Category: Editorials

Aion: 1 Million Copies, CAPTCHA, Patches


aionqueue

The good news just keeps on rolling in for Aion, with NCsoft announcing that the title has reached nearly 1 million copies sold in North America and Europe. 600,000 of the copies come post release, we all remember Aion’s boasted four hundred thousand copies preordered. North America accounted for over half of the copies sold since Aion launched in September.

Where Aion has not excelled recently is in the most recent patch, whose community response can be summed up with a “…” Although experience rewards have been boosted in several areas, the community is lashing back against a new CAPTCHA system that randomly debuffs players during gathering that is removed by typing in a random word that displays on screen. The new system is set up to stop bots, an issue that has been plaguing Aion since launch. Players have also issued complaints that the patch did not address the main problems affecting the game.

So, good news this week for Aion and bad news as well.

Wait, Wasn’t Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?


tsw_screen_1

My encyclopedic, borderline obsessive compulsive brain allows me to notice trends and related material, even if I can’t exactly remember when it happened or what that related material is (if my brain was encyclopedic, no one bothers to put the books back in alphabetical order, and someone keeps drawing on the pages). So when I saw that Funcom has been given a grant for development on a new MMO, I had to check my own archives to make sure I wasn’t having a brain related event, or confusing companies.

Lo and behold, I find it quickly: Not only quickly, but because it happened just in the past couple of months. In late September, Funcom announced that they were laying off 20% of their workforce. The company’s move to Montreal not only resulted in a downsizing, but I couldn’t help wondering at the time if firing one in five employees would cause disruption to the company’s two live titles (Age of Conan and Anarchy Online) and their title in production: The Secret World.

Continue reading “Wait, Wasn’t Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?”

Wait, Wasn't Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?


tsw_screen_1

My encyclopedic, borderline obsessive compulsive brain allows me to notice trends and related material, even if I can’t exactly remember when it happened or what that related material is (if my brain was encyclopedic, no one bothers to put the books back in alphabetical order, and someone keeps drawing on the pages). So when I saw that Funcom has been given a grant for development on a new MMO, I had to check my own archives to make sure I wasn’t having a brain related event, or confusing companies.

Lo and behold, I find it quickly: Not only quickly, but because it happened just in the past couple of months. In late September, Funcom announced that they were laying off 20% of their workforce. The company’s move to Montreal not only resulted in a downsizing, but I couldn’t help wondering at the time if firing one in five employees would cause disruption to the company’s two live titles (Age of Conan and Anarchy Online) and their title in production: The Secret World.

Continue reading “Wait, Wasn't Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?”

Dungeons and Dragons Online: MORE SERVER!


cylon

“The corollary to that is if you’ve seen a game consolidate servers, you know it’s in deep, deep trouble — that’s not a healthy sign for an MMO, It will be the same for ‘Warhammer.’ Look at us six months out. Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.”
-Mark Jacobs, Mythic VP

Thank you, Mark. What Mark Jacobs, Vice President over at Mythic Entertainment is trying to say is that success in an MMO can usually be seen by looking at whether or not the company is adding servers. Earlier in September, as we all know by now, Turbine turbine’d Dungeons and Dragons Online into a free to play game, with pay to play subscriptions as well as a microtransaction system. After the game relaunched, Turbine noted a 40% increase in subscriptions.

Well, Mark Jacobs can eat his heart out. Turbine will be opening a new server to deal with the incoming flood of players.

Asheron's Call Hits Double Digits


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10 years going strong.

Like the rest of us, MMOs are born, they live, and eventually they all die. Although 2009 has seen the passing of Richard Garriot’s Tabula Rasa, Shadowbane, and The Matrix Online, it has also seen the continuing run of Ultima Online (celebrating twelve years), Everquest (ten years), and now Asheron’s Call hitting ten years old. Sadly, we celebrate this over the death of Asheron’s Call 2, that occurred less than four years ago.

Happy birthday Asheron’s Call! Have a seat…no, not there, that’s the chair that hurts your back. Sit in your rocking chair, right over there. You old coot you.

