World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor Announced


draenor

Blizzard has kicked off Blizzcon with the announcement of the next expansion to World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. The expansion will introduce the world of Draenor, as well as increase the level cap to 100 and allow players to instantly boost one character to 90. According to the trailer, players will also have to defend and upgrade their garrison, and characters are set to receive a dramatic graphical overhaul. According to a Q&A, Draenor will see the introduction of new stats to gear, as well as the removal of others (hit, expertise). You can read the entire FAQ at the link below.

(Source: Warords of Draenor FAQ)

Top 5: MMOs That We Can’t Have


hellgate3

Being a somewhat impatient person is rather incompatible with writing about the MMO genre, an industry where waiting is merely half the battle. Between games announced half a decade before their intended release and those launched in Korea, China, or Japan only to take a further few years to make it over to the west, it’s enough to pull your hair out over. It is especially aggravating when you figure games like Phantasy Star Online 2, who we recently found out may never release in the west at all. Then you have games like Hellgate: London, Lineage, and Dungeon Fighter Online who, despite shutting down in west, continued operation overseas.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the top five MMOs we can’t have, and by we I mean people in the Americas and Europe.

5. ArcheAge

archeage

Despite what some of my readers may believe, I don’t talk about ArcheAge’s content updates to tease you, but I agree with the frustration that I see in many of these articles. ArcheAge, unlike its brothers and sisters, gets so much coverage from western outfits that you’d think the game had already been launched here. Every mention of patch notes and content updates is another reminder of the game’s continued delay and unclear future for westward expansion.

The “why we don’t have ArcheAge” coverage also instills a constant chilling reminder as to the recent business issues surrounding the game’s would-be western publisher, Trion Worlds, between several rounds of layoffs, server mergers, the poor reception of Defiance, allegations of neglecting overseas publishers leading to Rift being shut down in several foreign territories, and the continued difficulties surrounding End of Nations. ArcheAge will eventually release in the west…hopefully. Maybe.

4. Phantasy Star Online 2

pso2_title

I decided to stick Phantasy Star Online 2 as number four on this list because it is technically playable. While Phantasy Star Online 2 is likely to not hit western markets, due to an alleged lack of faith in the game’s ability to be profitable, many gamers have already signed on to the Japanese servers using an English patch. This process should be made easier when the game releases a localized version for English speaking Asian regions.

3. Blade & Soul

cat

NCSoft has refused to censor Blade & Soul for the west, but if an uncensored MMO falls in the woods and no one is able to play it, does it make a sound? Blade & Soul has the backing of NCSoft, but the game has quickly dropped down in sales to the levels of Lineage II and “other” and is likely to continue dropping. If the game continues to do poorly, it is possible that the game could be shut down before it ever has the chance to be localized.

But NCSoft isn’t the kind of company that cuts an MMO loose just because it hit some hard times, right?

2. Lineage

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Lineage is particularly painful not just because the game continues to operate in its native Korea after being shut down in the west, but it is outperforming every single one of NCSoft’s other games. Lineage has been NCSoft’s #1 top selling game for the past year and has grown exponentially over the past several quarters. Despite its healthy population in Korea, however, the game was not performing well in America and Europe to continue supporting the localized version.

The good news at least is that while Lineage I is over aside from private servers, Lineage Eternal will probably release before the world ends.

1. Black Gold Online

Black-Gold-Online-2-620x350

 

Black Gold Online is likely to release before any of the other games on this list, but it is the most interesting concept so I decided to put it at number one. If you don’t know, Black Gold Online is by the creatively brilliant minds at Snail Games who brought us Age of Wushu, and carries one of the more interesting monetization models of recent titles. It is difficult to understand, and I am not entirely sure that I have explained it properly, but the game has no cash shop or subscription, but instead monetizes drops in some fashion.

So far all we have seen is this concept in theory, and it could go either way in terms of its reception. Assuming we ever get it.

Top 5: MMOs That We Can't Have


hellgate3

Being a somewhat impatient person is rather incompatible with writing about the MMO genre, an industry where waiting is merely half the battle. Between games announced half a decade before their intended release and those launched in Korea, China, or Japan only to take a further few years to make it over to the west, it’s enough to pull your hair out over. It is especially aggravating when you figure games like Phantasy Star Online 2, who we recently found out may never release in the west at all. Then you have games like Hellgate: London, Lineage, and Dungeon Fighter Online who, despite shutting down in west, continued operation overseas.

So with that in mind, let’s look at the top five MMOs we can’t have, and by we I mean people in the Americas and Europe.

