Blade & Soul Hits Western Shores This Winter


cat

Put down your torches and extinguish your pitchforks, because Blade & Soul is joining Fievel and going west. The long awaited MMO from NCSoft will go into closed beta this fall with a launch sometime during the winter. Players will be able to get their hands on six classes, four races, and a level cap of 45 at launch to go through the game’s first three acts (the Korean version is up to act 6).

Blade & Soul has been a bit of a mystery for the past few years, with NCSoft touting the game’s success and continued growth in its launch territories while refusing to give a hint on westward expansion. Today’s news should ease those pained hearts.

Gamers will be able to get their hands on Blade & Soul when it launches as a free to play game this winter.

(Source: MMORPG.com)

Funcom Reports Lower Revenues In First Quarter


jomali

Funcom has released their first quarter finances for 2015, and the results are a bit of a mixed bag. Revenue fell over the first quarter from the same time last year, down from $3.8 million in 2014 to $2.7 million. Despite this drop, Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization came out higher, $487 thousand compared to $451 thousand. In line with revenue falling, Funcom was also able to cut operating costs down to $2.2 million, $1.4 million down from the same point nearly a year ago.

Over on the operations side, Funcom’s bread and butter continues to be its three profitable MMOs (The Secret World, Age of Conan, and Anarchy Online). Lego Minifigures Online is set to launch on tablets this summer, however the game will be undergoing a business transition to buy to play instead of its original free to play. In the report, Funcom admits to overestimating the buying power of its target audience, and has committed to making changes to improve on player satisfaction.

(Source: Funcom)

[Column] NCSoft, Misconceptions And Frequently Asked


WildStar64 2014-05-08 13-12-45-60

The kind of activity I’m seeing among the Wildstar community is pretty similar to those of other MMOs when they were either in the process of being shut down, or at heavily speculated risk of being shut down. So none of what I’m about to discuss is of any surprise to me, and I don’t want people thinking that I’m just singling out the Wildstar community for behaving in such a manner. Thank you.

First of all, you can read my analysis of NCSoft’s first quarter report at MMORPG.com. I’m no trained expert in finance, but I’ve been doing these quarterly reports for five years, and in the months that I’m not regurgitating income and revenues, I’m doing research and chatting with real investment bankers. So I have at least a good grasp on what I’m talking about and the charts the present are all mine, so you know I’ve actually read them.

The unfortunate side effect of this being a somewhat complicated topic is that articles like this usually end up with a lot of gotcha questions from fans and “haters” alike, statements you know are wrong but can’t really refute with the proper level of confidence.

I decided to compile a few of the most common things I see concerning quarterly reports, particularly for this one.

  • The graph shows box sales, not total revenue.

Incorrect. The figure reported by NCSoft is total revenue per game, from box sales to subscriptions and cash shop purchases. No, this isn’t directly stated on the quarterly report sheet, but it is discussed in more detail over the conference call. Also, just consider this from a logical point of view. There are games on this list that don’t exist in a boxed form anymore, in any region. Sales for titles like Aion and Lineage II would be zilch if the figure only counted box sales.

  • But my guild is growing, the game must be growing too!

A nice sentiment, but anecdotal and ultimately meaningless, not to mention demonstrably false given we know for a fact that Wildstar’s sales are dropping. Also consider how small the game’s population would need to be in order for one guild’s numbers to be indicative of the overall population.

  • Who cares what the revenue is as long as the game is profitable?

You should, at least fans of the game should. While some developers might be happy with just profitable, it doesn’t take an expert to know that NCSoft is not that kind of developer. If NCSoft was happy with a game being somewhat profitable, we’d still be playing City of Heroes.

  • Your sources are unaudited and therefore inaccurate.

Half true. The figures provided are not audited, meaning they are in their form as NCSoft has submitted them. While it is possible that a mistake was made and the numbers are wrong, you would need some hard evidence to prove why the numbers should be doubted.

 

[Less Massive] Shuttered Game Still Being Sold On Steam


intowar

Steam Early Access has seen a lot of criticism, from the fact that most games don’t see completion, to the sale of titles that are at best misleading and at worst engaging in outright fraud. It has also become the source of indie devs putting games up for sale only to engage with the community for a few months before disappearing with whatever money they had managed to gain in that time frame. Customers, on the other hand, generally have no recourse if their purchase turns out to be for nothing.

