MMO Fallout

January In Review: Landmark Edition

January was a pretty eventful month, all things considered. With February ahead of us, let’s take a look at a few highlights of the month.

1. Sony Online Entertainment

It’s been a big month for Sony Online Entertainment, hasn’t it? January started off with Sony announcing, and then very quickly ending, changes to All Access that would remove the 500 station cash stipend given to players each month in return for one purchase of up to 2,000 station cash. In the end players will still receive their cash, although they have to log in to claim it. In addition, SOE announced that all of their games would be unified under a single $15 all access pass. If you are subscribed to one game, you are subscribed to all of them. Unless of course, you play Vanguard.

The month wasn’t all bad for SOE, however. John Smedley hinted at an MMO that Star Wars Galaxies fans could come home to, Planetside 2 continued its updates, and the alpha for Everquest Next Landmark launched in technically January, the best kind of January.

2. Licensing

Star Wars Galaxies taught us that hell has no wrath like a license holder. With a multitude of games disappearing from store shelves thanks to the expiration of licenses, we learned that Marvel Heroes has Marvel’s blessing for at least the next ten years. Turbine later announced that Lord of the Rings Online is safe until 2017 at the earliest. We already know that EA Games has the Star Wars license for the next ten years.

3. Smattering of Shutdowns

Archlord shut down its global server at the beginning of the month, followed by an announcement that servers in Korea would subsequently be shut down in February. According to our friends at MMO Culture, the sequel Archlord II hasn’t seen much of a response from players, with servers merging already in open beta. Next of course we have the announcement that Sony Online Entertainment is shutting down four games from its library, citing lack of profitability and, in the case of Vanguard, terminal technical issues.

January also saw the sunsetting of other MMOs, including Dynasty Warriors Online and the Playstation 3 shooter Massive Action Game. MAG, for those interested, can still be purchased used at Gamestop for $.99, just be aware that you are buying a coaster.

4. LFG 10-Man Funcom Raid

Do I need to reference this? It’s still on page one. Funcom’s offices were raided by the economic crimes unit whose name I won’t try to pronounce here. The developer is being charged with negligent bookkeeping and breaching disclosure requirements in regards to the launch of The Secret World. Funcom later commented to Massively to state that while the investigation goes on, the company is running as usual.

Funcom has been delisted from the stock exchange for the time being.

5. The Exclusive Scrolls

And lastly we have the reveal of the Elder Scrolls Online preorder package. Zenimax unveiling of the two editions has drawn controversy over the developer’s decision to offer the Imperial race as a collector’s edition exclusive. Additionally, players have also drawn criticism to the pack of bonuses included as a preorder exclusive, allowing players to create a character on any faction, regardless of their choice of race.

I feel that this controversy is equally about selling an “exclusive” race as it is about Zenimax going back on some previously strongly held beliefs about the Imperials not being playable as well as the faction pride that required race locks.

Everquest Landmark NDA Lifted

The Everquest Next Landmark alpha has been up for less than 24 hours, and John Smedley has taken to Twitter to announce that the nondisclosure agreement has officially been lifted. Players are allowed to talk about what they want, stream what they want, and post screenshots as they want.

The NDA is officially lifted for EQNL. Have fun. It will be Monday before we can yank it from the game

As far as people getting the wrong impression from the state of the alpha, “that’s life,” says Smedley.

(Source: Twitter)

Roblox Kicks Off Winter Games Competition

Grab your virtual snowboard and tobaggen and suit up for cold weather, because the ROBLOX Winter Games has officially begun. Beginning today and heading through February 10th, ROBLOX players will be able to compete in five different events, including snowboarding, snowball fights, racing, and even a tank battle. Each event has a leaderboard, badges, and a set of hats to earn for completing said badges. Furthermore, players will receive medals for placing in each event.

So what’s special about this? Every event featured in the Winter Games, including the ski lodge lobby, was developed by a select group of developers under 18 years old. It is incredible to see what people are capable of with ROBLOX.

(Source: ROBLOX press release)

SOE Promises Refunds For Unsatisfied Alpha Testers.

Sony Online Entertainment is set to launch the alpha for Everquest Next Landmark later today. Given the increasing reliance on early access purchases and your average gamer’s habit of buying an alpha stage game and then being stricken with buyer’s remorse because it isn’t a finished product, SOE is offering a full refund for anyone not satisfied with the alpha. As John Smedley stated on Twitter:

We will offer a full refund to anyone not satisfied with the Alpha. It’s not confidence. It’s being honest about the fact that Alpha’s aren’t for everyone. Plus we don’t know the kind of problems we expect to see. Things like running it out of North America now. I don’t want any EU players feeling like they got screwed if the streaming has hiccups at first. We just don’t know what we don’t know yet.

It’s actually nice to see a company respond to early buyers with something other than “you should have known what you’re getting into.” Hopefully this quality guarantee will be adopted by other companies, but that is unlikely.

(Source: Twitter)

Rolling Back Evolution of Combat: One Patch at a Time

Fundamentally changing an MMO’s combat system post-launch is a daunting and risky task. As much as there is the opportunity to bring in new customers and reinvigorate the old, a game also stands to alienate its existing user base. Like it or not, people are generally averse to change, especially when it comes in one lump sum and after the previous system had been in place for so long. RuneScape’s Evolution of Combat radically changed the way players engage in combat, and not everyone was happy about the increased demand for attention.