5. ArcheAge

archeage

Despite what some of my readers may believe, I don’t talk about ArcheAge’s content updates to tease you, but I agree with the frustration that I see in many of these articles. ArcheAge, unlike its brothers and sisters, gets so much coverage from western outfits that you’d think the game had already been launched here. Every mention of patch notes and content updates is another reminder of the game’s continued delay and unclear future for westward expansion.

The “why we don’t have ArcheAge” coverage also instills a constant chilling reminder as to the recent business issues surrounding the game’s would-be western publisher, Trion Worlds, between several rounds of layoffs, server mergers, the poor reception of Defiance, allegations of neglecting overseas publishers leading to Rift being shut down in several foreign territories, and the continued difficulties surrounding End of Nations. ArcheAge will eventually release in the west…hopefully. Maybe.

4. Phantasy Star Online 2

pso2_title

I decided to stick Phantasy Star Online 2 as number four on this list because it is technically playable. While Phantasy Star Online 2 is likely to not hit western markets, due to an alleged lack of faith in the game’s ability to be profitable, many gamers have already signed on to the Japanese servers using an English patch. This process should be made easier when the game releases a localized version for English speaking Asian regions.

3. Blade & Soul

cat

NCSoft has refused to censor Blade & Soul for the west, but if an uncensored MMO falls in the woods and no one is able to play it, does it make a sound? Blade & Soul has the backing of NCSoft, but the game has quickly dropped down in sales to the levels of Lineage II and “other” and is likely to continue dropping. If the game continues to do poorly, it is possible that the game could be shut down before it ever has the chance to be localized.

But NCSoft isn’t the kind of company that cuts an MMO loose just because it hit some hard times, right?

2. Lineage

11

Lineage is particularly painful not just because the game continues to operate in its native Korea after being shut down in the west, but it is outperforming every single one of NCSoft’s other games. Lineage has been NCSoft’s #1 top selling game for the past year and has grown exponentially over the past several quarters. Despite its healthy population in Korea, however, the game was not performing well in America and Europe to continue supporting the localized version.

The good news at least is that while Lineage I is over aside from private servers, Lineage Eternal will probably release before the world ends.

1. Black Gold Online

Black-Gold-Online-2-620x350

 

Black Gold Online is likely to release before any of the other games on this list, but it is the most interesting concept so I decided to put it at number one. If you don’t know, Black Gold Online is by the creatively brilliant minds at Snail Games who brought us Age of Wushu, and carries one of the more interesting monetization models of recent titles. It is difficult to understand, and I am not entirely sure that I have explained it properly, but the game has no cash shop or subscription, but instead monetizes drops in some fashion.

So far all we have seen is this concept in theory, and it could go either way in terms of its reception. Assuming we ever get it.

Video of the Now: Shroud of the Avatar 6 Months In


Richard Garriot has released a video detailing Shroud of the Avatar’s progress six months in. The video details housing plots, placing items, crafting, and dungeon exploring. The crafting system is rather interesting, with the player creating the individual parts of the item before combining them at a smithing table for the final product. The player then sneaks into a prison via passages disguised as false walls and aids guards in bringing down an escaped Kobold. You’ll have to watch the video to see everything, which clocks in at under a half an hour.

 

RuneScape's Services Disrupted By Denial of Service Attacks


scapefix

 

Distributed Denial of Service Attacks are an ever-increasing problem over all sectors of the internet. What was once a rare occurrence has become nearly commonplace with many medium to large services. Most recently, the Extra Life charity event was brought down temporarily due to a denial of service attack. Google has launched Project Shield, a service to offer their own DDoS mitigation software to other websites.

In a news post released today, Jagex has revealed that RuneScape has come under heavy DDoS attacks over the past year, causing disruptions in service as well as heavy latency and disconnections for players. Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard posted an apology to players for the inconvenience caused by the attacks, laying the blame at the feet of gold farmers and bot makers. Gerhard stated that Jagex is boosting their infrastructure and is working with authorities to track down the source of the attacks.

I wanted to take this opportunity to assure you that we have, are and will continue to work tirelessly, preventing as many of these attacks from affecting your gameplay as we can. We have recently made a multi-million pound investment in our global IT infrastructure to deal with the continued attacks and are working with a number of service and security providers to eradicate the issue completely. We are also working closely with worldwide law enforcement agencies to bring the people responsible for these attacks to justice.

You can read the entire announcement at the link below.

(Source: RuneScape)

MMOrning Shots: Stargate Worlds


jaffa_controller

Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us straight from the vault under the What Could Have Been category, and is indeed one of the first screenshots of Stargate Worlds ever released to the public. Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment put this out in 2006. For added pleasure, enjoy a snippet from the last press release in 2009 assuring us that the lights are indeed still on.