Such is the case again with Into The War, developed and abandoned by the now absent Small Town Studios. According to Steam reviews, the servers for Into the War haven’t been operational going back to early April, possibly even further. The developer’s website is offline, and their social media has gone silent.

In addition, the game’s forum currently contain a sticky telling players to not just avoid buying the game, but to report it to Steam (typos left intact).

On the store page you will see a Flag icon at the right side of the page. Use it to report the game and describe it as abandoned by the developers.(use the “Broken” option) and it’s nothing more than a scam now, with the devs running away, deleting their site and social media presence, while the game remains unplayable.

Despite the servers being offline and the developer unreachable, the game is still up for sale as of this publishing for $4.99. Those who bought the game may have a glimmer of hope, as Valve has issued refunds for other early access games abandoned by their developers and left in a broken state.

For critics of Early Access, this is just another example in an ongoing demand for more curation on the Steam platform.

(Source: Steam)

Green Man Gaming Tick Tock, Limited Stock Sale


lockdown

Green Man Gaming is celebrating five years with a flash sale on a few select games. Until supplies run out, you can get your hands on Sleeping Dogs, Thief, and Tomb Raider for $6. The sale only lasts as long as supplies do, so if you see something you want, pick it up now before the price goes back up.

¹ Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition cannot be played in Germany.

Mortal Online Releasing Sarducca Continent Sunday


ScreenShot00129

Star Vault has announced the release of Sarducca, Mortal Online’s next continent, for this Sunday May 17th. The update goes live during maintenance in the morning (Swedish time) and will be monitored throughout the day for any unexpected bugs.

CEO Henrik Nystrom revealed that more content for Sarducca is already on the way.

I want to express once again that the development of further polished areas, improvement in AI, new content, etc, will NOT stop with the release of Sarducaa. The geography of the continent is finished, and as you can read in the patch notes there have been tons of polish and new content put into to game with Sarducaa, but we will continue working on even more content and polish after the release.

(Source: Mortal Online)

Side Quest Is Back, But No Active Development


chrome 2015-05-15 10-30-14-95

It’s been a long time since we last heard from Side Quest, last September when we noticed that the servers had gone dark with no notice from Fractal Entertainment. If you’ve been jonesing for your side-scrolling fix since then, you’ll be happy to know that the servers are up and running and the game is available in its full glory.

With one caveat. While Fractal Entertainment has been able to find cheap hosting, there won’t be any development on the game for the time being. In addition to expected random downtimes, the item mall has been disabled. Regardless, the game is available to play for those interested.

(Source: Side Quest)

NCSoft Shuts Down Project HON


project-hon-RIP2

NCSoft Korea has shut down development of Project HON, allegedly due to a perceived lack of interest in giant mech games in the local market. Project HON is being shelved to allow NCSoft to focus on its other titles, including the upcoming launch of Lineage Eternal and further growth of Blade & Soul in foreign markets.

Project HON came up earlier this year when three employees were fired for embezzling funds.

(Source: Steparu)

Blizzard: Bot Bans And Court Loss


tkoeLDJ

As many as 100,000 bot accounts, possibly more, have been removed from World of Warcraft in a recent mass ban.

We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as “bots.” We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated.

In unrelated news, Blizzard recently lost a case attempting to place an injunction on a gold seller in Diablo. As reported by the Kaesler & Kollegen law firm representing the client, the Civil Division of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court overturned a previous injunction on a Diablo gold selling website. The judge has reportedly ordered Blizzard to cover the costs of the proceedings.

(Source: Blizzard)

MMO Fallout’s Tips For Newbie Bloggers


1663Gargoyle

The Newbie Blogger Initiative, of which I consider myself to be a loyal follower and mentor, is nearly halfway through the month of inspiration, and I have to apologize for the lack of usual tips for newbie bloggers. You see, I’ve been way too busy sailing the Mediterranean with Richard Garriot, waxing poetic while sipping wine and wondering how many secret tunnels he installed in his yacht, all while he detailed the free housing I’d be getting in Shroud of the Avatar for being so awesome at my job of writing about games.