I think he just fell asleep.

Asheron’s Call Hits Double Digits


asdfsdfagadf
10 years going strong.

Like the rest of us, MMOs are born, they live, and eventually they all die. Although 2009 has seen the passing of Richard Garriot’s Tabula Rasa, Shadowbane, and The Matrix Online, it has also seen the continuing run of Ultima Online (celebrating twelve years), Everquest (ten years), and now Asheron’s Call hitting ten years old. Sadly, we celebrate this over the death of Asheron’s Call 2, that occurred less than four years ago.

Happy birthday Asheron’s Call! Have a seat…no, not there, that’s the chair that hurts your back. Sit in your rocking chair, right over there. You old coot you.

I think he just fell asleep.

You Have Public Tests? USE THEM!


nutshell
This article doesn't have much to do with Darkfall.

You find yourself in a room with one thousand small tables, each table adorned with two objects; a button and a number from one to one thousand. A voice comes over the system and says “only one of these buttons will not electrocute you. Good luck.” You gaze upon the legion of buttons as the voice softly cackles.

You are now a Quality Assurance agent for a massively multiplayer online game. Now imagine this scenario: You are in the same room, same tables, same buttons, same numbers. This time, however, you have one hundred helpers at your side. Common sense says that you send each one down the line, starting with number one and moving up (or however you want to do it) shocking each one until you get to the right button.

Continue reading “You Have Public Tests? USE THEM!”

Warhammer Online: No, Play Us! Unlimited Trials!


WAR_ss_may09-09
This article has nothing to do with high level players.

Patch 1.3.2 has come and gone for Warhammer Online, bringing with it the new New Player Journey, the removal of fortresses, and other balances and tweaks to RvR. Mythic hopes to bring back new players and old veterans alike who are either afraid to join or became sick of the title long ago.

Along with this update comes unlimited free trials. Yes, the ten day limit has been removed, you have as long as you want in tier 1 (That’s level 1 to 10) to experience what the game has to offer, and to form your own ideas as to whether or not the title merits your subscription.

Continue reading “Warhammer Online: No, Play Us! Unlimited Trials!”

Age of Conan: Please Play Me!


09NovemberPBEdit
This Article has nothing to do with naked women...

If Age of Conan could be transposed into a human being, it would probably call you up at two in the morning, drunk, and wondering why you dumped it so long ago. Whenever it phones up, it has brand new explanations for why we should take it back, new incentives we may not have had several months prior, and new tricks it learned that it can’t wait to show us.

But let’s keep this about the game, shall we? Recently Funcom launched a slew of price reductions on the game, and its subscription rate. The boxed copy currently runs you around twenty dollars USD, and multi-month subscriptions were slashed, up to 45% cheaper as you increase in time prepaid.

Is it working?

“I can’t comment on any numbers,”
-Erling Ellingson

Gee…Thanks, Erling, chief spokesperson for Funcom.

What Funcom can tell us, however, is that the updates have been a huge success at least with the current players. Funcom also launched a veteran system recently, where players accumulate points for each month of subscription, that increases incrementally the longer you sustain a subscription. Funcom is continuing to address concerns of content gaps, and the title has its first expansion pack in the works: Rise of the Godslayer.

Here’s hoping this helps Age of Conan’s subscriber numbers. Otherwise, Funcom can always make the title freemium, offer a free basic version with a paid upgrade, similar to that of Anarchy Online. Doing so might entice more people into putting a 30 gigabyte game on their system.

I Don’t Do Reviews, For Good Reason


The Fallen Earth LLC Boardroom
Where we go to discuss Fallen Earth.

If you’re a visitor to mmorpg.com, you’ve probably found yourself stepping into the middle of a controversy. Apparently yesterday’s review of Fallen Earth caused such an uproar that mmorpg.com’s staff saw fit to remove it from the website. I decided to get my super sleuth kit, and by super sleuth kit I mean grabbing part 1 off of Google Cache before it was deleted.

Continue reading “I Don’t Do Reviews, For Good Reason”