Category: News

NCSoft Income Dips In Q2, Lineage Is Doing Just Fine


NCSoft this week released their second quarter earning reports and the results are not entirely great, but not entirely bad. While sales dropped 6% over last year, profits are down 19% with net income down 17% over the same period. NCSoft’s mobile titles are still going very strong and now make up the vast majority of the company’s revenue with Lineage continuing to be the breadwinner on the traditional MMO side.

Lineage launched a remaster update and revamped monetizations that has been credited for a spike in sales and has seen user numbers more than double. NCSoft believes that this rebound revenue will remain solid and that other updates in the second half will maintain revenue numbers. According to NCSoft statements, Lineage M continues to maintain its highest numbers ever. NCSoft also expressed pride in Lineage II, noting that “the fact that a game in its sixteenth year is achieving 55% YoY growth is extremely encouraging for us,” with more updates coming in the second half of the year that should accelerate growth. There were no additional notes for Aion, Blade & Soul, and Guild Wars 2.

The second half of 2019 is set to bring Lineage II M to the market which NCSoft hopes will shake up the market with its differentiated content. Aion 2 and Blade & Soul 2 are progressing smoothly with NCSoft taking aim to ensure that the games are received well not just in Korea but in the international market as well. Lineage II M is set to launch in the fourth fiscal quarter 2019 followed by international launch in a “timely manner” with minimal gaps. They did acknowledge concerns with the Korean MMO market due to underperformance of recent launches in the country and whether the market has further growth potential. NCSoft stated that their own internal numbers indicate that there is a large potential demand of customers “waiting on the sidelines” for something to appear, and that Lineage II M is exactly the title that can satisfy that pent-up demand, however they do recognize that adding overseas revenue is necessary and that Lineage II M will cater to that market.

As for NCWest, NCSoft noted the company is going through a “process” to improve efficiency from the studio, but does not see a significant decrease in labor costs from the entity in the coming year which should assuage fears of further layoffs.

On the topic of cloud/console gaming, it was stated that PC titles from the beginning will be designed to be played on a console format going forward. There are internal projects looking into cloud gaming, but nothing that could be discussed at this time. ArenaNet is looking at several projects including a potential mobile Guild Wars 2, however there are no solid titles that could be announced at this time as all of the projects are still under review.

(Source: NCSoft quarterly income)

[NM] Entertainment Software Association Leaks Spreadsheet of Journalist Personal Data


Today’s news comes to us from the world of high negligence. The Entertainment Software Association is currently making its way back up poop creek without a paddle as the news broke just a few days ago that a list of over two thousand content creators and journalists had been leaked via the ESA’s website. According to Youtube creator Sophia Narwitz, who broke the story, the list has been up for some time and contains the names of those invited to E3 2019.

MMO Fallout was able to get its hands on a copy of the list and confirmed that it contains names, titles, email addresses, physical addresses, and phone numbers of various journalists and Youtube content creators. While many of the journalist information is pointing to business/office addresses, a large portion of the list clearly includes home addresses down to the apartment number, and private phone numbers.

Presumably most of those on the list are aware that their information is now public on the internet, or will be shortly.

[Video] H1Z1 Outland First Impressions


Today’s video comes to us from H1Z1 on PS4, where Daybreak Game Company recently launched a new map. I take a dive in (literally) and see what it’s all about.

Neverwinter Makes Cosmetic Overrides More User Friendly


Neverwinter players should be happy to hear that the next module coming to the MMORPG will address a longstanding complaint: The appearance system.

The current transmutation system in Neverwinter is, to put it lightly, not optimal. Under the current system you need to destroy a lot of items in order to change the appearance of a single piece of equipment, and when you finally replace that piece you have to go through that process all over again. Under the new system everything is handled by slot instead of by item, so instead of transmuting one item to move its appearance to another, you will instead convert said item into the appearance inventory and be able to select it as an override.