Actually no, I’ve been busy dealing with my present day job going bankrupt and the inevitable unemployment from the job that funds this website. In fact that brings me to my first tip for newbie bloggers:

1. Write Because You Want To, And Not Because You Want Things

When I started MMO Fallout, I came off of a previous website that I ran where I talked about news and absolutely hated every aspect of it. I tried to convince myself that I was adding in snide comments to make it interesting for the reader when really I was just trying to keep myself engaged. The only thing that kept me coming back was the chance to talk about video games, and that’s when I decided to spin out and start talking about MMOs exclusively.

Treat your blog like it’s an extension of your hobby, in this case that hobby being video games. Talk about stuff that interests you and maybe have a point while you do it. Show your passion for the subject and people will take notice. Most importantly, find something that you can write about that won’t feel like a job, because when a hobby becomes work, it’s no longer a hobby. It’s just a job that you’re not getting paid for, and that’s infuriating.

But don’t write because you want free stuff, because if anyone can see through faux-passion in bloggers, it’s the marketing folks handing out beta keys and review copies. Trust me, setting up a fake Call of Duty blog because you want free copies of Call of Duty won’t get you free copies of Call of Duty, it’ll just get you ridiculed for online panhandling. I didn’t do this and there’s certainly no need for you to check Google.

2. Don’t Make It  A Job, And It Won’t Be A Job

I made MMO Fallout a job, but that’s only because I went to college for this sort of thing and some of the stuff I’ve accomplished here (interviews, columns, etc) actually looks good on a resume. That being said, there are multiple times I’ve made it publicly known that I was on the verge of packing my stuff and leaving, whether it be that one guy from Japan a couple of years back who hit our servers for five days straight before ultimately corrupting my entire database (thank you backups), or perhaps the time I drew the verbal abuse and death threats from a certain game community who blamed my negativity for the death of a $100 million company.

Like I said in the previous tip, you should never come home and say to yourself “ugh, I have to update the blog again.” Don’t write because you feel obligated to, do it because you have something to say. Trying to force content to keep up with an arbitrary schedule that you set for yourself, again crosses the line from hobby to unpaid job, where the unfair boss is you.

3. Expect To Burn Bridges

Assuming your blog isn’t all about brown nosing executives, you’re going to burn a few bridges. I hesitate to use the term “blacklist” because that would probably give MMO Fallout more credit than it deserves, but I will say that a couple of developers will not talk to me and their silence conveniently came after I said something negative about their game/company.

With a few exceptions, most game companies are actually pretty good about receiving criticism providing it is fair and has a point. And I do stress the difference between fact, opinion, and hyperbole. You might get some jeering from the peanut gallery by calling Blizzard a bunch of scam artists who’ve ruined the industry and punch puppies in the face for fun, and at best that’s all you’ll get for an audience: Jerks. At worst, you’ll be on the receiving end of a libel lawsuit.

And I know this because I’ve been threatened with more lawsuits than I can count, all of which I’ve been protected from because I deal in the truth and the truth can never be libelous. Most developers are good with criticism, there are others that are just as bad as their biggest fans. You’ll find this out when, after ninety nine positive articles about a game, your negative piece spurs an email from a company account asking why you’re on a crusade of hate.

4. Feel Free To Advertise

The internet is a massive void of white noise, so you can expect that if you don’t do any proactive advertising, your views are going to remain a consistent 0-5 daily. You don’t even have to go all out. Add a link or image to your forum signatures, create a Twitter account and link there, comment and link to other blogs and they’ll do the same for you. You’re part of a community of other bloggers now, whether you like it or not.

Socialize with your readers, socialize with other bloggers, socialize with society. People will like you a whole lot more if you engage with them on a personal level, and you’ll have a lot more fun given the chance to talk even more about something you enjoy with other people who also enjoy it.

 

I’m running out of words, so I’ll leave it on this: This is a hobby. If you’re not having fun or realize that it isn’t for you, there isn’t anything requiring you to keep going. Think of your blog as a forum where you’re the one posting lengthy OP’s, if you prefer you can always engage in conversation by chatting in someone else’s threads.