Jagged Alliance Online's Steamy Success


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Jagged Alliance Online recently launched on Steam, and suffice to say the guys over at Cliffhanger Productions are very happy with the results. In a press release sent out today, Cliffhanger Productions noted that in the three weeks since its launch, Jagged Alliance Online has skyrocketed into the top five most popular DLC products on Steam, pulling ahead of some of the more recently launched MMOs. As a result, the developer has been forced to increase server capacity in order to contain the mass of new players. Wolfgang Duhr, member of the Board of Directors of publisher bitComposer, had some words of praise:

“We are really happy about the rapid success of Jagged Alliance Online and would like to congratulate the Cliffhanger team on the successful relaunch.”

Cliffhanger Productions recently finished a Kickstarter for their second MMO in development, Shadowrun Online.

(Source: Cliffhanger Press Release)

Thank You For Not Competing


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Perfect World Entertainment made news this week when they said that their plan with Neverwinter is not to compete with World of Warcraft. In an interview with Red Bull UK, Craig Zinkievich said that the goal was to “operate a fun game people like to play and want to come back to.” The developer believes that the box price and subscription model are no longer valid in most places, with the vast majority (86%) of gamers subscribing to only one MMO at a time, and fewer willing to subscribe to two. You can read the entire article here, where they talk about the free to play model and a couple other topics.

I almost feel bad for assuming that World of Warcraft’s consistently falling subscriber numbers would mark the end of developers trying to compete with it, but I suppose that years from now when World of Warcraft is a shadow of its former glory that the new benchmark for success will be the twelve million subscribers that the game peaked at. That said, I can’t help but give points to any developer willing to state that they are not looking to beat/compete with World of Warcraft. Why? Because at least I don’t have to worry about Neverwinter shutting down because it couldn’t meet the developer’s unrealistic expectations. Or Perfect World Entertainment labeling the game a failure, firing all of its developers, and stripping its funding to fix launch issues, subtle reference to Warhammer Online and several coughs.

The only thing that such a business model tells me as a video game writer is how willing the company is to cripple its own product during development and then shoot it in the head when it doesn’t pop out of the womb as an already accomplished millionaire. What better way to instill confidence in the press and your potential community than picking a goal that not a single other developer has managed to achieve, and measuring anything less as abject, irreconcilable failure? One can only sit and wonder why consumers don’t flock to spend sixty bucks and fifteen dollars a month on what is almost guaranteed to be a mediocre attempt at recreating a game they got sick of three years ago, launched with all of the grind and bugs of said product and no understanding of why it became so popular to begin with.

As a writer, I encourage developers to try and compete with World of Warcraft because the ensuing train wreck attracts leaves a lot of onlookers and that means more views for websites like MMO Fallout. As a gamer, however, I keep my money out of anything that so much as mentions competing with World of Warcraft, unless of course it is preceded by ‘we are not.’ So while Neverwinter may not be the perfect game, I have to give extra kudos to Perfect World for seeing World of Warcraft as a product to live with, not having the same reaction my dog has when he sees the vacuum cleaner running.

Also why is Red Bull better at getting MMO interviews than I am?

(Source: Red Bull UK)

Jagex Bans A Laundry List Of Max-Level Players


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One criticism I see levied against Jagex on a regular basis is that the company is reluctant to ban long time or high level players who use bots to automate certain aspects of the game. In a recent move against players using automated software, a wave of high level players have been reportedly banned, with the list growing by the hour.

As of this writing, at least 166 high level and rich players have been caught in the sweep, with the names being published here and updated regularly. It appears that a large number of players banned were using bot programs to automate the skill Dungeoneering, where players run through randomly generated dungeons for experience and rewards.

Hopefully this will serve as a warning to the other cheaters. Probably won’t.

MMOments In Gaming: This Vehicle Is Broken


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The manufacturers of this hover car had the right idea when designing a vehicle that could still be driven even if flipped over.

Free Stuff Plz Month #1: Station Cash


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Free Stuff Plz is off to a big start with the reveal of the first month’s contest: Sony Station Cash. Since Sony has such a large library of MMOs all tied to a single cash system, we figured why keep it to just one title? Between now and the end of July 2013, take a screenshot in any one of Sony Online Entertainment’s games and submit it to freestuff[at]mmofallout[dot]com. There are no specific requirements as to the screenshot itself, so get crafty. Something dark, thoughtful, goofy, romantic, etc, it is your choice.

Capture and submit your best screenshot from Everquest, Everquest II, Free Realms, Clone Wars, Planetside, Planetside 2, DC Universe, Dragon’s Prophet, or Vanguard.

