Category: Editorials

Isn’t Reality A Bitch, Henrik?


Credit goes to Scream112 on the Mortal Online forums for the screenshot.

Any game, and really any concept in any medium, follows the same path. At the early stages, the developers dream up all kinds of stuff they want their players to be able to do in their world. Drunken bar brawls? Awesome! Skill based combat with no lag on an MMO? Brilliant! Full PvP with no restrictions? Blockbuster!

Eventually, either before or after release, the developer hits a brick wall and like any decent sinking ship, some of the furniture must be thrown overboard to keep stable. Thinking players would protect one another in cities, negating the need for NPC guards? Didn’t happen. Player owned housing non-instanced? Not possible under your engine. Epic sword of goat-slaying? Wasn’t as overpowered before someone decided to add half-goat half-human as a player race. Holding a Cataclysm style event? The established community would never accept it.

This week, Star Vault is coming to that basic understanding of reality by publicly announcing their plans to not only have their cake, but preserve it until a later time in which they may eat it. In this case, Star Vault’s own Henrik Nystrom has posted a new thread on the official forums detailing plans for the server lag. He stresses that this is not the desync we once knew, that has been eradicated. This lag, on the other hand, has to do with the way movement and attacks are predicted on the server’s end, namely that the server is not updating said figures fast enough (at least that’s what I got out of it).

On one hand, it appears that this update is going to be a last-ditch effort to fix the lag before less desirable updates have to be considered, either through localizing servers or completely changing the combat so that the current hardware can handle the combat.

“If this doesn’t bring us to an “acceptable” level when it comes to real time combat we may be forced at looking into localizing servers, which we really want to avoid at all means, or we simply have to look at “nerfing” the complex way of fighting, which of course is something we want to avoid.”

This is good news, and hopefully this effort by Star Vault to stamp out desync, or whatever term they call it, will go by without having to resort to splitting up an already small community, or changing the charm that Mortal Online holds to many of its players.

Mortal Online is one of those games I can’t wait to try…when it is finished and as lag free as they’re going to get it. Until then, I’m a college student with 12 grand in college loans, another 6 in my car, and another 15 grand on the way over the next two years for even more collegical goodness. I don’t have any disposable income.

2010: A Retrospective, Answered Questions


This new decade shall bring great MMO improvements.
The baby Mortal Online was born...

2010, to me, was a bit like entering a shaved watermelon contest. I love watermelon, and I enjoy contests, and there isn’t much I won’t do for the promise of a trophy and perhaps a gift certificate to Denny’s. On the other hand, a trophy for “best shaved watermelon” isn’t exactly something I would use to start a conversation, and I would have my reserves of putting said trophy up on the mantelpiece, allowing it to share room with my many shuttered MMO boxes.

Last year, I wrote up my MMO Turing Test, which is supposed to be a dividing line between successful and unsuccessful MMOs. I have a better article coming up, but after I wrote up that article I started adding in the birthdays of MMOs to the calendar, that are over five years old. It is inspiring to see the amount of pink that covers the calendar page, titles turning eight, nine, ten years old, we tend to forget the older titles and focus on the younger games that die far too early into their lifespan. Rather than look at the Asheron’s Calls of the genre, we see the Asheron’s Call 2, the title that didn’t quite make it to pasture.

I am the first to admit my mistakes, and generally the first to gloat when I am right, so here are my predictions from last year’s article: 2010: The Blue Moon Year, and what went right and wrong.

  1. Is Ultima Online 2 coming out? Not likely, at least not for now. There hasn’t been much since 2009 when Calvin Crowner gave a passing hint at Ultima Online 2 being in development, and we haven’t heard much since then. Therefore, this question is still open.
  2. Is Sony working on a Star Wars MMO? Yes, and it launched. There were rumors back in 2009 that Sony was working on a casual Star Wars MMO, and it turns out that not only was the title in development, but it also launched. Star Wars: The Clone Wars Adventures launched in 2010 to the fanfaire of children everywhere.
  3. Will Stargate Worlds ever release? This is an easy no. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment has lost the licensing to the Stargate property, meaning that any chance of the company coming back from its Chapter 11 bankruptcy is pretty much moot, as they have nothing to work with. Stargate Resistance is also shutting down early 2011.
  4. Who Will Win the Superhero Clash? Quick answer? Nobody. I guess you could claim that Champions Online going free to play while City of Heroes remains subscription based is a point of victory to NCsoft, however neither title has truly knocked the other out of the market. I guess when DC Universe Online launches next year, we may see something more interesting come out of this fight.
  5. Sony remains an MMO Behemoth: No questions there. Next year, Sony plans on launching The Agency, DC Universe Online, Planetside Next, with Everquest Next in development for some unknown time. With our confirmed titles, Sony will have eleven MMOs operating side-by-side by the end of 2011.
  6. Will we ever see a new 360 MMO? No. With how much blocking Microsoft does, it’s probably best to not pick up an Xbox360 if you’re doing so to buy Final Fantasy XIV, virtually the only title that still has optimism for a release on the console.
  7. Who is making the Fallout MMO? I am. I kid, Interplay made a huge advancement against Bethesda and is currently working on the Fallout MMO.
  8. Jagex’s New MMO: It isn’t coming out, at least not yet. Last year, Jagex said 2010 for Stellar Dawn, now the aim is 2011.

