Top 5: MMOs That We Can't Have

Being a somewhat impatient person is rather incompatible with writing about the MMO genre, an industry where waiting is merely half the battle. Between games announced half a decade before their intended release and those launched in Korea, China, or Japan only to take a further few years to make it over to the west, it’s enough to pull your hair out over. It is especially aggravating when you figure games like Phantasy Star Online 2, who we recently found out may never release in the west at all. Then you have games like Hellgate: London, Lineage, and Dungeon Fighter Online who, despite shutting down in west, continued operation overseas.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the top five MMOs we can’t have, and by we I mean people in the Americas and Europe.

5. ArcheAge

Despite what some of my readers may believe, I don’t talk about ArcheAge’s content updates to tease you, but I agree with the frustration that I see in many of these articles. ArcheAge, unlike its brothers and sisters, gets so much coverage from western outfits that you’d think the game had already been launched here. Every mention of patch notes and content updates is another reminder of the game’s continued delay and unclear future for westward expansion.

The “why we don’t have ArcheAge” coverage also instills a constant chilling reminder as to the recent business issues surrounding the game’s would-be western publisher, Trion Worlds, between several rounds of layoffs, server mergers, the poor reception of Defiance, allegations of neglecting overseas publishers leading to Rift being shut down in several foreign territories, and the continued difficulties surrounding End of Nations. ArcheAge will eventually release in the west…hopefully. Maybe.

4. Phantasy Star Online 2

I decided to stick Phantasy Star Online 2 as number four on this list because it is technically playable. While Phantasy Star Online 2 is likely to not hit western markets, due to an alleged lack of faith in the game’s ability to be profitable, many gamers have already signed on to the Japanese servers using an English patch. This process should be made easier when the game releases a localized version for English speaking Asian regions.

3. Blade & Soul

NCSoft has refused to censor Blade & Soul for the west, but if an uncensored MMO falls in the woods and no one is able to play it, does it make a sound? Blade & Soul has the backing of NCSoft, but the game has quickly dropped down in sales to the levels of Lineage II and “other” and is likely to continue dropping. If the game continues to do poorly, it is possible that the game could be shut down before it ever has the chance to be localized.

But NCSoft isn’t the kind of company that cuts an MMO loose just because it hit some hard times, right?

2. Lineage

Lineage is particularly painful not just because the game continues to operate in its native Korea after being shut down in the west, but it is outperforming every single one of NCSoft’s other games. Lineage has been NCSoft’s #1 top selling game for the past year and has grown exponentially over the past several quarters. Despite its healthy population in Korea, however, the game was not performing well in America and Europe to continue supporting the localized version.

The good news at least is that while Lineage I is over aside from private servers, Lineage Eternal will probably release before the world ends.

1. Black Gold Online

Black Gold Online is likely to release before any of the other games on this list, but it is the most interesting concept so I decided to put it at number one. If you don’t know, Black Gold Online is by the creatively brilliant minds at Snail Games who brought us Age of Wushu, and carries one of the more interesting monetization models of recent titles. It is difficult to understand, and I am not entirely sure that I have explained it properly, but the game has no cash shop or subscription, but instead monetizes drops in some fashion.

So far all we have seen is this concept in theory, and it could go either way in terms of its reception. Assuming we ever get it.

RuneScape's Services Disrupted By Denial of Service Attacks

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks are an ever-increasing problem over all sectors of the internet. What was once a rare occurrence has become nearly commonplace with many medium to large services. Most recently, the Extra Life charity event was brought down temporarily due to a denial of service attack. Google has launched Project Shield, a service to offer their own DDoS mitigation software to other websites.

In a news post released today, Jagex has revealed that RuneScape has come under heavy DDoS attacks over the past year, causing disruptions in service as well as heavy latency and disconnections for players. Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard posted an apology to players for the inconvenience caused by the attacks, laying the blame at the feet of gold farmers and bot makers. Gerhard stated that Jagex is boosting their infrastructure and is working with authorities to track down the source of the attacks.

I wanted to take this opportunity to assure you that we have, are and will continue to work tirelessly, preventing as many of these attacks from affecting your gameplay as we can. We have recently made a multi-million pound investment in our global IT infrastructure to deal with the continued attacks and are working with a number of service and security providers to eradicate the issue completely. We are also working closely with worldwide law enforcement agencies to bring the people responsible for these attacks to justice.

You can read the entire announcement at the link below.

(Source: RuneScape)

Final Fantasy XIV Pulling Square Enix's Bootstraps

Here at MMO Fallout, we have something of a love-hate relationship with Square Enix. Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn is one of the best MMOs we have played here in a good while, but the travesty that was FFXIV 1.0 has still not faded from our minds. The good news is that the success of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has resulted in Square Enix adjusting their earnings forecast. The publisher expected a loss of $20 million USD, however a combined success from FFXIV and arcade sales has boosted those figures up to a $48 million operating profit.

Square Enix is gearing up for update 2.1 which will introduce a new pvp arena, free company housing, and dungeons.