  • The contest will run from June 19th, 2013 through July 31st, 2013
  • It must be YOUR screenshot.
  • Only one attempt per email, please.
  • The prize is given as Station Cash. If your account does not use Station Cash (IE: Prosieben.Sat users), you will not be able to claim the prize.
  • You must be 13 or older to enter.

Grand Prize:

  • $45 Station Cash

Runner Up:

  • $15 Station Cash

Rift Compensates For Shard Transfers


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Going free to play has a habit of causing disruption, especially when it comes to the more popular servers. In the case of Icewatch and Akala, two European shards, the already popular servers became overloaded thanks to the influx of new players ready to give free to play a try, as well as the returning players who had already called the server home. As a result, Trion was forced to alleviate the load by converting the shards into “trial status,” forcing players to move their characters elsewhere using the game’s free server change tool.

What is trial status, you ask? When a server is put on trial status, only the starting cities of Meridian and Sanctum are available. Characters are fully accessible and do not lose any equipment, but must be transferred off of the server in order to play in areas beyond the starting zone. Transferring is free and does not carry any of the normal restrictions of how much platinum your character may have on them. A guild master may transfer his guild over to a new server, in which case each member will be notified on their next log in and be given the opportunity to follow.

Since players are understandably angry at this move, Trion is compensating refugees from Icewatch and Akala with exclusive titles, an exclusive wardrobe set, and +1000 loyalty.

(Source: Rift)

MMO Fallout Presents “Free Stuff Plz” Giveaways


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I get a lot of emails from people asking me “Omali, you like giving away free stuff and I like free stuff, can I have some free stuff please?” Generally it isn’t put so eloquently, but the point still stands. People like free things, and I like giving things away for free. So how can I combine those two things and make the whole experience more fun than simply throwing codes on Twitter? Simple: A funny photograph of a dog. So I’m announcing Free Stuff Plz, a monthly giveaway here at MMO Fallout where you can win free stuff for doing stuff. Here is how the system will work:

On the first of each month, I will post the game/service that the reward is for, the reward itself, and the terms of the contest. Generally the contest will be something easy, yet creative, like a screenshot contest. The reward will likely be a cash/subscription card for said game. During the month I will have a poll up to determine which game/service gets the loving treatment for the next month’s giveaway. Cool right? The winner will be chosen at 11:59pm on the last day of that month, but the deadline for entry will be a bit sooner than that. Subject to change for each month.

Now we have to talk about that terrible fine print: I can’t predict everything, but I can assume that at least one game will be region locked, in which case the participating countries for that game will be locked to the United States, unless I can get my hands on some international cards in which case that will change. Also contests usually have age restrictions so you have to be at least 13 to participate, if anything because I don’t want any more written threats from the fine folks at the Federal Trade Commission regarding MMO Fallout’s giveaways.

Our first giveaway will encompass June and July since we are already halfway through the month, expect more very soon. Naturally we will still throw random codes on Twitter from time to time.

MMO Fallout Presents "Free Stuff Plz" Giveaways


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I get a lot of emails from people asking me “Omali, you like giving away free stuff and I like free stuff, can I have some free stuff please?” Generally it isn’t put so eloquently, but the point still stands. People like free things, and I like giving things away for free. So how can I combine those two things and make the whole experience more fun than simply throwing codes on Twitter? Simple: A funny photograph of a dog. So I’m announcing Free Stuff Plz, a monthly giveaway here at MMO Fallout where you can win free stuff for doing stuff. Here is how the system will work:

On the first of each month, I will post the game/service that the reward is for, the reward itself, and the terms of the contest. Generally the contest will be something easy, yet creative, like a screenshot contest. The reward will likely be a cash/subscription card for said game. During the month I will have a poll up to determine which game/service gets the loving treatment for the next month’s giveaway. Cool right? The winner will be chosen at 11:59pm on the last day of that month, but the deadline for entry will be a bit sooner than that. Subject to change for each month.

Now we have to talk about that terrible fine print: I can’t predict everything, but I can assume that at least one game will be region locked, in which case the participating countries for that game will be locked to the United States, unless I can get my hands on some international cards in which case that will change. Also contests usually have age restrictions so you have to be at least 13 to participate, if anything because I don’t want any more written threats from the fine folks at the Federal Trade Commission regarding MMO Fallout’s giveaways.

Our first giveaway will encompass June and July since we are already halfway through the month, expect more very soon. Naturally we will still throw random codes on Twitter from time to time.

Jagex Appoints Filmmaker To Creative Director


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Jagex has put out a press release revealing that Alex de Rakoff will be taking the helm as Creative Director. De Rakoff is best known for his role as director/writer in Need for Speed: The Run and Grand Theft Auto 2, as well as for directing the 2009 film Dead Man Running. He will be working as Creative Director on RuneScape 3 as well as the upcoming and regularly delayed Transformers Universe.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)