Trends in 2010?

  1. Achievements: Call them what you want: tasks, achievements, deeds, goals, etc, if you’re killing 500 of a certain mob, you are grinding achievements. The achievement system as a whole is an evolving concept, and 2011 will no doubt bring more improvements to the old grind.
  2. Cross-Server: This one disappointed me most about 2010. I assumed that more companies would be looking into battleground style systems that worked across realms/servers, and no one returned my call.
  3. Returning the Classics: Not a major trend, but certainly an improvement. Everquest sees the return of a time-locked progression server, where players start out in classic Everquest 1999-edition, and move onward as each expansion unlocks after a set period of time. Over on the EA front, Ultima Online has shown quite a bit of interest in opening up a classic shard, to emulate the pre-Trammel (possibly) version of Ultima with all of its non-consensual PVP glory.
  4. Going Free To Play: You may offer your tribute to Turbine at the local wishing well. Now that Dungeons and Dragons Online has completely revolutionized the reaction to going free to play, I don’t think anyone was surprised by the following that the movement has attained, especially given that said movement was not initiated by something Blizzard did. This year we’ve seen the transitions of Alganon, Everquest II, Pirates of the Burning Sea, with more titles past and future hitting the bricks and taking a nosedive for the sake of boosting their community. Next year, Champions Online goes free to play, with the possibility of Star Trek Online following. Oddly enough, two of the MMOs everyone expected to go free to play (Age of Conan and Warhammer Online) were the two that felt the need, over the course of this year, to remind us that they are not going free to play.
  5. Price Drops: Well color me wrong on this. There have been a large number of editorials on how developers shouldn’t release a non-AAA item and expect AAA subscription costs, but overall the reaction to such ideas has been nil, or at least not responsive enough to garner any attraction. We do understand why, however. For a company to  lower its subscription to $10 under $15, they have to pull in a 33% increase just to stay even with what they had before, and most companies are not willing to make such a risky move.
  6. Unlimited Trials: I’m marking this one down as a success because the free to play systems above are really not much more than a heartily expanded unlimited trial. Much like New Coke, the trend appears to go toward launching a game with a subscription, then offering a trial, before cutting the subscription down to a system of perks and exclusive content, and launching the rest of the game as free.
  7. Bill Roper Will Still Be Hated: He is also gone, for now. Earlier this year, back in August, Bill Roper left Cryptic Studios to pursue plans that have not yet been announced to the public. There has no doubt been a shift in Cryptic’s mission statement, such as a promise of no longer using the Cryptic store as a crutch in Star Trek Online, and placing both of Cryptic’s MMOs into the free to play arena (next year). Either way, wherever Bill Roper goes, no doubt he will have his frothing mouthed haters there to call him a fraud.
  8. MMOs Not Named World of Warcraft: They came, they saw, they went free to play, and they crashed. 2010 saw the deaths of seven major MMOs, with even more smaller titles that couldn’t stand the heat.

Get Back Into Star Trek Online For $2


Get into the game!

Since its release, Cryptic has added a ton of features to Star Trek Online, most notably the introduction of player created content. With three seasons behind it, some of you are likely considering getting back into the game, or buying it, but would rather not spend the fifteen bucks to start up your subscription, or pay for the box copy.

Boy do I have good news for you. Amazon.com is currently having a sale on Star Trek Online for $2.50 USD. Now, purchasing the game will give you a CD key and a download link to the client. The key can be used on a new account to give full access to the game plus 30 days of subscription time. On the other hand, I had no problem adding a key to my own account.

I’m still doing some testing, but I had no problem added the Amazon key to my existing account. This doesn’t work in duplication, but if you need a reason to get into/back into Star Trek Online, what better than spending two bucks?

You can pick up the standard edition for $2.50: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Online-Game-Download/dp/B0044DEPYG/ref=sr_1_5?s=videogames-download&ie=UTF8&qid=1293401428&sr=1-5

Or the Digital Deluxe version for $5: http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Online-Deluxe-Download/dp/B0044DEPZA/ref=sr_1_13?s=videogames-download&ie=UTF8&qid=1293401941&sr=1-13

The items offered in the digital deluxe version are worth far more than $5 in the cash shop, so pick that up today.

Runescape: Voting The Wilderness Part 2


Don't you wish your dev team was...

