subscription when the option went missing for a good number of users.

Continue reading “[Humor] Bioware Permaban Over Meme Misunderstanding”

Video of the ____: ArchAge Boss Hunting


The bosses in ArchAge are enormous, and if this video is any indication, the presence of siege weaponry is going to be invaluable when fighting them. I’ve seen a few complaints that the siege equipment makes the boss too easy, but I don’t really see the problem. If ArchAge has a system where siege equipment can be destroyed by bosses, all that does is add more demand into the economy so crafters like myself can make good money off of boss hunters.

For more ArchAge and other MMO news, check out the games list on the right.

Let's Talk Pathfinder's Bounty System


At the beginning of the month, I did an article on Dominus, and their advertised bounty hunter system, making the point that it was woefully prone to abuse, not unlike many other bounty systems MMOs have attempted to incorporate over the past decade or so. Well the folks at Pathfinder Online must be after my own heart, because they’ve detailed their own bounty system that addresses many of my concerns.

First off, players are given the option to place a bounty when they are murdered (killed unlawfully) and apparently only at that point. Not only can you put a bounty on the person who murdered you, but anyone else who damaged you or assisted that person. So let’s say you are ganged up on by a fighter, a ranger, and a healer. You’ll be able to put a bounty on the heads of the fighter who murdered you, the ranger who stayed afar and pelted you with arrows, and the healer who healed the two.

In addition, you can specify who can redeem the bounty. The idea is that bounty hunter guilds will form up, and players can essentially contract a specific guild/player to be able to collect the bounty, preventing the killer’s friend from collecting it. But death isn’t the end: When your bounty is collected, you are given the option to re-issue it. Want to make a griefer pay? Keep resubmitting his bounty until your coffers run dry or he rage stops logging in.

This also raises a heavy risk for players who like to role play as red (criminal) gangs. Kill the wrong person, and you could find yourself on the receiving end of a very long manhunt. Granted, this whole system does not apply in cases of declared war, where killing is lawful. The hope is that this will prevent players from running around killing each other for no reason and to make a murderer’s life that much more dangerous.

Granted, there are still some ways to exploit this system, including the murderer being in secret cahoots with the mercenary guilds, but the Pathfinder solution is one of the best I’ve seen.

Let’s Talk Pathfinder’s Bounty System


At the beginning of the month, I did an article on Dominus, and their advertised bounty hunter system, making the point that it was woefully prone to abuse, not unlike many other bounty systems MMOs have attempted to incorporate over the past decade or so. Well the folks at Pathfinder Online must be after my own heart, because they’ve detailed their own bounty system that addresses many of my concerns.

First off, players are given the option to place a bounty when they are murdered (killed unlawfully) and apparently only at that point. Not only can you put a bounty on the person who murdered you, but anyone else who damaged you or assisted that person. So let’s say you are ganged up on by a fighter, a ranger, and a healer. You’ll be able to put a bounty on the heads of the fighter who murdered you, the ranger who stayed afar and pelted you with arrows, and the healer who healed the two.

In addition, you can specify who can redeem the bounty. The idea is that bounty hunter guilds will form up, and players can essentially contract a specific guild/player to be able to collect the bounty, preventing the killer’s friend from collecting it. But death isn’t the end: When your bounty is collected, you are given the option to re-issue it. Want to make a griefer pay? Keep resubmitting his bounty until your coffers run dry or he rage stops logging in.

This also raises a heavy risk for players who like to role play as red (criminal) gangs. Kill the wrong person, and you could find yourself on the receiving end of a very long manhunt. Granted, this whole system does not apply in cases of declared war, where killing is lawful. The hope is that this will prevent players from running around killing each other for no reason and to make a murderer’s life that much more dangerous.

Granted, there are still some ways to exploit this system, including the murderer being in secret cahoots with the mercenary guilds, but the Pathfinder solution is one of the best I’ve seen.

Falling Out #7: Murphy's Law


I told the Black Mage to play someone else’s class for once, and he begrudgingly obliged. If I don’t survive to Monday’s comic, it was not an accident.

I apologize for this being a few hours late. The original Friday comic was rescheduled for Monday to spruce up a bit.

Falling Out #7: Murphy’s Law


I told the Black Mage to play someone else’s class for once, and he begrudgingly obliged. If I don’t survive to Monday’s comic, it was not an accident.

I apologize for this being a few hours late. The original Friday comic was rescheduled for Monday to spruce up a bit.

Jagex Wins Lawsuit Against Bot Makers


In a measure that will certainly cause more rage-filled comments here at MMO Fallout, Jagex has won their case against bot makers, with some tasty bit of extra information to top it off. In the case of Jagex Vs Impulse Software, the judge ruled in favor of Jagex on counts of copyright infringement under federal law, circumvention of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, trademark infringement under federal law, Computer fraud and abuse under federal law, and Tortious interference with contract (Tortious interference is when your actions damage a company’s relations with customers/business partners).

In addition, the members of Impulse Software are now forbidden by court order to write bots for any Jagex game, help write bots for any Jagex game, and even play any Jagex game, as well as releasing the source code for their bot software. The URL’s will be transferred into Jagex’s possession, as well as a large amount of documents they had relating to the program. In addition, Impulse has been ordered to put out a public apology.

The amount that Impulse is paying to Jagex has been sealed, so how can this news get juicier, I hear you ask. Pay attention to this little snippet:

Within 10 days of the entry of this Order, Defendants shall identify and provide all contact information in their possession to Jagex for all current or past resellers,script developers, code developers, and customers for any product marketed, licensed, or sold by Defendants dealing with any Jagex Game.

The developers and customer list handed over to Jagex? I smell Jagex Vs Jon Doe 2: Electric Boogaloo coming soon to a theater near you.

(Court document)

Uninstall Your Free To Play Games, Namco Says They're Low Quality


Today I uninstalled my entire catalog of free to play games. RuneScape, Lineage II, DC Universe, City of Heroes, Everquest II, Alganon, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Pitchblack, Star Trek Online, Hello Kitty Online (it was for screenshots for articles), Missing Ink, Gods & Heroes, Fallen Earth, and Age of Conan, and Team Fortress 2. Sure I was enjoying these games, but it wasn’t until Namco pointed out that they “can’t be high quality,” that I realized how fake and empty my enjoyment was. I mean, sure I was having fun playing through my dwarf fighter for absolutely free, but was I having the kind of fun I could be having by buying another PacMan re-release? I think not.

But Olivier Comte is right, the free to play industry is harming big budget titles. Just look at Modern Warfare 3, which sold 6.5 million copies in the first 24 hours. Or Skyrim, which sold 3.5 million copies on its opening weekend. Or hell, Portal 2 sold millions just in retail, not counting Steam sales. The point is that those games would have sold even more if there weren’t disgusting, greedy developers letting people play their low quality games for free. If there weren’t independent developers peddling their wares for sub-premium prices, maybe developers of real video games could have their voices heard without buying huge ads on gaming websites.

“The business model for smaller, easier titles is making an expectation to consumers that is whittling away at AAA development.”

Exactly.  Just look at the substandard titles that are set to launch as free to play. Planetside 2? Bound to be a failure. Ghost Recon Online? What was Ubisoft thinking? Jagex’s Stellar Dawn and Transformers MMOs? Hurting the industry. Hell, i’d venture that DUST 514 will result in the cancellation of Modern Warfare 4, because who can keep up with low quality, but free games?

Sure some people might say that these are the rantings of a developer publisher seeing the market shifting and, rather than accommodate for the changes by shifting their development system, decides to throw a tantrum in the Walmart parking lot and blame their perceived future losses on the customers.

But that’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.