Now, you define how an equipment slot looks, and your equipment takes on that look. If you have an appearance override defined for a slot, anything you put into that slot will take on that appearance automatically without you have to do anything. No matter what you’re actually wearing on your head, it can look like a bright pink fedora! (Fedoras not available in all regions. Some restrictions apply.)

Even better, this system applies to dyes. Instead of having to go out and buy dyes for every single item you want to color, one dye unlocks the color for your library and can be used as many times as you’d like.

More information can be found at the link below.

(Source: Neverwinter)

Maplestory 2 Introduces Dungeon Helper


If you could name one improvement for MapleStory 2, what would it be? That’s right, a dungeon helper system.

Starting with the latest update, players level 50 and above will be considered a dungeon helper when queuing for dungeons below level 50. By completing lower level dungeons and thus helping out the newer players, it is possible to receive up to 10 dungeon coins per day (1 per dungeon). Coins can be used in the shop to buy furnishings, outfits, mounts, and more.

In order to better ease new players into higher level dungeons, Nexon has also instituted an across the map nerf of dungeon enemies. Finally, the benefits of house assistants are no longer locked behind merets and can now be bought with mesos.

Source: MapleStory2

P.S.: Keep an eye out for Lucky August events.

IPE Update: Amro Elansari Files Appeal In RuneScape Lawsuit


Posted with no comment. PDF version available here.

In Plain English: Epic and the Generic, Substance-Free Patent Troll


Epic Games is once again back in court, except this time they are taking on a more defensive tone.

As of July 18, Epic Games has filed a lawsuit against Acceleration Bay LLC regarding some bad blood between the two companies that has boiled over in the past few years. According to court dockets filed in the Northern District of California, Epic Games is asking for a declaratory judgment of non-infringement regarding seven patents owned by the defendant.

According to Epic’s filing, defendant Acceleration Bay LLC in early 2015 acquired a number of patents from The Boeing Company. These patents cover a computer network and/or broadcast channel with an m-regular, incomplete topology. I’ll let the docket try to explain some of it, but it has to do with how computers interact on a network.

  • The claims of these patents all require that (1) each participant/computer in the network must have connections to at least three other neighboring participants.
  • The claims of these patents all require that (2) the network must be “m-regular” where each participant is connected to the exact same number, m, of neighbor participants.
  • The claims of these patents all require that (3) the network must be incomplete – m must be at least two less than the total number of participants.
  • 31. In other words, each participant must be connected to at least three neighbor participants, and no participant can be connected to all of the other participants in the network.

Fast forward to 2018 and Acceleration Bay’s lawyers sent a letter to Epic with allegedly no explanation or information, and claimed that Epic was infringing on their patents and would require a license. The letter was apparently so poorly vetted by AB’s legal team that they didn’t notice that the threat still contained the name of an unrelated company that AB had presumably also threatened over its patents.

As they say, bad form.

Additionally, Epic asserted that Acceleration Bay couldn’t get through its letter without completely lying about its own existence, claiming that it was founded in 2012 (it was founded in August 2014), and calling itself a “technology incubator” (it isn’t) that “partners with inventors, corporations and entrepreneurs to accelerate growth in creating innovative companies.” AB doesn’t accelerate growth in anything. Acceleration Bay, according to Epic’s attorneys, does not provide any product or service whatsoever, and exists only to monetize patents acquired from third parties. According to Epic’s attorney’s, AB is exclusively in the market of monetizing patents.

On July 10, representatives of both companies sat down to a teleconference and evidently nothing was accomplished. AB’s attorneys don’t appear to understand what their own patent covers, or how Epic operates their games, as Epic states in the court dockets that many online multiplayer games, especially those being asserted in this lawsuit, do not function the way that the patent would cover, as player networks are communicating with Epic’s servers and not each other.