The announcement that free trade is coming back to Runescape has sent players into a frenzy, more so asking the question of what will remain in the game when this update goes live. There have been quite a few updates over the past three years that conflict with there being a dangerous wilderness, that Jagex is going to have to look at them on a case by case basis.

Luckily, on the new Runescape page, where Jagex has taken the liberty of actually requiring players to sign in to vote, which oddly enough only as 300,000 votes a couple days later (as opposed to the 1.2 million votes within 24 hours that the first poll achieved through no botting whatsoever).

  • There will be no limits on trade, both player to player, through the Grand Exchange, and via the party room.
  • Unlimited staking will return.
  • The item lending, assist, and lootshare/coinshare will remain.
  • The wilderness will be once again open to Player Vs Player combat.
  • Quests and activities in the wilderness will be moved to other areas.
  • There will be new ways to achieve PvP Gear.
  • Revenants will be relocated.
  • Gravestones will remain, but only outside of the wilderness.
  • PVP/Bounty Hunter worlds will be removed.
  • Wilderness content is being reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

It will be interesting to see what Jagex does with PvP gear, as gear like Corrupted Dragon (the highest tier armor for free players), brawling gloves, and ancient warrior equipment is only obtainable through random drops from other players.

More on Runescape as it appears.

New Runescape Trailer


Now if only Runescape looked like this. The above trailer was released on Jagex’s Youtube account today, and paints an interesting picture of events to come.

Electronic Arts: No Money In In-Game Advertisement


Comments.

A good man once said “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” A greater man then followed him with “luckily it’s past 3pm, so to me this is dinner,” right before tucking into his now-complimentary meal. Those of you who play Anarchy Online’s free to play offering, or really anyone who played an EA Games…game several years ago will be aware, if slightly, about the use of in-game advertising. Mostly you might see this in Madden games, street racing titles, and other names. With the way EA was utilizing in-game advertising, one might think it a lucrative business.

Turns out, it isn’t. Electronic Arts Ben Cousins said in an interview to Edge:

“We actually aren’t getting much from ad revenue at all”, the in-game advertising business hasn’t grown as fast as people expected it to.”

Cousins reminded us that the advertising system isn’t completely dead, but does need to go deeper than simple in-game billboards. Cousins suggested soda deals as part of the system.

“We did a deal with Dr Pepper for Battlefield Heroes, where if you buy a bottle and scan in the code you get an exclusive outfit. That kind of deep integration will work, I think, but I’m not convinced that we’ll have billboards in games and things like that. Maybe those days are over.”

So if in-game billboards are dead, does that mean I’ll be able to walk around in Anarchy Online without seeing the latest Lil Wayne CD? Does Lil Wayne still make CDs? Guess there’s only one way to find out.

Runescape: Clever Publicity Stunt To Bring Back The Wilderness


Vote or die...but not from PvP

Back in 2007, in an attempt to combat rampant real world trading that threatened to knock Runescape out of existence, Jagex implemented a drastic series of updates that resulted in a dramatic change for the way Runescape functioned. Items were assigned numerical values, and trade restricted based on those values. Players no longer dropped items for others to see upon death, and gravestones were implemented to safe-guard their belongings for a temporary period of time. Player vs Player combat in the “wilderness” was removed completely, replaced by PvP mini-games.

Since then, Jagex has restructured the rules slightly. The bounty hunter mini-game was removed completely, and replaced with special worlds where player vs player combat can take place anywhere, as well as other special PvP worlds. The trade restrictions have been lessened in some circumstances, and between players who have been friends for a long time, as well as a membership perk. Still, many players long for a time when it was possible to loot someone upon death, or for the ability to gank someone in the wilderness.

Jagex launched a new page asking players if they would like the Wilderness back, as well as free trade, and the “yes” answers are flooding in, literally, at a rate of about a hundred fifty per second (I took the screenshot as I was writing the first sentence. At this point the vote is now up to 407 thousand). If enough [citation needed] players vote yes, Jagex will apparently return to the old practices. No idea on how many votes will be required. (409,000 votes)

If you hadn’t noticed by the manner in which the voting is taking place, this is essentially a publicity stunt and the decision has already been made as to whether or not the updates will be reversed. There is no method of preventing flooding, you need a valid username but you don’t have to login or provide any real account details, and there is no option to press “no,” other than to not vote. (415,000 votes)

Still, this is a fun publicity stunt. The voting ends on the 14th of January, which at this rate will result in probably around every one of Runescape’s 130 million registered usernames being thrown into the pot, whether or not that person actually wants the update. (423,000 votes)

More on Runescape as it appears (424,000 votes). Head here to vote:

http://www.runescape.com/wilderness

Steam Sales: Day #2 Up And Running


Help Me Gabe Newell!