Since its launch, Jagex has been rolling back certain features and making accommodations to appease fans of the older system. The Momentum ability was introduced and automates much of the new combat system without requiring a whole lot more input from the player than the old system asked for. Old School servers brought back RuneScape as it was in 2007 and then subsequently updated in a different direction to the main game. Momentum is useful for most aspects aside from the powerful bosses, but continues to be tweaked over time.

In a recent news post, Jagex revealed that the weapon-specific specials would be reintroduced as abilities to bring back value to weapons that had lost value since the update. This week Jagex added a new poll asking players if they would like to see a legacy mode, bringing back the old combat system and interface. The legacy mode would not replace Evolution of Combat, the two would exist side by side.

Turning on Legacy Mode will change your gameplay to be like the old combat system, circa 2012. This includes things like special attacks, no action bar, no abilities and type-to-chat. It will have the old interface layout, with combat info and buttons around the mini map, with the old side-panels in the lower right, plus an option for the old fixed-window interface layout.

At the time that this article is published, the legacy poll leans heavily toward implementation. The goal is to have both versions working on the same servers with players able to fight each other between modes, but not everything is set in stone. Should legacy mode be voted in, which is all but confirmed based on the poll results so far, players will have the opportunity to beta test the feature and tweak it to their enjoyment.

Jagex, for their part, has said that legacy mode is a way for them to open up their game to a wider base, including those who quit due to Evolution of Combat. The company stands by its previous statement that Evolution of Combat is not up for vote and players will not be given the option to remove it entirely.

(Source: Legacy FAQ)

Final Fantasy XIV Now Selling Physical Time Cards

I’m not horsing around. Those of you who prefer to keep your precious credit card data out of the hands of those prone-to-theft businesses are likely the same group as those who refuse to buy a subscription MMO without the option to buy time cards. After all, why not? Turbine has had multiple billing issues, as has Mortal Online and Warhammer, among others. Sony was hacked, stores have had their databases compromised, it seems like cash is the only safe method of payment for anything these days.

The good news is that players will be able to buy 60 day access cards for Final Fantasy XIV. They cost $30 and are available in stores in North America as well as on Square Enix’s website, the latter of which makes the whole “don’t have to use your credit card” part moot. Check out Final Fantasy XIV at a store near you.

(Source: Square Enix press release)

MMOrning Shots: Anti-gravity

Today’s MMOrning Shots comes to us from Defiance. I didn’t fully understand why the Volge were constantly attacking E-Rep camps until I came across the above area and realized that they are trying to steal our anti-gravity technology. The hovering truck is one thing, but I’m not sure what the point of the levitating garbage can or sandbags is.

MMOrning Shots shows off interesting games and locales, and can be seen here at MMO Fallout every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. To submit your own MMOrning Shot, send an email to contact@mmofallout.com.

Funcom Offices Raided By Economic Crime Unit

News out of Norway is that Funcom employees showing up to work this morning were met by the economic crimes unit Økokrim. Police raided the Funcom offices, retrieving boxes full of seized documents. According to News in English, the raid is related to an investigation over whether or not Funcom breached disclosure requirements related to The Secret World, as well as who had access to inside information leading up to the game’s release. Funcom is also being charged with negligent bookkeeping according to a news post on the Oslo stock exchange, from which the company has been delisted until the investigation is complete.

This isn’t the first time that The Secret World has landed someone in hot water. Funcom’s former CEO Tron Aas came under investigation after he left his position and offloaded his shares of Funcom the day before The Secret World launched and Funcom’s stock plummeted. Employees have reportedly been sent home for the day.

(Source: News in English)

Elder Scrolls Online Pre-Order Bonuses

Yesterday the details for the Elder Scrolls Online collector’s edition leaked on the Amazon page for Dishonored, and today the details have been confirmed with Zenimax opening the game up for preorder. There are two bundles to choose from, standard and collector’s edition, and both have already sparked some controversy among fans. Preordering either edition automatically grants players the Explorer’s Pack, which includes the obligatory 5-day early access, vanity pet, and bonus treasure maps. The Explorer’s Pack allows players to roll on any faction, regardless of their race. Currently this is only listed as a preorder exclusive.

The Imperial Edition includes a metric ton of loot, including a 224 page illustrated book, a 12 inch Molag Bal statue, and a map of Tamriel. In-game, players receive a white horse mount, mudcrab pet, tradeable rings that grant bonus experience when grouped, and the ability to play as the Imperial race. To play devil’s advocate for a moment, anyone who purchases the standard edition has the option to later upgrade to the digital collector’s. The art of selling exclusive races seems to be getting more common, with last year’s Neverwinter offering an exclusive Drow race only with the purchase of a $200 package.

For now, check out the Arrival trailer.

Rise of the Ourobani Launches Today

The day has come, Hell has frozen over, pigs are flying, and cows are lactating chocolate milk. Earlier today, the folks at Quest Online took to Twitter to announce that the server for Alganon has been taken down in order to patch in the Rise of the Ourobani expansion. Originally announced in June 2011 for a release by the end of that year, the expansion has seen some turbulence in its development. Rise of the Ourobani includes flying mounts, a new race called the Ourobani (go figure), a new ranged class called the Warden, and a host of other changes.

Player housing was originally intended to launch alongside Rise of the Ourobani, however it had to be delayed in order to get the expansion out the door. After today’s launch, the folks at Quest Online hope to continue work on housing, future classes/races, and more.

(Source: Twitter)

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