(Source: Siliconera)

Jagex Highlights Runefest Revelations

Runefest has come and gone with attendees getting the chance to meet the developers, participate in activities, and test out upcoming updates. Jagex has sent us over a list of some big reveals from Runefest, including the name of the next skill, the 200th quest, world events, and more. Check out the list below:

The Invention Skill, which is a partner to the recently launched Divination skill and represents a technological leap forward within the game. This skill will allow players create their own gear and “soul weapons” which can be leveled up to increase their power as players progress through the game.
The RuneScape Community App, which will allow players to chat and access the Grand Exchange, RuneScape’s trading system, through their mobile devices.
A preview of the 2nd World Event which has been confirmed to involve the two gods Armadyl and Bandos, who will be travelling across the world map trying to gain followers and influence. Players will also be able to opt into innovative open world PVP.
Upgraded matchmaking which will allow players to easily find other player who are interested in playing specific social content, allowing them put together teams easily without interrupting their gameplay.
Players were shown a glimpse of two new quests – The 200th quest which will focus on the Elves and a new Master quest featuring the return of Zaros.
“The Church of YOU” – Over the past decade players have been central to all RuneScape content and are the world guardians, now they can start to amass their own followers to worship their in-game achievements.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

City of Titans Breaks $675,000 As Clock Hits Midnight

Missing Worlds Media never stood a chance of failure, not if its devoted community has anything to say about it. As the sun sets on the City of Titans Kickstarter campaign, the team comes out with a grand total of over six hundred seventy five thousand dollars. That level of pledge ensures the release of the City of Titans character creator app on iOS and Android, a Mac version of the game available at launch, auras and travel powers, wings, more powers, and more costume sets.

The success of this venture into crowd funded and community-built gaming is truly impressive, and we wish the best of luck to our friends at Missing Worlds Media. Now comes the hard part.

(Source: Kickstarter)

Warhammer Opens All Accounts For Last Push

Warhammer Online shuts down December 18th, and to send off the game with style Mythic has decided to open up all accounts for a last month and a half of bashing in skulls. There will even be some people playing Warhammer. A post on the official website notes that all accounts in good standing as of October 31st are welcome back, alongside NPCs that will offer level boosts.

To give Warhammer Online a proper sendoff we are opening the game to anyone free of charge that has or had an account in good standing starting October 31st, 2013. We will be adding new NPC’s to the game in order to power up your characters as well as other unique experiences for everyone to enjoy as we say goodbye to Warhammer Online over the next few weeks. So please join us and help say goodbye to Warhammer Online in one last big WAAAGH!

See you in-game.

(Source: Warhammer Online)

Nab The Secret World Massive Edition For $30

If you haven’t picked up The Secret World, now is your chance to get your hands on an amazing deal. Funcom has made the Massive Edition available on Steam, and until November 1st you can get the whole package at 50% off. The Secret World Massive Edition includes the base game and four DLC “issues” it comes with, as well as issues five, six, seven, and the plague doctor Halloween costume. After November 1st, this package will go back up to its regular price of $59.99.

(Source: Steam)

Turn Your RuneScape Wealth Into Charity Donations

Here at MMO Fallout, we love charities so much that we’ve tried to turn it into a competition. In the case of RuneScape, what better way could there be to encourage donations than to not require any real money at all? With today’s update to RuneScape, Jagex has introduced the Well of Goodwill, where players can take their surplus gold and items and donate them to charity. What would a sick kid do with an iron sword? I have no idea, but that isn’t how the charity works. For every ten million in gold and valued items donated, one real dollar will be donated to charity.

Over the years we’ve privately supported a number of good causes and we thought this time round not only should we try include the community but also focus our efforts towards supporting a number of charities who efficiently and directly support disadvantaged, terminally ill or at-risk young people. While no doubt our list of charities will grow over time, we would like start with a few close to our own heart:

The list of charities include Willow, SpecialEffect, Action For Kids, GamesAid, and Internet Watch Foundation, with more to be added in the future.

(Source: RuneScape)

Marvel Heroes Adds Its First Playable Villain

Marvel Heroes is poised to add its first playable villain in an upcoming update set to launch alongside the release of Thor: The Dark World. Yes, the next playable character will be Loki himself, god of mischief. Loki’s default outfit will be straight from the film, and his power set is based around illusion, sorcery, and crowd control. According to MMORPG.com’s coverage, players will not be sure if they are fighting Loki during PvP matches or one of his illusions. Loki is also capable of tapping into his Frost Giant lineage, serving as a melee tank.

Ghost Rider is also in the pipeline for release in the future.

RuneScape Bonds Eradicate Gold Farming

In September, Jagex introduced bonds, an item that players could buy with real money and either trade to other players for gold or redeem for membership, spins, and runecoins. In a press release sent out today, Jagex has revealed that since bonds have been introduced, the amount of illegal gold being injected into the economy has dropped 81% by their own metrics.

“While we anticipated that the launch of Bonds would impact the flow of illegal wealth into the game, we are thrilled the initiative has resulted in such a strong and immediate impact. This action lays the foundations for RuneScape to continue going from strength to strength in its second successful decade!”

RuneScape has historically had a large problem with gold farming and bots, due to the ease of access to the client and grind-focused nature of the game. Bonds are just another step in an ongoing process to rid the game of gold farmers.

(Source: Jagex press release)

5. ArcheAge

4. Phantasy Star Online 2

3. Blade & Soul

2. Lineage

1. Black Gold Online

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