Epic has assembled its Avengers team of lawyers from the offices of Winston & Strawn to convince the court for a preemptive declaration that Epic is not infringing on any patents alleged in this case. Acceleration had not filed a lawsuit against Epic, however the threatening letters are enough for Epic to go to the court and demand an answer to force the letters to stop. Acceleration Bay has 21 days to respond to the lawsuit.

As always, MMO Fallout has acquired at our own cost the dockets for this case and they can be found on our Google Drive. The docket itself is linked here, as Acceleration.pdf, or it will be in a folder titled “Acceleration” once more dockets are uploaded.

I paid way too much for this article. If you really like patents, I recommend checking out the docket because it’s about 25 pages of the actual lawsuit and then 350+ of the patents at dispute presented at evidence. Our condolences go out to the court clerk who had to print this out and file it.

Maplestory Adds New Party Quest With Squadron of Heroes Update


MapleStory’s latest update goes live this week as Squadron of Heroes continues on from the major Pathfinder update earlier this summer.

In the Squadron of Heroes update, players level 61 and up can take part in a new Ancient Ruins Party Quest for rewards, as well as partying up in cross world party quests that reward currency that can be used to purchase items from the party point merchant shop. In addition to working with other players, one can also create a party of characters across their account to take on the Immortal Gorgons for daily and weekly rewards.

A new theme dungeon called Partem Ruins will be available for players level 135+ with new mini-games and adventure tiers being added to the Adventure Islands.

And finally this wouldn’t be a MapleStory event without another burning event. If one burning character just isn’t enough, this time around Nexon is offering two burning characters who from level 10 to 150 will gain two additional levels.

More information available at the official website.

Legends of Aria Hits Steam August 6


If you need Legends of Aria to release on Steam and preferably before August 7, then you have hit a stroke of very specific luck.

Citadel Studios announced today that the global launch of the hit MMO Legends of Aria is coming sooner than you think: August 6. Legends of Aria bills itself as a modern take on classic MMORPGs such as Ultima Online and Eve Online, and is a living breathing world shaped by its players. While much of the game world is safe from the harsh life of open world PvP, lawless regions still exist inhabited by those looking to make your day that much worse.

“Not only have we added a new playable skillset in the Bard and a whole new armor and weapon enchanting system to make the crafters in our community even more important, but we’re making the world of Aria a much friendlier place to live,” said Derek Brinkmann, CEO. “We’re ecstatic to finally be launching Legends of Aria on Steam after so much hard work and love were poured into the game. We cannot wait for MMO players of all sorts to join us on our journey.”

Legends of Aria will launch into Early Access on Steam on August 6. New features include the bard class as well as equipment enhancement, rulesets, a fresh start server, an optional premium subscription, quality of life improvements, and much more. Check out the official website for more information.

Kickstarted MMO Edengrad Is Returning Thanks To Share Sales


Edengrad

Everyone’s favorite crowdfunded MMO Edengrad is coming back! Or at least that’s the plan.

For those of you not familiar with the game Edengrad, this game was Kickstarted to the tune of £41k by developer Huckleberry Games who released the title into Early Access on Steam in April 2017 and promptly stopped actively supporting it in December of the same year due to an apparent lack of funding. The servers have continued running for that time period but no active updates have been deployed in over a year and a half now.

The folks at Huckleberry Games posted a very cryptic message back in December 2018 that they were coming back, but nothing emerged until this June when Wyborcza posted some news about the company. It looks like Huckleberry has sold 1.5 million Zloty in shares, approximately $395,000 US Dollars. That money, according to the article, will go toward continuing development on Edengard as well as new titles.

“The F series issue was a very important step in the company’s history, thanks to which the company will be able to continue working on our flagship product, Edengrad, and support the development of new promising projects. companies, they believed in it and together with us they want to develop it, and in return we will provide them with new, better quality, “said president Patryk Borowski, quoted in the communiqué.

Developer Huckleberry Games has been promising updates via the Steam forums for several months now, only time will tell if they can actually come through on those statements.