First off, I have to give my apologies to those of you who partook in yesterday’s sale on Aion, and will no doubt be at my door ready to slit my throat over the price reductions that are coming not 24 hours later. A few of the existing titles are now on sale at an even more drastically reduced price, although previous restrictions still stand (IE: Sony’s restrictions on free time to existing accounts), and prices are still in USD.

Only a few changes today.

Sales that have not been altered are in standard colors.
Prices that have been reduced are in green.
New sales are in red.
Items no longer on sale are now removed.

Steam

  • Was $39.99, now $26.79 (33% off)
  • Includes Guild Wars, Factions, and Nightfall.
  • No subscription required.
  • Guild Wars: Eye of the North
    • Was $29.99, now $20 (33% off)
    • No subscription required.
  • Lineage
    • Was $9.99, now $6.69 (33% off)
    • Includes 7 days free game time.
  • Lineage 2: Gracia Final
    • Was $19.99, now $13.39 (33% off)
    • Includes 30 days free game time.
    • Includes all expansions.
  • Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Adventure
    • Was $19.99, now $9.99
    • Includes all expansion packs.
    • Includes 30 days free game time (new accounts only)
  • Vanguard Saga of Heroes
    • Was $9.99, now $4.99
    • Includes 30 days free game time (new accounts only)

      • Celebrate 10 Years of Runescape With 10 Grand


      Large breasted barmaid not included...

      Runescape turns ten in 2011, and Jagex wants to roll in the first decade with, and this is just a guess, an overabundance of the number ten. Throughout 2011, Jagex will be rolling the dice and picking lucky winners out of a hat in order to win fabulous cash prizes (real cash, not Jagex bucks). The competition runs through each month in 2011, with a winner drawn the following month.

      For ten months in 2011, ten players will win one of ten one/tenth of ten thousand dollar prizes. So, ten players will win a thousand dollars every month for ten months. For every day you are a member, you will receive one entry into the competition. Remain a member the whole month and you’ll receive an entire month’s worth of entries. The competition runs January through October presumably, offering a one in approximately one million odds each month to win.

      Best of luck, Runescapers. You can read more details on the competition here: http://www.runescape.com/competition_details.ws. But seriously, how much would a date with a real life version of that barmaid cost?

      MMORPG.com: Slander With Human Shields


      You have been issued a warning by one of our moderators.

      Warning Category: Trolling
      Reason: Posting excessive negative comments or baiting others to respond in a negative manner is considered trolling on the MMORPG.com forums.

      I have this problem over on the MMORPG.com forums, and that is whenever I make a positive post about Mortal Online, a moderator comes along and issues me a warning and deletes it. This phenomena doesn’t just follow me when I’m in the Mortal Online forums, but also on the other boards where trolling is frequent and positive voices are low. What does yank my chain, however, is that when I am replying to posts, be it the original poster or someone else in the thread, the actual inflammatory posts are very rarely removed. Someone makes a comment that Star Vault is likely collecting credit card numbers to use for identity theft when Mortal Online goes down? Fine. Calling them a troll? You’ve been issued a warning. In fact, just using the term “troll” in reference to someone else can net you a warning, regardless of the rest of your message.

      So, I thought, perhaps the moderators are just misguided. Maybe the career trolls that roam the boards are friends with moderators. However, the answer hit me like a sack of bricks: United States Safe Harbor laws remove the liability of hosts from the actions of their users, so MMORPG.com can’t be sued for slander because someone on the forums, for example, wrote a thread claiming that a company was going bankrupt, using forged “insider” documents, and where the retaliatory posts displaying the true story were conveniently deleted. Meanwhile the website itself moves onward with their faux-passive aggressive writing, not outright trashing but just leaving the door open enough so that the point gets out.

      Of course, like any enterprise, the real intent occasionally leaks out in a graphic and clear-cut manner, such as (and I’m just spitballing here), having one of your writers summarize his “I got hacked” rant by claiming that Blizzard is scamming its users by staging account theft in order to scare their users into buying authenticators.

      I think Blizzard just staged the whole thing to squeeze some extra money out of me! Damn you Blizzard you slippery snake, I’m on to you. Everyone who is reading this is now wise to your scheme. Oh, I’ll buy your precious little “authenticator” just so you keep your grubby little mitts off my account you cheeky monkeys.

      If there’s one thing MMORPG.com is, however, it is efficient. I don’t think I’ve ever managed to call someone out on a lie and have my post stand for more than a half hour after. If there is another thing MMORPG.com is, it is polluted. The community is disgustingly polluted by users who have no other agenda than to sit at their keyboards and make a few thousand posts calling this company a “scam artist,” or gloating about how they managed to perform a fraudulent charge-back and turned around, bought the game again, and performed yet another fraudulent charge-back.

      MMORPG.com is a joke, and one that isn’t particularly funny.