News – Page 427 – MMO Fallout

Pantheon Jumps On Patreon Wagon

When you think about it, it was only a matter of time before video games started popping up on Patreon. Having unsuccessfully attempted a Kickstarter campaign followed up with a bid for private funding which resulted in the development team laid off and replaced by volunteers, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is now looking for funds through Patreon.

Visionary Realms is a small team of volunteers making an MMO with a heavy focus on character development, an immersive world, and player interdependence (grouping). We have been crowd-funded to-date, although at some point I believe we will be funded by an angel investor or publisher.

Each monthly video costs $1,000 in total funds. As of this publishing, the total amount pledged is $17 per video.

(Source: Patreon)

Elite: Dangerous Nixes Offline Mode

Frontier Developments has officially cancelled the promised offline mode for its MMO space shooter, Elite: Dangerous, just a month before launch. While the feature was originally promised in the game’s Kickstarter campaign, CEO David Braben commented in the latest newsletter that technical restraints would have resulted in an inferior experience for offline players:

A fully offline experience would be unacceptably limited and static compared to the dynamic, ever unfolding experience we are delivering.

While solo play is still possible, players will still need to phone home to synchronize with the online galaxy.

(Source: Polygon)

Marvel Heroes Adds In New Game Mode

Gazillion Entertainment has released the latest patch for Marvel Heroes, bringing with it the new Industry City Patrol game mode.

Madness has erupted in Industry City! Industry City Patrol is recruiting Heroes level 12 and higher to join the continually runningfight against evil. Located on the industrial waterfront section of Brooklyn, New York City, Industry City Patrol has some exciting features:

New bosses including the Mindless Titan, Batroc the Leaper, and Spider-Man clones!

Additional bosses including Mister Hyde, Kirigi, Kingpin, Lizard, Kraven, Grim Reaper, and more

Improved spawning technology to reduce lag

Brand new artifacts!

New medallions!

New uniques found nowhere else, including unique rings!

Additional powers for Rogue to steal and mobs for Emma Frost to mind control

Industry City Patrol also introduces the concept of multi-phase events, which have an effect on which mobs spawn and where. The news post warns that it is possible to fail events. Between now and Monday, complete phase patrols for a chance at even better loot.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

Snail Games Legal Double Feature

Snail Games is the subject of legal action on two fronts, so for the sake of brevity let’s talk about both of them in one article, shall we?

The first, former executive of Snail Games David Runyan is seeking damages from his employer alleging unlawful dismissal and racial discrimination. Runyan’s lawsuit specifically targets Snail Games founder Mr. Shi Hai, alleging racial discrimination against non-Chinese employees of the company. Shi Hai, according to the lawsuit, preferred Chinese employees to non-Chinese and would make disparaging comments about American customs and culture. Runyan was terminated following a back injury, and is alleging that his termination is due to his race, nationality, and necessity for disability leave.

(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)

Second, Blizzard is hot off the heels of their recent successful lawsuit against a copycat Hearthstone game, and the behemoth has set its sights on Snail Games. The latter recently launched a mobile game Taichi Panda in China and the main character is a panda. Unhappy with the similarities in character design and naming, Blizzard’s Chinese publisher Netease sent a letter to Apple requesting that the app be removed from the app store. Snail Games has denied the claims, releasing a helpful comparison chart (even more helpful if you speak Chinese) explaining the origins of the panda’s character design.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Raptr's Top October List

Raptr has released their top played list for October 2014, and the list is hardly surprising. ArcheAge remains popular, rising to the fifth place with World of Warcraft taking its natural spot below League of Legends in preparation for this month’s launch of Warlords of Draenor. The Old Republic rose three ranks, outdoing Final Fantasy XIV, while Warframe dropped slightly and Guild Wars 2 dropped rather more dramatically into 17th place.

November will no doubt secure World of Warcraft’s #2 spot among Raptr players.

(Source: Raptr)

Wildstar Cheaters Given 24 Hours To Confess

A recently discovered gold exploit is in the process of being patched out of Wildstar, and in the meantime players are being put on notice. Carbine Studios knows who you are and what you’ve done, but you may not be completely out of luck.

We are aware of the gold exploit feedback that has been circulating social media and the forums. At this point, we are working to get a hotfix put together as soon as possible. A rollback will not be necessary at this time; the current scope of abuse is not outside our ability to manually correct where necessary. Please understand, if you have abused this exploit, we will be taking action against your account. As you all know, we take exploits seriously and will not hesitate to lifetime ban accounts that have been caught abusing any exploits.

Players willing to atone should contact customer service within 24 hours, in exchange for the loss of your ill-gotten gains and a reduction in your punishment.

(Source: Wildstar)

NCSoft Third Quarter Finances

NCSoft has released their third quarter finances, and the news is good. While sales decreased 1% since last quarter, they amounted to approximately $195 million. Operating profit increased 25% quarter over quarter to $74.15 million, with pre-tax income up 33% and net income up 43% to $79 million and $69 million respectively.

Increased revenue was attributed to sales in Aion, Lineage, Lineage II, and Blade & Soul in Korea. Wildstar’s income dropped substantially, down to $14 million from $27 million during its launch quarter. Guild Wars 2, meanwhile, had its third straight quarter of falling revenue, down to $17.95 million from $21 million last quarter and $31 million of its previous peak in the fourth quarter of 2013. Korea once again made up the bulk of NCSoft’s sales, an increase over last quarter to 65%. The US and EU, which were combined into the same category, amounted to 18% of sales, with Japan at 5%, Taiwan at 1% and an addition 10% from royalties.

(Source: NCSoft)

Transformers Universe Layoffs Coming

Jagex has confirmed that layoffs and employee shuffling are expected to hit the Transformers Universe team. In a statement to Games Industry, a Jagex spokesperson noted that the game has reached a stage in development where redundancies in staff can be shuffled over to other projects and in some unfortunate cases be laid off. While no layoffs have occurred yet, they will likely be happening at some point in the near future.

Jagex human resources have already begun the consultation process with the team, and are looking into repositioning individuals to other existing or emerging roles.

The UK developer is looking at shuffling its employees toward RuneScape, the recently announced card game Chronicle, and an unannounced title that may or may not be the unnamed fantasy MMO dubbed “Thirdscape” by fans that CEO Mark Gerhard very briefly spoke about four years ago.

(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)

Darkfall Opens Free Week

Starting now and running through November 18th, prospective players can download and play Darkfall Unholy Wars completely free of charge. If you have Steam installed, simply click on this link to begin downloading the client. You have until midnight Pacific on November 18th to play, after which the game will require a subscription to continue. Players interested in purchasing a subscription will find that the first month has been discounted 75%. The discounted subscription price ends November 19th.

(Source: Steam)

RuneScape Expands The City of Elves

This week sees the second half of RuneScape’s Lost City of the Elves expansion. The update introduces the latter half of the Elven city, bringing with it new high level skilling locations, new monsters to fight, and new rewards.

Prifddinas first opened its doors in September and has seen the high level community flock to make the city their home. With a population surpassing exclusive havens such as the Cayman Islands and Monaco, Prifddinas has become the home to the RuneScape elite who have draped the city with over 650 thousand flags in celebration of their maxed skills.

Also now open this month is the Well of Goodwill, where players can donate in-game items and gold to be converted to real money and donated to charity.

(Source: RuneScape Press Release)

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