Our official response is that the lights here are still on and the development team is working hard every day to get this game built. Team members are in the office seven days a week to deliver Stargate Worlds. Brad Wright is the Stargate expert and a creative consultant on Stargate Worlds who advises us on the story; unfortunately we had not recently updated him on our progress or the impact from the current global economic crisis, and he was not fully aware of the continuing progress on our game.

Taco Tuesday: Now The Gloves Come Off


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In this week’s Taco Tuesday, I want to talk about Missing Worlds Media and City of Titans. With the Kickstarter now over and the money getting set to roll in, it must be understood that playtime is (mostly) over. No longer can Missing Worlds Media be treated as the ragtag group of volunteers with a dream for a better tomorrow that may never be realized. They have accepted money and that means, for better or for worse, City of Titans is going to happen. This means setting budgets, deadlines, and someone to enforce both. It means you now have real customers and obligations to meet, and people that you need to answer to.

As far as expectations go, Missing Worlds Media is now on the level of other independent game studios. This means that the excuse of “we’re just a group of volunteers” doesn’t cut it anymore. That works for games like Black Mesa, where the development team was literally an unfunded group of volunteers. City of Titans, on the other hand, has money going into it by people who are going to expect the product that they paid for. The Kickstarter should be the point where the team at Missing Worlds Media recognizes that City of Titans is now a serious project that they have committed to. This isn’t to say that the fun has to go away, but the stakes are higher and the game has officially begun.

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At the risk of being branded a cynic, devil’s advocate, hater, etc, let me just say that I still have high hopes for City of Titans and will continue supporting it here at MMO Fallout, but with the understanding that this is when Missing Worlds Media needs to buckle down and make this game their priority rather than just a project to be worked on by a group of volunteers. This means managing the team, schedule, and the funds that drive it all.

How do you feel about City of Titans? Drop a comment in the box below with your thoughts.

Final Fantasy XIV Pulling Square Enix's Bootstraps


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Here at MMO Fallout, we have something of a love-hate relationship with Square Enix. Final Fantasy: A Realm Reborn is one of the best MMOs we have played here in a good while, but the travesty that was FFXIV 1.0 has still not faded from our minds. The good news is that the success of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn has resulted in Square Enix adjusting their earnings forecast. The publisher expected a loss of $20 million USD, however a combined success from FFXIV and arcade sales has boosted those figures up to a $48 million operating profit.

Square Enix is gearing up for update 2.1 which will introduce a new pvp arena, free company housing, and dungeons.

(Source: Siliconera)

Jagex Highlights Runefest Revelations


scapefix

 

Runefest has come and gone with attendees getting the chance to meet the developers, participate in activities, and test out upcoming updates. Jagex has sent us over a list of some big reveals from Runefest, including the name of the next skill, the 200th quest, world events, and more. Check out the list below:

  • The Invention Skill, which is a partner to the recently launched Divination skill and represents a technological leap forward within the game.  This skill will allow players create their own gear and “soul weapons” which can be leveled up to increase their power as players progress through the game.
  • The RuneScape Community App, which will allow players to chat and access the Grand Exchange, RuneScape’s trading system, through their mobile devices.
  • A preview of the 2nd World Event which has been confirmed to involve the two gods Armadyl and Bandos, who will be travelling across the world map trying to gain followers and influence.  Players will also be able to opt into innovative open world PVP.
  • Upgraded matchmaking which will allow players to easily find other player who are interested in playing specific social content, allowing them put together teams easily without interrupting their gameplay.
  • Players were shown a glimpse of two new quests – The 200th quest which will focus on the Elves and a new Master quest featuring the return of Zaros.
  •  “The Church of YOU” – Over the past decade players have been central to all RuneScape content and are the world guardians, now they can start to amass their own followers to worship their in-game achievements.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

[Community] RuneScape Prestige Mode Rejected


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How violently can a person say no? RuneScape is a grinder’s game, there are over twenty five skills all of which require more than thirteen million experience in order to hit level 99, and one which goes further up to level 120. As far as even MMOs go, RuneScape takes a long time to hit high levels, and involves a lot of very tedious grinding. So I can’t imagine why someone at Jagex thought that prestige would be an appropriate suggestion to spitball to the community. The idea is simple, if you’ve played games like Modern Warfare 2. You prestige by resetting your level to one and starting all over again, but you do so with a cosmetic effect. For RuneScape, each prestige would increase the experience required to hit end-game by 100%, so 26 million experience to reach 99 a second time, etc.

The idea was put up to a vote and was summarily rejected, with 61% of 28,594 voting no. Since the requirement for implementation was 75% of the vote, prestige has been canned for now with the possibility of being reworked and sent back up for a vote in the future.