Category: News

MMO Hall of Fame Inducts Two New Games


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The MMO Hall of Fame has announced the inductees for the 2015 ceremony. Out of a grand total of 173 candidates, two titles managed to sneak past the 60% requirement to make it into the hall of fame, and those games are Lineage II and Anarchy Online.

Doug Kale, curator of the hall of fame, noted the growing competition as new games are added each year.

“There was an enormous amount of competition, but after tallying all the numbers only two games reached the required 60% of the votes to enter the Hall of Fame,”

MMO Hall of Fame inductees are chosen based on contributions to the genre as well as their dedicated fans, with a voting committee made up of members of the MMO industry and gaming press.

Some of the highest voted games include Second Life, Maple Story, Toontown, and Pirates of the Burning Sea.

(Source: MMO Hall of Fame)

RuneScape Players Vote Larger, Less Frequent Updates


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The poll will be finished by the time most of you see it, but players have once again spoken on RuneScape’s updates. In a recent in-game poll, players were asked whether they want the weekly update schedule to stay the same, or for less frequent, more significant updates with weekly patch notes and tweaks. With 54% of the vote (as of this writing), the majority of poll responders voiced their support for less frequent updates.

When this change to development schedules will take effect will have to be seen. Power to the Players allows the community to vote on updates with Jagex taking the majority opinion’s decision and implementing it.

(Source: RuneScape)

Wil Wheaton Guest-DMs Reign of Elemental Evil


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Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 25 drops today, bringing with it the Temple of Elemental Evil. The update features voice acting by actor/writer Wil Wheaton, best known for his portrayal of Wesley Crusher in the 1987 television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Among his more recent work, Wheaton voiced the dialogue for Abraham Lincoln in the 3DS game Codename S.T.E.A.M.

Temple of Elemental Evil introduces DDO’s largest dungeon ever, reintroducing randomized traps, roving bosses, and special encounters famous from the original D&D module. The update is free for VIPs and available to players at level 7 and 28.

(Source: Official Website)

Jason Appleton Departs Greed Monger, Signs Over Game


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Electric Crow Games founder Jason Appleton has announced that he is departing development of MMO Greed Monger and signing the game over to James Proctor. In a message to Kickstarter backers, Appleton applauded Proctor’s work effort while blaming his own pride for the controversy surrounding the game and its team.

Id rather see the backers get their due and the game launch than me be able to say “I told you I could do it!”. This is beyond pride at this point. Its not about making money. It’s about the game.  I’m not selling Greed Monger to them. I’m giving it to them to finish.

All things Greed Monger will now be handled by MMO Interactive with Joel Hager taking over PR. In a post on the game’s Facebook page, Proctor thanked the community for their support and patience.

The support that the GM community and KS backers have shown thus far is such a blessing. We are more committed than ever to deliver a top-notch product. Some more exciting news to come… Stay tuned.

Greed Monger’s drama began just before the weekend when lead dev James Proctor publicly announced his departure from Electric Crow Games. In his announcement, Proctor revealed that while he intended to resign from his position as early as two years ago, that Appleton had threatened legal action against him should he leave. Appleton responded with his own allegations towards Proctor.

Developer Interdiction Studios was in initial talks to take over Greed Monger, but decided not to go forward.

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(Source: Kickstarter)

Reminder: Chrome Users Losing RuneScape Support


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Chrome users will need to change browsers or download the official client if they wish to continue playing RuneScape after this month. As part of April’s updates, Google has announced that they are dropping support for the Netscape Plugin API, and Java support is going down with it. As a result, games likes RuneScape will cease functioning on the browser.

Players will need to download the official client or play on Internet Explorer or Firefox. Mozilla is expected to drop NPAPI support as well.

Google has been slowly deprecating NPAPI support over the past couple of years, owing to the platform’s 90’s era architecture being responsible for crashes, hangups, and security vulnerabilities. Google already blocks Java by default, and Apple instituted a policy of disabling outdated plugins to protect users.

(Source: RuneScape)

Greed Monger Fallout: Jason Appleton Responds


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Yesterday we reported that Greed Monger, the sandbox MMO funded via Kickstarter, had lost its lead developer James Proctor. Proctor, in his departure notice, revealed that he had attempted to leave the studio two years prior, but was stopped due to legal threats by Electric Crow Games founder Jason Appleton.

Appleton has posted a response on the Greed Monger forums in which he claims to be the victim, alleging that Proctor was “impossible to work with,” fired employees and wasted money on experiments, and “never made a single deadline.” Both sides are in the process of threatening to post, or have posted, chat transcripts detailing their rocky relationship.

Jason Appleton’s complete response is below.

(Source: Greed Monger)

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Bungie Says Goodbye To Toxic Destiny Players


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Bungie’s latest weekly update for Destiny is out, and it targets bugs and bad players. For starters, the Destiny team is looking at the least completed raids and easing their difficulty so that more players are willing to see them through from start to finish. The team plays through raids on a weekly basis to see how players are responding to content, as well as looking at in-game metrics to see where problems are arising. There are also bugs that need to be squashed, since the raids are hard enough without the game getting in the way.

Next up, the company plans on dealing with idlers, players who go into strikes and pvp matches and do not contribute.

One player not contributing in an activity might seem like a small thing, but it can make a Weekly Heroic Strike unbeatable or make a Crucible match unwinnable. Those little bits of damage to the experiences other players adds up over time.

The most toxic players will be restricted from matchmaking, starting out as temporary punishments and eventually leading to permanent restrictions if the behavior is kept up. The system won’t catch you because the pizza man came to the door, however, it is designed to only trap habitual idlers.

(Source: Bungie)

Ex-Greed Monger Developer Reveals Lawsuit Threats


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Greed Monger dev James Proctor has announced via Facebook and the official forums that he is no longer employed at the indie dev.

Effective today I am ending ALL association with Greed Monger, ElectricCrow Games, and Jason Appleton… I want to say thank you to all of the supporters and community. You guys have been great! You will not be forgotten and I promise you I personally will see to it that I make things right with you guys! I will have more details on the usual channels as things proceed.

According to Proctor, Jason Appleton threatened to sue him when he attempted to leave the development team two years ago for “personal reasons.” While all we have is Proctor’s word for the moment, the allegation would line up with Appleton’s history of legal threats against MMORPG.com, specific users, and Wurm Online, over negative discussion about Greed Monger and Appleton himself.

(Source: Greed Monger)

Neverwinter Double Exp Marathon Readies For Elemental Evil


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Elemental Evil officially goes live on April 7th, and with it comes an additional ten levels of adventuring, gear, and monsters. To assist players with reaching the current cap, you’ll be able to take part in a double experience marathon starting yesterday (the 2nd) and going until 7am Pacific on April 7th. The double experience covers gains from killing monsters, professions, quests, invocation, and foundry missions.

In addition, companions will also take part in the double experience.

(Source: Neverwinter)

Jagex Appoints New CEO


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Jagex Games Studios has announced the appointment of Rod Cousens to the position of CEO. Cousens, taking over for Mark Gerhard who departed Jagex at the end of 2014, had previously worked as CEO of Codemasters, as well as various positions in Acclaim Entertainment, and Activision.

Cousens will bring his 25 years of industry expertise to Jagex “as it enters a new chapter of business,” overseeing work on the card game Chronicle: RuneScape Legends, tactical online shooter Block N Load, as well as other unnamed Jagex products in development.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)